Zune Multiplayer Stuff

ionman · 05-09-2008, 02:38 PM

Ok, so I am definitely on board with games for Zune and hoping this thing really takes off.

The killer feature will definitely be multiplayer here. I really want to develop some multiplayer apps to carry the Social to an all new level.

The only thing is, all of the current multiplayer code is for Windows and Xbox. Does anyone have any pointers as to where I could start to see how multiplayer works on the Zunes?

Working sample code would be awesome if there is any out there.

Thanks,

- ionman

collver · 05-09-2008, 02:42 PM

is there nothing in the documentation as to how you would take advantage of the wireless in game dev?

ionman · 05-10-2008, 04:05 AM

There really isn't. I only found one page of stuff on the Zune in the MSDN docs that come with the new version. All of the multiplayer docs are currently for Xbox and PC, which include stuff that the Zune doesn't have, I am pretty sure.

lpxxfaintxx · 05-10-2008, 07:56 AM

Doesn't seem like anyone from anywhere knows yet. Perhaps Microsoft will release the info soon.

Nathaniel · 05-10-2008, 09:30 AM

Maybe in a couple weeks

Bman22 · 05-10-2008, 06:48 PM

i don't believe that the networking stuff was added into the CTP version. I think we might have to wait until the next release

Adrian Vinca · 05-11-2008, 01:54 PM

I've started writing a small multiplayer game and I've managed to get 2 Zunes connecting through XNA. Actually it's quite easy using the XNA, I used System Link as the type of connection.

It's quite unreliable at this point (e.g. it crashes many times when trying to join, in some cases I have to restart the game on both zunes to make it work). I don't know if that's because I'm doing something wrong or if there are some issues in the CTP.

ionman · 05-11-2008, 05:53 PM

Would you mind sharing the source code that connects the two devices, or explaining how you did it? Thanks!

Adrian Vinca · 05-12-2008, 02:18 AM

Here it is.

This is my first attempt to write any networking code using XNA so please take it with a grain of salt. My code is quite unreliable at this point (e.g. connect than disconnect than try to connect again throws exception - the only solution I found so far is to restart both zunes). But, if the stars are properly aligned, it will get the 2 zunes connected. If they don't connect, restart both zunes and try again.

I don't have any code to send any data between the 2 zunes.

Instructions:
- Deploy the code on both zunes (you need to make the Zune active in the Device center).
- Launch the application on both zune
- 1st zune (host): Press Up on DPad so that it hosts the game. The background will turn blue and the Zune will start hosting a game
- 2nd zune (client): Press Down on DPad so that it tries to join an existing game. The background will turn red and the Zune will stat looking for a game. If it finds one, it will try to connect to the first one it finds.

If everything worked fine, the 1st zune should say "Player joined".

http://cid-a912b1c0a524f973.skydrive.../TicTacToe.zip

Hope this helps! I can't wait to play multiplayer games on the zune!
Adrian

ionman · 05-12-2008, 05:05 AM

Sweet. Thank you so much. I will try it out later today or tomorrow and see if I get anywhere with it.

- ionman

MarcusMaximus · 05-12-2008, 12:34 PM

wow! nice. I've been searching everywhere to try to figure out how to do this.

amoo3 · 05-13-2008, 02:26 PM

Awesome. I've been using this as my base code for multiplay; Man, this stuff is confusing! From my understanding, there is no way for the server to simply say
player2.get(xPosition);
//based on xPosition, modify game's screen
drawScreen(this, player2)

Man, that would be nice... Someone prove me wrong!

MarcusMaximus · 05-13-2008, 02:56 PM

Umm you can't do that but I'm pretty sure you can have player2 send a packet with their x position and have player1 receive it and then use it.

amoo3 · 05-13-2008, 03:04 PM

I've been trying to do that, but apparently the NetworkGamer class, unlike the LocalNetworkGamer class, does not have a sendData() method.

ionman · 05-13-2008, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amoo3

I've been trying to do that, but apparently the NetworkGamer class, unlike the LocalNetworkGamer class, does not have a sendData() method.

I think I have almost completed some code that will send data back and forth. I will post as soon as I have a working example.

Thanks!

- ionman

amoo3 · 05-13-2008, 04:14 PM

Awesome, that would great. A friend of mine made a sweet game that I was planning on adding network support and porting the Zune. It'd be a huge help to have some real code to go off of. Microsoft's documentation really sucks.

ionman · 05-13-2008, 05:57 PM

Ok. I got it!

Download the Sample

Here is a working example that is pretty simple but does the job. Just launch the app, and if you are lucky enough to have more than one Zune to play with, launch it on the other one a few seconds later, and they will automatically connect.

Pressing the D-Pad will send a string with the Gamertag of the user that clicked the pad, and the direction they clicked. Just a simple illustration; you would want to do it a bit differently in a game.

The code is based primarily off of Adrian Vinca's example posted above, the tank example on the XNA site, some coffee and some of my gray matter.

Please feel free to look through this code, adapt it to your needs, use it in your games etc. Also, if someone finds mistakes or better ways of doing things, please let me know!

Enjoy!

- ionman

soccerfreak24 · 05-13-2008, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ionman

Ok. I got it!

Download the Sample

Here is a working example that is pretty simple but does the job. Just launch the app, and if you are lucky enough to have more than one Zune to play with, launch it on the other one a few seconds later, and they will automatically connect.

Pressing the D-Pad will send a string with the Gamertag of the user that clicked the pad, and the direction they clicked. Just a simple illustration; you would want to do it a bit differently in a game.

The code is based primarily off of Adrian Vinca's example posted above, the tank example on the XNA site, some coffee and some of my gray matter.

Please feel free to look through this code, adapt it to your needs, use it in your games etc. Also, if someone finds mistakes or better ways of doing things, please let me know!

Enjoy!

- ionman

Good work! +rep.

Khao · 05-13-2008, 06:10 PM

AWESOME MAN! I love you! I will try to port it to pong as soon as I can (exams suck) +rep

ionman · 05-13-2008, 06:29 PM

Happy to help!

As a side note, that code is configured to allow up to 8 Zunes to connect. I have tested it with up to 3 at a time and it worked just fine.

- ionman

05-09-2008, 02:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	Zune Multiplayer Stuff Ok, so I am definitely on board with games for Zune and hoping this thing really takes off. The killer feature will definitely be multiplayer here. I really want to develop some multiplayer apps to carry the Social to an all new level. The only thing is, all of the current multiplayer code is for Windows and Xbox. Does anyone have any pointers as to where I could start to see how multiplayer works on the Zunes? Working sample code would be awesome if there is any out there. Thanks, - ionman

05-09-2008, 02:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
collver Experienced Zuner Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: some where left of the right Posts: 120 Reputation: 14 $zB: 95 Donate	is there nothing in the documentation as to how you would take advantage of the wireless in game dev? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Noob Patrol : Locked and Loaded To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-10-2008, 07:56 AM	#4 (permalink)
lpxxfaintxx Administrator Ultimate Zuner Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 5,720 Reputation: 177 $zB: 1776 Donate	Doesn't seem like anyone from anywhere knows yet. Perhaps Microsoft will release the info soon. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-10-2008, 06:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
Bman22 Support Team Experienced Zuner Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Albuquerque, NM Posts: 237 Reputation: 28 $zB: 87 Donate	i don't believe that the networking stuff was added into the CTP version. I think we might have to wait until the next release __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. thanks to To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. for the sig To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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05-10-2008, 04:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	There really isn't. I only found one page of stuff on the Zune in the MSDN docs that come with the new version. All of the multiplayer docs are currently for Xbox and PC, which include stuff that the Zune doesn't have, I am pretty sure.

05-10-2008, 09:30 AM	#5 (permalink)
Nathaniel Experienced Zuner Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 172 Reputation: 4 $zB: 6 Donate	Maybe in a couple weeks

05-11-2008, 01:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
Adrian Vinca Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 17 Reputation: 20 $zB: 9 Donate	I've started writing a small multiplayer game and I've managed to get 2 Zunes connecting through XNA. Actually it's quite easy using the XNA, I used System Link as the type of connection. It's quite unreliable at this point (e.g. it crashes many times when trying to join, in some cases I have to restart the game on both zunes to make it work). I don't know if that's because I'm doing something wrong or if there are some issues in the CTP.

05-11-2008, 05:53 PM	#8 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	Would you mind sharing the source code that connects the two devices, or explaining how you did it? Thanks!

05-12-2008, 02:18 AM	#9 (permalink)
Adrian Vinca Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 17 Reputation: 20 $zB: 9 Donate	Here it is. This is my first attempt to write any networking code using XNA so please take it with a grain of salt. My code is quite unreliable at this point (e.g. connect than disconnect than try to connect again throws exception - the only solution I found so far is to restart both zunes). But, if the stars are properly aligned, it will get the 2 zunes connected. If they don't connect, restart both zunes and try again. I don't have any code to send any data between the 2 zunes. Instructions: - Deploy the code on both zunes (you need to make the Zune active in the Device center). - Launch the application on both zune - 1st zune (host): Press Up on DPad so that it hosts the game. The background will turn blue and the Zune will start hosting a game - 2nd zune (client): Press Down on DPad so that it tries to join an existing game. The background will turn red and the Zune will stat looking for a game. If it finds one, it will try to connect to the first one it finds. If everything worked fine, the 1st zune should say "Player joined". http://cid-a912b1c0a524f973.skydrive.../TicTacToe.zip Hope this helps! I can't wait to play multiplayer games on the zune! Adrian

05-12-2008, 05:05 AM	#10 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	Sweet. Thank you so much. I will try it out later today or tomorrow and see if I get anywhere with it. - ionman

05-12-2008, 12:34 PM	#11 (permalink)
MarcusMaximus zB Programmer Experienced Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 100 Reputation: 31 $zB: 88 Donate	wow! nice. I've been searching everywhere to try to figure out how to do this.

05-13-2008, 02:26 PM	#12 (permalink)
amoo3 Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 63 Reputation: 11 $zB: 25 Donate	Awesome. I've been using this as my base code for multiplay; Man, this stuff is confusing! From my understanding, there is no way for the server to simply say player2.get(xPosition); //based on xPosition, modify game's screen drawScreen(this, player2) Man, that would be nice... Someone prove me wrong!

05-13-2008, 02:56 PM	#13 (permalink)
MarcusMaximus zB Programmer Experienced Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 100 Reputation: 31 $zB: 88 Donate	Umm you can't do that but I'm pretty sure you can have player2 send a packet with their x position and have player1 receive it and then use it.

05-13-2008, 03:04 PM	#14 (permalink)
amoo3 Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 63 Reputation: 11 $zB: 25 Donate	I've been trying to do that, but apparently the NetworkGamer class, unlike the LocalNetworkGamer class, does not have a sendData() method.

05-13-2008, 04:14 PM	#16 (permalink)
amoo3 Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 63 Reputation: 11 $zB: 25 Donate	Awesome, that would great. A friend of mine made a sweet game that I was planning on adding network support and porting the Zune. It'd be a huge help to have some real code to go off of. Microsoft's documentation really sucks.

05-13-2008, 05:57 PM	#17 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	Ok. I got it! Download the Sample Here is a working example that is pretty simple but does the job. Just launch the app, and if you are lucky enough to have more than one Zune to play with, launch it on the other one a few seconds later, and they will automatically connect. Pressing the D-Pad will send a string with the Gamertag of the user that clicked the pad, and the direction they clicked. Just a simple illustration; you would want to do it a bit differently in a game. The code is based primarily off of Adrian Vinca's example posted above, the tank example on the XNA site, some coffee and some of my gray matter. Please feel free to look through this code, adapt it to your needs, use it in your games etc. Also, if someone finds mistakes or better ways of doing things, please let me know! Enjoy! - ionman

05-13-2008, 06:10 PM	#19 (permalink)
Khao Developper zB Programmer Experienced Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Location: Québec, Canada! Posts: 104 Reputation: 25 $zB: 89 Donate	AWESOME MAN! I love you! I will try to port it to pong as soon as I can (exams suck) +rep

05-13-2008, 06:29 PM	#20 (permalink)
ionman Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 12 Reputation: 24 $zB: 11 Donate	Happy to help! As a side note, that code is configured to allow up to 8 Zunes to connect. I have tested it with up to 3 at a time and it worked just fine. - ionman

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