[MUD-Dev] Re: Multi-Server games

[Ben Greear]

On Mon, 29 Jun 1998, Vadim Tkachenko wrote:

> MH wrote:
> > 
> > Just keep the player/object on the original server until the new server
> > verifies that it has taken possession of the player/object.  Something
> > along the lines of:
> > 
> > The international highway:
> > 
> > You see a signpost here, marking where Bubbaland leaves off and
> > Boffoworld begins.
> 
> Maybe a silly question, but I haven't found the reasonable solution yet:
> 
> OK, you have the multiple servers and distributed world now, but where
> do you connect to next time, after you've crossed the world borders?
> 
> There are at least two possible answers:
> 
> - Keep the entry point the same and just route the requests to the
> remote world, thus increasing overhead
> - Change the entry point, complicating the client (which may not allow
> it at all, like applet)
> 
> Any comments?

I agree, these are two tricky problems.  I'm planning on letting
the client log onto the server which holds the player.  This information
can be querried among the servers, so hitting any client should be
able to point you to the right one.  If I end up using an applet, I'll
have a httpd server on every game server, with identical jar files etc.

An HTML query of some sorth (cgi?) could generate a page containing the
correct link to the player's server.

An even nastier problem lies in smooth transition between two servers.

This will be virtually impossible with an applet.  I'll probably just
route the messages through the connecting server to any new server,
remaining at a max of one hop of course.  For local servers running
on a faster ethernet connection, that shouldn't be too bad.  For largly
disparate servers, bandwidth wise, another solution would have to be
thought up...

I'd be interested to hear other ideas, as these are mostly just ramblings
off the top of my head!

Ben

Ben Greear (greear at cyberhighway.net)  http://www.primenet.com/~greear 
Author of ScryMUD:  mud.primenet.com 4444
http://www.primenet.com/~greear/ScryMUD/scry.html