Does anyone know where I would find a network code library that includes ways to create a matchmaking service, essentially out of the box? I''m looking to use a matchmaking service for a couple of games we''re publishing several months out. The choice is to either code our own or go with a pre-written/proven solution. While I could save money and have it written in-house, I''d prefer to save time and purchase a package that has already been proven to be successful and work without many problems. GameSpy apparently has a matchmaking service for sale, but I didn''t see any kind of price listed. It''s apparently a ''custom quote'' thing. I take that to mean they''ll charge my according to what I can pay. Thanks anyway, I''ll look elsewhere. I remember reading at one point you could use MSN Zone, but I don''t remember where I read it and I couldn''t find it when I did a quick search. So, does anyone have any links or places I could follow up on for this kind of stuff? Thanks in advance.

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Not to play favorites, but from a players point of view I would prefer Zone. Not only is supported by a large company (Microsoft), meaning 99.9% uptime, but I can also use my existing passport id. As for Gamespy in particular I refuse to use them since their installer includes some very nasty spyware (removing it will stop dialup networking from working, requiring a complete reinstall).

Are there any code libraries available that do stuff like this though or am I stuck and pretty much have to write my own using either Winsock or DirectPlay?

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To the best of my knowledge most are just "matchmaking" services, they only facilitate getting players together, and then through the use a of program specific plugin, starting the game with the correct parameters (ie pass the IP address of all the players to the game executable). You would code it the same as a direct TCP/IP game.

[edited by - michalson on September 26, 2002 3:44:27 PM]

That''s fine though. That''s what I''m looking for. The TCP code is already written for multi-player capabilities of the game. I just want to give the application a central place to look for other people to play against. After the enemy player has been selected in the matchmaking application, the game will launch with the IP address of the enemy player as a parameter and the game itself will handle network connections between the players from there.

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