Anyone with experience with multiplayer gaming have 2 cents to contribute to this ? I would especially like to hear from anyone in favour of using select() on Windows, besides portability issues. My understanding is, WSAAsyncSelect() is just a reimplementation of the above, but one that''s designed to fit into the message-driven Windows architecture. Any rants and raves on this ?

It would be easier to provide input if you describe your application a little better...

are you using tcp or udp? blocking? do you NEED portability? etc...

For now at least, I do not need portability Blocking is not an option. In terms of protocol, I am thinking of a mix between udp and tcp, as I don''t really have the time to implement a reliable protocol over udp. Thinking of using udp for non critical updates, and tcp for things that need to get through. Scope wise, it is not an MMOG, any client on the Internet can choose to setup their own server. And by design, I do not really expect more than 10-20 people at any one time. The pace of the game is rather slow . Accurate view on all clients is not really that critical, but game state (player stats, world stats, etc... is).

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Original post by fardin
For now at least, I do not need portability <only concerned about Windows> Blocking is not an option. In terms of protocol, I am thinking of a mix between udp and tcp, as I don''t really have the time to implement a reliable protocol over udp. <I would n''t mind though if anyone have some codes to share> Thinking of using udp for non critical updates, and tcp for things that need to get through. Scope wise, it is not an MMOG, any client on the Internet can choose to setup their own server. And by design, I do not really expect more than 10-20 people at any one time. The pace of the game is rather slow <not turn-based though>. Accurate view on all clients is not really that critical, but game state (player stats, world stats, etc... is).

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Why not write your own sliding window protocol and use udp exclusively, take care of your own transmission control reliability?

It was supposed to have already been written, but the dude sort of... rewrote another TCP/IP stack of some sort. I nearly fainted when I saw the overhead. So, right now it''s a race against time to make network stable, in order to meet our next milestone which is coming thick and fast... the udp/tcp mix is intended as a short term solution.