Hi, I joined Gamedev today. So it's not a big surprise that I have a question lol. But first let me point out that I'm accessing the site from my phone and I can't for the life of me find a search button! So I'm sorry if this has been asked before...

I simply want to know how to add multiplayer functions to an android game, other than using Google Play services, which as far as I know requires signing in with a Google plus account. I'm looking for any resources, engines, SDK's,... etc, that would help me understand the different methods for adding multiplayer functionality to an android game. And I would really appreciate it if someone would point out any companies that provide such services to indie developers, like Skiller for example.

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http://bfy.tw/fqI

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http://bfy.tw/fqI

This is his first post, and it's in the noob section. At least speak to him.

Hello, Benateg. Welcome to GDN. I don't have much truck with networking SDKs myself, but there are some more experienced people around the place. I'm sure a few of them can give you some suggestions about where to get started in terms of packaged solutions. You may also want to peek at the networking and multiplayer forums and see if there's any discussion of such packages going on in there.

Good luck!

...http://bfy.tw/fqI

Thank you for spending the time to do this. Being new at this, I didn't know what to search for. I've been searching Google for "Android multiplayer game development" but couldn't find what I was looking for. Thanks again mate. That really wasn't so hard lol!

...http://bfy.tw/fqI

:angry: This is his first post, and it's in the noob section. At least speak to him.

Hello, Benateg. Welcome to GDN. I don't have much truck with networking SDKs myself, but there are some more experienced people around the place. I'm sure a few of them can give you some suggestions about where to get started in terms of packaged solutions. You may also want to peek at the networking and multiplayer forums and see if there's any discussion of such packages going on in there.

Good luck!

Wow! Thank you, Khatharr! Totally appreciate your kind words. I have read many topics about how multiplayer gaming works in general, but I was looking for topics that are specific the Android IDE. I see many Android games that have a multiplayer feature but are not using Google Play Sevices. So I was wondering about the different options out there for an indie developer to create a multiplayer game . Well, being a noob means that I most likely don't know what I'm looking for lol. But thanks again for your kind reply. I will try my luck at the multiplayer forum.

Peace...

What do you mean my multiplayer?

Do you mean turn based or real time.

You have a few options:

1) Roll your own. This involves writing your own server and API.

2) Use a commercial multiplayer games server hosted on your own server. For example http://www.smartfoxserver.com.

3) Use an off the shelf hosted multiplayer games API. Googleplus is one but, you don't want to use that. Others include Photon, Facebook SDK, gamooga and NextPeer.

4) Use a non game specific back end as a service (baas) to create your own multiplayer framework. So you could use Parse.com, PubNub.com or most other baas solutions.

I usually go with number 4 and use Parse.com for writing Asynchronous turn based games. I have played around with PubNub a little too but not really used it in anger. Both provide free plans that you can use for getting started and very noob friendly tutorials. Parse allows your users to sign in with Facebook, Twitter or allows them to create an account using email, username and password.

What do you mean my multiplayer?
Do you mean turn based or real time.

You have a few options:
1) Roll your own. This involves writing your own server and API.

2) Use a commercial multiplayer games server hosted on your own server. For example http://www.smartfoxserver.com.

3) Use an off the shelf hosted multiplayer games API. Googleplus is one but, you don't want to use that. Others include Photon, Facebook SDK, gamooga and NextPeer.

4) Use a non game specific back end as a service (baas) to create your own multiplayer framework. So you could use Parse.com, PubNub.com or most other baas solutions.

I usually go with number 4 and use Parse.com for writing Asynchronous turn based games. I have played around with PubNub a little too but not really used it in anger. Both provide free plans that you can use for getting started and very noob friendly tutorials. Parse allows your users to sign in with Facebook, Twitter or allows them to create an account using email, username and password.

That, my friend, is the exact answer I was looking for. Thank you very much! I wanted to know my options so that I can learn more about them, and you gave me just that.

I'm interested in real-time multiplayer. Does that have any effect, or limits, on the options you mentioned above?

Thanks again for helping out a desperate noob! :)

What do you mean my multiplayer?
Do you mean turn based or real time.

You have a few options:
1) Roll your own. This involves writing your own server and API.

2) Use a commercial multiplayer games server hosted on your own server. For example http://www.smartfoxserver.com.

3) Use an off the shelf hosted multiplayer games API. Googleplus is one but, you don't want to use that. Others include Photon, Facebook SDK, gamooga and NextPeer.

4) Use a non game specific back end as a service (baas) to create your own multiplayer framework. So you could use Parse.com, PubNub.com or most other baas solutions.

I usually go with number 4 and use Parse.com for writing Asynchronous turn based games. I have played around with PubNub a little too but not really used it in anger. Both provide free plans that you can use for getting started and very noob friendly tutorials. Parse allows your users to sign in with Facebook, Twitter or allows them to create an account using email, username and password.

That, my friend, is the exact answer I was looking for. Thank you very much! I wanted to know my options so that I can learn more about them, and you gave me just that.

I'm interested in real-time multiplayer. Does that have any effect, or limits, on the options you mentioned above?

Thanks again for helping out a desperate noob!

1) If you roll your own real time won't be a problem as you just write what you need

2) Use an off the shelf server. Not a problem as they are usually built for Real time games.

3) It depends which service you use. Photon for example does support real time communication whilst NextPeer doesn't there are lots of these services around so you will need to investigate.

4) Again some baas do support real time and some do not. You can do realtime using pub nub for example.

You will need to investigate the various services yourself and see if they suit your needs or not.

Disclaimer: I work for Nextpeer

Hi Benateg,

As stated above, Nextpeer can help you create a multiplayer game with great ease. Adding a basic multiplayer functionality will only take you a few hours of work.

Nextpeer supports live (synchronous) and asynchronous gaming, unlike what was stated earlier.

In addition, there are many automatically integrated tools within Nextpeer that'll get you more users (free cross promotion). Also, the social features that come as part of the system are proven to improve your player's retention.

You can find more info about our services on our website:

www.nextpeer.com

Have a great day!

Dror

What do you mean my multiplayer?
Do you mean turn based or real time.

You have a few options:
1) Roll your own. This involves writing your own server and API.

2) Use a commercial multiplayer games server hosted on your own server. For example http://www.smartfoxserver.com.

3) Use an off the shelf hosted multiplayer games API. Googleplus is one but, you don't want to use that. Others include Photon, Facebook SDK, gamooga and NextPeer.

4) Use a non game specific back end as a service (baas) to create your own multiplayer framework. So you could use Parse.com, PubNub.com or most other baas solutions.

I usually go with number 4 and use Parse.com for writing Asynchronous turn based games. I have played around with PubNub a little too but not really used it in anger. Both provide free plans that you can use for getting started and very noob friendly tutorials. Parse allows your users to sign in with Facebook, Twitter or allows them to create an account using email, username and password.

That, my friend, is the exact answer I was looking for. Thank you very much! I wanted to know my options so that I can learn more about them, and you gave me just that.
I'm interested in real-time multiplayer. Does that have any effect, or limits, on the options you mentioned above?
Thanks again for helping out a desperate noob! :)

1) If you roll your own real time won't be a problem as you just write what you need
2) Use an off the shelf server. Not a problem as they are usually built for Real time games.

3) It depends which service you use. Photon for example does support real time communication whilst NextPeer doesn't there are lots of these services around so you will need to investigate.

4) Again some baas do support real time and some do not. You can do realtime using pub nub for example.

You will need to investigate the various services yourself and see if they suit your needs or not.

Disclaimer: I work for Nextpeer

Hi Benateg,

As stated above, Nextpeer can help you create a multiplayer game with great ease. Adding a basic multiplayer functionality will only take you a few hours of work.
Nextpeer supports live (synchronous) and asynchronous gaming, unlike what was stated earlier.

In addition, there are many automatically integrated tools within Nextpeer that'll get you more users (free cross promotion). Also, the social features that come as part of the system are proven to improve your player's retention.

You can find more info about our services on our website:
www.nextpeer.com

Have a great day!
Dror

I can't thank you enough, Buster2000. You've saved me a lot of time with the valuable information you've shared.

Dear Dror,

Thank you for sharing. I'm already looking through your website :)