Deciding on a multiplayer networking framework

Help & Support
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Hi :slight_smile:

We are starting to work on a multiplayer brawler game, similar to the likes of Brawlhalla or Super Smash Bros., a lot smaller in scope though :wink:

I’m relatively new to network code and implementing the server architecture. I read a few articles like Choosing the right network model for your multiplayer game and Client-Server Game Architecture - Gabriel Gambetta, and also looked at the examples provided on playcanvas regarding Photon and Colyseus. But now I’m feeling a bit of Analysis Paralysis and I am not quite sure which framework to use, or simply where to start.

Since it will be a relatively small game, should I just start using e.g. Colyseus and see where it gets me? What would you suggest?

Thanks in advance for any pointers you can give :grin:

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Hi @AliMoe !
It really depends on what you want to do, for me, I don’t have any big projects and I need to run everything online, so I use glitch.me, and it’s really expandable. If you want a hosted multiplayer, Photon or Colyseus are better, but you need to download stuff and run the server on your computer, if I am not mistaken.

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Hey, If you are looking to develop a real time multiplayer game like Brawhalla then i would recommend writing your own server code so you have things in your hand. With photon you don’t get this kind of freedom and have to handle things on the client side. Also you can’t control the data transfer packet size of photon.

Would suggest using Colyseous or socket io and try to improve your server as you go. Here is a good guide by Cem regarding how you can start with real time multiplayer games : The journey of Multiplayer FPS game with PlayCanvas

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