Unity5.1 new network engine UNET (I) Summary 1. unity5.1unet

Unity5.1 new network engine UNET (I) Summary 1. unity5.1unet

Unity's new network engine UNET (I) Summary sun Guangdong 2015. 7.12

Unity5.1 released a new multi-player online tool, technology, and service for developers. The internal project name of this technology is UNET, all called Unity Networking. However, our vision is not just simple networking. As we all know, Unity's vision is to make game development more democratic. In particular, the Unity Networking team wants to make online game development more democratic for multiple gamers. We hope that all game developers can create different types of games that support any number of players.

Before joining Unity, the Networking team members were mainly engaged in large-scale multiplayer Online games, such as network startup century, Lord of the Rings Online, Online versions of dragons and underground cities, marvel heroes, extreme speed Online, and World of Warcraft. They are keen to develop multi-player online games, technologies and infrastructure, and have rich development experience.

As they said: "We are attracted by Unity's vision to develop multi-player online technology to realize Unity's vision. It is an opportunity for us to show our skills and we have no reason to refuse. Therefore, we quit our original job and joined the Unity Team to contribute to the Unity vision. Now, we are working hard to develop related tools, technologies and services to help everyone realize the dream of multi-player online games. "

This is of course a great career, but as we have just said, we have done these things before. Now, we all want to participate in such a career again, because it is really cool !. We use a phased implementation method to develop technology, which should be very familiar to Unity developers. We first release the first-stage technology, get feedback from users, and then solve the feedback in the second-stage work.
For UNET, the first stage is the basis of multi-player online technology (to be further explained later ). The second stage is based on the first stage. The concept of server authoritative gaming is introduced with the help of a simulated server, and some blog posts will detail this. The third stage is the final stage. We want to use the master simulation server to assign the ability to coordinate multiple simulation servers. As in general, the specific final release date of this technology is unknown, because we often encounter changes, especially after receiving user feedback. However, we can be sure that the first stage will be part of the 5.x release cycle, and the second stage is in the R & D stage.

So, why do we say that the first stage is the basis of multi-player online technology? The main features are as follows:

1. UDP-based high-performance transport layer supports all game types
2. The underlying API (LLAPI) provides comprehensive control through interfaces similar to sockets
3. High-level API (HLAPI) provides a simple and secure client/server network model
4. The matching service provides basic functions for a user to create a multi-person mode and allow others to join
5. The relay server solves the connection problem so that players can connect to each other when using the firewall.

Our old systems have some inherent defects that need to be addressed. As our goals become more ambitious, we understand that we must start from scratch. Since our goal is to support all game types and any number of connections, we first develop a new UDP-based high-performance transport layer. Although TCP can be used to develop many games, UDP is required for quick action games, because if the packets do not arrive in order, TCP will intercept the most recent packets.

Based on this new transport layer, we have created two new APIs. High-level API (HLAPI) provides a simple and secure client/server network model. If you are not a network engineer but want to easily develop a multi-player game, HLAPI may meet your interests.

We also hope to solve problems related to old systems reported by users. Some users need lower-level access permissions to achieve higher control permissions. Therefore, we use the underlying API (LLAPI) to provide a socket-like interface for the transport layer. If you are a network engineer and need to define a custom network model or fine-tune network performance, LLAPI will meet your interests.

The matching service is used to configure multiplayer online game spaces for gamers to search for each other. Finally, the relay server ensures that players can always connect to each other.

Based on our past experience, we know that developing multi-player online games requires a lot of effort. The online multi-player technology base is a brand new and easy-to-use professional networking technology, tools, and infrastructure, allowing developers to easily develop online multi-player games. First, it can be said that developing multi-player online games requires a wealth of network and protocol knowledge. You can learn this knowledge in person, or ask the network engineer for help. Once this obstacle is crossed, the problem you need to solve is to allow players to find each other. To solve this problem, you need to enable players to connect to each other. If a player uses a firewall with NAT, this may cause some trouble. However, after solving all these problems, it means that you have created a series of related infrastructures. The process of creating these infrastructures is not a game development process, nor is it fun. At this point, you have to worry about how to dynamically expand your infrastructure. To do this well, you must have a wealth of experience in advance.

We solved all these problems in the first stage. With HLAPI, you no longer need to have a wealth of network knowledge. If you are a network engineer and want to solve the problem in your own way, LLAPI can help you. The matching service can solve the problem of mutual searching between players. The relay server can solve the problem of players connecting to each other. In addition, we have helped you solve the problem of establishing the relevant infrastructure and dynamically expanding the infrastructure. The matching service and relay server reside in the Multiplayer Cloud of Unity. Therefore, not only physical servers expand or contract as needed, but also related processes expand or contract.

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