KSP -Multiplayer - Will It Be Server Based?

[NeoMorph]

One thing that I would REALLY love to see is a distributed network for tracking spacecraft.

What I mean is having a server that has all the current flights tracked in the solar system and then you could use multiple other computers to act as spacecraft control. You could have a mission control linked to the server that shows where all the craft are but the real calculations are done on the controlling PCs...

Now I don't know if this is how SQUAD are going to handle multiplayer but it sounds possible that way. What do you guys think?

Edit: Further thought... you could implement a delay time for control from Kerbin to the spacecraft... bit like what is done in the RemoteTech mod. So you send the commands to the server which then sends it out to the spacecraft PC after the correct delay. The Spacecraft PC then sends back the data after the delay.

So basically it would mean one PC per craft and one PC for the server. You could then have several PC's (or even Arduino based displays) to build mission control.

Edited February 8, 2014 by NeoMorph

[Captain Sierra]

Will it be server based? nobody can really say, possibly not even Squad at this stage.

I personally would like to see that be an option, while you can also host your own server or just hook up LAN with friends that way.

[Spartwo]

What would be the other option?,I don't think NASA could handle the amount of spacecraft launched within 10 minutes if it was all one game.

[NeoMorph]

Yup.. that's my thought... having a home based star network (yeah, it's actually called that lol) would truly rock. I have several PC's that I would love to hook up like that.

[Rdivine]

I have mixed opinions about that. However, im pretty sure that KSP must have less lag so that it can run on friends' computers to play.

[rkman]

Will it be server based? nobody can really say

Squad has said they are working on the server back-end for 0.24 (but won't have anything to show for it yet).

Multiplayer needs a server one way or another. It's either a dedicated server, or one of the clients doubles as a server. From what i gathered there will not be one single master server.

[SRV Ron]

Desirable, local network for friends to cooperate on. Undesirable, MMP style multiplayer.

[jwenting]

an MMO style would cause a serious increase in cost for Squad, remember that.

They'd either have to go to a subscription model, or an item store where you pay real money for parts.

Neither of which is especially appealing.

[LongHairedHuman]

I don't think the multiplayer will done mmo-style, with a few public realms. It wouldn't make sense because everyone plays ksp differently, and mods wouldn't be compatible with public servers. Another client-server architecture that could be used, but unlikely will be, would be migrating host. I don't think that would work because that architecture works best for short matches, and not for persistent save files.

What would be most likely, is a dedicated server system, where a community can set up a server, or making a lan-server and playing trough Hamachi. It would also make sense with the persistent save file that KSP has.

[Captain Sierra]

What would be the other option?,I don't think NASA could handle the amount of spacecraft launched within 10 minutes if it was all one game.

Other option how I see it would be that Squad hosts a few servers on which players can create rooms. These rooms would be functionally identical to if you ran your own private server and would be a single persistence which you can interact with friends, strangers, etc.

Another thing I'm curious about is chat handling. will it be straight text based or will it include any kind of integrated VoIP, or do we need to run third party clients like Skype or TeamSpeak for that?

[Kerbart]

an MMO style would cause a serious increase in cost for Squad, remember that.

They'd either have to go to a subscription model, or an item store where you pay real money for parts.

Neither of which is especially appealing.

Oh yes, imagine the horror of making a million bucks a day like Blizzard did with warcraft

That being said I doubt that a single MMO style server would be applealing to play on. A few thousand ships at the same time? Lag is going to be unbearable.

[Nobody]

Will it be server based? nobody can really say, possibly not even Squad at this stage.

I personally would like to see that be an option, while you can also host your own server or just hook up LAN with friends that way.

Even I can't say for sure.

With how Mod friendly this game has been so far my guess is that Squad would take the path of FPS games. They would host a couple vanilla servers but most servers would be private servers where the individuals running them would control the mods running and restricting access to troublemakers.

[minerman30]

I'm hoping that it will be Minecraft-style, with free downloadable server software for both big public servers and tiny friend servers, as well as LAN worlds.

[Dodgey]

-Snip-

Edit: Further thought... you could implement a delay time for control from Kerbin to the spacecraft... bit like what is done in the RemoteTech mod. So you send the commands to the server which then sends it out to the spacecraft PC after the correct delay. The Spacecraft PC then sends back the data after the delay.

This is a pretty significant gameplay chance, I mean think about all of those probes out there, sounds like a bit of an annoyance.

[NeoMorph]

I'm hoping that it will be Minecraft-style, with free downloadable server software for both big public servers and tiny friend servers, as well as LAN worlds.

This is what I am hoping for... servers we can set up to run locally or internet wide... There could then have community servers that could handle friends and Twitch for those who can't log on (ie when the server is full).

So many possibilities.

[Comrade Jenkens]

I'd much rather have a close group of friends playing rather than MMO style. As me and many others have proved weaponry is easy to make so I'd be very worried about griefing.

[sgtscuba]

I'd much rather have a close group of friends playing rather than MMO style. As me and many others have proved weaponry is easy to make so I'd be very worried about griefing.

That, and anyone who can dock, can ram your nice space station too.

[Tada]

Comrade Jenkes: Come on! Taking fully armed XC-305 and leave a path of debris and destruction is not griefing by any mean!

[Spartwo]

Comrade Jenkes: Come on! Taking fully armed XC-305 and leave a path of debris and destruction is not griefing by any mean!

He'll be stopped at the fist fighter..