#MULTIPLAYER GAMES NETWORK

[retrocgads]

USA 1993

[gbaonline]

I'd like to share some information to people who enjoy emulating GBA games, especially on android. So here's the thing, I've been itchy to do online linking/multiplayer on GBA emulation, especially Pokemon games, and already spend quite some time to find both ways and people who are interested in it. Then I found an old thread in pokecommunity website saying this:

"Long story short, I have zero friends in real life, and I haven't been able to find a community for users of the GBA Emulator "MyBoy" to gather and link up. So, I figured I'd see if anyone here was interested. The purpose of this thread is to gather anyone interested in linking up on MyBoy and Trading or Battling on Gen 3. Post in here to find some partners willing to link up and have some fun :3."

Well that pretty much describes my intention almost perfectly. But that thread was years ago and already locked for comments. As far as I know, MyBoy has never be able to link you online with other people far away, at least not with the emulator alone. Simply put it can't. But there are other emulators, specifically on Android, that have their own/built-in online multiplayer for GBA games.

The main emulator I used to do online multiplayer is called Multigba S. I'm sure some or even many people here already heard about this emulator. Despite still not yet giving a really good experience in online multiplayer, I can say it's still the best way to do online multiplayer on GBA.

To simplify the reading, here's the main features of Multigba S that you need to know:

- Free/ No paywall features

- Offline/ Singleplayer mode

- LAN mode (for connecting 2 nearby devices to play multiplayer)

- Netplay/ Online Multiplayer mode (for connecting 2 devices via internet to play multiplayer, world wide, cross countries)

- Easy Netplay setup (just need to login via google, no IP address sharing)

- Build with mGBA core, the best and most compatible GBA emulator

- Player 2/guest doesn't need to have the ROM to join the host server

- Can connect 2 different games (Like Pokemon FireRed with Emerald)

- Build-in text chat when playing multiplayer

- Supports both hardware controllers and virtual/on-screen/touch based controller

- Capable to link the emulator from android to windows (with BlueStack)

The image you see is the emulator's Public Server where people find each other and available servers online. I found most Multigba S users are Spanish(?) that play Pokemon Quetzal and barely see other people that speak English that play other GBA games. From what I read and experienced, the online multiplayer requires a pretty stable connection and high-end/flagship phone specifications from player 1/host side to get a smooth/stable gameplay. You can do the online multiplayer on low-end/budget phone, it works, but the disadvantage will be felt by player 2/guest as they'll likely get lags. But alas I can finally fulfill my Pokedex and play games like Zelda 4 Swords with foreigners. I have some more interesting GBA games with multiplayer mode that I can host, both vanilla GBA games and Pokemon romhacks like Unbound and some Emerald hacks.

There is also a Discord server to gather GBA players to find each other to play multiplayer online together, also for technical supports like save file transfer, multiplayer set up and such.

[dimalink]

Atlas H376 – Killing Floor, creep and trash floor, that kills

I continue to do results for 2024 year. With my computer. Atlas H376. So, let`s go. And see the game!

2024 year. Past. Not future. As VHS action movie. Creep. Trash. And, someway, so funny. If, of course, to run with gas mask along the dark catacombs. Underground laboratories. Destroyed. And full of creep mutants. It is nice, that it is without a mold and mushrooms, so this is funny now.

Well, you know, everyone has its own taste. And, it is not good idea to discuss other taste. Those year. Yes, it was. Yes. As Silent Hill. Or dirty autumn snow. And, I was playing hard with Killing floor part 1.

This is trash masterpiece. Gold with color of rust, with its own genre. As Quake the first. But, another way. So, here you have maps, and you run with them and destroy waves with monsters. They are scary as from horror movies. And, these are the things here - enemy waves are approaching. And in the end, it has a boss. And lots of weapons. Between waves, there is place and time to have a little run to the little store. And buy something new. Pistol. Shotgun. Automatic rifle.

This is Killing Floor. Floor, that is killing. Part 1. It is very trash and so cult with its own words game. Shooter with gasmask. Dark. And scary. Full creep theme. By the way, I have never played another parts. But, I have heard, that first part – it is most with this dark and rust industrial style. Later, developers, changed theme, they gone for another visual.

I played this game really hard, really lots lots. With a New Year with my little brother with network. We run together. And, well, game itself, is network. And, you can play with network. With another dudes by internet. I played too. And, I played single player.  Same maps. And same enemy waves. All the same, but you are one from the players.

And, I played this game first half of the year. That’s for sure.2024 year. It was such a creepy, partially. So, that was. That was. As I can say. But, summer was awesome, exciting. And, I played this little game. Why I played so much time? First time, in Steam, I opened for myself a workshop. And, there are there lots of maps, lots of new graphics, monsters. Lots of new weapons. Saying a word – new content with a big amount from fans. Different quality. But, mainly, rather cool things! So, it is very interesting!

There is, even, map with aliens. Even this is here. Lots of different weapons. So, you can to try lots of them. At the maps. Check it for yourself. Mass of time, I spent on this. I try different maps. So, because of fans content I played it so a long time. It is very interesting! Game for me, is like Doom. Maybe. this is one of the variations for game Doom. Such a fantasy about this.

Content from fans. Hight quality. It is rather continuing the style of game. Lots creepy, trash. And expands a lot the game. These things made this game with so big playtime! So, developers made all the core game. High quality. Well, it is norm, ok about content. But, game shines with rust, when you add fans content. New guns. Automatic rifles. Well, there are lots of things there. Different new monsters for exchange. And, of course, - new maps.

Actually, it is everything fine. There is even a model with Sonic. Such blue hedgehog from Sega. It looks funny. Or Knuckles even is here. Someone like them. I try lots of weapons there. Most different AK47. From this game, from that game. Cod, Stalker. Everything was taken from games and inserted here. Fans works. Lots of different M16. And most different. Well, I am a gamer, and I am not good with weapons. But, there are lots of these stuff here. Made by fans. Mainly, it is realistically made and for good action.

 Everything is with setup. What content do you want to see with this current game session. And, so in between the enemy waves. Hell kind. You run into little store. And, see with heart beat attitude, what new interesting to try this time! Maps are also different. They are rather dark. And dark levels. Lots of good stuff this kind is here!

Also, it is ok to play with brother. With network to play really hard! I was very deep about this game for some weekends. That I take on winter hat during spring. And up - I set headphones. For style. And with this look I played with network. All these amazing content, also, works in network. Variations, different content – it is to blow your mind! Some celebration day for fan of this industrial theme.

Well, from the beginning, you see some character arts here. With gasmask. With AK47. Or M16. And some field. And lots of monsters there. Or laboratory, something like, it is abandoned factory under the ground. Everything is with rust. Dark. Everything is so old. And, at last, from the darkness zombies walks. And some creatures with even more scary look. You start to shoot. Wow. Scary and creep. This style has this title. As creep trash shooter – it is definitely masterpiece.

Once again, game has lots of content from fans. Everything is installed automatically and very easy. You can setup your own floor that kills. Your own killing floor. So, I even was a little happy, that I was with this mood. And play a lot this game! I am enough now. This is unbelievable!  It does not hurt you much!

Playing little games. From time to time i like to play videogames. And write about it. Dima Link is making retro videogames, apps, a little of music, write stories, and some retro more.

WEBSITE: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html ITCHIO: https://dimalink.itch.io/

[sublimepizzastarfish]

Pirate Software's "rearchitecture" for Stop Killing Games

There's been a lot of fascinating drama around Stop Killing Games. Go read the initiative here:

It is a good initiative, and anyone who is a consumer that can, should absolutely go support it.

Jason "Thor" Hall, CEO of Pirate Software, recently had a few, let's say, "takes" on the matter (I'm trying and failing to remain neutral), which began on a stream. The stream's VOD has since deleted on his YouTube channel.

Louis Rossmann, who you might know as the largest Right to Repair activist in the US, made a response to a section of the releevant stream here:

Thor, CEO of Pirate Software, made two videos to clarify his points:

There is an argument in the video at the 2:08 mark that I will reference later.

(I recommend watching all these videos on 2x speed. You will get the same info out of them all, because especially video 2 is a lot of repetition)

Now, as mentioned above, there is one particular technical argument that bugs me about what Thor, CEO of Pirate Software, is making. Here is the full quote:

How would you keep League of Legends in a functional, playable state? You'd have to rearchitect the entire game. The game is what is called "client-server". So, in client-server models, there's a server, there's a client, and all of the math, all of the game, everything happens on the server. The client just displays it. And the reason we want to do it that way is so that you can't teleport around and do a billion damage. You don't trust the client. You trust the server. The client just displays what it's told. Right? So, if we wanted to rearchitect this, we would have to take all of that server logic, push it back out into the client, and somehow make that playable in a multiplayer-only video game. That doesn't make sense to me. So this doesn't work for all games. Why is [the initiative] calling out all games?

So, first off, yes, most games do client-server architecture for multiplayer logic, because you do trust the servers. It is an important step to curbing an entire class of cheats. It doesn't necessarily mean the client isn't malicious (for example, there are cheats for League of Legends that show a growing circle when an enemy leaves the fog of war in the minimap). However, it does mean the client doesn't know 100% of the game at any time when information is selectively fed to each client based on something like the fog of war. That's awesome.

Some games, like PlanetSide (rest in peace) and Overwatch (2) use what's called client-side hit detection. Some games, like Halo 1, employ more selective hit detection models, where only certain weapons use client-side hit detection (see https://c20.reclaimers.net/h1/engine/netcode/). Client-side versus server-side hit detection can change the overall feel of a game, and it's one of the things game developers decide on in multiplayer-only games that require it. In the case of an massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS) like PlanetSide (2), the server simply can't calculate thousands of people's math in a reasonable amount of time, because otherwise the hit detection would otherwise feel very crappy to play, and so the math is offloaded to the client and the client says "hit" when they hit.

However, there are a few counterexamples to the specific technical argument that keeping the game playable after end-of-lifing it requires rearchitecting:

Games with dedicated servers exist - Command & Conquer: Renegade, Starsiege: TRIBES

Games where one client also hosts the multiplayer server exist - Half Life 2, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine

Private server hosting exists - World of Warcraft

Some of these games, particularly the examples with dedicated servers that can be run on user hardware, can also run as the second example.

To say keeping a multiplayer-only online game requires rearchitecting a game like League of Legends means a lack of imagination. More relevantly, it means a lack of systems thinking.

To me, it is very strange for someone such as Thor, CEO of Pirate Software, who is self-described as being a 20 year veteran of the games industry to say. I won't say skill issue, because I think there is an ulterior motive at play.

Just to hammer the point home, I drew up some crappy diagrams in Inkscape because this extremely wrong technical argument bugged me so, so much.

Here is what a client-server model looks like:

Here, you have 10 clients, each being a player of the game. Then, you have the server, run by Riot, the developer and maintainer of League of Legends.

Here is the imagination of Thor, CEO of Pirate Software, had to say on the matter on the required way rearchitect it:

Those who know their network models would understand this looks very much like a mesh network, or a peer-to-peer model. And, to be fair, some games might attempt it.

However, this isn't *usually* how games described using a peer-to-peer (P2P) model work. Most peer-to-peer models, like the architecture used in Space Marines, are often used for matchmaking. Once you are in a game, one of the clients also serves as the host (selecting by some algorithm, like randomly or whoever has the best hardware).

P2P is nice, because the company doesn't have to run servers for matchmaking at all during their lifespan (and sometimes a matchmaking server might be spun up to serve as a relay to help with network issues or help other clients find clients quickly). As we'll get into later, a client machine will also serve as the host machine. It is a perfectly fair and valid, although it comes with it's frustrations (mainly in the realm of network address translation (NAT) traversal, because your computer behind a router is not usually exposed to the wider Internet, though sometimes routers have universal plug-and-play (UPnP) set up, which makes NAT traversal much easier here).

If you've ever seen a message in the game "migrating host" because the host left, they likely use P2P matchmaking, but still use a client-server model. They can just migrate the game data to a new host using the data on the other clients as a seed for the data.

This is likely their setup for actual gameplay:

One of the clients now has a server on the same machine. Sometimes, this could be the game itself that would serve in singleplayer. However, most often, this is just a server that's lightweight enough for the client to connect to and they play that way (it's also really nice to develop and QA this way, because many server bugs will also be seen by the client).

Now, one of the disadvantages here is: Can all remote clients connect to the host that the server (and one of the clients) is running on? Again, NAT traversal issues usually play a role here. In the first few days of any game that uses this, and only this, there will likely be a lot of issues with connectivity.

Another disadvantage: The host won't have latency issues. This is why in the case of, for example, Among Us, the client host can see certain things happening (like someone is dead the moment they hit a button or reported a body), but remote player hosts might not.

Okay, so, maybe it's not possible to rearchitect something like League of Legends like this. It could reasonably be a lot of work. Here is another solution:

Looks very similar to the first architecture, doesn't it? It is! The difference is that the text "Riot" was changed to "not Riot".

This is how World of Warcraft and Pokemon Go private servers work.

The vast majority of games that would not run without private servers simply do not require rearchitecting to keep in a reasonably playable state when the servers shut down.

[ketochblog]

Teaser!

I got a basic TCP server running able to withstand ~10/20 players with ease. This is how the multiplayer connect screen is going to look like!

[staticleapstudios]

🛡️ Party System Upgraded - In-game menu for party roster, chat, etc - Click-based invites & auto-fill requests - Auto-created chat channels for squads Ready? #Multiplayer #IndieGameDev #SquadUp #OnlineGaming #Networking

[masglobalservicesblog]

How Networking Services Drive the Success of Multiplayer Games

Multiplayer Network Games are at the forefront of this revolution in the modern gaming landscape, which is flourishing with innovation. The need for scalable architecture, low latency, and seamless connectivity has never been higher, especially with millions of players interacting in real time across continents. Strong game networking services, which are essential to any successful multiplayer experience, are at the core of this functionality.

The Rise of Multiplayer Network Games

The evolution of gaming has shifted from single-player adventures to interactive, community-driven experiences. Multiplayer functionality is now essential to a game's popularity and longevity, regardless of whether it's a team-based shooter, real-time strategy game, or massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

Players expect real-time action, uninterrupted communication, and flawless synchronization between clients. This level of performance is only possible through robust and intelligent networking infrastructure.

Why Networking Services Matter

Networking is essential to the gameplay of multiplayer games and goes beyond simple technical requirements. Reliable gaming networking services guarantee:

Dedicated game servers for stable connections and reduced lag

Matchmaking systems to pair players based on skill, location, and latency

Real-time data analytics for optimizing server performance

Cross-platform compatibility to unify the experience across devices

We work closely with game developers to understand the nuances of their projects and craft customized solutions that ensure smooth and scalable multiplayer interactions.

The Future of Multiplayer Games and Networking

Multiplayer gaming will only become more complex and dynamic as 5G and edge computing become more widely used. In order to stay ahead of the competition, developers will need to collaborate with seasoned networking service providers who are knowledgeable about the gaming industry.

Mas Global is committed to being a strategic partner in this journey—offering innovative, resilient, and scalable networking services that transform ambitious ideas into immersive multiplayer realities.

Conclusion

The underlying networking services for games that facilitate smooth, real-time player interaction are crucial to the success of multiplayer network games. Gaming companies can improve their multiplayer offerings and produce captivating experiences for audiences around the world with the correct technology and know-how. To realize the full potential of your multiplayer game development, collaborate with Mas Global.

Visit: https://masglobalservices.com/services/multiplayer-networking/

[lioma-gaming]

I've lamented this time and again but as someone who uses PS Multiplayer but hardly ever downloads the free monthly games (let alone plays them) I REALLY WISH there was a cheaper version of PS Plus.

Not only has it gotten pretty damn expensive over the last years (50,00€ -> 72,00 €/yr), but you can't buy it via Gift Card anymore (the closest is 75€ but it's not available everywhere).

Every year, when my subscription is about to run out, I question myself why the heck I'm paying such an insane amount just so I can have a fun online gaming evening with my friends whenever we want (something that's still free on PC and used to be free on old consoles).

Not to mention that the PSN had a lot of issues in the past months.

[fogaminghub]

🚀💨 Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is here, bringing a whole new level of excitement to racing! 🎮 With magical Travel Rings, players can jump between mind-blowing worlds, while dynamic tracks keep you on your toes! Customize your ride and grab powerful gadgets to gain an edge in your races! 

🔗 Check out more details and get ready to wishlist on the PlayStation Store! 

[adriaticpulse]

Veliki pad PlayStation Networka: Problemi traju već više od 20 sati

U tijeku je veliki pad PlayStation Networka (PSN) i ozbiljni problemi s pristupom mreži, koji su započeli još u petak navečer, 7. veljače 2025. Od tada, milijuni igrača diljem svijeta ne mogu koristiti ključne online usluge, uključujući multiplayer igre, PlayStation Store i upravljanje korisničkim računima. Sony je potvrdio problem, ali još uvijek nije objavio službeni razlog niti procjenu kada…

[insightfultrends]

PlayStation Network Plunges into Darkness: Global Gaming Grinds to Halt as Outage Persists

Online gaming for PlayStation users worldwide is experiencing a major disruption this evening as the PlayStation Network (PSN) suffers a widespread and ongoing outage. Thousands of gamers are reporting complete inability to log in, access online multiplayer features, or even browse and download content from the PlayStation Store.   Across social media platforms, a wave of frustration is building…

[diah-the-demon]

hey look what i did earlier today

[edwardos]

Mysterious severe faultlining in one of my 2011 Minecraft worlds.

[wilwheaton]

In less than a week, Sony has given us two timely reminders of the tenuousness of digital “ownership” — and both reminders involve things on PlayStation. Last week, Sony said that, because of content licensing “arrangements,” users wouldn’t be able to watch Discovery content they’ve purchased and that the content would be removed from their libraries as of December 31st, 2023. The resulting list of shows that will suddenly disappear because of corporate agreements is very long. Shows disappearing from streaming services is commonplace, but in this case, people are losing access to shows they bought to watch on demand whenever they wanted. Then, on Monday, many users were unexpectedly banned from their PlayStation Network accounts, meaning that not only were they blocked from playing multiplayer games or using cloud streaming but they were also locked out of games they purchased digitally from Sony’s PlayStation marketplace. Affected users who may have spent years building a robust digital library were suddenly left without access to content they had bought through no fault of their own. It appears that Sony has since restored account access to people who were accidentally banned, but the company hasn’t explained what happened or said how it might prevent similar unexpected bans in the future. (Sony hasn’t replied to our multiple requests for comment.)

PlayStation keeps reminding us why digital ownership sucks

I got locked out of my PlayStation account yesterday, with no explanation or warning. I only play single player offline, so it didn’t affect me like it did so many others, but holy shit Sony has made the best case, EVER, for buying real, physical, media ... or just fucking stealing it from some dodgy website, because when you do things the “right” way, you can lose it all, with no refund or recourse, because not a single executive at Sony gives a fuck about you and me.

[tamara-kama]

I remember 200ms being the norm and if you had less than 100 you were an "LPB".. a "Low Ping Bastard".. 🤣

UK 1998

[theresattrpgforthat]

Do you have any recommendations for library or book themed ttrpgs?

THEME: Library / Book Themed TTRPGS

Hello there! Most of the games I found this time around were solo games, although I think there's one or two that can be played multiplayer. Without further ado, let the recommendations begin!

The Librarian's Apprentice, by Almost Bedtime Theater.

Infinite, ever-shifting, and sometimes dangerous, the Library exists in the space between worlds and times. Among the many who call it home are the Librarians, and only those who truly understand it may join their ranks. You seek to do so.

The path of a Librarian’s apprentice is a long one. Your current task is designed to test your skills at traversing the Library and finding information. Retrieve the six documents requested by your Librarian before the day is out and you will have completed one more step on your journey.

Good luck.

Using the Firelights System, by Fari RPGs, The Librarian's Apprentice contains three brochures, called volumes. Volume I is the game rules & character creation. Volume II contains the bestiary, as well as the oracle for locations, events & secrets. Volume III has more oracles, this time for NPCs.

As a solo journaling game, this is a story you can follow at your own pace, using dice and a deck of cards to generate new and unexpected moments that your character will have to navigate. If you love the limitless feeling of inter-dimensional libraries, you might like The Librarian's Apprentice.

The Sealed Library, by Sealed Library.

“How DARE you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, Mighty Caesar! Rape, murder, pillage thousands, even millions of human beings! But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!” ― Sidney Buchman

The Sealed Library is a solo journaling RPG played with a deck of cards, a tumbling block tower and a notebook/scroll.

You are the sole surviving librarian of the greatest library in history. It sits in the centre of culture for an ancient land, now fallen to invaders. They pillage and raze.

The library has been barricaded and you are under siege. What important texts can you move down into the vaults and seal away forever before the barricade breaks?

What will future generations discover inside the Sealed Library?

The Sealed Library is not designed to have a happy ending. Wretched & Alone games rarely are. No, what you play to find out is instead how your ending arrives; will it arrive in a sudden, painful attack? Or in a slow, painful wasting away as the invaders whittle away at your resources? If you play with a Jenga tower, you'll likely meet the first kind of end; if you just play with some dice and a deck of cards, you'll likely meet the second.

Reference Hopping, by Calenmir's RPGs.

"Reference Hopping" is a solo journaling one-page RPG where you play as an intern of the Multiversal Library Network. Since today's most urgent tasks are distributed across 15 different branch locations, you'll need to travel between them via reference hopping.

To play this game, you need a very specific book - a dictionary. You use word association to direct your travel. In order to hit specific targets, you need to find connections from some specific words provided in a list; each target word includes a description of the location's architecture, and task your librarian character is expected to accomplish, If you're a big fan of wordplay or word games, you might like this one.

Duelists of the Pages, by StarshineScribbles.

Duelists Of The Pages is a game where you use your books to create duelists. And then pit these duelists against each other!

This game is suitable for 2 or more players. And each player only needs a book and a bookmark to play.

Players pick a book and swap bookmarks. The other player fills in the { } with numbers and returns the bookmark to its original owner. The player then picks a page from their book and uses the numbers given to generate their duelist.

Players then set their duelists against each other! Either in a tournament or round-robin format!

A great little game to play with another person, and you get a bookmark out of it! It looks like you can play this with just two people, but you can increase the size of the party if you like!

Arcanacademia, by Ostrichmonkey Games @ostrichmonkey-games

Arcanademia is a no frills Forged in the Dark game where you play as a member of a Department at a Magical University. You and your colleagues will embark on all manner of magical hijinks on your journey to the top.

Sabotage rivals' projects, wrangle magical mishaps, court favor with the eldritch Administration, and maybe get some grading done.

Competition is fierce and weird and it takes everything you’ve got to get the funding and resources you really deserve.

Arcanacademia isn't solely library-focused, but being about academia, I have a feeling you'll be hitting the books fairly regularly. You can play anyone from an undergraduate student to a tenured professor; with unique abilities attached to each class. Since the game advertises itself as no-frills, I'm assuming you create the lore yourself. I think the game is still on sale, so now is a great time to check it out!

Ex Libris, by Argyx Games.

EX LIBRIS is a solo roleplaying game that lets you experience an adventure by following the course of a novel from your bookshelf. Randomly generate a Hero from the text, then play through a series of scenes as you progress to the end of the book!

Ex Libris uses a novel of your choice to set up a character by using words found in the book to create a character, and dice rolls to refer to which pages you'll end up flipping to next. I'm personally curious about whether or not you could switch up the dice or add extra ones for a larger book.

The instructions for this game are fairly short and sweet. I think Ex Libris is a good option for someone who only needs a little bit of guidance to let their imagination soar.

The Bookshelf, by Lin Codega.

The Bookshelf is a game about taking the time to organize your books, remember their value, and rewrite a story based on the stories you have already created. If you have toys, photos, or magazines, you think about different merits and continue the narrative.

At the end of your bookshelf you can choose to write another part of the story, put your writing aside, or pass The Bookshelf --and your own story--along to a friend. Perhaps they will add to your story or write a new one themselves.

Half roleplaying game, half meditation exercise, The Bookshelf allows you to re-explore your book collection and pick out little tidbits. You can also use other parts of your bookshelf; little tchochkes, photographs, newspapers.. to flesh out the story or poem that you create as you go.

Also check out…

The Third Library, a micro-setting by ehronlime.

The Breathing, by Fistful of Crits.

If you like what I do and want to leave a tip, you can check out my Ko-Fi!