Corona® AutoLAN- Public Internet Multiplayer Support Beta! Join Now!

Games
#121

Hello M.Y. Developers,

I recently purchased your AutoLAN (quite impressed) and I am testing it now. One glitch I ran into is during file transfer and I was wondering whether I have done something wrong.

My test involved editing your pong app and adding a button to transfer a file between two devices running the same app which calls the exact same command as in your documentation client:sendFile(“Icon.png”, system.ResourcesDirectory). After establishing client-server communications, the transfer appeared to work correctly except that the image of the file received in the document directory is blank. The info describing the received file like image size 57x57, file size etc. are all correct, just can’t see the image.

Any ideas why this could be happening? Any chance to make a basic transfer file app for the icon.png that demos the file transfer between two devices so I can compare with what I did?

Please advise and thanks,
proddev [import]uid: 72775 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 96150[/import]

#122

Hello M.Y. Developers,
Solved my problem, no need to reply. Great product!
Regards,
proddev [import]uid: 72775 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 96178[/import]

#123

hi there!

first of all, congrats!

I’ve tried out the pong. The game mostly has been synchronous, but the ball sometimes went back and forth. is this a common issue?

another question: is it possible to have an online lobby, or suggesting random servers to a player around the world? the demo is LAN only. Is there a documentation on how to do that? I would need to register the servers somewhere?

thanks!! [import]uid: 90610 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 96561[/import]

#124

Hi dingo,

To your first question, I’m not sure about the pong sample as I haven’t tried it specifically. However I do know from experience that the physics engine can quickly lead to divergence when things like collisions happen. It may just be a case of needing to update the ball’s position and velocity on more frequent intervals (and ideally after each collision event in particular).

As for making a lobby system, this is totally doable. I demo this capability in a video, in fact, that I linked to on page 1 of this thread. Additionally, AutoLAN provides an auto-connect function that should work nicely for simple randomly paired games. It’s really whatever you’d like to do.

Online is in beta and not documented in detail yet that I know. However, it is very simple to enable online instead of LAN, and all the code is already compatible. The answer is yes, you’ll want your own server to run the PHP script that M.Y. provides. It is used to populate the game list for clients and allows players to find one another, at which point they can disconnect from the server and communicate directly (so the server load is relatively minimal). [import]uid: 87138 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 97762[/import]

#125

Great library. Coming back to Corona and IOS programming slowly after a years break and this was a feature I most wanted. Bought it and will start learning / using it.

Quick question. When we are on a 3G network away from WiFi connection technically we are served IP addresses by a tower. Would it be fair to assume that AutoLan would work in LAN mode while on a 3G network and discover other AutoLan based app users in the same vicinity? Has anyone tried this yet? Please note I am not referring to the upcoming Internet based mode (aka Online) but rather the Wifi mode (aka LAN). Thanks [import]uid: 11904 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 97830[/import]

#126

@proddev,
Glad to hear you got things working. Let us know if you run into any more problems.

@marble68,
Thanks for your interest!
Cider has Autocomplete now as well as many more features. Please be sure to check that out. As for your question about WAN. Currently the internet is in beta to test just this functionality. If you would like an invite let us know via email:
mydevelopergames@gmail.com

@dingo,
Thanks for your interest!
The game mostly has been synchronous, but the ball sometimes went back and forth. is this a common issue?
We think this issue is related to the physics engine being frame based rather than time based. Because of slight frame rate jitters this will result in minor discrepancies that add up over time. Also, currently the ball is only updated when it collides with the wall. This was to illustrate the point that the simulations should be deterministic. The problem can be mitigated by sending sync frames more often.

is there documentation?
Sure! you can find it here.
http://www.mydevelopersgames.com/AutoLAN/QuickStart.html
It mainly focuses on LAN but internet is just a few extra lines of code. The idea is to first get it working on LAN then extend it to the net.
@Revaerie,
Thank you so much for all your help! Hope things are going well with the game.

@ksan,
Thanks for the interest, glad to have you back!

Would it be fair to assume that AutoLan would work in LAN mode while on a 3G network and discover other AutoLan based app users in the same vicinity?
Yes, AutoLAN will scan for UDP broadcasts on all network interfaces. In fact, it is necessary to scan devices on LAN as well as internet because if the two devices happen to be on the same private network then connection via internet is generally not possible. We have tested AutoLAN with a phone connected to both 4G/3G and wifi at the same time.

Thanks,
M.Y. Developers [import]uid: 55057 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 97834[/import]

#127

Super! Thanks for your quick response. Already got MultiPong up & running on my iPhone and my daughters and played a while. Also was ok to play 1 iPhone against MultiPong running on Corona Sim. Setup and connection etc was very easy. This will be great! [import]uid: 11904 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 97836[/import]

#128

Just installed Cider - first impression:

  • I love it -

Great work.

[edit] Bought it. [end edit]

[import]uid: 13784 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 97991[/import]

#129

Hello Everyone,

We are considering buying a dedicated server for hosting AutoLAN scripts. We would like to know how many people are interested in such a service so we know what kind of a server to get. The service will start at $9.99 per month once your app hits the market. It will be free for testing purposes and we will give the AutoLAN library for free for anyone interested in using the internet service. Please let us know if you are interested.

Note, everyone who purchased AutoLAN will get a month of service for free. Thank you for making this possible.

Thanks,
M.Y. Developers [import]uid: 55057 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98160[/import]

#130

This is great news for those of us who does not have the means to run the script on their own server. Will you still allow those who would like to run it on their own server have the script? Thanks [import]uid: 11904 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98165[/import]

#131

@ksan,

Sure! We only want to help people, not limit them. If you have your own server then there is no need to get the service.

Regards,
M.Y. Developers [import]uid: 55057 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98172[/import]

#132

Great! You guys are the best. Thanks much! [import]uid: 11904 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98177[/import]

#133

@Revaerie: thanks for your infos. It works great on LAN, couldn’t manage to make it run over the internet so far. and i have the beta server configuration. i guess i need to try again :slight_smile:

good stuff! [import]uid: 90610 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98235[/import]

#134

I finally got my app onto an Ipod to test.

I was able to successfully cycle back and forth from server to client with my code when properly disconnecting the client first, followed by terminating the server.

When I set the device down to look at my code, it timed into suspend, which terminated the connection. Unfortunately, I was not able to ever re-establish connection, which is the exact same result I was experiencing on the simulator. I didn’t try completely shutting down the ipod to reset, takes way to long and not a realistic solution IMO, to attempt to revive the connection.

I keep coming back to my original suggestion to resolve the issue, a function to completely dump the server/ client, where the makeServer/makeClient/listeners reside in a seperate module, that is called from the disconnected listener.

Whatever the solution, this issue certainly needs to be resolved before autoLan could be successfully deployed/utilized in a reliable scenario.

@revaerie, @Borg are you not generating this “show stopper” issue? Am I the only one this happens to, because it appears I’m the only tester concerned about it? [import]uid: 106779 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98318[/import]

#135

i still can’t make it run over the internet. how do i need to start the server? i did server:startInternet()…

sry for the stupid question, but i have no documentation :slight_smile: [import]uid: 90610 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98752[/import]

#136

@xnailbender

I think I had something like your problem before when testing. It made the servers and client “hang around” a little while before they got removed properly. I was testing out some things with tne timeouttime or whats the name, to make it possible for users to do quick things in other programs or getting a phone call etc… but ended up deciding that I wanted it to be a total live game instead and would just disconnect all if one exited the game. Took the easy way out you could say :slight_smile: Might go back an try to make it a different way later on. But when I changed things back I made the timeout even shorter and that seemed to fix alot of those times when it became a problem.

But not sure if its totally gone. But tell you what, my game is soon out with the update on appstore and I will send you some promocodes and you can test it out if you got access too two or more apple devices :slight_smile: maybe you have found an problem which I have not checked for, and if the problem isnt there Im sure we can track down what changes Ive done.

[import]uid: 17969 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98820[/import]

#137

@Borg, The issue always seems to reside on the client side. The client receives a “null” message or part of a message and locks up when not disconnected first, due to suspend or other sudden/unexpected disconnect.

I simply cannot revive the client to make any connection again.

I am not trying to re-establish a “suspended” connection in my code, just happy to revive the client to make a new connection with any new connection available.

I have not played with changing the timeout values, I’m really not sure how that would change the issue, unless the client is trying to re-establish the connection forever and doesn’t reset itself? I’ll have to look into this possibility.

Looking forward to “rolling the dice”! [import]uid: 106779 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98896[/import]

#138

@xnailbender,
We sent you an email with a version that should fix the problem. This will basically allow the client to reconnect to the server even though it hasnt fully disconnected (ie timed out from the server side.) The behavior before this version was to prevent the same IP from joining if it was already connected. Now the behavior is to kick the current client and connect the new client if the IP is the same. This should in effect “revive” the client. Please send us an email if you did not get it.
(our email is mydevelopergames@gmail.com)

@borgb,
We would love to see the promo codes and give it a shot! Thanks for letting us know. Please email us if you are interested in trying out the developmental version.
(our email is mydevelopergames@gmail.com)

@dingo,
Thank you for trying it out! The documentation should be bundled in the dropbox invite. It is called “DocumentationV120” under the folder “Corona Multiplayer.” Also, we plan to have 100% uptime on the test server soon as we get the dedicated server fully set up. We will let everyone know of the details soon.

Thanks,
M.Y. Developers
[import]uid: 55057 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98906[/import]

#139

By the way, I found one error now that I cant really explain. Everything works ok but if I have had one device as server… then I lock the device with the button on top. After unlocking again and then starting a server I cant find that device. Making another device server is good and works but if I do the same to that it also cant be found again. I have to completely exit the game and restart it for it to work. Seems to be creating some errors for the client as well as it connects but then just disconnects again… Any idea of what might cause this to happen? its only seems to be a problem when locking the device, not when multitasking or anything like that.
I tracked down some info on locking of the device compared to pressing the home button:

Pressing the Sleep/Wake button is another type of interruption that causes your app to be deactivated temporarily. When the user presses this button, the system disables touch events, moves the app to the background but sets the value of the app’s applicationState property to UIApplicationStateInactive (as opposed to UIApplicationStateBackground), and finally locks the screen.
UIApplicationStateInactive
The application is running in the foreground but is not receiving events. This might happen as a result of an interruption or because the application is transitioning to or from the background.
UIApplicationStateBackground
The application is running in the background.
[import]uid: 17969 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98921[/import]

#140

@M.Y.developers
sent you mail with codes :slight_smile:

@xnailbender
if you can post your e-mail I will send you a couple as well, or you can send me a mail at bjornar@borgb.com [import]uid: 17969 topic_id: 19917 reply_id: 98917[/import]