PUBNUB - SO EXPENSIVE?!

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hey Guys,
My game is basically a dual stick shooter that I am trying to include a multiplayer mode. With massive 2D maps, where they can battle each other in different game modes. Now I am guessing the easiest way to do this is through PubNub. What is the cheapest way? I’m expecting to have multiplayer game lobbies of eight. I’m guessing I would need to check for each players position, rotation, & their bullets at least 45 frames per second, for best performance.

With 8 players in a lobby, it seems like a lot to me.

Sending out each players information (assuming all the info can be sent out in one message):
Device One Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Two Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Three Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Four Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Five Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Six Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Seven Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information
Device Eight Sends Out It’s Player & Bullet Information

***45 messages per second per device***

Device One Receives All Messages
Device Two Receives All Messages
Device Three Receives All Messages
Device Four Receives All Messages
Device Five Receives All Messages
Device Six Receives All Messages
Device Seven Receives All Messages
Device Eight Receives All Messages

***Additional 45 messages per second per device***

Assuming each lobby is full, & I have 100 lobbies, 8 devices playing in each… That’s 800 devices playing at one time, costing me 72,000 messages per second.

72,000 messages per second in pay to go for PubHub is $7.20 per second. Or, if I went the standard way, I would be allowed 14 minutes of multiplayer gameplay per day (assuming servers are full all the time) for $130 per month!? Ridiculous? For $650 per month, I can get around 200 minutes of multiplayer gameplay per day (assuming servers are full all the time). Now the servers will not always be full I am guessing so maybe 3 1/3 hours of gameplay per day is fair, but not for $650. At least in my opinion.

Could someone please tell me if this is just how it is out there, or if there is a cheaper way?

Thanks! [import]uid: 50842 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 314890[/import]

#2

Our team took on Pubnub at the Corona SDK Hack-a-thon. We did well but there is a major problem, phones laggg really bad. Multiplayer on phones is almost impossible over 3g, and the lag time is about 1-2 sec’s on Wi-Fi. It’s really only practicable if your doing real time chat. If you can get it to work, power to you, I would love to play your game. About the cost, Pub-Nub is free for indie developers. Just have the demo tag and create a unique channel. If you contact Pub-Nub, they have instructions on how you can set up your app and website for free service. You have to say your content is hosted by Pub-Nub in small text, and say it on your website too.
Hope this helps.

Regards,
Jordan Schuetz
Ninja Pig Studios [import]uid: 29181 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55004[/import]

#3

Can you even feasibly (not speaking money terms here) use PUBNUB for real-time multiplayer? I thought it was more for turn-based gigs. [import]uid: 10361 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55005[/import]

#4

Have you played a First Person Shooters? FPS players know the importance of having a strong dedicated connection to the internet. With slow connections, you will notice heavy lag. However if you have a fast connection, then the gameplay will be smooth sailing.

Try it for yourself:
http://www.pubnub.com/blog/how-to-real-time-multi-touch

It even has a mobile link:
http://www.pubnub.com/games/real-time-multi-touch/pubnub.htm

Also PubNub has a free option:
http://www.pubnub.com/price#branding

On a side note looking to the future, PubNub is changing in the coming years to be a free messaging service for everyone. Instead there will be optional for-pay features. Stay tuned! [import]uid: 27840 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55016[/import]

#5

Sending a message every frame is the wrong way to go about it. Look up some basic stuff on how networked games work. If you’re shooting bullets you’ll want to extrapolate the trajectory i.e. do http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_reckoning

I wouldn’t be suprised if you got poor performance out of pubnub for realtime multiplayer. If you’re serious you probably want to get or build a backend purpose built for the job.

[import]uid: 27183 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55028[/import]

#6

When you say backend purpose built for the job… how exactly would I go through doing that? [import]uid: 50842 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55050[/import]

#7

It’s a complex subject. There’s no “exact” way to go about it, but you could start by researching the topic. http://tinyurl.com/3gox4az I would point you in better directions, if I knew it wasn’t a wild goose chase for you.

But this has caught my eye http://www.exitgames.com/Photon [import]uid: 27183 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55075[/import]

#8

@don I never thought of that! Great idea!

Regards,
Jordan Schuetz
Ninja Pig Studios [import]uid: 29181 topic_id: 14890 reply_id: 55120[/import]