AffordaGolf Online
Steam P2P System
Currently I've taken a step back from it all and I'm trying to engineer a way of it working the best. What I mean by this is that, by the end of the implementation of Steam P2P System, the game will be very different gameplay wise.
I'll give more details soon but for now here's what I'm thinking it will be the steps to play online when the system is done:
[Create/Join Steam Matchmaking Lobby] => [Lobby Owner chooses map] => [Every Player sets as Ready] => [Lobby Owner Starts the game] => [Every player reports his actions to everyone (p2p)] => [Actions applied in other clients and physics are locally simualted] => [Once the player ball stops, physics are re-checked and errors are fixed]
This is just an outline of how the system will play out.
Regarding the so called "gameplay differences", I'll add in-game text chat too thanks to this wonderful steam service.
This should be done in the next (hopefully few) weeks and I hope that it really works in practice as good as it works in theory.
Thank you for your support and happy playing!
Summer Update Public Release
Physics should be better and Steam P2P will take more time to eventually come.
Thanks for understanding.
Hope you enjoy.
Summer Update on Beta Branch.
I finished most of my college works and I created a small (4 holes) map with the new modules (loops and water). Loops are really cool to work with and I hope you guys create some cool maps with it.
The new update is on a beta branch which you can actually download right now, but I'm still testing some stuff so I won't release it on the default branch just yet.
Everything I promised was done except the Steam P2P in which I need to look a lot better and see if it works well with the game, but this isn't as mandatory as the other update features so I think it's better to release it as is, and then do another with Steam P2P if it works.
So, tomorrow the game will be updated, but if you want to test out the new features, you can check the BETA branch.
Here's a screenshot of the new map:
Thank you for your support!
Hope you enjoy.
Summer Update Multiplayer Fixes
I've tried to implement the new networking model to make simulated physics more accurate but with no success. It didn't work out very well, so instead the server update frequency was increased to 30hz.
To improve physics, the bounciness of the ball was increased 25% and should collide and behave more realistic.
So for the new update only thing left is Steam P2P which I still haven't touched and the new map using new modules which is being taken care of.
Thanks again for the amazing support and hope you enjoy the update :)
Coming June 20th.
Summer Update Modules
So far I've been working on the new modules and workshop features and those are done.
The new modules as you can see in the image below are mainly loops:
- 180º degree loop
- 270º degree loop
- 360º degree loop
- Long Ramp
- Water planes.
Also, now when you publish your map to Steam Workshop, a screenshot will be taken and added as a preview for your workshop item, so that players can see upfront how your map looks like.
And for now this is what I've to show. I'm still finishing up college works but I think everything is on schedule for what I've promised.
About the other features, the player controller is being completely revamped as till now the thing that was being synchronized was position and velocities, and sometimes physics (collisions) weren't accurate between server and clients, so now what I'm planning to do is to revamp the network model and send direct player input to every client so that everyone has a clear representation of the server's game state. For other words, instead of syncing every player's position, only the first input will be sent to all clients and each client then calculates the position, collisions and all that. This will not only reduce network traffic, but also (in theory) make for a more smoother and realistic experience.
Regarding server and hosting, I haven't touched Steam P2P yet, but I'm reading the documentation and trying to come up with a Network model that fits the game. This however will be secondary.
Thanks a lot for the support :)
Summer Big Update!
Since the latest update I've been super busy with my college degree, lots of work (not gaming related) and I couldn't work much on the game.
But now, I'm here to show you what is coming for AffordaGolf in the Summer*.
Steam Matchmaking improvements
I've receive some inputs about Steam Matchmaking not working with some users and I'll fix this.
Steam P2P alternative
Some users are behind severe ISP blocking of ports, and can't host a server to play with friends. With Steam P2P this should be resolved and anyone can play with anyone, no matter the ISP blocks. However this will be experimental and may not work at all as I've never used Steam P2P service.
New map modules
Some new modules to create new maps
NEW MAPS!!!
Using the new and old modules.
Steam Workshop improvement
When exporting to workshop the map will export with screenshots from different angles. (Will see if this is possible, I believe it is)
Physics Improvements
Some physics sometimes fail and are not realistic, this will be fixed in this update.
Hope you enjoy and thanks for all your feedback so far!
*It will come before the 21th of June.
v1.23 Hotfix #2
Also the most annoying one, the room deletion bug was finally fixed (from what I've tested), so no more ghost rooms hopefully.
Hope you enjoy and Sorry for the trouble.
AffordaGolf Free DLC #1
With that I've created this DLC called "Extra Plinko Plays" that will give you extra plinko plays as you play the game day by day.
Hope you enjoy it.
v1.23 Release!!
What's new?
- 3 New Sticks
- Steam Matchmaking
- Map editor revamp
- Steam Workshop
- Map ratings
Steam matchmaking chat has some bugs of repetition, but it's overall working.
The sticks are available by Plinko.
There's 3 sticks:
- Default (green) -> Bad accuracy and normal power
- White -> Good accuracy and normal power
- Black -> Bad accuracy and 20% more power
And then there's the Golden Stick that has 100% accuracy and 200% power, so if you get it, be careful with your shots!
Hope you enjoy, Thanks for playing!
v1.23 Status
I've been working on v1.23 since yesterday and I've got some status updates for you:
- Maps Ratings* (done)
- Steam Matchmaking (80% done)
- Steam Workshop (80% done)
- Reported bugs fixed (done)
- Different clubs/sticks (with different abilities)
- Plinko revamp as suggested
- Map editor revamp
*Map ratings are working but should be entirely replaced by the steam workshop system.
How steam matchmaking will work:
There will still be a Room Browser working as usual, but now there will be a new Button on the Main Menu which will automatically find any open lobbies on AffordaGolf. If it doesn't find any, it will create one.
Lobbies are pre-rooms, that have a chat and where the creator can choose the map in which that lobby will play. Players in a lobby can say they are ready and once everyone is, the host can start the game.
Host's ports will be automatically open by the OpenPortTool before starting the match.
This system may help those with connection issues.
How steam workshop will work:
First you create a map in the new map editor like usual. Then when uploading, instead of uploading to our servers, the map will be uploaded to Steam workshop where everyone can subscribe, rate, comment and so on.
To get a map from steam workshop, it's fairly simple. A player just needs to go to the workshop, find a map, hit subscribe and the map will be downloaded locally for the player.
How different clubs/sticks will work:
Each player will start with the default stick, which stats are reasonable but could be better. By playing plinko and unlocking new sticks, your stick collection increases and you will end up with a stick for each situation.
In-game before any shot, you can choose what stick you want for that specific hole/course and change it in the next play turn if you want.
For now I haven't started on these multi-stick system but there are already two stats that each will have: ACCURACY and POWER. And as suggested there will be a GOLDEN STICK which will be the most rare and best stick there is with perfect ACCURACY and a decent amount of power.
Hope you enjoyed the game in 2016, because it will only get better in 2017!
Thanks for playing, reporting bugs and every feedback you gave me to improve!