Game Servers - Revision history

Staffan Björk at 18:08, 29 January 2015

2015-01-29T18:08:08Z

Staffan Björk at 07:08, 27 June 2014

2014-06-27T07:08:38Z

Staffan Björk at 06:50, 27 June 2014

2014-06-27T06:50:41Z

Staffan Björk at 06:36, 27 June 2014

2014-06-27T06:36:16Z

Staffan Björk at 06:33, 27 June 2014

2014-06-27T06:33:21Z

Staffan Björk at 09:37, 26 June 2014

2014-06-26T09:37:16Z

Staffan Björk at 11:08, 22 June 2014

2014-06-22T11:08:11Z

Staffan Björk: /* Using the pattern */

2014-06-22T09:44:37Z

‎Using the pattern

Staffan Björk at 09:43, 22 June 2014

2014-06-22T09:43:42Z

Staffan Björk at 09:41, 22 June 2014

2014-06-22T09:41:26Z

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 == Consequences ==
-Quite understandably, [[Game Servers]] provide [[Mediated Gameplay]] to players. They do in most cases instantiate [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] by handling all non-player actions and game system updates needed.
+Quite understandably, [[Game Servers]] provide [[Mediated Gameplay]] to players. They do in most cases instantiate [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] by handling all non-player actions and game system updates needed, and can support [[Unsynchronized Game Sessions]].
 [[Game Servers]] more or less automatically provide [[Gameplay Statistics]] for players; this is needed to run the game and making it possible to access outside the game or outside game instances is typically not a hard process.
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 [[Persistent Game Worlds]],
 [[Self-Facilitated Games]],
-[[Self-Facilitated Rules]]
+[[Self-Facilitated Rules]],
 ==== with [[Meta Servers]] ====

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 == Consequences ==
 Quite understandably, [[Game Servers]] provide [[Mediated Gameplay]] to players. They do in most cases instantiate [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] by handling all non-player actions and game system updates needed.
 == Relations ==
@@ Line 41: / Line 43: @@
 [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],
 [[Game Worlds]],
 [[Instances]],
 [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]],

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 == Consequences ==
-[[Game Servers]] do in most cases instantiate [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] by handling all non-player actions and game system updates needed.
+Quite understandably, [[Game Servers]] provide [[Mediated Gameplay]] to players. They do in most cases instantiate [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] by handling all non-player actions and game system updates needed.
 == Relations ==
@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 [[Instances]],
 [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]],
 [[Multiplayer Games]],
 [[Persistent Game Worlds]],

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 == Using the pattern ==
-The two primary requirements of [[Game Servers]] is to support the gameplay mechanics and provide functionality for players to join game instances. In most cases supporting gameplay is done through implementing in code all rules that the game has and the actions a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators|Dedicated Game Facilitator]] needs, but with some extra effort a simulation of the game components can instead be provided. This extra effort allow for either [[Self-Facilitated Games]] or [[Self-Facilitated Rules]] which otherwise are difficult to combine with [[Game Servers]] (see the mobile app version of [[M.I.G.]] for an example of this). It can also be used to offer (rather than enforce) functionality to off-load some of the [[Excise]] players of [[Self-Facilitated Games]] need to do.
+The two primary requirements of [[Game Servers]] is to support the gameplay mechanics and provide functionality for players to join game instances. In most cases supporting gameplay is done through implementing in code all rules that the game has and the actions a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators|Dedicated Game Facilitator]] needs, but with some extra effort a simulation of the game components can instead be provided. This extra effort allow for either [[Self-Facilitated Games]] or [[Self-Facilitated Rules]] which otherwise are difficult to combine with [[Game Servers]] (see the mobile app version of [[M.I.G.]] for an example of this). It can also be used to offer (rather than enforce) functionality to off-load some of the [[Excise]] players of [[Self-Facilitated Games]] need to do. While implementing the rules of a game or simulating the environment in which a game can be played is the primary requirements from a pure gameplay perspective, many [[Game Servers]] are also responsible for containing and presenting [[Game Worlds]].
 While the main reason for having [[Game Servers]] is to provide online [[Multiplayer Games]], there are some distinct variants. First, the use of [[Meta Servers]] is very common since this allows the number of players to scale easily at the expense of not having them play the same game instance. Second, some servers provide [[Persistent Game Worlds]] which means that they are not supposed to be reset to former states and that using multiple copies of the [[Game Servers]] would mean that they would start to diverge. It may be for this reason that there are few examples of games using [[Meta Servers]] together with [[Persistent Game Worlds]]. Finally, [[Game Servers]] can provide a compromise between [[Single-Player Games]] and [Multiplayer Games]] by being [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]]. [[FarmVille]] and [[Candy Crush Saga]] are examples of this.
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 === Can Instantiate ===
 [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],
 [[Instances]],
 [[Massively Single-Player Online Games]],

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 == Using the pattern ==
 The two primary requirements of [[Game Servers]] is to support the gameplay mechanics and provide functionality for players to join game instances. In most cases supporting gameplay is done through implementing in code all rules that the game has and the actions a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators|Dedicated Game Facilitator]] needs, but with some extra effort a simulation of the game components can instead be provided. This extra effort allow for either [[Self-Facilitated Games]] or [[Self-Facilitated Rules]] which otherwise are difficult to combine with [[Game Servers]] (see the mobile app version of [[M.I.G.]] for an example of this). It can also be used to offer (rather than enforce) functionality to off-load some of the [[Excise]] players of [[Self-Facilitated Games]] need to do.
 [[Game Servers]] do not per se require [[Game Clients]], e.g. MUDs such as [[DragonMud]] and [[Kingdoms]] can be played without using [[Game Clients]]. However, as soon as games have graphical (or even ascii-based) representation they become a necessity. Games using [[Game Servers]] that wish to handle more players than a single game instance can handle make use of [[Meta Servers]].
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 == Relations ==
 === Can Instantiate ===
 [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]],
 [[Instances]],
 [[Self-Facilitated Games]],
 [[Self-Facilitated Rules]]

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 Several patterns related to how players can modify future game instances or communicate with each other are relevant when designing [[Game Servers]]. [[Player Decided Rule Setup]] give the players that are going to play together a chance to choose the variant of the game they prefer most while support for [[Player Kicking]] can remove players that somehow have made themselves unwanted. [[Chat Channels]] and [[Game Lobbies]] are necessary for players to be able to discuss with each other how to use these possibility.
-[[Instances]] is a design possibility that for book-keeping reasons only is practical to use often when one has [[Game Servers]].
+[[Instances]] is a design possibility that for book-keeping reasons only is practical to use often when one has [[Game Servers]]. Together with [[Meta Servers]], [[Game Servers]] can make automate [[Meta Games]].
 === Interface Aspects ===
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 [[Self-Facilitated Games]],
 [[Self-Facilitated Rules]]
 === Can Modulate ===

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 [[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
 [[Category:To be Published]]
 [[Category:Platform Patterns]]
 ''Computer or mechanical systems responsible for running individual game instances.''