[perpetualKid]

there've been multiple similar requests in the past, but seems no code is available nor any documentation on the protocol.

Hence I implemented a small standalone MultiPlayer Server which basically mimics what the public server at tsimserver does.
It's included in the most recent OR MG Ultimate package, and code is available there as well.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/perpetualKid/ORTS-MG/media/Multiplayer_Window.png


Once the server is started, all players connect as client only, and the server will help to appoint a dispatcher, also monitoring when players are dropping the session.
The server can run locally (on the same machine as one of the players), or any accessible machine in the LAN, or on public internet.


The code is based on .NET Core 3.1, and will therefore also run on Linux and MacOS (in addition to Windows).

I haven't build a web version yet (since tsimserver is still around) but that shouldn't be a big deal now based on the code, if anyone interested.

[alifatico]

We tested it the other night 8 people in multiplayer and it worked without problems on windows.

Tonight we will do a second more extensive test.

I understand that when running on a machine, the player on that machine must connect as local ?.

Greetings

Peter

[perpetualKid]

alifatico, on 14 December 2021 - 10:27 PM, said:

We tested it the other night 8 people in multiplayer and it worked without problems on windows.

Tonight we will do a second more extensive test.

thanks for feedback, glad it worked :)

alifatico, on 14 December 2021 - 10:27 PM, said:

I understand that when running on a machine, the player on that machine must connect as local ?.

correct, every player connects as client only, and if the server program is running on one of the player machines, that player needs to connect as a client to the local server as well, ie. using "localhost:30000" or "127.0.0.1:30000" for config.
Alternatively the server could be on any other machine, doesn't need to have any content installed, it's barely using any CPU at all.

[alifatico]

Test result carried out last night.

A session in Muyltiplayer with 8 players.

We all use a common folder with the same trains.

Open Rails version: latest Testing.

This time the result was not favorable, there were players who did not "see" all the trains, some saw 2 trains, others 4, others 6 ... etc.

At times the session went from morning to night for some players.

The last test consisted of all using the same train and also the same consist and the result was similar even when the one who started the Server did not participate in the game so as not to interfere.

Kind regards.

Pedro.

[perpetualKid]

alifatico, on 15 December 2021 - 10:55 PM, said:

Test result carried out last night.

A session in Muyltiplayer with 8 players.

We all use a common folder with the same trains.

Open Rails version: latest Testing.

This time the result was not favorable, there were players who did not "see" all the trains, some saw 2 trains, others 4, others 6 ... etc.

At times the session went from morning to night for some players.

The last test consisted of all using the same train and also the same consist and the result was similar even when the one who started the Server did not participate in the game so as not to interfere.

Kind regards.

Pedro.

you may need to look at the logs. The server doesn't have explicit logging capabilities, but as it outputs all the outgoing messages, you could simply redirect that to a logfile like that ".\MultiPlayerServer.exe > c:\temp\test.log"

[Csantucci]

Hi Steffen,
Interesting development indeed.
Is this server protocol compatible with the Tsimserver? In other words, could e.g. clients using ORNYMG or the testing version connect with your server?

[perpetualKid]

Csantucci, on 17 December 2021 - 01:22 PM, said:

Is this server protocol compatible with the Tsimserver? In other words, could e.g. clients using ORNYMG or the testing version connect with your server?

should work across the different versions/clones of OR which are using the same MultiPlayer protocol version (currently v15), no magic there, although I'd have wished to do some improvements to the protocol....
The code is independent of any OR code, full standalone with no binary or source dependencies.


Since there's no docuemntation or code for Tsimserver available I've tried to re-implement the same behavior from pure observation only, but can't guarantee for completeness.

[Csantucci]

Thanks Steffen,
when I have time I'll have a try. It's a good thing to have an Open Source OR multiplayer server.

[alifatico]

Hi, yesterday we did another test with the latest version of the Server for Open Rails and these are our observations:

Test from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on two routes and with the participation of 9 Players.

We made a .bat with the following lines:

@echo off
. \ netcoreapp3.1 \ MultiPlayerServer.exe>. \ OpenRails-Server.log
pause

Placed in the same folder as the Open Rails .exe, but we couldn't get it to write anything to its corresponding file.

Starting the Server and entering the successive players we noticed (only once), that one player had the weather with snow, when the rest did not (sunny).

When a player leaves the game, his name remains and his train does not disappear, it remains as a ghost and continues to circulate.

Not being able to see the .bat record, we ignored the reasons why the server sometimes crashed.

If the one who is the dispacher for any reason falls out of the game, does not pass the dispacher to anyone and the server hangs, this is noticeable because if a player stops his train the rest see him moving.

These are our impressions after 4 hours of testing.
I hope they are useful to you.

Best regards

Pedro.

[eric from trainsim]

Is this component something that should be part of the project code? I'm also willing to host a server. Looking at the server mentioned in the documentation, the forums don't seem to exist anymore.