Networking -- things to consider

[John.d.h]

This was something I found on the Wolfire blog, and I thought it might bear discussing in regard to Glest.
http://blog.wolfire.com/2011/03/GDC-Session-Summary-Halo-networking

How do/will/should MG and GAE address the issues of scalability, reliability, security, and speed in multiplayer?

Scalability -- Ideally, a 16-player game should be playable by people who don't live in Japan and South Korea.  Why is it that large games take so much more network resources, and what can be done about that?

Reliability -- How can we keep data consistent across all clients?

Security -- I don't think cheating is much of a problem here, but might it become one eventually?  How might we address that?

Speed -- This is not only the actual speed of the connection, but also the perception of lag.  Especially pay attention to the part about the gunfire.  They make it feel responsive, even if there is lag, and there are checks in place to make sure that lag has a minimal effect on fairness.  How do we ensure the same?

This is just some food for thought.  I certainly don't have any answers.

[Omega]

Reliability -- How can we keep data consistent across all clients?

Both MG and GAE seriously need a method of reconnecting after a disconnection (particularly with choppier connections, like mine). Many games do have that, and I can play them fine, but MG and GAE do not, so multiplayer on my network always results in my getting the boot sooner or later.

[Psychedelic_hands]

This is kinda off-topic, but just a little....

Bungie (the company that dude is from) is a really good developer (I don't care what people say about halo ) And they have many publications about game development on their website, everything form art to AI.

http://www.bungie.net/Inside/publications.aspx

The guy who wrote that even has one about Networking as well and I assume that would go into much more detail.
I hope this is helpful, at anything I find them interesting to read.