Multiplayer! - For next version...

[EJRocky]

Yesterday, while I was humming around in my Tiger Moth, I thought of something new for FMS. Multiplayer! Re-enact the final flight of the Red Baron... Fly in Formation with the Red Arrows... WW2 Dogfights with Spitfires and BF109s... Compose an Airshow... Fly death-defying near misses... All with Multiplayer for FMS! How does that sound then? You would need a LAN connection or something. Also up to 3 pilots and 5 spectators can enter one game! Pilots fly, spectators sit and watch, controlling zoom and camera angles, etc. Even if it's a rainy day! Eureka! PM me with any questions.

[aerobaticflyer]

sound excellent, rock!! the spectator idea is cool. I would say more than 3 pilots; maybe 5 pilots and 6 spectators.

[jodel boy]

that would be realy cool to have multiplayer but i think it would be too hard for someone to do

[squashmypastry]

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!!

[Scarz]

this feature has been requested before.
I agree, it would be a cool, you'ld have to select a controller frequency, from the options....

[EJRocky]

Hmm, yes. I agree that would be something hard to do. But, if Michael Moeller can create brilliant FREE sim software, he can do that!

[Arvee]

Multi player games are produced by large companies, with million dollar budgets, and they are expensive. FMS is not a game, it is a simulator which you get for free, so be realistic in your suggestions, and thankful for what you have.

[Isaac]

Multiplayer games (and simulators) are not too more difficult to make than single player ones. Pre-Flight for instance is multiplayer, and was coded by a single person (afaik): Jose Pena.

It's only a matter of sharing all the data needed to synchronize the software in all the computers involved.

Games and simulators are deterministic software. From an equal initial condition for all computers, if you feed them with the same inputs (including user inputs, random generators, etc.), the results will be always equal.

Games and simulators are also iterative (work in "rounds") and interactive , i.e. From an initial state it takes the data inputs and calculates the next state. In the next round, the previous state is used as initial state, new inputs are gathered and new calculations are made. Each state represents a time slice (1/50 s for instance). This calculation is repeated 50 times (in our example) per second.

Before calculating the next round, all computers send their inputs to all other computers. So they all have the same inputs for calculating the next state.

Each computer calculates the new state for all elements (planes) of all computers, applying the right inputs to each one. Then generates a screenshot to show to the user.

As more players are involved, more data needs to be transfered and more calculations need to be made each turn, so more computing power is needed.
Of course all computers should be powerful enough to keep in pace with the others. If no, out of synch situations may occur.

Spectator's computers just need to receive the data and calculate the screenshots to show to their users. They don't send anything and the players' computers don't even need to know they exist. As data is sent via broadcast, there isn't a (theoretical) limit to the number of spectators.

[suicide]

yer its a mad idea, i was talking to a mate, and flying a plane at the same time, and i go oh u know wat fms needs, it needs multiplayer
he was like yer be awsome