Game design, game programming and more

Writing Server and Network Code for Your Online Game

April 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

I spoke this year at the Game Developers Conference (GDC 2012) on “Writing Server and Network Code for Your Online Game”. Since I tend to talk quickly, to say the least, I thought it only fair to post my presentation slides for those who attended but didn’t manage to take notes fast enough.

I find that many slide decks tend are quite worthless because, while the slides outline up the presentation, what the speaker has to say is far more useful. Consequently I’ve included extensive commentary in the “speaker notes” section of each page of the presentation, which I hope you’ll find useful.

Writing reliable online game services [PDF]

Incidentally, the folks who run GDC also recorded a video, which you can download (with paid membership) from GDC Vault. You may note that there’s an odd jump in the video; the first half of the video was lost due to some sort of electrical issue (record button not pressed perhaps?) so they re-recorded it with me in front of an empty hall; consequently you’ll miss the scintillating display of me interacting with a live audience for the first bit.

Happy coding!

Filed Under: Networking, Programming, Security
About Patrick Wyatt

As a game developer with more than 22 years in the industry I have helped build small companies into big ones (VP of Blizzard, Founder of ArenaNet, COO of En Masse Entertainment); lead the design and development efforts for best-selling game series (Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Guild Wars); written code for virtually every aspect of game development (networking, graphics, AI, pathing, sound, tools, installers, servers, databases, ecommerce, analytics, crypto, dev-ops, etc.); designed many aspects of the games I've shipped; run platform services teams (datacenter operations, customer support, billing/accounts, security, analytics); and developed state-of-the-art technologies required to compete in the AAA+ game publishing business.

Comments

  1. Andrew Dysart says
    June 11, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    I think this is an appropriate spot to say that I find all your posts exceptionally interesting. Of course, I don’t quite understand all the finer points of networking and still need to learn C++, but even so!

    Also, in a fit of shameless fanboyism, I feel the need to say that I’m a huge, huge fan of Guild Wars!

    Reply
  2. Dennis Benson says
    July 10, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    I am really excited to follow your blog.
    I hope you continue to talk about networked play! As a developer, I’m trying to get a good network architecture going. As a gamer, I crave for more online interactions in the indie community.

    I’ll be reading intently!

    Reply

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