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Research and Markets: Many Universities in the US Are Beginning to Offer Online Games Design Subjects - Networking and Online Games: Understanding and Engineering Multiplayer Internet Games

Posted on: Thursday, 1 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c37862) has announced the addition of Networking and Online Games: Understanding and Engineering Multiplayer Internet Games to their offering.

Understanding the demands of games on IP networks is important for ISP engineers and technicians, and understanding the underlying networks capabilities is important for game developers. This book concisely draws together and illustrates the overlapping and interacting technical concerns of these two business sectors. The authors cover the history of online, networked games, the principles behind modern multiplayer communication systems, and the techniques underlying modern networked games. Factors such as the traffic patterns that modern games impose on networks, and how network performance and service level limitations impact on game designers and game player experiences, are covered in-depth, and high-level examples of existing multiplayer online games are discussed. ISP considerations will be contrasted with game-developer considerations, clarifying their coinciding requirements. The computer game industry is financially significant, and is clearly growing in the direction of multiplayer games over the Internet. Many universities are beginning to offer online games design subjects the 2004 Game Developer Magazine Career Guide lists over 100 game-related university programs in the US, up from 64 in 2003.

The computer game industry is clearly growing in the direction of multiplayer, online games. Understanding the demands of games on IP (Internet Protocol) networks is essential for ISP (Internet Service Provider) engineers to develop appropriate IP services. Correspondingly, knowledge of the underlying networks capabilities is vital for game developers. Networking and Online Games concisely draws together and illustrates the overlapping and interacting technical concerns of these sectors. The text explains the principles behind modern multiplayer communication systems and the techniques underlying contemporary networked games. The traffic patterns that modern games impose on networks, and how network performance and service level limitations impact on game designers and player experiences, are covered in-depth, giving the reader the knowledge necessary to develop better gaming products and network services. Examples of real-world multiplayer online games illustrate the theory throughout. Networking and Online Games: Provides a comprehensive, cutting-edge guide to the development and service provision needs of online, networked games. Contrasts the considerations of ISPs (e.g. predicting traffic loads) with those of game developers (e.g. sources of lag/jitter), clarifying coinciding requirements. Explains how different technologies such as cable, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and wireless, etc., affect online game-play experience, and how different game styles impose varying traffic dynamics and requirements on the network. Discusses future directions brought by emerging technologies such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone Service), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), Wireless LANs, IP service Quality, and NAPT/NAT (Network Address Port Translation/Network Address Translation) Illustrates the concepts using high-level examples of existing multiplayer online games (such as Quake III Arena, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, and Half-Life 2). Networking and Online Games will be an invaluable resource for games developers, engineers and technicians at Internet Service Providers, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Multimedia Engineering.

Contents are as follows:-

Author Biographies

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction

2 Early Online and Multiplayer Games

3 Recent Online and Multiplayer Games

4 Basic Internet Architecture

5 Network Latency, Jitter and Loss

6 Latency Compensation Techniques

7 Playability versus Network Conditions and Cheats

8 Broadband Access Networks

9 Where Do Players Come from and When?

10 Online Game Traffic Patterns

11 Future Directions

12 Setting Up Online FPS Game Servers

13 Conclusion

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c37862

Source: Business Wire

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