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
9. Where Do Players Come from and When?
10. Online Game Traffic Patterns
12. Setting Up Online FPS Game Servers
1. Introduction
2. Early Online and Multiplayer Games
2.1 Defining Networked and Multiplayer Games
2.2 Early Multiplayer Games
2.2.1 PLATO
2.2.2 MultiUser Dungeons
2.2.3 Arcade Games
2.2.4 Hosted Online Games
2.3 Multiplayer Network Games
2.3.1 DOOM-Networked First-Person Shooters Arrive
References
3. Recent Online and Multiplayer Games
3.1 Communication Architectures
3.2 The Evolution of Online Games
3.2.1 FPS Games
3.2.2 Masively Multiplayer Games
3.2.3 RTS Games
3.2.4 Sports Games
3.3 Summary of Growth of Online Games
3.4 The Evolution of Online Game Platforms
3.4.1 PCs
3.4.2 Game Consoles
3.4.3 Handheld Game Consoles
3.4.4 Summary
3.5 Context of Computer Games
3.5.1 Physical Reality
3.5.2 Telepresense
3.5.3 Augmented Reality
3.5.4 Distributed Virtual Environments
References
4. Basic Internet Architecture
4.1 IP Networks as seen from the Edge
4.1.1 Endpoints and Addressing
4.1.2 Layered Transport Services
4.1.3 Unicast, Broadcast and Multicast
4.2 Connectivity and Routing
4.2.1 Hierarchy and Aggregation
4.2.2 Routing Protocols
4.2.3 Per-hop Packet Transport
4.3 Address Management
4.3.1 Address Delegation and Assignment
4.3.2 Network Address Translation
4.3.3 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
4.3.4 Domain Name System
Reference
5. Network Latency, Jitter and Loss
5.1 The Relevance of Latency, Jitter and Loss
5.2 Sources of Latency, Jitter and Loss in the Network
5.2.1 Propagation Delay and the Laws of Physics
5.2.2 Serialisation
5.2.3 Queuing Delays
5.2.4 Sources of Jitter in the Network
5.2.5 Sources of Packet Loss in the Network
5.3 Network Control of Lag, Jitter and Loss
5.3.1 Preferential IP Layer Queuing and Scheduling
5.3.2 Link Layer Support for Packet Prioritisation
5.3.3 Where to Place and Trust Traffic Classification
5.4 Measuring Network Conditions
References
6. Latency Compensation Techniques
6.1 The Need for Latency Compensation
6.2 Prediction
6.2.1 Player Prediction
6.2.2 Opponent Prediction
6.2.3 Prediction Summary
6.3 Time Manipulation
6.3.1 Time Delay
6.3.2 Time Warp
6.3.3 Data compression
6.4 Visual Tricks
6.5 Latency Compensation and Cheating
References
7. Playability versus Network Conditions and Cheats
7.1 Measuring Player Tolerance for Network Disruptions
7.1.1 Empirical Research
7.1.2 Sources of Error and Uncertainty
7.1.3 Considerations for Creating Artificial Network Conditions
7.2 Communication Models, Cheats and Cheat-Mitigation
7.2.1 Classifying and Naming Methods of Cheating
7.2.2 Server-side Cheats
7.2.3 Client-side Cheats
7.2.4 Network-layer Cheats
7.2.5 Cheat-mitigation
References
8. Broadband Access Networks
8.1 What Broadband Access Networks are and why they Matter
8.1.1 The Role of Broadband Access Networks
8.1.2 Characteristics of Broadband Access Networks
8.2 Access Network Protocols and Standards
8.2.1 Physical Layer
8.2.2 Data Linke Layer
8.3 Cable Networks
8.4 ADSL Networks
8.5 Wireless LANs
8.5.1 IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN Standards
8.5.2 Wireless LAN Architectures
8.5.3 Recent Developments in WLAN Quality of Service
8.6 Cellular Networks
8.6.1 GPRS and EDGE
8.6.2 3G Networks
8.7 Bluetooth Networks
8.8 Conclusion
References
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