ZNet - Easy to use, entity-based networking framework for GameMaker: Studio!
A downloadable project
Note: This library is not being updated anymore. I recommend looking for newer, more updated libraries instead.
Networking in Game Maker: Studio can be hard and time-consuming, especially for beginners. ZNet is a lightweight, cross-platform, networking framework for making multiplayer games a lot easier to create!
The main focus when developing ZNet was to make an easy to use entity system. With this system you can easily create NPCs, enemies, etc... without writing a lot of extra code.
Here's an example of how you would go about creating a simple enemy:
znet_entity_create("enemy_type", "enemy_id", "x", 0, "y", 0, "hp", 100)
You simply specify the entity type and the entity id, followed by a set of defined keys.
Handling packets are also a lot easier as you don't have to worry about buffers, sockets, and all that stuff. ZNet does it for you!
With ZNet you can easily get the state of a client/server, making error handling a lot simpler!
ZNet works on every platform, except for HTML5.
ZNet also handles a lot of things such as:
- Checking if the client is still connected to the server.
- Better way of checking if the server if full.
- Version checking.
- Using both a client and a server in the same room.
- Getting the ping of a client.
- And more!
Click here to download a platformer and chat demo.
Click here for documentation and a list of all the features that comes with ZNet.
Purchase
In order to download this project you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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Maybe you could set up a Discord server, for support? And also promoting your other projects!
Hi! Setting up a Discord server is a good idea and it's something I've been thinking of doing for a while, but I've just been pretty busy recently with other projects and haven't found the time to do it. Hopefully sometime soon though!
hey will this work with rented server? and will server handle like 1000 players in diffrent lobbies?
Hi! I would assume it works with rented servers, although I can't say for sure as I haven't tried it before and I don't have any experience with them. As for handling ~1000 players, I don't think I would recommend it. ZNet is more directed towards beginners and for smaller projects. It wasn't intended to deal with large player counts.
Very good extension. Work very well, the creator answer fast. Congratulation for this amazing extension!
Hi, did you take a look at the example project to see how it is done there? The code there should be explained pretty well.
Hi! Just had a couple of questions! First off, does the server need to be it's own separate project? Or will it be in the same project as the client/gameplay? My next question is, will this work with Game Maker Studio 2? And Finally, will I have to run it through a dedicated server?
Hi!
Yes, this works with GMS 2. The server can both be in a separate project or in the same project as the client, it's completely optional. And yes you would have to use a dedicated server if you want people to connect remotely.
Hi, I just want to ask, does this multiplayer system work on ios and android?
Hi, I haven't tested it on mobile before, but I'm pretty sure it should work fine.
Okay thanks for response! :)
Just bought this 2 days ago, dev has been very quick to respond to email and the framework works as intended. Got the demos w/ online connection working easily and the examples have lots of comments in the code, wasn't much trouble figuring out how it all works just from studying them a little. First time I've managed to get a GML project online so I'm very satisfied with my purchase.