Master Server And Modules

What Is Master Server

In general, Master Server is a type of server to which everything connects (a central server).

Master Server Framework is a framework designed to kick-start the development of such server.

Master Server itself is actually a pretty simple script, which:

• Listens to a specific port for clients, so that clients can connect to master server
• Looks for modules in the scene and initializes them.

Adding The Master Server To Scene

You can add the Master Server to any scene by creating a game object and adding Master component to it. Here's an example of the most simple Master Server you can have:

To add modules, you simply add new game objects and attach module components (scripts) to them. It doesn't matter where you place your modules in the scene, for example:

⚠️ Some of the modules have dependencies (other modules they depend on). If you add such a module without adding it's dependency, its .Initialize(IMaster master) method will not be called.

Starting The Master Server

There are three ways in which you can start the Master Server:

1. In the editor: Master component has a flag in the inspector called "Auto Start In Editor". When it's set, Master Server will be started automatically when you hit the Play button in the editor.
2. Through command line arguments: 🔗 Command Line Arguments
3. By manually calling Master.Start() in your scripts.

You'll probably want to start the server in editor when you're developing, through command line in production, and manually - if you have something special planned (a UI, for example).

ℹ️ Master component has a flag in the inspector called "Auto Start In Editor". When it's set, Master Server will be started automatically when you hit the Play button in the editor.

ℹ️ Master component also looks for a special command line argument

Connecting to Master Server From Client

You can connect to master server simply by calling

Connections.ClientToMaster.Connect(IpAddress, Port)

Or you can do it manually by creating a socket 🔗 More info on Networking

Modules Explained

Modules are simple unity scripts (MonoBehaviours) intended to add functionality to Master Server.

As described above, master server merely initializes other modules. You can find modules in the Barebones/MasterModules/ folder.

Let's say you've decided to add a shop to your game. Shop processes (buy/sell, etc.) should be handled in the central server (master server).

So, to add new functionality (shop) to the master server, you can create a ShopModule, which will handle buy / sell requests from clients.

When working on a game, your Master Server will be a combination of custom modules and modules from the framework

🔗 More info about creating modules

ℹ️ Its recommended to have modules as children of Master component, because then you can save it as a prefab and use in other scenes when developing.

Modifying/Extending Modules

Modules are unity components, and can be extended/modified by overriding their virtual methods