Why must Listen Server support go

Danfun64

I don't understand the reasons for removing Listen Server support. Odamex and Zandronum (not sure about ZDaemon) don't even support it. Why are you removing this convinient feature, especially when one only wants to play with 3 other people; an instance where a dedicated server would be rediculous.

DaniJ

What do you mean by "Listen Server support"?

If you mean the ability for the client to join games on the local network then this feature has not gone anywhere; open the taskbar, click the Doomsday Engine logo to reveal the application menu and then choose 'Multiplayer Games...' to open the multiplayer game browser UI - here you should find any games currently running on your local network that Doomsday has found through UDP.

If you mean the ability to launch a new server from within Doomsday through the UI, then yes that functionality is not currently implemented. It will return, however. For now one can use the Doomsday Shell tool for this.

Danfun64

http://dengine.net/dew/index.php?title= ... er_hosting

DaniJ

In older versions of Doomsday the client application could also serve as a network game server. This has numerous drawbacks as mentioned in the proposal you linked to. The biggest of which is the requirement for the host to support stuff like OpenGL and more generally, a graphical user interface. By removing the need for such support in the server application it facilitates hosting servers on systems which otherwise have no need for such things. For example, running and administering a Doomsday server remotely, on a so-called cloud computing platform, is made possible by removing those requirements.

In practice this means that the ability of the client to set up an impromptu network game where the client itself acts as the server is no longer possible. However, this functionality will be replaced with a built-in UI for launching a new Doomsday Server instance (which, you can then administer using either RCON from the Doomsday console, or, using the Shell). We haven't yet gotten around to implementing this UI, however, the Shell is very easy to use and so its not that urgent (IMO). Give it a try

Danfun64

In several other games, there were two executable files, the game itself, and one specifically designed for dedicated servers, which lacks the requirement of opengl and all that other stuff.

DaniJ

That is exactly how things are set up in modern Doomsday. There are two separate applications; Doomsday Client and Doomsday Server. The graphical Shell is a tool for server administrators that do have support for such things on their local system.

Danfun64

no, what I meant was that the main game can be for playing, for listen servers, and (if someone is mad enough) for dedicated servers, while the other file is solely for dedicated servers,allowing people to host how they like without system requirement issues for dedicated servers.

DaniJ

All that is "missing" is the ability to launch a Doomsday Server instance directly from the Doomsday Client UI. There is no point in duplicating the server functionality in the client just to serve the odd person that decides they want to run it like that. Its better to spawn a new local server and connect to that instead (ideally via the client UI). Once such a UI is in place there is virtually no practical difference to the end user.