Nebula Nebula Entertains By Uniting Latent Adventurers Doug Winters && Robert Ricci && Chris Goller && Chad Barb

Background Games concerned with: –Optimized network performance –Geometric, object-based systems Limitations of current systems –Processing –Network demands

Basics of Single-Player Model Distinction of –Gameplay engine –Graphics engine Types of state –Geometric –Visual –Internal

Client/Server Model Game engine resides on server Client concerned only with graphics engine Different needs for different message types –Fast, unreliable messages –Reliable, less time-critical, messages

Cluster-Based Servers Greater Scalability - more processing power Effective Bandwidth Usage Zoning - Division of workload –World divided into many small zones –Zones can be moved between servers Client Migration Failure

Proposed Tests Performance bounding –Server to server –Server to client Server failure scenarios –Watch secondary failure –Zone transfer