[jdev] how to program a jabber game server

[Richard Dobson]

> What I am trying to do is to extend your "game matching service" in a
> "game matching and creating service" : a client may request to create 
> new game
> hosts. So I would like the "game matching and creating service" to 
> instantiate
> game hosts with their JIDs and specific parameters, and I don't know
> how to do that : I thought an internal component was loaded at server 
> start
> according to its configuration file, so I guess my dynamic game hosts 
> can not
> be internal components... ?
I would advise against putting "game host" functionality (i.e. creating) 
into the "game matching service", the matching service should only 
really be there so you can locate game hosts, if I am understanding your 
reasons for wanting to do this correctly you want to only start up the 
game hosts when someone first accesses it, but personally I think that's 
the wrong way to go about it, the game hosts should be already running 
at the point someone wants to start a game, so would be better to start 
them up when you start the component/server up.
>  If this is right, the alternative may be that the
> "game matching and creating service" launches an external script (e. 
> g. a php
> script on another web server) that creates a new daemon bot and 
> register it
> as the game host. What's weird in that case is that this communication 
> (launching
> the php script) is outside the Jabber protocol.
Sounds like purely an implementation issue to me, it doesn't matter if 
they are started outside of the protocol, as long as they are already 
running by the time people come to ask them to start a game.
>  Norman, you suggest another seductive solution, but it looks to me 
> that it
> implies a modification of the server source code, and the way it 
> implements MUCs.
What he suggests means its then not possible using the same protocol to 
have games without a server being involved as some people have stated is 
a requirement in past discussions about this, so its pretty much a non 
starter unfortunately.

Richard