Grapple (network layer)

Grapple is a high level network layer. It's designed to remove the hard work frommaking applications multiuser and to allow the addition of multiplayerfeatures to a game for as little as a dozen lines of code. However while also remainingfully featured, so if you want more from your networking, you can have it. [ [http://opensource.linuxgamepublishing.com/grapple.php Linux Game Publishing ] ]

Development started in 2006 by Michael Simms from Linux Game Publishing LTDand is released under the GNU LGPL.

Grapple supports simple development of networked applications using both
TCP/IP and UDP/IP. Grapple keeps track of connections to a server, relaysmessages from client to client, all without the need to understand anycomplicated network code.

Features

The features grapple supports at this time is:
* Simple client-server networking
* Keeps all clients aware of all other clients
* Network messenging by either a push or a pull model, or a mixture of both
* Unlimited connections to multiple servers.
* Multiple methods of querying users
* Data transfer via TCP, UDP, or reliable UDP
* Passworded servers
* User Groups for client bandwidth saving
* Server security - server can disconnect any client
* Network load reacting data transmission and retransmission
* Background pinging to monitor network states
* A fully functional lobby system
* Server failover
* NAT traversal using STUN

External links

* [http://opensource.linuxgamepublishing.com/grapple.php Grapple website]

* [http://www.linuxgamepublishing.com Linux Game Publishing's website]

References