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IFB Realtime Multiplayer Sample

RU

An educational and research-oriented project focused on real-time network interaction: a client–server architecture with a Unity client used to visualize synchronized objects.

The project is designed for a deep understanding of networking architectures, message queues, latency, interpolation, and state processing in real-time systems (games, simulations).

🎯 Project Goals

  • Understand how real-time synchronization actually works

  • Move away from the “magic” of ready-made networking engines

  • Implement the full pipeline:

    • serialization → sending → receiving → processing → visualization

  • Study latency, message queues, ticks, and interpolation in practice

This project is not a game and does not aim to be production-ready — the focus is strictly on architecture and learning through implementation.

🧠 What Is Implemented

  • Server and clients written in .NET
  • Transport layer: ENet
  • Serialization: MessagePack
  • Client-side state interpolation
  • Incoming message queues
  • Unity client as a visual consumer of network state
  • Integration tests for network interaction

In Unity:

  • each connected client is represented as a sphere
  • sphere positions are synchronized in real time
  • movement is smoothed on the client side

🧩 Project Architecture

IRM_Network_Sample
├── IRMShared        # Shared structures, messages, enums, buffer pool
├── IRMServer        # Server (relay + client registration logic)
├── IRMClient        # Client library
├── IRMClientCLI     # Console client for testing
├── IRMTests         # Integration tests
└── UnitySample
    └── NetworkPlugin
        └── NetworkTest.unity  # Unity scene with visualization

📦 Core Modules

IRMShared

A shared layer used by both server and clients:

  • message types
  • delivery flags
  • buffers and memory pool
  • logging
  • message protocol

This layer acts as a contract, ensuring that the server and clients speak the same language.

IRMServer

The server application:

  • accepting client connections
  • user registration
  • relaying messages between clients
  • basic message routing logic

The server does not handle visualization, only network state processing.

IRMClient

Client-side library:

  • connecting to the server
  • sending and receiving messages
  • incoming packet queue
  • preparing data for consumers (CLI / Unity)

IRMClientCLI

A simple CLI client used for:

  • testing the network protocol
  • debugging logic without Unity
  • running reproducible scenarios

IRMTests

Integration tests:

  • client–server interaction validation
  • message protocol verification
  • basic guarantees of correct data transmission

UnitySample

A Unity project that uses the client library:

  • visualization of connected clients
  • object position synchronization
  • client-side movement interpolation
  • demonstration of real-time updates

Unity here is not the architectural core, but merely a visualization layer.

🧪 What Can Be Studied Using This Project

The project is intentionally kept simple, making it suitable for exploring:

  • the impact of latency and send rate
  • message queue processing
  • differences between tick-rate and frame-rate
  • client-side interpolation
  • jitter and uneven packet delivery
  • separation of client and server responsibilities
  • basics of authority models

🚀 Who This Project Is For

  • Unity developers who want a deeper understanding of networking
  • Engineers studying real-time systems
  • Those who want to understand, not just “use Photon”
  • An educational and research project suitable for a portfolio

⚠️ Important Notes

  • The project is not production-ready
  • No prediction / reconciliation (by design)
  • Architecture prioritizes readability over maximum optimization
  • Code is written for understanding, not minimal line count