BlitzPlay

It appears to provide a very solid network solution for multiplayer games and I would like to hear from those that have used it.

Who's got it?
Who's using it in their game?
What are the Pro's and Con's?

Any other information you could provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!

could I add a Q..

Will it be getting a Blitz Max update ?

1) Well.. lots of people :) I don't want to name names but there are a few who are usually around.. (aren't you guys? hello? hehe)
2) well.. er, probably the same people as the first question :D
3) I asked in an email to the users once what they thought the Pros and Cons of BlitzPlay Pro were, and generally the responses were these:
Pros:
-Ease of use was #1 (everyone so far has loved the simplicity involved in getting a session up and running and messages passing back and forth)
-Functionality.. various reliable message types, file transfers, team functions, etc
-Quick connect time. Compared to directplay's lengthy connection process for example.. With BP we're talking under a second. In fact people have stated that overall the system is extremely fast. (There have been several optimizations put in place as the years have gone by)
-Single port. BP only uses a single UDP port, which makes it easy to configure routers to support.
-Robustness. It's nice to be able to plug in an API like this an have it 'just work'
-Support. I get frequent emails from users asking about problems they are having or just general questions to help understand the library better.. and I like helping out when I can :) Plus if bugs are found they are generally resolved fairly quickly.
Cons:
-The one thing people have had a hard time with is the Cubic Spline code. This is one area where I didn't quite hide all the gory details from the user, and it can be a little tricky to get them working in the game.
-That's basically the only complaint I've received. Some people have pointed out they wished that the code was in .dll format so they could use it in other languages.. as well as to cut down on compile time on larger projects.. but with the forth-coming blitzplay for bmax project this should be addressed.

But don't trust what I have to say.. do a search on some of the forums here and you'll see that generally what is said is fairly positive :)
(ie a quick search revealed this quote):

And Yavin I guess that answers your question ;D I am indeed going to work on a blitzplay-ish project for blitzmax. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress ;)

I have used the Blitzplay Lite version a great deal. Without wanting to take any sales away from Surreal - I find using the Blitzplay Lite version does everything I need and is extremely easy to use.

Once a number of PCs are connected using Blitzplay it is fairly easy to send messages to, and between servers and clients with a single command then each frame to call a function which creates instances of a particular type that stores each received message which you can then loop through as simple as using a for...each loop.

Blitzplay Pro is superb,

In half a day I was able to learn about the system and develop a small multi-player maze demo, just cubes moving around a nice maze. I had 3 people get online one in Warrington(me) and a couple from down south (Southampton way). It was quite thrilling to see stuff moiving under someone elses control!

I found it easy to use and get on with, and integrate into my code.

I have only used it once or twice but I intend to do a proper multi-player game asap in 2005 which I'll probably put here.

IPete2.

Thanks for the input!

I bought it :)

i think youll be happy with it. Ive used it on two projects, and would recommend it to anyone.

You don't really need any more comments now since you've bought it, but in case anyone else is wondering..

I'm using it for Kickshot Pool. For me, the main pros:

1) Very easy to add it to a game, even one that was not originally expected to be MP.

2) It does everything you could possibly want from a MP lib. It's not just for FPS's, it's suitable for any type of game.

3) Support. Surreal has been very helpful clearing up any confusion or problems I had.

4) For me, the most important thing - the ability to properly test locally. Debugging MP games is a nightmare, because even running two copies on the same machine is not the same as running two copies over the net. BP can be set to any percentage of packetloss to simulate a proper net connection, which enables a proper stress test.

I've not found any cons from my perspective.

Yeah, a little late in posting, but Blitz Play Pro gets my thumbs up as well.