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Direct IP connect

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SErankNokonoko
29 days ago
(edited 29 days ago)
Hi. I see the co-op modes (in the "Single Player & Coop" tab) all require steam overlay to invite you friends. I only vaguely looked at the code and it seems you're using steam to establish a p2p connection to play. Is there some technical difficulty that doesn't let Zero-K use a direct IP connection? E.g. if you're physically in the same room it would make sense to just connect to each other over the wire without any steam intermediaries.
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SErankNokonoko
26 days ago
https://rhys-vdw.github.io/RecoilEngine/articles/technicalities-of-starting-a-match

Seems mostly a chobby limitation, currently no idea how it could be overcome. Recoil and chobby in general seem to be lobby oriented, that is rely on a central server. If I understand correctly even to play Kernel Panic you'd need a central server to host a lobby.
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AUrankAdminAquanim
26 days ago
If I recall correctly, direct IP connection (rather than using Steam as an intermediary) is technically feasible - but it would require a decent amount of work and hasn't made it to the top of the priority list of anybody with the skills to make it happen.

Disclaimer: I may not be recalling correctly.
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AUrankAdminGoogleFrog
26 days ago
Nobody has written a direct IP connection system. That is all there is to it. There are a lot of different ways to present it in the lobby, and it is very rare that someone requests it, so I am not convinced that anything I add would be used by anyone. I suspect we'll have to wait for someone with a usecase to implement it, because they will at least know how they want to use it.

Steam is fine from a latency perspective, because when I last checked it just abstracted the network, rather than sending it through a central server. So if you're on LAN, you get a LAN connection.
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AUrankStuey72727
25 days ago
I remember typing in my friends phone number to play a multiplayer game... I'm old lol.
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SErankNokonoko
24 days ago
GoogleFrog,

> Nobody has written a direct IP connection system.
Actually if I launch the stock spring engine (in this case from engine/linux64/2025.06.21/spring), it has a "Direct Connect" option, so the code necessary already exists in its simplest form.

> I am not convinced that anything I add would be used by anyone
Yeah I think there's very few people out there who are in the same room in Zero-K community.

> someone with a usecase to implement it
As you understand this is not a feature that is going to be outstandingly popular. If possible at all, it would be enough if there was just a toggle "LAN mode", then listen on 0.0.0.0/0 and do whatever the stock spring does to let others join. Kind of like in Rusted Warfare. But again, I'm not sure how feasible it is, because you'll have to at least get the nicknames somehow and that might be complicated?

> it just abstracted the network
I don't know what it does, I thought it proxies traffic through Valve servers. Can you for example use the Invite feature while not having a global internet connection?

Also I don't want to bother you with feature requests I'm not sure I myself need, so please take this thread more like just a technical discussion.
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AUrankAdminGoogleFrog
23 days ago
quote:
Actually if I launch the stock spring engine (in this case from engine/linux64/2025.06.21/spring), it has a "Direct Connect" option, so the code necessary already exists in its simplest form.

Sure, this is how Spring works already. The whole system includes UI, explanation, though.

quote:
Yeah I think there's very few people out there who are in the same room in Zero-K community.

And without internet.
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