Multiplayer solution for 3D Unity game prototype using Unity Netcode

Abstract

Multiplayer games are an attractive market for game developers, taking up a sizable portion of the market. However, adding multiplayer features to a game increases the scope of the project significantly, which deters potential ideas from being formed. In 2022, Unity Netcode became production-ready, reintroducing a native solution for multiplayer game development and easing out the process of multiplayer game creation. This thesis aimed to explore the process of prototyping a multiplayer 3D game using Unity Netcode, a high-level networking library built for Unity that enables sending GameObjects and world data across a networking session. In the thesis, the author implemented the procedure for making a simple game prototype named “Tagteam” and evaluates its feasibility and effectiveness from the author’s working experience and perspective as a game designer. The study showed that while Unity Netcode eased out the development process, it did not outperform other tools significantly in terms of performance and development cost.