Restarted my networking framework yet again. This time I gave it a new name 'Hexe'. The old name was 'Overwatch'. It was named long before the Overwatch game came out. It was based off the Half-Life Overwatch. It oversaw the players, ai spawning, contained a secondary path-finding system, but had no networking as it was not native to the LUA side of Leadwerks. 'Hexe' is German for 'witch'. I don't really know why I chose the name but I have the feeling I will be able to put it to good use. Maybe I'll even mix in some Anglish into it.

This restart occurred because the framework became too cumbersome. I had the entity synchronization working correctly, but it did not differentiate between player and an object in the world. That wasn't really that bad, what made messed it up was that a lobby system and teams were needed and there was no space to squeeze any other components into the mix.

 This rewrite will focus on the player/client and foremost. The components that are currently being written or are complete are:

• The server browser.
  • This was a side project created out of necessity. I did not want to have to hard code the ip every time.
  • Anytime I wanted to test multiple clients I had to change the code depending on which computer was running the server. 
  •  PITFALL: Since Leadwerks does not expose the servers local ip address via code, you will need to get it manually from you computer, or use some creative workarounds
• Network Manager
  • Hexe is split up between a server class and a client class. Both classes use a network manager class that can automatically handle hosting or connecting to a server. The network manager currently handles the handshake and the beginnings of the lobby system.
  • When a client joins it initiates and handles the handshake between the server and client. It also raises events so the server or client can react accordingly if need be. After the handshake is completed, the network manager starts the lobby system
• The connection handshake.
  • This is was saved from the last version. It makes sure the server and client are using the same protocol version. It will then register the client on the server and give it an incremental number (similar to the source engine) that allows the client state to be manipulated    
• The Lobbying system:
  • This is completely new. After the handshake is complete, it will send a command launching the lobbying system. The network manager only makes sure that a client is in the servers lobby and nothing more. The client and server manually handle the team creation and player switching on their own.
  •  Teams are not part of the network manager because it would require large amounts of rewrites depending on the type of game being created.

When the lobbying system is complete the client input will be added. So far things are going well and maybe soon I wont be staring at console output for feedback.