Multi-exe communications

lolslayer

Member
As of a few days ago, I've started to make a project where I can let multiple executables communicate with eachother in real-time

I won't keep the trick secret anymore because of the fact that somebody guessed it already, I parse information to eachother with the help of an ini file shared by all the applications, it's as easy as that ;)

Here is a video showing what I can excactly do at this moment:

PS, no I'm not using a server for this, it's completely offline, the worst case scenario for communication is a lag of one frame (excluding the cases that it crashes)
 
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Dengar

Guest
im confused. is the communication just them sharing there location onscreen? like a single grid that each executable is reading. if im right, then it is rather interesting.
 

lolslayer

Member
Yeah, that's excactly what's happening, I've got one grid with booleans, every executable can read and write shared information on that grid, but also on loose variables

Based on the booleans of the grid the executables know where every other executable is and this way I can create a primitive collision system
 
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Dengar

Guest
hmmm, interesting idea indeed. would be kool to see pathfinding done in this fashion. executables moving around eachother on the desktop :)
 

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
If it isn't done with a server listening on 127.0.0.1, then it's probably done with named pipes.

Suggestion: If the latter is what you're after, consider adding support for stdin, stdout and stderr while you're at it.
 
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Dengar

Guest
If it isn't done with a server listening on 127.0.0.1, then it's probably done with named pipes.

Suggestion: If the latter is what you're after, consider adding support for stdin, stdout and stderr while you're at it.
I bet you a nickel all the exacutables are saving there locations in the same ini or txt file. like saving/loading a game, but far more dynamic.
 

lolslayer

Member
I bet you a nickel all the exacutables are saving there locations in the same ini or txt file. like saving/loading a game, but far more dynamic.
You hit the hammer on the nail! That's excactly what I'm doing and it works perfectly fine! :D

Also, I tried to start up multiple applications automatically with a batch file today, I accidently set the loop on 100 times so my laptop nearly frigging crashed, but it was hilarious ;D

Somehow wierd stuff happens when I open too many applications at once, I hope that I can fix that, it would be much easier if I provide a batch file with a finished desktop platformer game which automatically opens the amount of applications you need
 
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Dengar

Guest
Also, I tried to start up multiple applications automatically with a batch file today, I accidently set the loop on 100 times so my laptop nearly frigging crashed, but it was hilarious ;D
lol, that's great. I love moments like that
 
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Lotias

Guest
Wouldn't this be more easily achievable using a local server? You'd need one program hosting it, but after that it's more simple than the INI solution, imo.
 

lolslayer

Member
Wouldn't this be more easily achievable using a local server? You'd need one program hosting it, but after that it's more simple than the INI solution, imo.
That would work aswell, but for understanding purposes this is the easiest way to do it, it also works fine so I don't see a reason why to change this idea
 

lolslayer

Member
[UPDATE]
with the help of helpful members of the stackoverflow site I made a little progam that automatically opens up a couple of applications, so you don't have to open them all up manually

I used a batch file to get this to work

I'm thinking of making a little map editor for a desktop platforming game, after finishing your map you will be able to create a batch file that automatically loads up the applications on the right locations on the screen

Don't expect much of the platformer, it will probably only feature blocks (probably all with the same sprite), a player and basic enemy types, remember that I made this program to make a communication system between applications, not a platformer :p
 

Xer0botXer0

Senpai
Lmao,

I had this idea but I was thinking of using networking and buffers, yet it's as simple as sharing an ini file lol. What a realization.

I dont know if this adds to the discussion, but imagine multiple clients for an mmo, depending on the client you run you can play a different role in the game.
 

lolslayer

Member
Lmao,

I had this idea but I was thinking of using networking and buffers, yet it's as simple as sharing an ini file lol. What a realization.

I dont know if this adds to the discussion, but imagine multiple clients for an mmo, depending on the client you run you can play a different role in the game.
Yeah right, it was indeed fairly simple xD

That idea is fun, but the fact that I don't have a lot of time to work on projects, especially on big ones like that, it will be up to you guys to make something like that ;)
 

lolslayer

Member
Work on the map editor started as of today, it's still too early to release anything about it

I won't include any demo maps when I launch this project, this is because everybody's screen resolution, and thus the map size is different, you'll have to make maps yourself if you really want to play anything, but I think that you guys are more interested in the code ;)



PS: When this project is finished, I'll release the map editor and the project downloads on this forum post and on the marketplace FOR FREE! So yall will be able to get your hands on it and fiddle around with the code, as long as you credit me for the idea ;)
 

lolslayer

Member
If somebody is wondering why I didn't make any progress the last week or something, this is because a week filled with tests starts today and I've to learn a lot for it (It's called: "Proefwerkweek" in Dutch), I don't have much spare time because of that so for the coming week or so there won't be much progress :/
 
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Opticrow

Guest
Constant writing to the hard drive will quickly wear it out, especially if it's an SSD. Not to mention the game cannot progress until the write / read command has finished. Depending on the hard drive's speed, this could impact performance quite heavily.

As many other people have mentioned, using a local server would most likely be a much better option!
 
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