Question about Multiplayer!

[henr1kk]

Hi,

I'm new to programming but I have some good ideas that I want to try and make!
But I have a question regarding iPhone/iPod Touch multiplayer and how to implement it into my game!

The thing is, I love multiplayer games (just playing with some friends at work, college, etc) but I'm a little bit worried with the limitations of these devices regarding MP...
Every MP game I have on my iPod Touch needs to be connected to a local WiFi network in order to find other devices!

Is there a way to implement device-to-device multiplayer in a game, kinda like the way the DS and PSP work?

For example, say I'm on a road trip with some friends that have iPhones or iPods and I want to play a game with them... Is it possible for one of the devices to act as a host and the other ones as clients or are these devices uncapable of communicating without a nearby WiFi access point?

[Biggles]

Good question!

I don't know.

#iphonedev on freenode's irc is a good place to ask, though.

[Haephestos]

To make a long story short, no, not really.

This is only possible with backgrounding of apps and a jailbroken iPhone as the iPhone SDK does not allow hosting of networks on a device (i.e. you cannot use your iPhone as a WiFi router).
There are some apps for jailbroken iPhones that allow you to set up an adhoc network but you would also need to have backgrounding enabled so you can have the network set up while playing the game.
I'm not sure about using bluetooth for this kind of thing as the data transfer is probably not fast enough, nor is it allowed by the SDK.

[henr1kk]

Well that blows...

The PSP and DS both have ad-hoc capabilities and don't require a nearby WiFi access point to enable multiplayer...

If Apple wants the iPhone/Touch to be a reliable gaming platform, they need to enable device-to-device multiplayer! I have lots of friends in college who own iPhones and Touches and we like to play some games but we need to be near the college's WiFi hotspots to enjoy multiplayer...
And I believe a lot of people go through the same pinfull process just to njoy a game with friends...
I hope Apple enables this in the near future and I'll just put my game ideas on hold until then.

[Haephestos]

Its not an adhoc wireless network on the PSP or DS. The DS uses an infra-red connection and I'm not sure about the PSP.