Always use server mode?

Hello,

if I remember correctly, on Quake 3, even when you were playing locally, the game was creating under the hood a dedicated server + client, so they had to manage only one path for their gameplay.

Do you think this may be applicable to UE4?

Because I’m developping a game which will allow the players to play the game standalone, or connected to a server, and even with multiple players on the same screen. Ideally, I’d like to mix multiple players on one computer, playing with other players through a remote connection.

Do you think this may be a good idea to always use a client / server mode?

Thanks

The way replication system works in UE4 is that it will function locally too without any server on, if you want you game to be multiplayer ready in UE4 you build it like it runs with replication either way. But i assume you want the one that runs on top of client. In UE4 it’s called Listen Server:

Also dedicated server in games means, server running without client on same machine, so listen server is no longer dedicated server.

So I can basically always play the game during development in networked mode, and everything should be fine when playing without a server.

What about multiple players on one machine, playing with one or more remote players? Is it supported in the engine?

Yes local players are supported and combination with online multiplayer should also work. To create another player (and you can have more then 2) you need to call CreatePlayer:

For blueprint:

https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/BlueprintAPI/Game/CreatePlayer/index.html

Engine will create PlayerController for that player and from there rest of the logic should work like for the first player. Also UE4 by default automaticly creates split screen when there more then 1 local player, you can disable or change split method in project settings.