Microsoft DirectX 8.0 (Visual Basic)

Lobby Clients

A lobby client is an application that is implemented by the lobby server vendor and installed on each player's computer. It handles communication between the players and their game applications, and the lobby server. A common way to install a lobby client is to have the user download it from the lobby server's Web site as part of the sign-up procedure.

The following is a typical scenario.

  1. A new player goes to the Web site and signs up.
  2. As part of the sign-up procedure, the lobby client is downloaded to the client's computer.
  3. The player determines which to play and asks to join a session.
  4. The Web site launches the lobby client on the player's computer. A typical launch mechanism is a URL that points to the lobby client's executable file.
  5. The lobby client handles the mechanics of arranging the session, and then launches the user's game application.
  6. If the game is a lobbyable application, the lobby client enables the game application to communicate with the lobby server. This connection enables the lobby server to keep track of events such as players entering and leaving the game and host migration.

Lobby clients do not necessarily have to be linked to a remote server. In another scenario the user launches the lobby client directly. The lobby client then lists the available games and sessions, perhaps among the people connected to the user's LAN subnet. Once the user chooses a game and session, the lobby client launches the game.

This section discusses some the general features of a lobby client. For more information on communicating between a lobby client and its associated lobby server, see Communicating with a Lobbyable Game.

For more information on implementation details, see Implementing a Lobby Client or the LobbyClient sample application included in the SDK.