Abstract
In recent years, online gaming has become very popular. In contrast to stand-alone games, online games tend to be large-scale and typically support interactions among users. However, due to the high network latency of the Internet, smooth interactions among the users are often difficult. The huge and dynamic geometry data sets also make it difficult for some machines, such as handheld devices, to run those games. These constraints have stimulated some research interests on online gaming, which may be broadly categorized into two areas: technological support and user-perceived visual quality. Technological support concerns the performance issues while user-perceived visual quality concerns the presentation quality and accuracy of the game. In this article, we propose a game-on-demand engine that addresses both research areas. The engine distributes game content progressively to each client based on the player's location in the game scene. It comprises a two-level content management scheme and a prioritized content delivery scheme to help identify and deliver relevant game content at appropriate quality to each client dynamically. To improve the effectiveness of the prioritized content delivery scheme, it also includes a synchronization scheme to minimize the location discrepancy of avatars (game players). We demonstrate the performance of the proposed engine through numerous experiments.
- Balmelli, L., Kovačević, J., and Vetterli, M. 1999. Quadtrees for embedded surface visualization: constraints and efficient data structures. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP'99). IEEE, Los Alamitos, CA, vol. 2, 487--491.Google Scholar
- Bernstein, P. and Goodman, N. 1981. Concurrency control in distributed database systems. ACM Comput. Surv.13, 2, 185--221. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Bernier, Y. 2001. Latency compensating methods in client/server in-game protocol design and optimization. In Proceedings of the Game Developers Conference.Google Scholar
- Botev, J., Hohfeld, A., Schloss, H., Scholtes, I., Sturm, P., and Esch, M. 2008. The HyperVerse: Concepts for a federated and torrent-based ‘3D web. Int. J. Advanced Media Comm. 2, 4, 331--350. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Chang, C. and Ger, S. 2002. Enhancing 3D Graphics on Mobile Devices by Image-Based Rendering. In Proceedings of the IEEE Pacific Rim Conference on Multimedia. IEEE, Los Alamitos, CA, 1105--1111. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Cavagna, R. Bouville, C., and Royan, J. 2006. P2P network for very large virtual environment. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST'06). ACM, New York, 269--276. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Chan, A., Lau, R., and Ng, B. 2005. Motion prediction for caching and prefetching in mouse-driven DVE navigation. ACM Trans. Internet Technol. 5, 1, 70--91. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Chim, J., Green, M., Lau, R., Leong, H., and Si, A. 1998. On caching and prefetching of virtual objects in distributed virtual environments. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM International Conference on Multimedia (Multimedia'98). ACM, New York, 171--180. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Chim, J., Lau, R., Leong, H., and Si, A. 2003. CyberWalk: A web-based distributed virtual walkthrough environment. IEEE Trans. Multimedia 5. 4, 503--515. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Cronin, E., Filstrup, B., Kurc, A.R., and Jamin, S. 2002. An efficient synchronization mechanism for mirrored game architectures. In Proceedings of the Network and System Support for Games. 67--73. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Das, T., Singh, G., Mitchell, A., Kumar, P., and McGhee, K. 1997. NetEffect: A Network architecture for large-scale multi-user virtual world. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST). ACM, New York, 157--163. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- DIS Steering Committee. 1998. IEEE standard for distributed interactive simulation---application protocols. IEEE Standard 1278.Google Scholar
- Falby, J., Zyda, M., Pratt, D., and Mackey, R. 1993. NPSNET: Hierarchical data structures for real-time three-dimensional visual simulation. Comput. Graph.17, 1, 65--69.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Final Fantasy Online. www.finalfantasyxi.com/.Google Scholar
- Garland M. and Heckbert, P. 1997. Surface simplification using quadric error metrics. In Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH'97). ACM, New York, 209--216. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Greenhalgh, C. and Benford, S. 1995. MASSIVE: A Distributed Virtual Reality System Incorporating Spatial Trading. In Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS'95). ACM, New York, 27--34. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Gulliver, S. and Ghinea, G. 2006. Defining User Perception of Distributed Multimedia Quality. ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl. 2, 4, 241--257. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Hagsand, O. 1996. Interactive multiuser VEs in the DIVE system. IEEE Multimedia 3, 1, 30--39. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Hoppe, H. 1996. Progressive meshes. In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference on Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH'96). ACM, New York, 99--108. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Hu, S. and Liao, G. 2004. Scalable peer-to-peer networked virtual environment. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Network and System Support for Games. ACM, New York, 129--133. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Hu, S. 2006. A case for 3D streaming on peer-to-peer networks. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on 3D Web Technology (Web3D'06). 57--63. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Ivanov, D. and Kuzmin, Y. 2000. Color distribution---A new approach to texture compression. Comput. Graph. Forum 19, 3, 28--290.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Lamport, L. 1978. Time, clocks, and the ordering of events in a distributed system. Comm. ACM 21, 7, 558--565. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Lau, R., To, D., and Green, M. 1997. Adaptive multi-resolution modeling technique based on viewing and animation parameters. In Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (VRAIS'97), IEEE, Los Alamitos, CA, 20--27. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Leigh, J., Johnson, A., Vasilakis, C., and DeFanti, T. 1996. Multi-perspective collaborative design in persistent networked virtual environments. In Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium (VRAIS'96). IEEE, Los Alamitos, CA, 253--260. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Li, F., Lau, R., and Green, M. 1997. Interactive rendering of deforming NURBS surfaces. Comput. Graph. Forum 16, 3, C47-C56.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Li, F., Lau, R., and Kilis, D. 2004. GameOD: An internet based game-on-demand framework. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST'04). ACM, New York, 129--136. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Macedonia, M. R., Zyda, M. J., Barham, P. T., Pratt, D. R., and Brutzman, D. P. 1995. Exploiting reality with multicast groups. IEEE Comput. Graphics Appl. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Mauve, M., Vogel, J., Hilt, V., and Effelsberg, W. 2004. Local-lag and timewarp: Providing consistency for replicated continuous applications. IEEE Trans. Multimedia 6, 1, 47--57. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Mills, D. 1991. Internet time synchronization: The network time protocol. IEEE Trans. Comm. 39, 10, 1482--1493.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Pazzi, R., Boukerche, A., and Huang, T. 2008. Implementation, measurement, and analysis of an image-based virtual environment streaming protocol for wireless mobile devices. IEEE Trans. Instrument. Measure. 57, 9, 1894--1907.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Saar, K. 1999. VIRTUS: A collaborative multi-user platform. In Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML'99). 141--152. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Singhal, S. and Cheriton, D. 1994. Using a position history-based protocol for distributed object visualization. Tech. rep. CS-TR-94--1505, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Singhal, S. and Zyda, M. 1999. Networked Virtual Environments: Design and Implementation. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Second Life. secondlife.com.Google Scholar
- Sun, C. and Chen, D. 2002. Consistency maintenance in real-time collaborative graphics editing systems. ACM Trans. Comput.-Human Interact. 9, 1, 1--41. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Teler, E. and Lischinski, D. 2001. Streaming of complex 3D scenes for remote walkthroughs. Comput. Graph. Forum 20, 3, 17--25.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- To, D., Lau, R., and Green, M. 2001. An adaptive multi-resolution method for progressive model transmission. Presence 10, 1, 62--74. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Unreal Engine. unreal.epicgames.com/Network.htm.Google Scholar
- Waters, R., Anderson, D., Barrus, J., Brogan, D., Casey, M., McKeown, S., Nitta, T., Sterns, I., and Yerazunis, W. 1997. Diamond park and spline: A social virtual reality system with 3D animation, spoken interaction, and runtime modifiability. Presence 6, 4, 461--480.Google Scholar
Digital Library
- World of Warcraft. www.worldofwarcraft.com.Google Scholar
- Zhou, S., Cai, W., Lee, B., and Turner, S. J. 2004. Time-space consistency in large-scale distributed virtual environments. ACM Trans. Model. Comput. Simul.14, 1, 31--47. Google Scholar
Digital Library
Index Terms
Game-on-demand:: An online game engine based on geometry streaming
Recommendations
Towards a Constructionist Serious Game Engine
CompSysTech '16: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies 2016Game developers have been using commercial game engines to create serious games. The development of serious game is a process that requires game and instructional design. Constructionist environments and games are becoming more popular in the last years ...
Blind Adventure - A Game Engine for Blind Game Designers
CHI PLAY '18: Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in PlayIn the recent years a handful of powerful game engines have been released for easing the production of high quality computer games, e.g. Unity 3D or Unreal 4. Since these engines are free of charge for amateurs, their use has increased worldwide ...
What Serious Game Studios Want from ICT Research: Identifying Developers' Needs
GALA 2015: Revised Selected Papers of the 4th International Conference on Games and Learning Alliance - Volume 9599Although many scholars recognise the great potential of games for teaching and learning, the EU-based industry for such "serious games" is highly fragmented and its growth figures remain well behind those of the leisure game market. Serious gaming has ...






Comments