A master thesis from Aalborg University
To Infinity and Beyond: Scaling Massively Multiplayer Games
Author(s)
Term
2. term
Education
Publication year
2010
Submitted on
2010-05-31
Pages
104 pages
Abstract
This report pertains to load balancing techniques for use in MMOGs with focus on geographical partitioning techniques. An analysis of existing two-dimensional techniques is performed, namely: Static-, Matrix- and JoHNUM- partitioning. We have extended these techniques to be applicable in three-dimensional virtual environments. Furthermore, we have created a test game called Rock Pounder, which has been used to evaluate the extended techniques. The evaluation is performed with two different scenarios, which represent common MMO game play scenarios. From the evaluation we found that the static partitioning technique was well suited for static work loads. However, for dynamic work loads we found the dynamic JoHNUM techniques to be the most suitable, mainly due to the more involved pre-partition analysis of the virtual world. It was found that JoHNUM in particular yields a fairly good scalability regarding number of supported players relative to the number of servers operating.
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