NetGrouper is a wrapper for Actionscript 3.0’s NetGroup and RTMFP Multicasting abilities. It is intended to create quick P2P multiplayer games over local networks or Adobe Cirrus.

The lib provides an abstraction of P2P communication, which simplifies the process of communicating among game points. It can connect using a local network, but it might fail under multiple firewalls. In those cases the Cirrus multicast is preferable. The library works best for applications meant to have less than 13 simultaneous real-time connections.

Sample

package  {

	import flash.display.MovieClip;
	import com.andrewwalpole.NetGrouper.NetGrouper;
	import com.andrewwalpole.NetGrouper.NetGrouperEvent;
	import flash.events.MouseEvent;

	public class NetGrouperExample extends MovieClip {

		private var netgrouper:NetGrouper;

		private var playerid:String;
		private var player:Player;

		private var opponents:Object; //dictionary of Opponents

		public function NetGrouperExample() {

			netgrouper = new NetGrouper();

			//happens when you successfully connect to the group
			netgrouper.addEventListener( NetGrouperEvent.CONNECT, onConnected );
			//happens when someone else connects to the group
			netgrouper.addEventListener( NetGrouperEvent.NEIGHBOR_CONNECT, onNeighborConnected );
			//happens when someone else disconnects from the group
			netgrouper.addEventListener( NetGrouperEvent.NEIGHBOR_DISCONNECT, onNeighborDisconnected );
			//happens when you receive any kind of post from anyone
			netgrouper.addEventListener( NetGrouperEvent.RECEIVE, onReceivePost );

			connectLocally();
			//connectCirrus();

		}

		public function connectLocally():void {
			//Connect over a local network (WIFI connections behind multiple firewalls can have issues with this)
			netgrouper.connect( NetGrouper.LOCAL_CONNECTION, "com/andrewwalpole/NetGrouperExample" );
		}

		public function connectCirrus():void {
			//Connect over Adobe's Cirrus, you don't need to specify a MulticastIP if you do this, but you need to include your Cirrus Developer Key
			//Get your key here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/cirrus/
			netgrouper.connect( NetGrouper.CIRRUS_CONNECTION, "com/andrewwalpole/NetGrouperExample", null, "Your Developer Key" );
		}

		private function onConnected( e:NetGrouperEvent ):void {

			opponents = {}; //init opponents array

			//e.message.sender is your ID!
			playerid = e.message.sender;

			createPlayer();
			stage.addEventListener( MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMouseMoving );
		}

		public function onNeighborConnected( e:NetGrouperEvent ):void {

			trace( "SOMEONE CONNECTED WITH ID ", e.message.id );
			addOpponent( e.message.id, e.message.playerx, e.message.playery );

		}

		public function onNeighborDisconnected( e:NetGrouperEvent ):void {
			if( opponents[e.message.id] ) {
				removeChild(opponents[e.message.id]);
				opponents[e.message.id] = null;
			}
		}

		public function onReceivePost( e:NetGrouperEvent ):void {

			//e.message.sender is the ID of whoever sent this message

			switch( e.message.action ) {
				case "PLAYER_UPDATE":
					opponents[e.message.sender].x = e.message.playerx;
					opponents[e.message.sender].y = e.message.playery;
				break;
			}
		}

		private function createPlayer():void {
			player = new Player();
			addChild( player );
		}

		public function addOpponent( id:String, ox:Number, oy:Number ):void {

			var o:Player = new Player();
			o.x = ox;
			o.y = oy;

			addChild( o );

			opponents[id] = o; //store the opponent by their id, this makes life easier
		}

		private function onMouseMoving( e:MouseEvent ):void {
			//update your view
			player.x = e.stageX;
			player.y = e.stageY;

			//update their view by sending a data object, you can send all kinds of data!
			netgrouper.post( { action:"PLAYER_UPDATE", playerx:player.x, playery:player.y } );
			//for real life you might want to post an update based on a timer or something a bit
			//slower than mouse move or enter frame.
		}

	}

}