Multiplayer

01Prerequisites

1. Import a complete supported Photon PUN2 SDK and allow Unity to finish importing and compiling.
2. Configure a Photon Realtime App ID in PhotonServerSettings.
3. Open Tools → BoneCracker Games → CCDS → Multiplayer Setup to check the installation/configuration status. When PUN is installed but unconfigured, Select Photon Settings selects its settings asset.

The integration has been tested with the complete PUN2 2.55 SDK layout. Revalidate SDK removal, reinstall and multiplayer when upgrading Photon.

CCDS's dependency bootstrap manages the BCG_CCDS_PUN scripting symbol automatically from the SDK's source files, assembly definitions and client plugin on disk. An incomplete import or multiple SDK copies do not enable the integration. Do not add scripting symbols manually to bypass detection; repair the SDK import instead.

Removing the optional SDK does not require deleting CCDS network bindings, scene IDs, UI references or multiplayer save fields. Keep this authoring data so reinstalling the SDK can use it again. Installing the SDK does not by itself connect the player to a room.

02Single-player and multiplayer are the same scenes

There is no separate single-player project, scene set, mission set or save format. CCDS_NetworkManager.networkMode records the selected mode:

CCDS_NetworkManager.Instance.SetSinglePlayerMode();
CCDS_NetworkManager.Instance.SetMultiplayerMode();

// Anywhere in gameplay code, prefer this over raw Photon checks
if (CCDS.IsMultiplayer()) { /* ... */ }

CCDS.IsMultiplayer() is the check to use. Hand-rolled PhotonNetwork.IsConnectedAndReady && InRoom tests drift out of agreement with the rest of CCDS.

For capability checks, use the SDK-independent CCDS_NetworkAvailability API:

Reading these properties does not start a connection. SetMultiplayerMode() cannot enable online mode without a configured integration.

The player's preference persists:

CCDS.SetPreferMultiplayer(true);
bool prefers = CCDS.GetPreferMultiplayer();

Unavailable networking changes the effective startup choice, not the stored preference. Vehicle ownership, upgrades and multiplayer progression remain in the same save data while playing locally.

03Room configuration

On CCDS_NetworkManager:

Read-only state getters: IsInRoomAndReady, InLobby, InRoom, IsMultiplayer, IsMasterClient.

04Connection flow

ConnectToPhoton()
  → OnConnectedToMaster
  → JoinLobby()
  → CreateRoom() / JoinRoom() / JoinOrCreateRoom() / JoinRandomRoom()
  → OnJoinedRoom
  → PhotonNetwork.Instantiate spawns the player vehicle

The public entry points:

Wrap calls to SDK-specific overloads, Photon types and PUN callback overrides in #if BCG_CCDS_PUN. The two entries marked above are absent when the integration is not compiled; checking IsInstalled at runtime cannot make an SDK-only signature compile.

05Network rates

In CCDS_Settings.asset:

Keep serialization below send rate. Raising both smooths remote vehicles and costs bandwidth; the shipped 30/20 pair is tuned for vehicles.

06Networked vehicles

A player vehicle's authored setup uses CCDS_NetworkBinding, CCDS_Player and RCCP_PhotonSync. The vehicle setup prompt adds the components and records the ordered observers in the binding — see Add Your Own Vehicle.

The binding stores the network view's settings without an SDK component. During Play Mode, when BCG_CCDS_PUN is compiled, CCDS creates the real PhotonView and restores its settings and observer order. Without the SDK, the binding and CCDS component types remain in the prefab. Do not mix an authored PhotonView with an unprepared binding on the same object.

Prefab bindings keep sceneId = 0. Placed scene bindings need persistent IDs and an active CCDS_NetworkSceneBootstrap; use Multiplayer Setup → Register Active Scene and Assign IDs after saving a new scene. See scene registration.

Authority follows Photon: the owner simulates, remotes interpolate. CCDS adds a control lock on top, so it can hold authority across mission transitions:

vehicle.LockControl();
vehicle.UnlockControl();
vehicle.SetControlWithLock(true);
bool locked = vehicle.ControlLockedByCCDS;

While locked, RCCP_PhotonSync will not override canControl or externalControl. Use SetControlWithLock rather than touching RCCP.SetControl directly whenever CCDS owns the decision — otherwise the sync component silently reverts you next frame.

07Mission participation

Multiplayer missions derive from ACCDS_MultiplayerMissionBase.

An empty missionPlayers cancels the mission.

Mission AI activates locally on each participant. Non-participants never enable the mission, so they never see its AI. Do not "fix" this with an RPC — see Create a Mission.

Markers synchronise their logical state and remainingCooldown through OnPhotonSerializeView, with the master client supplying the state. The same marker and mission classes retain their local behavior without the SDK.

08Writing networked components

Derive from ACCDS_PunComponent for shared components. With BCG_CCDS_PUN, it extends MonoBehaviourPunCallbacks and exposes the cached PhotonViewComp. Without that symbol, it extends MonoBehaviour and retains virtual local lifecycle hooks. Its scene-manager access is available in both states, and it no longer requires an authored PhotonView.

using BoneCrackerGames.CCDS;

public class MyNetworkedThing : ACCDS_PunComponent {

    public override void OnEnable() {
        base.OnEnable();
        CCDS_Events.OnNetworkPlayerJoined += HandleJoined;
    }

    public override void OnDisable() {
        CCDS_Events.OnNetworkPlayerJoined -= HandleJoined;
        base.OnDisable();
    }

    void HandleJoined(string playerName) {
        CCDS.DebugLog($"{playerName} joined");
    }
}

Keep OnEnable and OnDisable as public override methods that call their base implementations in both SDK states. PUN registers its callback targets there when installed; the local base hooks let the same subscription code compile without PUN. Guard direct PhotonViewComp access and SDK-specific callback methods with #if BCG_CCDS_PUN.

If your component needs a network view, author a CCDS_NetworkBinding on its object. Add serializing components to the binding's ordered observed list; a component that only uses RPCs still needs the view but does not automatically need an observation entry. Keep bindings and scene registration with the content even when developing without PUN.

Traffic sync is the same story: the master client owns traffic and instantiates it over the network. Clients must not spawn their own.

09Chat and nametags

Chat is CCDS_ChatManager plus CCDS_UI_ChatPanel. Return sends, Esc closes.

CCDS.ShowChat();
CCDS.HideChat();
CCDS.ToggleChatVisibility();
CCDS.SetChatVisibilityMode(ChatVisibilityMode.ShowOnNewMessages);

ChatVisibilityMode is AlwaysVisible, ShowOnNewMessages or Hidden.

Nametags come from CCDS_UI_NametagManager using CCDS_Settings.nametagPrefab, which must contain a TextMeshProUGUI and a CanvasGroup.

Hold Tab for the scoreboard (CCDS_UI_MultiplayerIngame).

10Progression

Persisted per player: multiplayerLevel (starts at CCDS_Settings.defaultMultiplayerLevel, default 1), multiplayerXP, multiplayerWins, multiplayerLosses, totalMultiplayerMatches, favoriteRoomName, preferredRegion, lastOnlineTime.

These save fields and preferMultiplayer remain part of CCDS_SaveData without PUN. Removing or reinstalling the SDK does not automatically erase them.

11Testing two clients on one PC

Enable CCDS_Settings.useProcessIdForSaveFile. Each instance then writes its own save file, keyed by process ID, so two clients do not fight over one file.

Turn it off for production builds. Left on, every launch is a new save and players lose their progress.

12Events

Sixteen network events are available — connection, room, player and master-client changes. See Events Catalog.

13Common problems

14Next

• Create a Mission
• Events Catalog
• Common Problems