smartcarrion
started a topic on Tue, 09 December 2014 at 2:33 PM
Would love some documentation, especially a unity package, that helps integrate Playfab and Photon together. Which calls should be used to start a room, add friends to a room, do matchmaking etc. How should one service call the other one appropriately?
19 Comments
johntube said on Sat, 10 January 2015 at 3:30 PM
I've noticed that PlayFab has its own matchmaking system, I wonder what will happen to all those API requests will they be replaced or integrated with Photon ?
Brendan Vanous said on Mon, 12 January 2015 at 1:19 AM
The main use of the Feature Requests forum is to request new functionality so that other users can vote on it. For general questions on our features, I would recommend asking on our "API and SDK questions" forum. That said, I can answer this: All the existing systems will remain available for the foreseeable future. The existing PlayFab matchmaking system will continue to be available. The Photon matchmaker will be available to any title using Photon Realtime or Turnbased. If we eventually decide to move developers to one system, we will ensure that the shift is non-breaking, so that existing titles will not experience issues.
jpthek9 said on Sat, 31 January 2015 at 5:18 PM
Are there any tutorials or examples of the implementation? I think that's what's being requested.
Brendan Vanous said on Sun, 01 February 2015 at 1:50 PM
As we proceed with the Photon integration, we will absolutely be providing materials on how to use the systems together. For now, I would recommend using the existing Photon examples for starting rooms, matchmaking, and adding friends (http://doc.exitgames.com/en/realtime/current/reference/matchmaking-and-lobby). The systems can absolutely be used in parallel with little difficulty. We will shortly be adding the ability to call into Cloud Script via Photon Realtime/Turnbased webhooks, and Game Manager integration is planned for an upcoming sprint.
johntube said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 7:32 PM
we are dying waiting...
Brendan Vanous said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 7:59 PM
So again, right now, the PlayFab and Photon systems are distinct, and the samples for each are the ones to use. As we develop the technical integration, we'll provide examples of how to use the systems together.
johntube said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 8:10 PM
But I'm not asking for a tutorial but for the actual technical integration release date ! at least a more precise estimation than "1st quarter of 2015" !
And again I'm sorry.
jpthek9 said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 8:14 PM
Your advertisement of Photon integration dragged a lot of us here. Wish you guys actually had something to show for it.
Brendan Vanous said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 8:39 PM
What we have to show is a private Photon Cloud, enabling titles signed up for Premium or Publisher tiers in PlayFab to use all the Photon Cloud tech at no additional cost. That is, in fact, the first phase of integration and one that's ready now. What we have planned are integrations for authentication, webhooks (using Cloud Script), monitoring via the Game Manager, and Photon Server hosting. Which of those are you particularly interested in, and what are your key scenarios?
jpthek9 said on Tue, 17 February 2015 at 9:02 PM
Hosting of a custom real-time server.
johntube said on Wed, 18 February 2015 at 2:53 PM
@Brandan
What I really need from this integration is the following :
1- Webhooks : CloudScript actions should be called by URI paths (more RESTful, like the other normal PlayFab API calls)
2- (less important) Custom Authentication : instead of connecting to both services separately, it would be better to do it one time only
If you already have this for the Premium tier I'm ready to contact you now to give you my payment details RIGHT NOW !
I've started working with both solutions (Photon and PlayFab) separately but I finally realized that I can't replace Photon Webhooks with PlayFab CloudScript actions calls from the client because of how Photon itself works :
For instance, if I want to rejoin a saved game Photon will automatically load its state using the proper webhook (/GameCreate). I cannot do the same with CloudScript unless I completely ignores a lot of Photon logic that simplifies things and make things ten times more complicated and "uglier".
The Webhooks concept itself can't be replaced with the actual CloudScript implementation because Webhooks are called from Photon serves and are event-driven while CloudScript actions are called "on-demand" and from the client-side ! I also found problems choosing the right timing to call CloudScript actions in relation to the Photon operations : before or after or "at the same time". Also the Webhooks exposes "more" data (GameState, UserId, ActorList, CachedEvents, etc.) that can't be accessed from their LoadBalancingAPI !
Can you tell me if this is your next must-have feature on top of your TO DO list ? This feature post has 10 votes until now, it's the top voted feature, I know the one who started it is requesting "tutorials" and "documentation" but as @jpthek9 said, a lot of people came here because of the P-P integration announcement last September at Unite 2014. I don't know if I need to wait longer or just go back to Parse and re-invest in it. I really like PlayFab for its pricing plan affordable for indies and I believe in it especially after playing Loadout and I appreciate how you guys (Brendan, Zach, the twitter guy) are answering every thread on the forum and I'm OK with the other issues as the service is still at its beginning but...I need this feature ASAP.
Brendan Vanous said on Thu, 19 February 2015 at 12:58 AM
Authentication and webhooks are indeed the first two things we'll be enabling. The webhooks update is almost done, at this point. If all goes well, we might be able to release this next week, but I always tend to give pessimistic estimates (to prevent scheduling issues), so I'd plan on the week after that. Authentication will take a bit longer, but it is on the work list for the current sprint.
Brendan
johntube said on Thu, 19 February 2015 at 1:03 AM
OK thank you Brendan ! Two weeks is good. (Finally ! I had to put a lot of pressure to get this info.)
Brendan Vanous said on Thu, 19 February 2015 at 1:08 AM
Actually, pressure isn't really relevant. Because we operate a live service and our priorities can change based upon critical issues which may arise for our developers, we simply cannot guarantee a release date for features which aren't close to complete in many cases. It's possible for us to book out some time for dedicated development work, if a developer wants to contract us for specific features - that's all spelled out on our pricing page. In that case we would work with that developer to create a spec for the work and a timeline which we would meet. But short of that, we have to be cautious not to promise something which could put a developer's targets in jeopardy should our priorities change.
johntube said on Fri, 24 April 2015 at 6:30 AM
For those working on Photon Webhooks with PlayFab CloudScript this link may help.
Gw2play said on Sat, 13 June 2015 at 4:17 PM
Hi John,
Are you any closer to getting some decent documentation and tutorials together? I've tried the beta package and documents, but its all over the place, I've tried grabbing bits and pieces from the demo and adding them into my project but its just a mess that failed badly.
Regards
Scott
Brendan Vanous said on Sat, 13 June 2015 at 5:10 PM
Hi Scott,
Could you let us know what you're getting stuck on specifically? The "Using Photon with PlayFab" guide is designed to walk you through all the steps of getting started using Photon, from setting up App IDs in our service to connecting to a Room. If you're looking for more information specifically on the Photon Turnbased SDK calls, there are some fairly detailed write-ups on the Exit Games site, here.
Brendan
johntube said on Mon, 15 June 2015 at 7:04 AM
Hi Gw2play,
I will be more than happy to help you if you provide more details about your problem. I need precise questions to give precise answers.
Photon's official docs about anything webhooks related are coming...soon
Regards,
HL
johntube said on Mon, 15 June 2015 at 9:40 AM
Hi everyone,
The official Photon webhooks docs are out :
Right now only Photon Turnbased support Webhooks, this will change soon.
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