Need help transferring Surface object file via Lacewing

[voltfest42]

Hi
I'm constructing a shooter game with worms-like destroyable terrain. I'm using the Surface object to make the terrain destroyable and the Lacewing object for the online functions. One thing I didnt think of is that if a new peer connect to the channel in the middle of a game, his terrain looks totally different then it does to the peers who were in the channel when the game started.
What I need is a way to transform the surface object of one of the other peer into a binary message then can be sent via lacewing to the connecting peer.
How this is done, or if there are any other ways to solve this i dont know...

Can anyone help me out?

[Simon]

How do you plan to get the terrain data to clients at the start of a level?

[Popcorn]

Just a thought, but could you somehow keep track of the changes done to the terrain, so that when new players login, their client will loop through the terrain-log and create the changes previously done by the other players?

[voltfest42]

To answer Simons question, at the beginning of the game the map is put together from a number of different, big, premade "blocks".
Which block are used and which goes where is sent to all peers in a simple binary message to all peers, their application then builds a map identical to that of the channel master.

I liked Popcorns idea of a terrain-log, the only thing that makes me a little uncomfortable, and I'm sure this can be worked around in many ways, is that if this log becomes big enough the fast loop to transfer it can cause lagg (which is no disaster) or in extreme cases even freeze the entire application. These are issues I have experienced while dealing with 5000+ loops

[XStar]

In theory, this should work, if you need it.

I made a working example that should do the trick!

If there's an issue, let me know!

[voltfest42]

I cant get XStars thing to work. I have created a mini version of my game that only have the most basic functions needed for this issue, as well as functions i added while trying to get XStars thing to work.
I also link a relay server that can be used to connect to a local network.
One thing that worries me alittle is in XStars thing JPEG files are used, and that compression can mess things up, PNG is usually better.

Game (Mini).mfaServer.mfa

[voltfest42]

Quick thing, sorry the attatched files ended up so close.
Another thing, many of the servers extra funktions are linked to things that dosnt exist in that mini-game. To use it just wright 6121 and press host.

[XStar]

Sorry about that, I'm not sure how to implement PNG files... I have a fully functioning LAN example that has been tested if you need it.

It works fine on my end... I'm not sure what the issue is. :/

Sorry...

Here's the local network example:

[happygreenfrog]

The surface object comes with an example that shows you how to send the entire contents of the surface object using lacewing.

[voltfest42]

It would be awsome if you could link that example, because its not something i've gotten