Smartfox Server Vs Electroserver

[alikapadia]

Hi,

Im developing an avatar based chat system in an isometric style world. Now to have an end to end communication, Flash Media Server is just too expensive. The two other alternatives are Smartfox Server by gtoAndPlay() and Electroserver by Electrotank. The thing is I am beginning to like smartfox because of the excellent documentation and the highly responsive/supportive forum they have, however its new, Electro Server has been around from long. Now I dont know which one will turn out to be better for me, anyone got any idea, maybe a feature comparison or any good/bad experience with any of these servers?

Best Regards
Ali Kapadia

[jobemjobem]

Hi Alikapadia,

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. The ElectroServer website has just been completey redesigned and went up yesterday. It now has extermely thorough client-side and server-side documentation with examples of every method/event/property. You can view HTML online or install for use through the Flash IDE.

The latest tests show that it supports over 10,000 concurrent users.

If you need any help then feel free to post here or on the ElectroServer boards. A lot of people use it and so you can find help everywhere.

Good luck with your search!

[tonypa]

Hi Jobe, can I ask if you are planning to write "Flash8 Game Design Demystified" book too?

[jobemjobem]

Hi tonypa,

Yes definately! Well, depending on when I break ground on it the book may be Flash 9. That's the publishers call really. But my point is that the book is going to be revised

[tonypa]

Thanks, thats good news (and yes, it might be wise to go straight with Flash9)

[Incrue]

So you can put that download bynarie thing in your server and in your book

[lapo73]

Originally Posted by alikapadia

Hi,

Im developing an avatar based chat system in an isometric style world. Now to have an end to end communication, Flash Media Server is just too expensive. The two other alternatives are Smartfox Server by gtoAndPlay() and Electroserver by Electrotank. The thing is I am beginning to like smartfox because of the excellent documentation and the highly responsive/supportive forum they have, however its new, Electro Server has been around from long. Now I dont know which one will turn out to be better for me, anyone got any idea, maybe a feature comparison or any good/bad experience with any of these servers?

Best Regards
Ali Kapadia

Couldn' resist to add my reply too

alikapadia: SmartFoxServer is definately younger than the other available socket servers. However is not as young as it may seem. The development started back in summer 2003 and we spent almost an entire year stress testing its engine on all kind of different hardwares and operating systems.
We obviously wanted to make sure that the first release (March 2005) was reliable at least as the other available alternatives. (stress tests results are publicly available in our website)

Now we're in version 1.3 and moving towards version 1.4 which will give the server side framework extreme flexibility and advanced security options. Together we'll add more "real-life" examples of usage with source code.

Originally Posted by jobemjobem

Yes definately! Well, depending on when I break ground on it the book may be Flash 9. That's the publishers call really. But my point is that the book is going to be revised

Great! Nice to hear that. Can't wait to see what flash game gurus will do with the next player (or "virtual machine", to be correct)

Lapo