Multiplayer with WebRTC, Godot, and Typescript

For the past two weeks, I've been dedicating my free time to dive into distributed systems, focusing on real-time connections. My goal was to build something with the lowest possible latency.

The first technology that came to mind was WebSocket, but as I explored other options, I stumbled upon WebRTC. This tech really grabbed my attention because, unlike traditional systems that rely on servers to transfer data between clients, WebRTC enables peer-to-peer connections, significantly reducing latency.

Here’s a breakdown of WebRTC’s key components:

• Peers: The clients that exchange data directly with each other.
• Signaling Server: Facilitates the initial handshake between peers and manages any disconnections.
• STUN Server: Helps peers discover each other's public IP addresses.
• ICE Framework: Tests various network candidates to establish the most efficient communication path.

A simplified flow works like this:

Imagine two peers, Peer A, and Peer B, both connected to the signaling server via WebSocket.

1. Peer A sends an offer to the signaling server for Peer B.
2. The Server forwards this message to Peer B.
3. Peer B responds with an answer, which the server then passes back to Peer A.

Once this handshake is complete, both peers start exchanging ICE candidates via the signaling server, which represents potential routes for a direct connection. If everything goes smoothly, a peer-to-peer connection is established.

To implement this, I developed a demo game using Godot for the client and Typescript for the signaling server where two players can see each other on screen. They can move, jump, and watch their character’s animations in real-time.

Repository Link:

godot-ts-webrtc