Need Help with Game...

[NeoSyrex]

I'm creating this game/chat application where players connect to people who are hosting games using winsock, and was wondering if there was a way to have users see a list of who is currently hosting a game before they connect. I was thinking maybe posting the people who are hosting games IPs on a website where it can then be downloaded to connecting players' computers... I'm kinda new to VB, so I'm not sure how to do this (or if it would even work). Thanks

[The_Fog]

What you could do:
let people know the Ip's for the different hosts.
Have 1 winsock control on the hosts program the listens for calls from clients, and 1 that responds to the clients.
In the client program, you can create 2 winsock controls. 1 to send a query to the host, and 1 to listen for the answer.
Then you can "make" the client send a query to the different hosts every time the user wants to join game. When the host gets the query, it respondes by letting the client know what kinda game it is, how many current users there are, and so on.
Then you can present the answers from the host in a few listboxes so that the client can choose the game he wants to play. when the client makes his choice you just move him to a new form(connectform or something like that) and make a new connection to the game.
I think i managed to explain it.. did I?

The Fog

[NeoSyrex]

How would a client be able to send the query to the hosts if the client doesn't know their IPs and there's no central server that the hosts could connect to?

[The_Fog]

They can't, so either you need a server of some sort that hosts the IP's and gives them to the clients when they connect to it, or you haveto share the Ip to the host to all players.
There really are no other way. (unless you program Ipx/spx, but that's only functional in LAN's)
Sorry..

The Fog

[NeoSyrex]

Yeah, but what about my original suggestion? I'm pretty sure it would work, I just don't know how to do it...