A while ago, I was looking for a P2P framework library that I could use in a software project. The only real P2P toolkits I found were the Java-based JXTA and the Windows XP (SP1) Peer-to-Peer API from Microsoft. Neither really worked for me. I program in C++ and wanted to support older OSes.
I was too focused on ‘P2P’ in my searches. It finally dawned on me that multiplayer games have to solve the same problems as a P2P client. Googling turned up several interesting toolkits:
After looking at all of them, I decided to start working with DirectPlay. It has the easiest API and hides all of the low level socket stuff from me. The biggest potential problem with DirectPlay is that it appears Microsoft is sunsetting it. I don’t think it’s a issue though. It’s still in DirectX and will be for a while. It just won’t be developed any further. At some point, when Windows XP is the oldest OS I need to support, I’ll switch over to the XP Peer-to Peer API.