New Picture Hunt Silverlight Socket Sample

Introducing “Picture Hunt”, the newest Silverlight sample app.  This multiplayer game demonstrates the power of the System.Net Socket API inside a browser.  No more long-polls, or trying to turn HTML requests into something that’s almost a socket; you can use sockets directly!  The sample is also a “good network citizen”.  It shows the network status nicely, without any irritating pop-ups; it automatically tries to reconnect, and it will automatically switch networks as needed.

PictureHunt

Check out the Powerpoint deck that goes into detail about the demo and complete source code for the whole demo, including the game server, pictures, and the Silverlight Policy server.

The sample is on Silverlight TV!  An earlier version of the game (without the fancy animations) is on Silverlight TV on Channel 9 on MSDN.  The discussion includes when to use sockets (answer: when you need to send and receive any time, not just when you’re polling, or when you need to match an existing protocol, or when you need to reduce your server resources), plus tips on how to get started, and common issues with network programming.

Enjoy!