In this section, we will briefly introduce networking, specifically networking in the context of multiplayer games and Unity. It's worth emphasizing the word briefly as it's not the intention of this section (and chapter) to teach you everything you need to know to create a multiplayer game, but to build up a vocabulary of meanings and concepts so that this chapter makes sense. For more comprehensive details, refer to the official Unity documentation at https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/UNet.html or dedicated books, such as Unity Multiplayer Games by Alan R. Stagner from Packt Publishing, which can be referred to at https://www.packtpub.com/game-development/unity-multiplayer-games.
Let's start by introducing the main components and how their architecture differs from single-player games. At its core, a multiplayer networked...