smartfoxserver.com

I’ve been researching networking solutions for my game, and it seems like the majority of Unity games these days are built on top of some Photon service, I was wondering if stuff like Smartfoxserver or building a server in something like RakNet we’re still viable options?

Hi,
it just depends what you need. Photon works in the cloud but it's not server-authoritative (i.e. you can't run server side game logic) and leaves many services to be implemented by the developer. For example, if you need storage or web services you need to implement it yourself.

SmartFoxSever is a fully server-authoritative solution so you can run your custom server code, you have access to local or remote databases, embedded web server plus a ton of multiplayer features: Room and User management, Match making, Admin and Moderation tools, Connectivity tools (http tunneling, reconnection system), etc... The full list is found here:
https://www.smartfoxserver.com/products

If you want to get started with SFS2X you can get the Community Edition here for free:
https://smartfoxserver.com/download#p=installer
you get 100% of the features and a 100 CCU license with no time limits.

To get started with the Unity check the examples and relative tutorials:
http://docs2x.smartfoxserver.com/Exampl ... troduction

Finally cooking your own solution is likely the least appealing option as it's a lot of work, especially if you need the level of scalability and reliability of dedicated solutions such as SmartFox. (We've been in this biz since 2004 )

If there's any other questions let us know.

I don't know, but I do like Smartfoxserver, sure, it doesn't have the latest bells and whistles, but it gives a more stable, reliable solution to host games, I'm always partial to server-central solutions as they offer a better centralisation/synchronisation (not sure of the term) for players, and if you're using a powerful computer to host the server, then it lightens the load on players with weaker machines.

What "bells and whistles" exactly?