The “typical” process for tackling multiplayer support in a game is to first decide to either roll your own, or purchase a 3rd party library. Because of the incredibly complex features that a proper game networking library must have, and all the networking contingencies you need to handle, it is often quite difficult for a beginner (or even intermediate) to sit down and write their own networking package. It’s one thing to roll a simple chat client / server program, but quite another when working with a real-time multiplayer system capable of supporting a large number of clients all of which could be all over the world each with their own network latencies.
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Yes that’s right…there really IS a secret involved in making games. *looks left and right*

The (real) secret of making games is finishing them.

Perhaps that’s a fairly trite “revelation” at this point, but nonetheless it’s worth mentioning once in a while. I think too many hobbyist and beginner game developers are lured into tackling a project that is much too large for either their skill level or even just their time commitment. Because on the surface every commercial engine is sold as making game development “easy as pie”, they aren’t capable of properly making a plan or project timeline for how long things may actually take to do.
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