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Anthony Diamond edited this page May 4, 2015 · 5 revisions

Getting Started

Welcome to IOSync; local multiplayer games over the internet.

What does IOSync do?

IOSync allows you to easily stream input to a remote machine, effectively providing half the work needed to play a game from another computer.

What doesn't IOSync do?

IOSync isn't a cohesive experience like Steam's "in-home streaming", it only handles the input side of the equation. Similarly, IOSync isn't a replacement for what Valve is providing. Unless you're trying to use a VPN with Steam's in-home streaming, they don't target the same situations. In other words, don't bother using IOSync over Steam's functionality, if you're on the same network. But, you're not out of luck, there's still alternatives that allow you to see what you're doing.

Any benefits over using Steam's in-home streaming through a VPN?

Steam's in-home streaming is meant to be a remote-machine-only experience, allowing you to play games from another room in your house. IOSync, on the other hand, doesn't have as many restrictions. With IOSync, not only can you play a game using a different machine, but so can other people. On top of that, people on the host machine can also play the game. This means you can play local multiplayer games with your friends. In addition to these benefits, you shouldn't get any stuttering problems, and the delay should be slightly better. This all depends on the setup, though. Streaming games requires a decent enough internet connection, as well as a good enough host computer. IOSync itself may take basically nothing as far as bandwidth and system-resources are concerned, but streaming games at low latencies can be very taxing. Audio and video streaming is up to you, but here's a page to get you started.

Where to Start

Below is a table of contents, which links to pages explaining what your options are when using IOSync.