What's New in Director 8.5 > Getting Started > Shockwave Multiuser Server |  |

Shockwave Multiuser Server

The Shockwave Multiuser Server facilitates real-time interaction and collaboration among users. With this component, you can create communication and entertainment applications such as the following:

| Online "whiteboard" meetings with virtual whiteboards on which each user's written comments are collected and viewed in real time
| Multimedia presentations displayed to numerous viewers simultaneously
| Multiplayer games with real-time interaction and rich Director media content
| Custom online chat applications
| Server-side database storage

Version 3.0 of the Multiuser Server, which ships with Director 8.5, includes these new features:

| Server-side scripting
| By placing Lingo scripts on the server computer, you can dramatically simplify the Lingo in your multiuser client movies. Server-side scripting enables you to more easily develop multiuser movies and minimize errors during testing and real-world use.
| Server-side file access
| Files on the server are now accessible through Lingo. You can retrieve status information about server files, add new files, edit the content of existing files, and delete files on the server.
| Multithreading
| Multithreading enables multiple server scripts to run simultaneously. One movie does not need to wait for another movie's scripts to finish executing before its own script can run. Threads can share data and test each other's states.

To learn the basics of Lingo, see Chapter 6, "Writing Scripts with Lingo," in Using Director Shockwave Studio for Director 8.