Beginner's Guide to PC Gaming

Clients

A client is a piece of software that allows your computer to connect to a server somewhere else. There are different types of clients. The ones I'm going to talk about are related to games. The most common of them is Steam. Steam allows you to connect to the Valve servers and download games. Some games have multiplayer functionality which also goes through the Valve servers. Two or more computers connect to the servers to play the same game together. Another common client, but slightly less common than valve is Origin. Origin connects to the Electronic Servers and has relatively the same functionality as Steam, just different games and different servers. There are other clients like this, but I'm going to talk about a different kind of client now. Tunngle is a client that does not allow you to download games. What it does allow you to do is play your already installed games multiplayer over the internet, but in a way you can't do otherwise. Tunngle is a VPN (virtual private network), and let's you play your games in LAN mode with someone over the internet. LAN (local area network) is a way to play games with people who are on the same network as you. You don't even need to be connected to the internet to play games in LAN mode, as long as you're getting a response from your network. A VPN is a piece of software that connects two or more people to a server which then creates a virtual network. This virtual network is practically a local area network. Bit it goes over the internet, so you can share it with anyone you please. You may be wondering why you may want to play games with a VPN. Some games (especially older ones) at this point in time only support LAN mode. So this is great if you want to play with someone who isn't on the same physical network on you. Some games allow people you don't know to join your game. You may not want this. So LAN mode is a better way for you to play if you only want to play with people you know