Syncing NPC behaviour in a game. Using socket.io/node.js. Unity2D

I am making a 2d topdown with 3d elements game in unity. It is a multiplayer game and the way I am setting it up is by having a master client (server) that relays information to a backend server through socket.io/ node.js.

I have been able to sync the movement of players, their healthbars and rotationgs and the flipping of their sprites with a great measure of suceess considering it is the first time I try such a feat.

However now I am venturing into make monsters on this server and I run into a problem I did not have with the syncing the players. The way I did them was to have the player controllers relay information to the backend server which then gets broadcast to the other players. But with NPCs I have simply attached a controller to the spawned mob, that performs actions on the "server" client which is then relayed to all of the clients in order to ensure that everyone "agrees" on what is happening and when.

This seems to work very well if there is only 1 monster but the second I add 2 or more they are obviously conflicting their information. So I see I cannot do it the same I did with the players. And for this I require some feedback if at all possible.

The signals are sent as follows:

command to spawn monster for test purposes:

    void CreateMonster()
{
    var selectedSpawnPoint = spawnPoints[Random.Range(0, spawnPoints.Length)];

    var spawnedEnemy = Instantiate(Enemy[Random.Range(0, Enemy.Length)], selectedSpawnPoint.transform.position, selectedSpawnPoint.transform.rotation);

    Debug.Log("im at " + spawnedEnemy.transform.position);

    socket.Emit("enemySpawned", Network.VectorToJson(spawnedEnemy.transform.position));
}

server receives that signal:

socket.on('enemySpawned', function(data){

        var thisEnemyId = shortid.generate(); 
        var currentTarget = '';        

        var Enemy = {                                              
                    id: thisEnemyId, x:0, y:0, target:currentTarget,  
        };

        Enemies[thisEnemyId] = Enemy;

        Enemy.x = data.x;
        Enemy.y = data.y;

        data.id = thisEnemyId;

        console.log("enemySpawned position: ", data);

    socket.broadcast.emit('enemySpawned', data);

back to the server and relayed to the spawner:

    public void SpawnEnemy(SocketIOEvent e)
{
    var id = e.data["id"].str;

    var spawnPosition = new Vector3(e.data["x"].n, e.data["y"].n, 0);

    var enemy = Instantiate(orcShaman, spawnPosition, Quaternion.identity) as GameObject;

    enemy.name = "Enemy " + id;

    enemies.Add(id, enemy);
}

so far so good. everything is working fine and the clients are seeing the mob in the correct position at the correct time.

Monster moves his position after aggroing a player:

  void Start () {
    InvokeRepeating("CheckForMove", 1.0f, 0.1f);
}

    void CheckForMove()
{
    if (lastPos != transform.position)
    {
        socket.Emit("enemyMove", Network.VectorToJson(transform.position));

        lastPos = transform.position;
    }
}

Server receives information to move:

            socket.on('enemyMove', function(data){



        Enemy.x = data.x;                                          
        Enemy.y = data.y;

        data.id = thisEnemyId;

            console.log('enemy is moving', data);

    socket.broadcast.emit('enemyMove', data);

    });

game receives the data:

    private void OnEnemyMove(SocketIOEvent e)
{
        var position = new Vector3(e.data["x"].n, e.data["y"].n, 0);

        var enemy = enemySpawner.FindEnemy(e.data["id"].str);

        var enemyNavigator = enemy.GetComponent<EnemyNavigator>();

        enemyNavigator.MoveThisEnemy(position);
}

the individual monster should now receive the information to move to said position:

    public void MoveThisEnemy(Vector3 position)
{
    rigid.MovePosition(position);
    anim.SetBool("walk", true);
    CheckFacingDirection();
}

now this all works wonderfully for only 1 monster, but with 2 all hell breaks loose and they start to look like they are standing the same place and only 1 is shown at a time jumping back and forth between them. which makes me think that the server keeps moving one at a time and cant do them seamlessly at the same time. Even tho the command promt is showing their data being sent very well 10 times a second.

Im unsure why this happens and I am wondering if I have maybe fundamentally misunderstood something. Perhaps I need to redesign my communication with the server.

Any feedback would be wonderful and I am relatively new to all of this but I have built all of this up with just a few tuturials and then kinda winging from there on my own so please go easy on me if this looks like amateur hour at the apollo =(

thanks for reading.

via Svp