IServiceAdapter

Interface defining the contract for multiplayer service backends. Each implementation wraps a specific platform SDK (Unity Gaming Services, Steam, Epic) and exposes a unified async API for initialization, authentication, session querying, creation, and joining.

Definition

Namespace: Paragon.Core.Network Assembly: Paragon.dll

public interface IServiceAdapter

Remarks

IServiceAdapter is the core abstraction of the adapter subsystem. NetworkService holds a single adapter instance at runtime, selected by NetworkServiceType during Connect(). All multiplayer operations flow through this interface, making the rest of the network system agnostic to the underlying platform.

The interface is fully async — every method returns a Task or Task<T>. Implementations are expected to handle platform-specific initialization (e.g., UnityServices.InitializeAsync()) and authentication (e.g., anonymous sign-in) internally.

Currently, only UnityServiceAdapter provides a concrete implementation. The STEAM and EPIC values in NetworkServiceType are reserved for future adapter implementations.

Quick Lookup

Goal	How
Identify the backend	Read ServiceType property
Initialize the SDK	await adapter.Initialize()
Authenticate	await adapter.SignIn() → returns NetworkUser
List available sessions	await adapter.QuerySessions() → returns List<NetworkSessionInfo>
Create a new session	await adapter.CreateSession(name, maxConnections) → returns NetworkSession
Join an existing session	await adapter.JoinSession(sessionID) → returns NetworkSession
Sign out	await adapter.SignOut()

Properties

ServiceType

Identifies which multiplayer service this adapter wraps.

NetworkServiceType ServiceType { get; }

Returns: A NetworkServiceType enum value (UNITY, STEAM, or EPIC).

Methods

Initialize

Performs one-time SDK initialization for the service backend.

Task Initialize()

Behavior: Called once during NetworkService.Connect(). For Unity, this invokes UnityServices.InitializeAsync() after capturing thread context via UnityThreadUtils.

SignIn

Authenticates the local user with the service backend.

Task<NetworkUser> SignIn()

Returns: A NetworkUser record containing the authenticated user's ID and display name.

Behavior: For Unity, performs anonymous sign-in via AuthenticationService.Instance.SignInAnonymouslyAsync().

SignOut

Signs the local user out of the service backend.

Task SignOut()

Behavior: Completes asynchronously when the sign-out operation finishes. For Unity, listens for the SignedOut event on AuthenticationService.Instance.

QuerySessions

Queries the service for available multiplayer sessions.

Task<List<NetworkSessionInfo>> QuerySessions(Unity.Services.Multiplayer.QuerySessionsOptions queryOptions = null)

Parameter	Type	Description
queryOptions	QuerySessionsOptions	Optional filter/sort criteria. Defaults to null (no filter).

Returns: A list of NetworkSessionInfo structs, each containing session ID, name, and max player count.

CreateSession

Creates a new multiplayer session and returns a connected NetworkSession.

Task<NetworkSession> CreateSession(string sessionName, int maxConnections = 4)

Parameter	Type	Description
sessionName	string	Display name for the session. Falls back to "Paragon Session" if null.
maxConnections	int	Maximum number of players allowed. Defaults to 4.

Returns: A NetworkSession instance representing the created session. The caller is the session host/owner.

JoinSession

Joins an existing multiplayer session by its unique identifier.

Task<NetworkSession> JoinSession(string sessionID)

Parameter	Type	Description
sessionID	string	The unique identifier of the session to join.

Returns: A NetworkSession instance representing the joined session.

Implementation Requirements

When implementing IServiceAdapter, you MUST:

1. Return a valid NetworkServiceType from ServiceType

2. Call Initialize() before any other methods are used

3. Return a fully-connected NetworkSession from CreateSession() and JoinSession() (i.e., the client connection must be established before returning)

4. Return a valid NetworkUser with non-null ID and Name from SignIn()

You SHOULD:

• Handle platform-specific cleanup in SignOut()

• Support the queryOptions parameter in QuerySessions() for filtering

• Wait for player synchronization before returning from session methods

Common Pitfalls

QuerySessionsOptions dependency The QuerySessions method uses Unity.Services.Multiplayer.QuerySessionsOptions as a parameter type. Future non-Unity adapters will need to either accept this type and map it internally, or the interface will need to be updated with a platform-agnostic query options type.

Initialization order Initialize() must complete before calling SignIn(), and SignIn() must complete before calling session methods. NetworkService enforces this order, but direct adapter usage must follow the same sequence.

See Also

• UnityServiceAdapter — concrete Unity Gaming Services implementation

• Service Adapters — subsystem overview

• NetworkManager — high-level entry point