Procedural message handling with Multiuser?

Question

I am developing a multiplayer game. I am having issues structuring how to handle incoming messages from the Multiuser server to the client. At the moment I have a default message handler function that references the message subject using jump lists (case) and executes functions accordingly. However this doesn't seem efficient. For example, when I first connect to the server, I want the client to request a character's data from the server, which is fine and already implemented. The incoming message handler in the client checks for a "GetCharacterData_Response" and when it's received, I then need to request map data from the server, which is also fine. Here's some example code I have currently:
This is within the incoming message handler.
case (message.subject) of
  "GetCharacterData_Response":
     _global.Character = message.content
     _global.Multiuser.sendNetMessage("system.script", "GetMapData_Request", message.content.mapCoords)
  "GetMapData_Response":
     _global.Map = message.content
end case
However I may not necessarily always need to request map data directly after receiving the character data. I feel the way I am currently using this structure just isn't efficient and I will be doubling up on a lot of code because there is such a diverse range of situations of when to obtain data and then what to do with that data. Do you guys have any suggestions or feedback regarding this?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you want character data and map data, why not request both at the same
time (or just request one if you only need one)?  If you need to make sure
you have character data before map data, then maybe have a check if
character data is empty not to request map, etc.
I've found it pretty efficient to code everything as object oriented and
modular as possible.  Then you can set up your logic and use all of your
functions as need be.  You might have extra code in doing that, but the
versatility and sleekness will pay off big time.  The computer can execute
insane amounts of code per millisecond, so don't worry too much, although
cutting down on network traffic is cool.