Since lag is such a problem...

[boer]

...we need solutions , since playing this game with 400 ping is often more frustrating than entertaing.


one suggestion that might work is :
( you need to visualize this )

There should be  ping amount on each and every packet ( sent on the network) , so that when the packet arrives, the server calculates where everyone was at TIME ( ping/2 ) and collide detect accordingly.  Everyone 's position can be approximated linearly, meaning that their "old" position was : (current position) - TIME*(current velocity), this will work good for ping < +- 400.
This  is not failsafe, since a users 's ping is not neccesaraly(spelling...) what it will be ( when the packet is sent ) but its a good approx.


Currently, i think, when a packet arrives at the server, it does col.detect as to where everyone is at the time the packet arrives. So if on the client side , you shoot , the ping is 1000 , the server will col detect when everyone has already moved by 500ms.

any thoughts to this?

[FliesLikeABrick]

this will gain absolutely nothing.  the fluxuation in pings will be just as bad as trying to do this, plus the difference in ping among players.  When someone sends a packet, it will be labelled with their previous ping time... what good does that do?

second, everyone's pings are different, and you're saying that you would delay the game. In order for it to work since everyone has a different ping, you would have to emulate the game a different time for every player.

Thirdly, this essentially makes the game so that you're not playing in real time.  Once the server does its compensation, you're saying to have it pretend it is working like it should be if there was no ping (basically adjusting for it).... but you still have to send the information back to the client.

Just because I hand you a piece of paper with tomorrow's date on it doesn't make tomorrow come any sooner, nor does it mean I'm from the future. 

[edak]

WOW FLAB! you summed that one up perfectly, exactly what I was thinking as I read boer's post.

[boer]

ok, but if i send you a letter ( with a date stamp , and it arrives in 2 days later ) stating where i was , and where i was going at what speed, then you can know exactly where i am once you read that , provided that i did not change direction.

[Mr. Domino]

...we need solutions , since playing this game with 400 ping is often more frustrating than entertaing.

My solution would be to get a faster Internet connection and choose servers close to you.

[FliesLikeABrick]

ok, but if i send you a letter ( with a date stamp , and it arrives in 2 days later ) stating where i was , and where i was going at what speed, then you can know exactly where i am once you read that , provided that i did not change direction.

The fact that you could and do change direction is one of the things that makes your suggestion not work.

A solution to lag isn't worth it if it only works 10% of the time and is based on crappy prediction algorithms.  I'd rather just take my chances with lag and do what Domino said

[ds dude]

Nah,I posted something like this at general  disccussions and poepe told me that it just because servers are in different places like europe or canada etc...And it takes a longer time.

[T-Bone]

...we need solutions , since playing this game with 400 ping is often more frustrating than entertaing.

My solution would be to get a faster Internet connection and choose servers close to you.

is there really anything more you can do.....i mean i geuss you can make sure you hvae no programs running in background, but that's about it....

[Fraggy]

omg, you also can  just buy better internet connecetion... it's only 20 $ p/m !

[jettlarue]

here was my idea for explosions for lag. make the m79/grenade explode when it explodes on the opposite side of his body from your stance. so if you are on the left of a soldat. and you shoot a m79 at it, the m79 would not explode when it hit the left side of the soldat, but it would when it hit the right side. so by if there was no lag it would work same as regular, and if there was lag it would have a higher chance of hurting it because the soldat is closer to the explosion.

[NecroBacon]

Actually boers suggestion is a fairly good one, if not somewhat incomplete. Its called delta compression, only rather then sending a time stamp on a single packet, you send a series of "steps" that a client takes, the server keeps track of these steps, and uses them to determine where people where when someone fired.

It would look like this, lets say the server updates once every 10ms, I have a ping of 40ms, and someone (bob for convenience) else has a ping of 400ms. Everytime I update with the server, I send 4 states 1 for every 10 ms. Bob will end up sending 40 packets, which will increase his lag slightly, but he wont notice. So I shoot bob, and the server figures out that bob was on packet 15 of his 40 when I started shooting so the server looks at packet 15 from his collection of states, and decides that he was in my line of sight, and so it registers, even if bob is actually out of my line of sight by the time his state collection arrives.

Of course delta compression isn't without flaws, the higher someones ping the larger their collection of states will be, which will increase their lag by a much larger amount then someone with an already low ping. The advantage is of course that if on my screen it says I shot someone, then the shot will always register. It will also insure that if someone who is laggy shoots, it will register on their side too, their shots will just get a delay (sort of like the nerfed law).

Its a very effective system, and is used more and more commonly in large scale commercial games (basically anything built on the quake3 or quake4 engine)

[EnEsCe]

Yeah uh, its not going to happen so just drop it.

Just play in your own country.

[boer]

you know, just as there is no servers in the antarctics, there is no servers in africa, and there will never be. I have 1024kbit/s internet, but the servers i join is in europe, there is really nothing closer!
Enesce, since you are a server developer, cant you orginize a server in southafrica?

[FliesLikeABrick]

see what enesce said, I've gotta lock this since him and MM make this kinda decision right now