Broadband speed and online FPS games

[Darren S]

I know it's an obvious statement to say that the faster your BB connection, the better the 'experience' will be.

But how much does general broadband speed make to your game, in comparison to what the server deems to correct at any one particular time. E.g:-

Me at home on a 1MB connection at a ping of approx 40 playing BF2142. Another player on a 4MB connection and maybe a ping of 15 for the sake of this argument.

If in a duel-type way, both of us had the same kit, same position (i.e. prone) and both fired at the same time, is the server likely to respond to the 4MB player's inputs quicker than my own?

The reason I ask this is the result of some blatantly questionable outcomes of head-to-head encounters. Even accepting that the other player is better than me, there are some instances that aside from cheating (which I doubt) - the other player couldn't possibly survive.

My current favourite if lying prone and firing bursts at someone (some of which are clearly hitting) and yet stood up, the other player can turn and fire one burst and nail you outright. I have done that myself on occasion, which is clearly nothing more than a flukey shot on the face of it.

I'm wondering if from the other player's perspective, I'm merely lay there and not firing, thus giving him plenty of time to react and fire back? By the time the server calculates that I have begun firing myself, his shots will have already reached me and hey presto - I'm dead.

Such a stark difference can be see when you switch to single player mode. I'm not on about the bots extremely poor ability at firing accuracy here, but my ability to hit them easily and quickly. I almost never play as sniper (recon) on 2142 as the sniper rifle seems to rarely hit targets that I 'think' it should be hitting. Yet when I switch to SP mode, it's headshot central - even on moving targets.

The only way I can therefore work that out is the fact that the guy in my crosshair's is actually nowhere near there according to both the server and the other player?

I'm not biatching about this at all as I understand the complexities of running a 32 or 64 player server and keeping all the screens updated simultaneously. I'm more intrigued as to how things are calculated and whether or not the speed of the internet connection plays a big part?

Apologies for waffling on!

D.

 

[Munday]

Are you talking about the Battlefield series of games? If so, I think its just multiplayer in general.
A few of us stay after work every few weeks to play BF2 and we experience a similar problem on our corperate network.

 

[Darren S]

Mainly, m8. It could well be the BF engine itself that causes these issues. But having said that, the last LAN session I went to, I didn't recall dodgy situations when we were playing BF2 - and definitely not on CoD2 either.

That's not to say they weren't happening - just that they were far less obvious.

Another example. Has anyone dropped down the 'chimneys' on the enemy Titan on BF2142 and come face to face with an enemy defending it? I never, ever win those confrontations, even though I've spotted the other guy and firing point-blank with the support guy's shotgun. From my screen, it looks like a clear cut case of WTF? :S Yet I bet from the other guy's screen, I've just fallen through that gap and just stood there like an idiot, waiting to be shot.

D.

 

[rich[182]]

Can't comment on BF series as I've only ever played BF2 for a short time last year, but have had similar experiences to you whilst using COD, COD2 and RO:41-42

Things def improved after Pipex upgraded me from 2.2Mb to 8Mb, Also chose to disable my software firewall when only when playing games & use my hardware SPI firewall and also shutdown anti-virus and just kept that running on my gateway/server

Other things I tried were to lower my resolution and AA/AF settings for online play, and a better mouse too, even ran my connection via a PSTN signal booster/filter lol, updated firmware and drivers for my router

I think avoiding using a USB mouse is supposed to help but that didn't apply to me

 

[thecremeegg]

I think there is a limit to pings in BF2 as at home i have a 0.5mb connection, yet i usually always have the same ping as my mate with 8mb (around 40). On a LAN, the pings are usually less than 10, though when you connect to the internet it often puts ur pings up for some reason.
I too wonder how the server sorts out who dies first lol, but it all happens so fast (40 miliseconds lol) that i think its down to sheer chance

 

[Longy]

I'm sure games don't actually send that bigga packets to make such a difference?

So doesn't really matter how wide you pipe is its still the same amount of data being sent. If anything its the quality of the connection that makes the difference.

 

[b3nje]

Can you not edit your rates on BF ?

I've played this game along time ago but not online





On lan you should expect a extremly low ping - mine usually ranges from about 1-10. Obviously depending on how many people are linked up

This is going by a gb connection though

 

[Darren S]

Can't comment on BF series as I've only ever played BF2 for a short time last year, but have had similar experiences to you whilst using COD, COD2 and RO:41-42

Things def improved after Pipex upgraded me from 2.2Mb to 8Mb, Also chose to disable my software firewall when only when playing games & use my hardware SPI firewall and also shutdown anti-virus and just kept that running on my gateway/server

Other things I tried were to lower my resolution and AA/AF settings for online play, and a better mouse too, even ran my connection via a PSTN signal booster/filter lol, updated firmware and drivers for my router

I think avoiding using a USB mouse is supposed to help but that didn't apply to me

I have heard that some online gamers ramp-down their gfx settings to almost piss-poor quality, simply to improve frame-rate and response times? I remember the 'ol favourite on Soldier of Fortune II of unticking the 'Detailed Sky' option in graphical settings. Instantly the enemy players were silhouetted against the one-colour background and made them an easy target.

D.

 

[rich[182]]

BF2's tweakguide has some info on this

Scroll down to usersettings.con

http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2_7.html

BF2142 here http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2142_7.html

 

[FiXX]

try playing GOW on the 360 then! you have to shoot where you "think" an opponent will be the lag is that bad sometimes. It depends on how the game is handled, the likes of halo you get no lag due to its matchmaking system and client side hit detection. But GOW anyone can host, so if the host has a s**t connection they are going to have a massive advantage as teh bullet lag will be terrible.

 

[H182]

Are u using a wireless connection? That sometimes causes delay and some packet loss when gaming. Wouldn't have thought the connection speed would be that important. I get the same ping on my 3.5mb connection as I did on my 0.5 and 1mb.

Pings of 40 shouldn't be enough for the other player to have much of an advantage with 15-20ms.

Maybe he has eyes in the back of his head?

 

[Darren S]

Are u using a wireless connection? That sometimes causes delay and some packet loss when gaming. Wouldn't have thought the connection speed would be that important. I get the same ping on my 3.5mb connection as I did on my 0.5 and 1mb.

Pings of 40 shouldn't be enough for the other player to have much of an advantage with 15-20ms.

Maybe he has eyes in the back of his head?

Hehehe - maybe! More likely, I'm just totally outclassed!

Nope - definitely NOT on wireless - I've seen first hand at how bursty net traffic through those things really screws up gameplay. CAT5, straight into the router....

D.