best turn out yet on mp

[+Erik 1,812]

Well, I wouldn't say you NEVER see that stuff in MP missions. I have seen them all, but thankfully it's not all that common and rather isolated. I got some of the very things you mentioned (backwards flying, and warping planes not being where they seemed) the other night in one of the last missions we flew. My guess would be these are simply bandwidth related issues. As long as everyone has a decent (and stable!) connection and the host is running through a good system, those issues seem to not be a problem.

 

Madmatt

 

I actually have quite a bit of experience with MP and DirectPlay. The problem isn't the host. The problem is with the players joining in. The way internet traffic (read: packets) is shuffled between players in DirectPlay is the common problem for all those issues you're talking about.

 

I won't get into a long drawn discussion as to why since we all know it happens. More importantly here are some of the fixes.

 

Locking frame rates. In MP8 the amount of data your computer sends to other players is directly tied to your frame rate. If there is an option in CFS like in MSFS to lock your frame rate at a target, set it below 30. The reason is if you have a powerful machine and good internet connection then it's possible your computer is getting say 60 frames a second, it's great for you but for the other players they are receiving updates to your position through MP at the same rate 60 updates per second. Now if someone connected to the game has a marginal setup and they can't handle all the information you're sending them they start to lag behind as their computer slows down. This slow down causes them to start sending position updates slower and you'll see jumping or false aircraft positioning. One of the fixes in MSFS X was to change the way the position reports are sent to other players, it's not done at a more reasonable rate of 5 position updates per second regardless of the frame rates you're getting. Not sure if the latest CFS platform got that update, but I don't think so.

 

Routers - Firewalls. If you have a player that is behind a firewall and they are not able to receive or send traffic openly with other players then you'll have problems. It just takes one person to join a game that's behind a poorly configured router to cause everyone to get dumped from the game. DirectPlay makes the assumption that if you can't connect with every person in the game then it's been disconnected. Fix remove routers and firewalls before joining a game or make sure you've properly unblocked the ports necessary to play. Make sure you have a public IP address and not some internal network IP before joining. If you use a software firewall turn it off. Software firewalls sniff each packet that comes through your ethernet adaptor and it's a drag on resources while playing in MP.

 

Best environment. Since the MP Engine uses everyone connectivity and processor ability to successfully host and enable MP game play it's essential that everyone joining a session be confirgured for optimal gaming. If you have a group of high speed FIOS or cable users playing a game don't throw a 56K connection into the mix. If you have a group of good machines with nice frame rates don't throw someone is poorly configured into the mix. The bottom line is it's everyones responsibility to make sure they can join a game and that their gear and internet connection is configured in such a way to allow everyone else to enjoy their time. The only way I've found to do this is just take the time to walk everyone through setting up their equipment.

 

I'd still like to host a platform for game play and voice that everyone can enjoy if not experiment with to see how we can offer something terrific for the community. Let me know what I'm going to need to get it done. IE. CFS3 and a copy of OFF? Forgive my novice sounding question and be sure to point me in the right direction of the person I have to strong arm for a copy of OFF if I need it.

 

E