A new ST:HD debate - netcode

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
1

Apparently there are 3 options…

  1. Increased input delay (time between button press and character response)

  2. Slower gameplay (ala DOA4 online)

  3. Combo of 1 and 2

I feel 2 is prolly the best option. I DESPISE input delay, so GO!

2

should probably clarify that each of these only applies in a situation where the connection isnt good enough to have lag-free gameplay…

anyways, how about how GGXXNET does it, where you can set your input delay in frames from 1-6, and then the game will speed up or slow down depending on the connection?

might not be user-friendly enough for the average user, in which case i’d say slower gameplay is probably better…

i dunno, you can deal with input delay when its only a few frames and if its consistent (thats very important), but if youre talking massive. noticeable delay then i’d rather have slowdown

3

My vote goes to whatever net code Capcom Fighting Evolution uses. The games are actually playable unlike CvS2 and HF

4

I disagree, SFII’HF has the best netcode yet, when the game actually works (as in, no “establishing connection”). Input delay is a no-no. I’d rather have the game slow down.

5

You’re both cokeheads. DOA4 blows away any online fighting game except KOF Neowave.

And I think Sirlin’s story about his playing against Chun Li on Live demonstrated the point pretty well about an input delay.

6

Slower game speed is fairly easy to acclimate to, and doesn’t change the way it feels to play the game anywhere near as drastically as input lag does. I’d go with slower game speed. Slower game speed makes the game feel a little slower (duh), but input lag just makes it feel like shit.

7

slowing the game down is ok, unless its on a frame heavy game where you got to the point when you can feel when you need to press a button for a 1-3 frame link. Slowing it down would completely mess up your timing on that.

8

CFE had the absolute best network code from what I’ve played online. For some reason I had much better connections in that game than in any other besides maybe AE. If the connection was good I couldn’t even notice the input delay. Sure in some connections it was noticeable but I was able to play people up and down the east coast with great connections.

Anyway, if they go with the slowdown method I’m sure any 2 people with good connections won’t even experience the slowdown. I’d rather have that over input delay anyway. Input delay lets peolpe get away with mad garbage so I’d be happy to see it gone. Anything reactionary goes out the window, half the time it turns into a guessing game.

9

By half the time, you surely mean all the time. Input delay sucks.

10

Yeah, you’re right. I don’t even know why I said it like that.

11

Input delay is terrible terrible terrible.

12

Not if you get used to it.

13

Doa4’s net code is pretty good, but it IS NOT better than CFJ, MK:A/D, or HF. As far as input delay and the like goes, I have NEVER experienced input lag to the point where it was noticeable in CFJ, while it was still being played on live. The same thing goes for the MK games on live, i like the fact that they won’t even let you play if network conditions aren’t good enough. The ONLY problem i have with HF is getting the establishing connection screen, other than that I usually don’t lag with people i play. The one thing that ST:HD needs is better matchmaking capapbilities. Unlike the other SF games that came out on live before it, HF didn’t seperate players by region which gave the illusion of people lagging more often than they really should.

Hierarchy of networking for online games:

  1. CFJ and MK:A/D
  2. HF
  3. DOA4
  4. KOF games/ Samurai shodown 5
  5. AE and CVS2
    .
    .
    .
    unplayable: GGXX#R

With that said i say go for slowdown rather than input delay or if it’s at all possible use CFJs netcode.

14

DOA4 blows any of the input delay games away. I mean, the whole “wow, he’s jumping at me. I probably should’ve done a shoryuken a couple seconds ago” thing just doesn’t work.

15

i agree totally

thats one reason i praised doa4’s online system, input delay is just fucking annoying at best

16

DOA has input delay online. I think the online in doa honestly sucks ass.

Anyway I disagree with some stuff on caliagents list.

as far as lag I would put the games in this order.

  1. CFE/KOF2k3 (No noticeable input delay in good connections)
  2. A very close 2nd for AE (Same as above but less consistant)
  3. 3s/cvs2/HF (they can all be great at times but the other games run better most of the time)
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
  4. Guilty Gear (horrible)

I’m not counting 3d fighters.

I’m also going to post my connection speed to go with my opinion on what works best online. Figured it would help.

Last Result:
Download Speed: 20936 kbps (2617 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 4204 kbps (525.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

I used this test.

17

You think wrong.

18

Whatever you say buddy.

Anyway I think they should include something in the online play that displays the ping and location of the other player. That would help a lot when it comes to finding good connection to play with. That 3 green bar shit isn’t cutting it.

19

Connection speed (kbps) has essentially nothing to do with online games lagging. It’s all about latency (ping).

To be fair, sirlin did mention another option for netcode - correcting animation after the fact, the way F.P.S. games do. Although the idea of an opponent going from being on the ground to halfway through a shoryuken sounds a lot more annoying than the teleporting that happens in F.P.S . . .

20

damn, are you on a t1 line or something?