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Re: Oni Multiplayer...
Posted By: Michael Spencer <spam@mspencer.net>Date: 1/2/01 12:56 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Oni Multiplayer... (digital187)

I agree -- it would be great to have multiplayer capability in Oni.

However, you can't change the laws of physics.

Non-technical: lag for modem players is too severe in a twitch-reflex toe-to-toe fighter like Oni. Even cable modems and DSL users would have problems with missed punches and the like. You could think you see a character standing still with his back turned to you, so you execute a backbreaker maneuver...the maneuver starts...and then suddenly you realize that the other person did a backwards-kick just before you started your backbreaker. Your backbreaker should've never happened. One side ends up feeling cheated.

Technical: even 300 ms latency is enough to cause synchronization issues if the game is kept real-time. Most games get around this with game models that aren't so sensitive to latency (in SubSpace, bombs take the better part of a second or longer to reach their target, making a quarter-second delay less significant) or sidestep it altogether (in You Don't Know Jack: 5th Dementia, there is one and only one time-sensitive event at a time -- the buzz-in -- so all clients handshake before the question begins, and clients are trusted to report their buzz-in timings honestly.)

Would you accept an Oni that ran all hand-to-hand fights in slow motion? Would you accept an Oni where firearms were the only dependable weapons in multiplayer? Would you accept an Oni where you could only play cooperative, and your players would pass through each other and never touch each other?

More likely, would you accept an Oni that would only play multiplayer over a local network, or over an exceptionally fast internet connection?

For more information about this latency beast and what Bungie is up against in trying to code around it, I recommend an article from Gamasutra: "The Internet Sucks: Or, What I Learned Coding X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter" by Peter Lincroft.

--Michael Spencer
(remove the first three letters in my email address to mail me.)

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990903/lincroft_01.htm


[ Message Index ]


Replies:

Oni Multiplayer...Komemasa 1/1/01 8:47 p.m.
     Re: Oni Multiplayer...Lemon-Tea 1/1/01 8:53 p.m.
           Re: Oni Multiplayer...digital187 1/1/01 11:25 p.m.
                 Re: Oni Multiplayer...Michael Spencer 1/2/01 12:56 a.m.
                       Re: latency sucks (was: Oni Multiplayer...)Ektek 1/2/01 1:34 a.m.
                             More Links:Michael Spencer 1/2/01 3:20 a.m.
                       Re: Oni Multiplayer...Chrondeath Dracion 1/2/01 5:25 a.m.
                       LAN-only would be acceptableTwrch 1/2/01 10:43 a.m.
                       to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONScud 1/3/01 3:08 p.m.
                             Re: to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONAdam 1/4/01 6:56 a.m.
                                   Re: to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONTyrbiter 1/4/01 10:27 a.m.
                                         Re: to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONMark Levin 1/4/01 10:30 a.m.
                                               Re: to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONTyrbiter 1/4/01 3:43 p.m.
                                                     Re: to multiplayer naysayers: MARATHONMark Levin 1/5/01 10:55 a.m.
                       Re: Oni Multiplayer...Adam 1/4/01 6:52 a.m.
                             Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/4/01 12:33 p.m.
                                   Re: Oni Multiplayer...Jumbo 1/4/01 1:13 p.m.
                                         Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/4/01 4:28 p.m.
                                   Re: Oni Multiplayer...Michael Spencer 1/4/01 1:15 p.m.
                                   Re: Oni Multiplayer...Chrondeath Dracion 1/4/01 4:15 p.m.
                                         Re: Oni2 Multiplayer...Jesse 1/4/01 5:02 p.m.
                                               Re: Oni2 Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/4/01 5:14 p.m.
           Re: Oni Multiplayer...Interactive Civilian 1/2/01 12:42 a.m.
     Re: Oni Multiplayer...Dan Rudolph 1/2/01 2:39 a.m.
           Re: Oni Multiplayer...Komemasa 1/2/01 2:33 p.m.
                 Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/2/01 2:40 p.m.
                       Re: Oni Multiplayer...Curious... 1/2/01 6:01 p.m.
                             Re: Oni Multiplayer...Harry 1/2/01 7:06 p.m.
                                   Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/2/01 7:20 p.m.
                                         Re: Oni Multiplayer...Harry 1/2/01 7:31 p.m.
                                               Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/2/01 8:14 p.m.
                                         Re: Oni Multiplayer...Komemasa 1/2/01 8:14 p.m.
                                               Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/2/01 8:18 p.m.
                                                     Re: Oni Multiplayer...Komemasa 1/3/01 2:29 p.m.
                                                           Whine, whine, bitch, whine *NM*Nijhazer 1/3/01 3:45 p.m.
                                                                 Hahahah ...Adam 1/4/01 7:07 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Hahahah ...Nijhazer 1/4/01 12:39 p.m.
                                                                       Re: Hahahah ...Lemon-Tea 1/4/01 6:11 p.m.
                                                           Re: Oni Multiplayer...yoodaa 1/3/01 3:48 p.m.
                                                     Re: Oni Multiplayer...Adam 1/4/01 7:04 a.m.
                                                           Re: Oni Multiplayer...Nijhazer 1/4/01 12:42 p.m.



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