networking • QSF5

23 Aug 2015

Checkpoint: Host Migration Edition

by No_Style | posted in: Editorials & Features | 0

The Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer beta started up earlier this week and, to my surprise, I am enjoying it. I enjoy the slower pace compared to Advanced Warfare which was a bit too frenetic for my liking. I enjoyed using the suit powers in Advanced Warfare but in the end, people were too quick and mobile for my liking. Black Ops III retained the pace of Black Ops II but added a tiny bit of vertical jump boosts, power sliding and wall running. When it all clicks, it feels great.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always click from a networking standpoint. I couldn’t find a single solid match last night; every single one was a lag filled stuttering mess. It’s been happening for a couple of days and for a while, I thought it was my problem. I rigged my connection to “NAT Open” but that didn’t help whatsoever. Then I gave up and played Rocket League which didn’t have a single connection problem.

Peer to peer connections are inconsistent and it’s disappointing that a major franchise like Call of Duty continues to rely on it. I understand why Activision would opt not to use it but come on, spend a little money and provide a consistent experience for your players. Especially when your competition is doing just that.

It is a beta and it’s very possible that the final build will operate smooth as silk but there’s always a hint of host advantage in a peer to peer setup. It’s also not ideal to have to wait for a game to migrate to another player because the host dropped out.

I feel like I’ve been harping on this point for years now.

—

Other than the above, I’ve been chipping away at The Witcher 3. Good times. I don’t know if I’ll wrap it up before The Phantom Pain arrives though. I don’t see an end it sight.

13 Nov 2014

Savestate: AAA Sky Falls

by No_Style | posted in: Editorials & Features | 0

AAA games faltering

DRIVECLUB, Halo: Master Chief Collection and Assassin’s Creed: Unity are still suffering from technical issues. They have networking issues, graphical glitches, performance drops and sometimes a combination of all the above. And these are just the high profile titles that have severe issues. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has its own controversy over dedicated servers but it’s being overshadowed.

Instead of dwelling on what is happening, I want to know why this is happening. The easy answer is to blame aggressive publishers that want to make holidays. But we’ve seen plenty of publishers make those timelines in the past.

What’s changed for this year?

Although we’re technically a year into the newest generation of consoles, we’re still not out of the woods yet with regards to console transition issues. Seven years ago, the first Assassin’s Creed debuted to horrible framerate issues and bugs as well.

In the case of DRIVECLUB, you can chalk this up to inexperience with networking. For the folks at 343 Industries, I can’t imagine it’s easy to get four titles humming along nicely (even if they’re remasters).

These are just excuses that I’m making up for these developers. They’re not going to tell us why these games are broken but they’ll continue to ask for forgiveness and patience while you wait.

Consumers are paying money for working products and if they can’t deliver a working product within the launch window, they should be eligible for refunds. It might be tough to convince a retailer to take back an opened game, but those who’ve purchased titles from Sony or Microsoft’s digital stores should receive a refund if they so desire.

Also, thank goodness for built-in recording and screenshot functionality.

Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack #1

Over at Nintendo’s little island of fun awaits Mario Kart 8’s first DLC pack. I bought it the dual pack and look forward to trying the new content. I just don’t know if it’s going to be sooner or later.

Random Thought of the Week

I’m addicted to Florida Natural Fruit Snacks.

3 Jun 2014

Battlefield 4 “High Frequency Network” Update Going Live

by No_Style | posted in: Game News | 0

It took them nearly half a year but Battlefield 4 is finally receiving a proper networking code update. Here’s the gist of it:

High Frequency Network Update
For the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms, we are adding something we nicknamed the “High Frequency Bubble”. Within a certain radius of the player, we add the possibility to update the clients at a higher rate from the server. What this essentially means is that the server will update the client on what is happening more often than before. This normally results in a smoother, more “correct” player experience.

This sounds nice but how will it perform in practice? According to DICE, this setting should yield a 60% improvement in response time for those who have at least 1 Mbit upload and download.

I’m looking forward to this update but I’m keeping my expectations in check. This is DICE after all.

24 Jun 2012

Checkpoint: Home Networking Edition

by No_Style | posted in: Editorials & Features | 0

This networking wiring setup is taking longer than expected because I underestimated the tools and equipment required.

First of all don’t get these ethernet tips from Monoprice because they are terrible. I didn’t think it was possible to screw up ethernet tips but there you go. I forgot I actually own a bag of regular CAT5e tips so I got some of those awful tips from a friend.

1 2 »