Forum Discussion

5 years ago

Solved

Servers: Troubleshooting for EA/Respawn and Multiplay

Let's put the boot on the other foot... I'll put myself out there and say i think it's pretty unanimous that performance isn't that great in the games current state that's only getting worse as each...

discussion

apostolateofDOO
5 years ago
@Shertgun Respawn... https://twitter.com/i/status/1379338747846688769

DoYaSeeMe

5 years ago

@fuzzykeuhLag compensation is adding time stamps to actions to be sorted in the correct order and processed / confirmed by the server with better precision. Without it , there would be way more "no reg" complaints, coming even from low ping players. Anyway, it is limited, you just need to play at a high ping and you will experience a high amount of shots getting hit markers but no damage confirmation.

Before lag compensation, it really wasn't everything serverside, but quite the opposite. Often, one of the players was the host, therefore gaining an immense advantage of having an almost inexistent delay, but also become a game breaking problem when crashing or leaving early. Clients had the authority on their actions, giving others less time to react and having more handles exposed for them to use for cheats. Hackers were actually able to curve their bullets trajectory, had they wished to do so. All in all, it wasn't a balanced experience at all.

Ping limitation sounds like a good thing, but it can be a game killer. It can shatter the playerbase into many bits, which would then dissolve rapidly due to lack of players in certain areas, long waiting times in others and SBMM ineffectiveness. A lot of those who think their connection is supreme would realize how unstable the network actually is, after getting kicked out or refused by servers every time there are issues. Actually, I'm wrong, they would blame the servers for this, as always, duhhh!

fuzzykeuh

5 years ago

@DoYaSeeMe that's why i specified that it gotten so much worse since S8. Surely not everyone's internetconnection can suddenly be worse then it was before. It must be something about the servers being stressed more or the selection of players(and their ping) in a lobby that changed.

About the lag compensation,I stick to my point that the main reason is that developers don't bother with netcode or good connections anymore because they think the lag compensation will take care of everything. Imho, WITHOUT lag compensation, no-regs would never excist. Your bullets would simply just be lagging on screen (flying out 60ms later if your ping is 60), so you would have to adjust your aim accordingly and aim next to a moving target rather then on it. It's the incorperation of the lag compensation code that makes no-regs possible. I've seen and experienced development of "zeroping" mutators games mike Unreal Tournament, and they often had the same problem of no-regs.

DoYaSeeMe
5 years ago
@fuzzykeuh I don't think it got worse suddenly, it was gradual. This is due to the pandemic that added a lot of pressure, as the internet demand grew, also because of new stuff added to the game that requires more processing power, of more people playing, code changes to address various issues, etc.. Only a small part is actually servers, contrary to what most people think. People need to stop ignoring the fact that between them and the servers there are dozens of routers and hundreds to thousands of miles of cables that aren't perfect and are the ISPs problem.

Your assumption is simply wrong. Devs do bother with all the code a lot, because a great playing experience means is the most supreme reward for them, besides the fact that it also comes with a lot more profit than an unsatisfactory one. But this doesn't make problems solvable within the snap of a finger, if at all. Almost everything is life is a compromise anyway.

The lack of lag compensation would go in 2 ways. In the client authoritative version, the shooter would not see any hit registry errors, but would die from dead people's bullets and get hit behind cover far more often. Cheaters would have the opportunity of faking hit confirmations, steal loot, etc. Players dropping in hot areas would have loot disappearing from their inventory. In the server authoritative version, a shooter would get more no regs, unless he applies an unintuitive lead (think of shooting 1 meter in front of a target that's like 5-10m away from you to hit it and miss it completely if you crosshair is spot on the target). Sure, there's also the version you speak about, where you just send the inputs to the server, but that's the worst possible solution, as it adds a lot of input lag and much more pressure on the server. Basically, what you talk about is the same thing as cloud gaming.
- Sil7erfox
  New Hotshot
  5 years ago
  I don't know if they already did this, but it may be good improvement to reduce both server and client CPU workload:
  Bullets have a max traveling distance depending on weapon, and also depending on line of sight (LoS) or aiming down sights (ADS). Client and server should only take care of the objects that are within these 3 variables, and details should be rendered according to them:
  when heap firing or running around: the server should strictly take care of the few things a player can see on his LoS.
  when ADS the above reduces considerably for both server and client, even more when sniping.
  even sound should not be taken care of farther than a certain radius, all strictly on client side (i believe this already happens).
  IMO, something must be done about netcode, the servers or both, and I'm sorry @DoYaSeeMe but as end users we actually don't care why EA/Respawn think they have in place the best solution when the fact is that every mainstream FPS game performs better than Apex Legends with far less budget (battlefield 1 is a good example).
  - DoYaSeeMe
    5 years ago
    @RayleenKovacs Improving workload is usually a continuous process, because it's not important just for this game, but for many others that might use this game engine or a new iteration of it. But data being transferred can only be reduced up to a point, from where you need to change core mechanics (for example simplify movement, make weapons hitscan, with no bullet drop, etc.), sacrifice performance (apply strong compression algorithms, etc.) or reducing security (give the client the authority over certain actions, reduce checks for suspicious behaviour, etc.).
    
    I know what you speak of with limiting the distance for interactions, but Respawn went with Apex in this direction intentionally, the devs wanted something different than other multiplayer FPS games like PUBG, a game where players can enjoy a large map with a lot of different setups, interactions, rich loot, while also being under constant pressure, adrenalized.
    
    Changing how the game feels is a big no-no, core mechanics and features need to stay the same or get refined further when the technology allows it.