Ok, I may be off, but in my limited understanding, in a game like this (the way they designed it) it needs to transfer all the info, of all the units on the entire board at the same time, and all players computers need to accept it.
On an FPS, typically your computer broadcasts to the server and the server broadcasts to the other players.
When hosted other things to consider is in some FPS your computer does not need to know of the other players until they are within field of view, and the details of that are more important as you get nearer (this is less true now) but a common thing that was done was make maps with limited fields of view both for video card issues and network issues.
Lastly, in an FPS you are occupied with at most 100 moving units?
In this game if you have all commanders types and are playing 5V5 you might be talking around 170 units + reinforcements that may total that equal something like 16 per with full upgrades…and there are up to 6 dispensers on some maps…. So that is 100 every pop…so it is conceivable that near the game end point you have 500~1000 units on the field at a time.
With the structure they are using, (I think) your computer is communicating to all opponents the location of everything as you see it, and they are communicating back they way they see it…these need to be the same.
I am sure some system is out there to qualify differences. But in essence they probably have something like unit, location, vector, facing, animation, HP, timing till next power use and attack type. This includes structures.
So it is tracking lets say 600 units and it is giving 9 or 10 stats on that every what .5 seconds or so???
That is a lot of info to be transmitting and receiving to/from 9 other players….in essence you are transmitting your chess table to 9 people and receiving it from 9 people…where as in most other games it all went to one, and that one transmitted to all players.
My issue, is this was designed as an internet based game…who really was the idiot that weighed everything and thought we will be most demanding on the item people have the least control over of their personal equipment, and we will set the standard above what many in our Demo graphic have.
In essence poor choices where made regarding network design of the game (obviously) probably because of major concern with cheating or people seeing animations and particles incoherently. For example, my taking damage before the bolt of power or arrow or whatever strikes me.
The other choice seems to be in order to eliminate Lag as the culprit for deaths.
Ultimately, I think poor testing was done on this sphere, or simple the choice that lag kills, making it near impossible to cheat and true time eye candy where more of a threat to the game then mass applicability.
Solution to that??? Who knows, I just seem to remember games that may have had nearly the number of units and while there where problems, they where playable…as it stands I am waiting an amount of time that is anyone’s guess, had to make some archaic modifications to my router, to play a really fun game, that I might get kicked out of…or not be able to play based on something I probably can not change like ISP.
I would recommend that they lighten up on the verification passes or some such….but it is probably too late for that. All I hope is that this is a learning experience for Gas Powered Games…great concepts marred by poor execution in very important places.
