Game Currently Unplayable due to Terrible Netcode

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by BeyondNInja, Jun 10, 2014.

  1. BeyondNInja

    Can SOE finally get around to fixing this?
    The server lag is ridiculous, and it seems to be getting worse.
    I posted this in Gameplay discussion because current Briggs gameplay consists of:
    a) dying around corners
    b) tripping proxy mines almost a second after walking over them
    c) trading kills
    d) more dying around corners
    • Up x 10
  2. Hicksimus

    1) Hard to fix
    2) Nobody likes when I say we need to extend time to kill a long way but once again I'll point out that this is yet another problem that can be lessened by making the time to kill longer among a bunch of others that can be fixed completely.
    • Up x 1
  3. vsae

    Why do you even wonder if the netcode tickrate is about 5/s.
    Problem is, high tickrate is only reasonable at small server filled with guys whose ping is less than 30, because whoever has ping of 100 will be permadead at evey shootout.
    • Up x 1
  4. Pootisman

    A patch in january made it a lot worse. SOE just needs to undo whatever they have done in that patch.
    • Up x 6
  5. BeyondNInja

    The game is supposed to be an FPS (we all know that calling it an MMO is a stretch). Between the dodgy hit detection and these netcode/server lag issues the core (FPS) gameplay mechanics are extremely subpar for an FPS.

    I can forgive bugs, poor performance, nonexistent meta, balance issues and stale content as products of a game in progress, but broken core FPS mechanics are really frustrating to deal with time and time again, especially after spending well over $1000 on a new PC just to play this game properly.


    Increasing time to kill would require them to redo almost all weapon and ability balance from scratch. (ie TTK vs DPS across different damage tiers, mag sizes and heavy shield duration etc) This would also cause pump shotguns to become OP as **** again.

    Besides, if DICE can improve BF4's tickrate 20HZ from 10 to 30, surely SOE can get PS2's up 5Hz to a semi-respectable 10.
    • Up x 4
  6. FigM

    SOE could design much better netcode if they set maximum ping requirements to 100 and exclude everyone else. Then everything could be done server side. Of course, SOE would have to invest in some more expensive hardware

    In the end, it's not really worth excluding all players with over 100 ping, that would cut the playerbase in half, half the income. And that means they gotta design the netcode specifically for high ping players, with all the limitations that entails.
    Part of the problem is ****** internet in the US, the ISP got monopolies and don't want to provide quality service.
    • Up x 3
  7. Seuchensaal

    This.

    Noone can say that this is hard, because it already worked quite well in the past. Sadly, the last patches made it worse.
    • Up x 5
  8. Tito

    fix the game soe stop balance update first fix the netcode
    • Up x 4
  9. SavageBacon

    Yeah I'm getting really tired of having to dump half a clip per kill because over a third of the hit marks don't actually do damage. I find this is especially the case on a lot of the higher RoF weapons.
    • Up x 2
  10. ronjahn

    Ever since the death screen/Liberator updates, my game has never played the same. FPS have gone to ****(from an average of 45-60 at all times to an average of 20-30 and drops down to <10 in huge fights)

    On top of that I get killed around corners MUCH more frequently now than I did before those updates.

    I wonder if SOE is even looking at or trying to fix the performance decreases since those updates.
    • Up x 1
  11. Hicksimus


    I agree that it at some point got worse before I quit but it was never great(and I would never expect it to be).
  12. Luighseach


    4 words. Client Side Hit Detection.
    • Up x 3
  13. LT_Latency

    Trading kills is because of bullet travel time. When you die you still have lead in the air that can kill your enemy
  14. BeyondNInja


    Bullet velocity is not significant within 5m where this is happening very often. There is also frequently a hugely noticeable delay between killing the enemy and then dying/taking damage.

    Client side hit detection is also not the full issue, as this happens waaay too often to be purely a result of my opponents' pings (mine is stable between 60-80ms).
    • Up x 2
  15. Krayus_Korianis

    Wait, so tick rate is judged in Hertz?
  16. Taemien


    Yup... They see you get hit on their screen which is 100-200ms before what you see on your screen from the server. The alternative is to having to lag shoot. And trust me you don't want to have to do that.

    The solution is faster than light communications. Which hasn't been developed yet. Its still a theory. Blame scientists.
  17. LT_Latency


    Sure it is. Anytime the last bullet you fire will kill your enemy at the same time you trade when you are hosing each other.

    The chance just gets hire as you more farther away. As there are even more bullets in the air
  18. SpcFarlen

    Why you die around cover is fairly easy to explain, the killing bullet data is still in transit. If you and another player both have a ping of 100ms, well its 200ms plus some more for the server to relay information. So lets says 250ms. A quarters or a second.

    An average person can run at 10m/s. I do not know what it is in game, so i will use it for this amount to illustrate.

    So a quarter of that is 2.5meters. Your player model can move 2.5 meters away on your screen before that information is relayed over to anyone else. You take incoming fire and move, in 0.25 seconds (250ms) a weapon doing 167 damage @ 600rpm can deal ~400 damage assuming all shots land.

    Almost half your health in the time it took your data on your location to be transmitted and sent to the player shooting at you. This is why TTK can seem so short when you are on the receiving end and so long when you are the one shooting.

    Of course if your ping or their ping is higher than 100ms, it can make the effect even more noticeable which is probably where you are seeing this happen most. Large population fights are a huge cause of it. I gets around 50ms to Waterson/Mattherson but in a 48+v48+ biolab fight it goes upto 200ms easily. A lot more data needing to relayed so it adds latency, nothing you can do to change that.


    Not always, its usually because their ping is higher than yours. On your screen they have died, on their's they have not yet because the killing bullet data has not been received on their end. They still shoot you, they also get a killing bullet. Data is exchanged, both killing bullets. You both die.
    • Up x 1
  19. LT_Latency



    I thought games ignored anything you did after it decides you died. This is why someone times you can see your gun fire just before you die but it's doesn't actual do anything at least in some FPS games
  20. SpcFarlen


    Matters if something like that is coded in. It gets rather complicated because what if there is a lag spike on with one players that causes his last few bullets not to register due to damage being calculated as "after death" but on his screen he is alive, then his opponent gets the kill.

    Well then its perceived as a net code/hit detection issue. Which can have another set of issues like throwing a revive grenade a second before you died (not right as you died) suddenly doesn't go off, shooting a pump action right as the other player fires the last bullet to kill you yet that player has full health, an inbound rocket now no longer does damage because the HA died soon after firing.

    Either way you are fighting latency with any mechanic put in place. Id say why you dont see it in other games is because of scale. Its much easier to manage a "when you die, your action is terminated" when its a set population and smaller. With smaller populations its less stress o nthe server to relay information around. If you then have to add another check criteria to every single damage source in a 48+v48+ battle the server quickly becomes flooded with rather minor calculations but lots of them.

    So it really just makes the game run smoother... though may cause a head ache or two along the way. Though would you rather get a headache once in a while or have worse latency? In an FPS i wouldn't choose the later lol.
    • Up x 2