The Lagometer and Words on Internet Latency

[__OzBoRnE__]

I would like to define two terms which far too many people get confused with each other:

 

1. Internet Latency: the delay in time between a server and a connected user.

 

2. Lag: Unacceptable levels of internet latency.

 

These days there seems to be mass confusion about the nature of the internet and its effect on playing games. Most people seem to think that broadband connections have ELIMINATED both of the above situations, and furthermore the general tolerance level for latency has become offensively low in the JO arena.

 

I. Acceptable Latency Levels

 

There is no reason why anybody should complain about players with a latency in the area of 200ms. These levels ought to be accepted as part of playing online, not as a nuisance. Unfortunately, people with broadband have begun to ostracize people with dial-up connections, accusing them of being "laggers". "No 56k" has become a racket on the MSN Gaming Zone. This is a self-indulgent and damaging attitude, because instantly the majority of the online population is disallowed from playing JO. It over-generalizes the 56k market, b/c many 56k users can achieve a consistent ping of 180-200ms on a good server and 250ms on an average one. Of course a 250ms latency has some negative effects as opposed to a 50ms latency; but it's just part of playing online. The effects are generally minimal, and all in all do not damage the playing experience. In fact, it's more of a problem for the dialup user than for the broadband user. I say that as long as a good dialup user doesn't try hosting any games, it should be perfectly acceptable. Also remember that this is NOT LAGGING as yet.

 

II. Marginally Acceptable Latency Levels

 

There are, of course, people with poor dialup connections. These people generate pings from 250ms on a good day to 450ms on a bad day. In JK 450ms was acceptable, but in JO it's really pushing it. And yet, it is still NOT LAGGING. For competitive games, I would not see a problem with limiting such users from playing. However it still works, and should still be legitimate in the community.

 

III. Unacceptable Latency

 

I would say that any ping higher than 450ms seriously impacts the gameplay to a point where it's not fun anymore. A person who consistenly puts up pings of 450 or more can justifiable be called a "lagger". This can also be applied to people with inconsistent connections. If, in a game, the person's ping is 250ms one minute and 750ms the next, the person in having a lag problem.

 

IV. Broadband Latency/Lag and the Lagometer

 

Broadband has NOT eliminated EITHER of these two realities. I'm not familiar with the technicalities of a DSL, but I do know that a "cable modem" is subject to the same difficulties as a dialup modem. It can still be affected by traffic, ISP server difficulties, inconsistency, and everything else a dialup modem can be. Cable modem servers are NOT infallible.

 

V. The Lagometer

 

I would put forth to the community a feature which I discovered serveral days ago while fiddling with the console commands. typing in "cg_lagomter 1" activates a small display in the lower right-hand corner of the screen which gives a real-time readout of both the latency of the connector and the latency of the server. The green area shows your latency; the yellow area shows the server latency. Whenever you see the green max out or turn red/yellow, there is a latency problem (lag). If you see the yellow portion max out, then the server is having difficulties and is to be blamed for the problems. This has been a helpful tool to me, and I don't think that it slows the gameplay at all. it can be turned off by typing "cg_lagometer 0".

 

I hope that this post helps to reduce the confusion and strife which surround latency, lag, and all the other problems. My earnest hope is that broadband becomes as common as phone lines and we can all have pings below 50ms.

[Ryouga]

Nice one dude, I have a 300 ping cause my phone lines suck, I'm on a 56k and I connect at 28k :/ But any way, people say I'm lagging and they cant hit me but what they really should be saying is "I'm swinging with heavy and ur moving out of range then moving in while I'm recovering and slashing me" Why dont people get that its skill and not my ping why i dont get hit :/

 

Ping plays a very small part in the game when u adjust acordingly

[Zonkybro]

If you are jumpy to other players i believe that there's a fix around for it. I forget exactly where but i read a page that was aQuake 3 tweak guide that had a command that let you smooth out the motion of high ping players. (Not if you yourself are pinging high but if someone else is) Since jo is based on q3 engine, then it should work for both.

[ArtifeX]

What a moronic post. People on lousy connections end up appearing to teleport all over the screen because their rate is too low to update the server frequently. That makes it many times harder to judge which direction said lagger is moving in. Many times that makes them run clear through a wide swing with no damage when, if they had been on a better connection, they would have been hit.

 

56k'er connection=Force Lag

[Raith]

Its not Ping or Latency that causes Lag, it is Packet Loss. People on a low quality Broadband or 56k with has a high percentage of PL will cause both themselves and the server to lag as more network traffic is created by these connections.

 

A Dial up user can play quite happily with a 200-300ms ping with no Packet Loss.

 

 

And you can tell if a player has connection problems as they fly and judder around all over the place

[Hiteche5]

Heyas Artifex. It also works against the 56ker too. If you were to face off against a 56ker and you got your uber 20ms ping time and you swing at the same time or even if he swings before you. Your hit will register first. Advantage...you. It may not look smooth to you and sometimes it throws you off a little but the 56ker is experiencing more problems than you. I personally feel that the broadband community is starting to X the 56kers out. This ain't cool! Many people don't have the broadband option in their area so they aren't allowed to play?

[Mr_Sharky]

Originally posted by Zonkybro

If you are jumpy to other players i believe that there's a fix around for it. I forget exactly where but i read a page that was aQuake 3 tweak guide that had a command that let you smooth out the motion of high ping players. (Not if you yourself are pinging high but if someone else is) Since jo is based on q3 engine, then it should work for both.

 

The command your refering to is g_smoothClients for the server and cg_smoothClients for the player. Both server and player need to set their respective commands to 1 for it to work.

 

Also check that the server hasn't got g_synchronousClients set to 1 as this causes a fair bit of lag because the server will keep ever player in synch. The only time you need g_synchronousClients set to 1 is if your recording a demo or maybe on a LAN/high speed connection.

[gravioli]

I used to play MP games on a college T1, but having moved, I have been forced to use a 56k for past 5 months . I can tell you from experience, that us 56k'ers experience much more problems relating to smoothness than you broadband folks. When I was playing on a T1, I ran into a few smoothness problems and "teleporting" players in MP games, but it was nothing compared to what I have had to deal with on a 56k. If I could deal with teleporting when I was on a T1, then anybody can.

[kossori]

I tell ya what...

 

If someone here is willing to hunk out the extra fourty bucks a month for a better connection for me, while I continue paying my "real" bills, I would be very happy!

 

Then maybe I could enjoy this game, which really is just that- a game...

 

-kossori

[DeTRiTiC-iQ]

I'm on 56k and nobody has ever complained that I warp or called me a lagger, I actually deliberately slowed down my connection to increase quality, my package loss had dropped but my ping has increased. I've come on top of servers in FFA and CTF games despite having pings of 500+ although my usual ping is in the 200-300 region. There are times when I do get PK loss, at these times I either try and play through it and hope it improves, or quit and join another game.

[Biohazard]

I'm really glad to see some ppl with excellent pings defend us 56kers. It would be a real travesty if a large percentage of ppl were made to feel "guilty" just because their ping is crap.

 

I find it interesting that it causes problems for good pingers, because for me it can be nightmare jumping from one place to another with no control. escpecially on 'ole nar shadaa

 

So far I've only had one group try and kick me off a game cos my ping was poor. Altho i do tend to not bother playing if my ping goes above 400, it's pointless.

[mandelore]

I'm on 56k and theres no way I'd play with a ping over 200.

broadband is still a global minority.

There are many cable only game servers LPBs should stay on those instead of bitching.

[Syphon]

I agree with our thread starter some of these broadband guys are trying to ban u ddialup users from games. How rude. I do lag myself of course but so does everyone else even dsl'ers. LAG by definition is LATENCY which is also defined as ping time. Like mentioned before your ping is the length of a time a packet takes to get to the server or whatever your connected to, and back again. When someone has a high ping you have to "lead" them. This means swinger sooner than you normally would or swinging or firing "ahead" of the person. Packet loss is different. Where as high ping can be dealt with simply by practice, packet loss is manifested by the "jumpiness" or "teleporting" of players. This is quite annoying and unplayable at some points. Even broadband users have "lag" which simply means that your information is delayed some. The fact is that ping is measured in milliseconds and you cant tell the difference between no latency and "50 ms" latency. I get 27ms ping on LAN with other games. You cant even tell there is a ping. Just to reiterate, PEOPLE WITH BROADBAND: IF THAT DIALUP USER IS LAGGING BEAR IN MIND IT IS ALWAYS WORSE FOR HIM THAN YOU! SO BASICALLY YOU ARE ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD ANYWAY. Dont complain when there is no reason to.