lexaal wrote:QUOTE (lexaal @ Oct 1 2016, 05:38 PM) I don't think that "good network code" is a huge problem since allegiance isn't really complex. Probably 30 bullets and two 3d objects per player are required which is like nothing these days... e.g. in comparison with e.g. starcraft or PA.
Remember that allegiance was built to prototype and develop the direct X networking code during a time when modems where cool. Today you get that level of networking included in your engine.
(I'm toying with unity right now.)
Its easy to do in the way alleg does it - but then you get lagjumps, and if your ping is >200 you can jump so much you get to be unhittable. Then there are the OTHER various ways bad approaches can be exploited...
Doing it right is indeed complex, as ships don't move like people in "normal" fps games, its a physics simulation; yet we still have the thing where even 100ms can make quite a difference thanks to strength of sidethrusters compared to shipsize.
Main issue is that most examples of how to do it right do either physics sim (but don't take the rapid adjustments we need into account, which leads to jumps) OR rapid adjustments character sync with the required prediction/interpolation/extrapolation etc, which doesn't work with a physics sim at all. And of course examples of both are incompatible.
Compared to that, the remaining code of alleg really is simple (I could probably do a basic version within a month by myself in my spare time if i know the engine used already and had working network for ships), so the next big problem would 'just' be getting good models and textures.
I've tried the networking with unity myself a while ago and couldn't get it to work in a way better than current alleg. Currently looking into unreal engine 4, but it seems networking needs to be manually implemented there too, the default stuff doesn't work like we want it to. So it seems we need to do the whole interpolating, extrapolating, predicting, correcting, updating and collision handling stuff manually. Which is a lot of work, especially if you're new to the engine you try to do it with and/or haven't actually done networking stuff before. Last I heard (ca 2 weeks ago) someone who knows their @#(! was working on it for unreal, but I haven't heard anything from them since. Maybe the code came alive and ate them
But hey, if you manage to get the network working feel free to share - there's still some groups trying once in a while on the side to get started, some also with interesting ideas for new features/gameplay ideas, and this is THE problem stopping them. Can't be that hard.
Still ready to teach anyone who asks nicely whatever they want to know about playing alleg. Contrary to popular opinion I do not eat newbies. Voobs taste much better.
