1 reply to this topic

[Matthew Craig]

We know that one area of the game that comes correctly under constant scrutiny is the netcode, after all what is an online game without solid stable netcode? So where do we currently stand with the games netcode and what improvements can we all look forward to in future builds.

Well we certainly haven’t been standing still, though to be fair we can understand how it may look that way from the outside looking in. After all we not long ago disabled Mech Knockdowns and currently lights are still very difficult to hit due to lag issues.

We know the decision to disable Mech collisions wasn’t the most popular; however, as was stated at the time we wanted to disable the feature until we could do it justice and it also helps to simplify the situations we deal with in the netcode while we take a back to basics approach starting from the ground up.

This is exactly what we are doing and have been doing for weeks now our network engineers have been going over the movement code and re-factoring it with everything they’ve learned so far working with CryEngines netcode and simplifying the system to make it more robust and less prone to bugs. This isn’t a fast process but as mentioned weeks ago we had meetings discussing the long term roadmap for Mech movement and weapon firing and we decided to take the time to get it right from the ground up.

The first phase of this as mentioned is the re-factor of the net movement code which is already a ways along and we’re looking forward to seeing the new improved version internally soon. From here our goal is to correctly handle basic rigid body collisions (knocking over trees/lampposts) and then when we are happy the core movement code is now solid re-visit weapon firing (again building upon the newly solidified core).

Finally we will re-introduce Mech collisions in a hopefully much improved state (for those who saw it in closed beta that means no teleporting snapping or knocked down Mechs and proper damages being dealt for all Mech types). We are aiming to release all this work in phases to the community as it progresses.

We know there is a great desire in the community to see the netcode improve and it isn’t easy for us to make the call to take more time getting it right but ultimately we feel it is the best course for the game and hope that the community can get behind our decision to do what is best long term for the game.

[Matthew Craig]

Another quick update on where we stand with the netcode roadmap. As outlined last time the first phase for the netcode was work to cleanup and solidify the basic movement code for Mechs. This work is complete and is already being phased into production, all initial work related to the movement code should be in by the end of January.

Internally work has already started on the next, harder, yet much anticipated phase which is to implement correct ‘State Re-winding’ for those not familiar with the term State Re-winding means that when you shoot at a Mech rather than check the shot against the Mechs current hit box location we rewind the Mechs state to the time in the past when the shot was fired and check the shot against the hit box position at that time.

We anticipate having this running in internal testing in a few weeks’ time, and then obviously it will be dependent on testing the time beyond that to get it onto production. We know that for some of you the lag shield issue can’t be resolved soon enough especially with the new Spider Mech hitting production today. We share your desire to see this issue resolved and wanted to re-assure the community that it remains one of our highest priorities and we’re excited to get this work wrapped up and available to the community.