Horrific lag killing online play

[legacy-LagMagnet]

I wonder if anyone can help me with this?

I have been trying to fix terrible lag which is really starting to effect my online play. bots can only be played for so long :(

when i browse a online game the pings in the server list seem okay and i join the fastest one i can (40-60ms). but once i join i do a stat net and the ping creeps higher and higher and tends to sit around the 3000ish mark and i sometimes get packet loss occasionally (not all the time, sometimes it is just naff ping). it is totally unplayable. i have tried many different servers and they are all the same.

This also happens if i join my friends machine when he hosts or if he joins mine then he will get a terrible ping aswell.

The game runs perfectly offline. i think this is just a networking issue.

I have tried many things to try and resolve this. Dslreports.com says the line is fine. and i have installed every other online game i have and they are all fine and run flawlessly. this includes unreal tournament 1. It just seems to be this game (i only want to play this one cause it rocks)

I am on cable. but have no speed or latency issues. i have tried getting new ips several times as i was suspecting it could be kazaa or something. No virusscanning software or anything is running on the machine when playing. Nothing is overclocked.

I removed my netgear rt314 router and connected straight to my pc. and that didnt help. also tried NATing through my linux box. Still lags.

Every setting has been turned down with no effect. Different Netspeeds have no affect either (4800, 7000) Currently 10000 default.

I have tried to be systematic about this but i am running out of ideas? i know im not the only one with networking issues i am starting to think its the netcode.

I have read this forum daily but found nothing that seems to resolve this.

Thanks if you can help.

LagMagnet

My system specs:

Pentium4 2.53Ghz
512mb PC2700 cas2 Ram (memtest86 says its okay)
Radeon 9700 Pro
MSI 648 Max MB
Intel etherexpress Pro 100 NIC
Audigy 1 Soundcard.
2 x 60 gig Seagate Barracuda IV's
LTD-163 DVD Drive.
Windows XP Pro.
NTL Cable Modem 1mbps/256bps service
Netgear RT314 Router
UT2003 Patched to 2136

[legacy-CowPits]

I have the same problem... I get good pings as well and I too am joining low ping servers. What happens to me is I start lagging roughly about 2 minutes into the game then I get disconnected.

I have a cable modem running at 1.5M... I even tried it at work with a T3 line and the same thing happens.

I don't want to hear that it's my NIC drivers modem and such... All my other games run fine and I never get disconnected either, I keep having to go back and play UT instead this really blows.

I think it's either the game or servers... Or I can blame it on Digital Extremes... I think Epic should have been the real developer since they did a great job with UT. Digital Extremes made the game play and feel like Q3 freaking copy cats.

EPIC please don't use them again.... Netcode sucks asssssssss.

[legacy-CowPits]

BTW, this kind of lag gets you KILLED :mad:

[legacy-LagMagnet]

Its making my stats SUCK. i mean im not great but its so laggy i can shoot myself in the head. :)

[legacy-CowPits]

Yeah bro, I hear and feel your pain ( damn just got killed again respawn). :mad:

:) the funny thing is I get disconnected just when I start warming and getting used to the freaking LAG!!!

[legacy-Specia1_K]

I get a very similar thing at peak internet times

I join a server at (say) 8PM, and instantly press F6 for netstats, I watch it slowly climb from 50 on join, to about 800. Then I click to join the game, and my ping rockets instantly to about 5000!!!!!

But if I use ping plotter, it says 60-100 average =|

If I play the same server at a later time, I get 20 ping (no exaggeration)

wtf - how does that work?????

[legacy-CowPits]

Couldn't tell ya... I just would like to stop getting disconnected from the server in the middle of the FREAKING GAME. :mad:

Like I said before. I have RR Cable modem, and T3 line at work... And the same thing happens on RR and T3 on two different machines.

Digital Extremes (problems) can go to hell with their weak code.:sour:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

I get the same problem and I am on 512k cable, it seems to be worst at peak times. My brother has had it a couple of times and he is on 56k dial up.

Doesn't seem to affect other games as quake 3 is fine when I try it.

I looks like UT is just really sensitive to network traffic levels (or alternatively it could just be a badly developed game)



Just as I sort on F**king thing out with this game something else swrews up and it looks like there is another patch on the way which will reset my configs again........ arrrrrrg

[legacy-LagMagnet]

Actually come to think of it. i think mine is related to peak times too. it is usually better if i play early in the morning.

Im gonna run ping plotter tonight to see if it is a network issue. dont really see how though as every other game runs fine.

[legacy-mesostinky]

Yea I've found that overall UT2k3 is just a laggy experience. Unlike the orginal UT and literally any other online game I play UT2k3 overall just isn't smooth online. Sure I get the ocassional server where its tolerable, but the vast majority of the time there is some sort of noticable lag which really sucks.

Thing thing is regarding the netcode, everyone says its actually more efficient than UT, but obviously this alone hasn't translated into smooth gameplay.

BTW I'm on 10MB/1MB cable.

[legacy-Rodzilla_16]

:down: I'v got some of the same problem. When I play the screen will stop and I will be woorped 10 ft back or forward. Also if I fire it takes 2 seconds to fire. I'm running the demo now and I can't imagine blowing $50 on this laggy ass game!

btw I'm using a 2 MB wireless internet connection..... Very fast!

[legacy-Let Me In PLZ]

I get this problem too but i have great ping and it just started to do this and its really wierd. i join and im stuck speactating then i dump my cache and flush the engine and sometimes it loads me itno the game then i have a horrible lag.

[legacy-LagMagnet]

I have checked my connection with NTL and it seems fine. so i dont think it is them that is the problem.

i think ill wait for the next patch.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

I have found a couple of things

1. Apparently my connection is ok (as in download speeds) and I have checked this with NTL and various testers.......how many other people with this 999 ping problem are on NTL?

2. Last night when I experienced it I changed my network settings to "modem" and my ping went down to around 200. When I changed back to cable/adsl my ping went back up to 999.

Any ideas..... ???

BTW I will eat my graphix card if the next patch fixes this, having seen the release notes it looks just like another load of minor bug fixes and another go at fixing the redemer alt fire bug...... weak
:cry:

[legacy-Twinkle]

Just to second some of what ya say Doc (hi bro, s'me)

I'm on 56k modem and this lag problem, when it kicks in, really ruins your night. I played for 45 mins no problem (well, occasional lag spikes) last night, then the 999 ping kicked in, and I bailed out.

There seems to be 2 versions of the problem in my experience. Sometimes it happens, you die or reconnect and it goes away. Other times, reconnecting/restarting UT2k3 has no effect.

I noticed the problem for the first time after installing the patch. Is that other people's experience?

I also thought once that it happened more when a certain player was near/onscreen- but maybe I was just imagining it. Again, anyone else get this sense?

Lastly, I haven't seen anyone from epic/DE whoever post any kind of response to any of the threads on this. It makes you wonder what the point of a "troubleshooting" forum is. There's a whole lot of people with this trouble, and noone's shooting it, as far as I'm aware. It's enought to make me reconsider my deep-seated optimism about the motives of computer game manufacturers.:haha:

As far as I'm concerned this issue is killing people's enjoyment of the game far more than the "minigun sucks" or "no demorec" stuff that dominates the general discussion forum. I'd end this post by saying "epic, do something about it" except I doubt that anyone from epic will read or respond.

Still, won't... abandon... optimism... quite... yet


Epic, please do something about this

:cry:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

And here is another thread on a similar theme.......




http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=3078919#post3078919


any chance of stickying this as I know it is widespread I see a lot of it about.... and we need a solution

[legacy-Doc Pox]

Well said Twinkie winkey ... Epic need to get their finger out

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump

[legacy-Taliesin-DS]

i have excactly the same problems as Specia1_K with a cable modem in holland.
Playing around with ~netspeed [value] helps a little 50% of the time.
Btw what is ping plotter?

[legacy-xvbrando]

I've seen this issue with other pc games before. Unfortunately, what you see is what you get. The majority of the time patches are aimed at solving glitches, bugs, or requests that affect the end-user...one's that can be solved simply by changing or adding a relative few lines of code. As far as online issues though, there can be so many variables to address, both on the server and player side, that it would be too time consuming to try and "fix" AFTER a game has already put the game on the shelves.
This game was developed Directx. John Carmack of ID always has said that when it comes to games and code developement - simple is better. One of the reasons he cited for using OpenGL instead of Dx is that the former takes much less code to write(and for your cpu to process) than does Dx. Not to mention the whole microsoft/evil empire debate :)
So games like Q3 (opengl) run much more efficiently online, in part, because the game engine is one smooth efficient mofo :)
Perhaps ut2k3 is doing too much. If a patch comes out I suspect the coders will remove things, rather than trying to make the engine more efficient.
On the bright side,
I absolutely LOVE a few of the maps in this game...they are so damned original and full of atmosphere. I have seen the price of this game recently at $39.99. With the number of complaints about online play, I suspect that price will drop even further. Maybe then I will actually purchase the darned thing. For now, the demo(ctf instagib) is suiting me fine. Plus, the entire game takes up 3 gigs of HD space! LOL!!!!!!!
What a weak attempt by Epic to try and discourage piracy :haha:

As far as proactive suggestions...contact server admin, and have them limit the number of players on a server. Running the demo, i can only find 1 or 2 servers that will accomodate 24 players. Most ctf demo servers limit players from 10 to 16. Which kinda bites. Nothin like jumpin into a room full of online gamers and fraggin it out. Also, when the games lag gets real crappy, instead of trying in vain to run, reach the flag and return it(with that stop-n-go, sometimes-disconnect-lag) I stay back and start snipin :)

[legacy-LagMagnet]

It does seem like epic is ingoring this issue. I can see that i am not alone in having these problems.

This really sucks for a online type game.

even the new patchs features look like they dont address any sort of lag or stabilty networking problem :-(

I know these things are hard to resolve. but maybe an Acknowledgement that they are aware of this would go a long way.

I have spent hours trying to pin this down and i am sure it is the game.

Taliesin-DS - ping plotter is a fancy traceroute program to help show network problems. it showed me i had no packetloss and the latency across the net (and NTL) was fine.

[legacy-kmofukka]

Yeah I get the same problems.. It works fine for the first few matches then creeps to 999 and it just sucks. My system specs

1.7AMD
9000 Radeon 128MB
512mb ddr ram
XP SP1

[legacy-LagMagnet]

Is everyone with this issue using WinXP SP1?

[legacy-Doc Pox]

I'm not using SP1 as it messed some of my other programs up so I removed it.

.... so it looks like that is not a straw we can grasp at.

I do seem to remember this started after I installed the last UT patch though. - nice work guys!!









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Hardly used copy of UT2003 (the latest game to hit the streets) free to a caring user. (You will need a muther of a sytem, plenty of patience, a preference for playing against AI and a sense of humour) It it don't work don't come runnin to me (or Epic).
:eek:

[legacy-LagMagnet]

It happened for me just after the first patch too. coincidence? it was fine before.

but since then i have formatted and reinstalled from scratch and i tested without the patch. still screwed.

so dont think its the patch. maybe it was around this time the servers got busy?

[legacy-CowPits]

Everybody repeat after me!!!

NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...

WE NEED ACTION...

NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...

WE NEED ACTION...

NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...

WE NEED ACTION...

What's it going to take for you to look into the Laggy online experience EPIC? Jesus the only reason anyone plays the damn game is to frag smoothly online. Hell, this problem doesn't exist in UT and you had it right the first time. So what GIVES!? :mad:

What! would you like the over 100k players to gather in front of your office building and start asking for their money back before you will address this issue? AND don't freaking blame it on the servers... since this is the only game that is a Laggy online Experience. Come on!!! we are your loyal fans and I waited online for two hours at Best Buy to get the game. Maybe I will not invest in your games anymore and start pirating my copy to friends. Oh yeah you can't stop the crackers especially the ones that are trying to be honest.

NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...

WE NEED ACTION...

NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...
NO MORE LAG...

WE NEED ACTION...

[legacy-Twinkle]

It seems to me that there are a couple of strategies we can follow. The first is to do (even) more hard thinking about what causes the problem and what we can do about it.


So, if it appeared post-patch, but reinstalling at our end doesn't fix it, does that mean it's related to the UT2k3 servers and the code they're running?

Is the problem worse on some servers than others? I'd suggest maybe yes. I seem generally to get on better with Blueyonder and Jolt DM servers. The Wireplay CTF server on Sunday, however, seemed much more susceptible. Is this other people's experience?

Doc says that increasing the netspeed (open console, type netspeed <whatever>) helps minimise the problem. Again, have other people tried this? does it work? Me, I tried reducing the netspeed (because I'm a noob), and I thought this was having a positive effect until sunday, so that shows how much I know.:confused: I can't test this til the weekend, but I will then.

So we need some hypotheses about what causes the problem, and how we can workaround it, then we need to test 'em.

The second thing we can do is to raise the profile of this problem. Move it to the general discussion forum, give it a juicy controversial title that indicates it ruins the game. Keep it on p1, and wait for someone to respond. Maybe everyone who's pi$$ed about the weapon balance or about the scale of the models (WTF?) should be told that their problems are minor in comparison and they're just whining.;)

Just my 10p

[legacy-kmofukka]

I installed SP1 today and it's still not working.. Also last night I was playing 2k3 until the lag hit then I loaded up regular UT and it hit me in there too.. I had like a 2 second ping at one point.. My roomie plays Tony Hawk all the time and Quake and his pings are perfect.. Maybe Epic changed network settings in the Operating System itself?

[legacy-HuFlungDung]

I play on a 56k connection, and I notice that UT2K3 is a lot more sensitive to "overspeed" of your connection than old UT was (is).

Typical modem speed is 2600, but if I'm seeing my ping steadily rising, I'll lower it a bit. You can monitor all this in game, btw, by typing in the console:
stat net

Then, to change speed type (as an example)
netspeed 2400

Don't be afraid to try it, especially you guys on cable. The game plays remarkably well at 2600, so you've got a fair bit of room to move.

Also, whenever changing servers, always flush the game cache by typing at the console
obj garbage

You will notice that after this, the harddrive takes a moment of activity to clear the cache, then you'll be set for whatever is coming up on the next server.

Make suitable allowance for the fact that there are servers out there that suck, especially when the player load gets above 8 players.

[legacy-kmofukka]

Thanks for the information.. I'm going to try it.. I went to the extreme and bought a new network card today and it still does it.. ehhehe.. I can play Quake fine.. But once the lag hits in UT2k3 I can't even play normal unreal either without it lagging all to hell.. Something is really wrong here.

[legacy-kmofukka]

Well I just did the netspeed thing and I put it at 2000 and I maintained a 120 - 160 ping.. I'm going to do some more testing later tonight and will let you guys know what's up

[legacy-Doc Pox]

Just to clarify something said earlier..... I found that reducing (not increasing) my netspeed setting helped although I had to go as low as the 56k settings (2600) before it made a difference.

I may be stating the obvious but it is also important to monitor your ping via stat net rather than the score board as the scoreboard figure seems to be some hopelessly optimistic average that takes a while to respond then does it all at once.

Judging from the other replies I think we may have something here.....

Unfortunately I can't do any testing as my connection is down at the moment..... good old NTL:cry:

[legacy-xvbrando]

I remember a long time ago reading an interview on the net with an UT rep. I believe it was a programmer, and they were speaking on the differences between UT and Q3. The topic of 'ping' came up, and the UT rep mentioned something about writing the game's code to try and even out HPB's vs LPBs. The net effect being that the game's ping times you see in-game aren't totally (accurate)? Anyone know about this?

[legacy-THCImpaler]

yea that netspeed thing works...but do a stat fps while netspeed is at 10000 and then do it when its at 2600 and tell me what u see lol...I go from about 80-90 FPS down to about 30(online)

[legacy-Another User]

It's like a big pooh!

I have tried all of the above on my broadband connection (usb) to no aveil. I cannot aim at others properly, therfore rendering me useless when playing online, I'm surprised I've not been asked to leave on a few occasions, but when I get it together, I can really quite get it together (never online).

Everyone must surely buy the game to play online, as I did, offline is pants. Laggy games make the game not a game, more a technical nightmare - a waste of money. It took me just over a month to get my average fps over 90 with smooth mouse and I've hit another brick wall with lag now - well miffed


I don't mean to bung the thread with, "yeah I get the same" crap, I just felt like sayin somethin.

I have never had a smooth connection. Anyone who has either knows something I don't or they are just plain lucky.

I feel really gutted and don't know what else to say, its all a bit rubbish really. I feel a bit cheated out of my money at the moment. I hope this issue can be fixed.

Someone please fix it

[legacy-Doc Pox]

Impaler, I can't say I have noticed the fps drop when changing net speed although I might try tonight.
Have you got the fps cap on that came out with the last patch. It only applies to online and it is on by default. It is controlled in your UT2003.ini file in the {Engine.Level info] section by bCapFramerate , set it to false and see if it makes a difference

(This is yet another e.g. of how this game is made untweakable.... in quake you can set your fps to whatever setting is best for you ..... not unlimited or some unknown value picked by a pogrammer or some dodgy algorithm.

Has anybody noticed that the creeping ping thing starts when sombody joins the game (not every time) or am I imagining it?:bulb:


btw we are getting quite a post here guys keep it up...he he

[legacy-D3vil.R3d]

Hi there!
I'm new to the forum and i'm here to find... eh, guess what? :D
Right! You just won a brand new mechanical doll with the effigy of Mark Rein sitting on a bunch of lag! :p

Just yesterday i upgraded my beloved system with a new Ath-XP 1700+ and tried once more the UT2K3 demo. Not so much surprise that now with all maxed out i can smoothly run and play a CTF match with a total of 11 bots.
Good!

But i tried the online expirience and... TA-DAH! It didn't worked.
So i came here in search of answer to the BIG question: is there a way to make it run on the net?
And, then, another BIGGER question risen upon my mind: should i buy the game or should i leave it where it stands?

Ok, on the first time i thought it was a sort of demo-bug, but reading your words i just convinced myself that the retail version do the same crappy-thing i've seen in the demo.

Now i wanna post my little 2c of knowledge...

My system is NOT the WinXP you all seem to have, 'cause i run perfectly on a Win2K op. sys.
My connection is a good ADSL with a 320 kbps bandwith and the problem i have with the frigggin' demo is quite strange.
I suffer of what could be tipically called lag + packet loss, but when typed the stat net command in the console, i've seen a low ping, about 86 ms, and no packet loss. But... i cannot play and if i make a turn with the mouse, i turn myself with a delay and in a discontinous way. Of course, netspeed is 2600.

Btw, when offline, i can play fine with many bots and the frame rate is good enough.

So, in your opinion, should i buy the game or not?
And... why people from Epic do not respond at this topic?

Thx to all and... oh, nice to meet you! http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/contrib/legionxs/wavey.gif

Ah... forgot to say that (obviously) with the other games i play on the net without problems.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

Hi mate,
can I just say that I think you are in danger of confusing an already confusing topic........ here we are trying to sort out a climbing ping bug, where your ping is normally ok but then climbs to 999++++ without any apparent reason. It sounds to me like your problem is slightly different and it is in the demo version whereas we are largely talking about a patched retail version. (which can make a lot of difference)

However as I could suggest

You say on ADSL but you say your netspeed is 2600..... if you set your connection type as cable/adsl your netspeed should be 10000.... I know it is obvious but have you tried it?

You say you have "seen a low ping and no packet loss" what do you typically get when playing a game as this is the true measure?

What FPS you you typically get on line.... you need to be sure that it is lag on not baaaad FPS and if your stat net is showing a good connection I would suggest it is the later.

Should you buy it......Hell yes.... for such a modest outlay you will get years of pleasure trying to get the F**king thing to work... now that is what I call value for money!!!!!


BTW to all the usual subscribers.... I played on line tonight and it was as Smoooth as silk with no netspeed changes..... bet it is different on Sunday which is when it nornally goes pear shaped.

Impaler... I tried changing netspeed and it made no visible difference to FPS.




Hey, maybe we should start a clan and arrange a death match for the 999 pingers???


:cool: Pox

[legacy-xvbrando]

D3vil,
i would not mind paying $20(american dollars) for this game. $50 is out of the question. Currently I've seen it on the net(new, shrink-wrapped) for as 'low' as about $40 - still too much for it. Remember you get what you pay for. This game isn't the smoothest online experience available, and future patches likely won't be a magic pill to solve the lag problem. :cool:

[legacy-Parantapa]

The strange thing about my 999 ping problem is that the demo ran fine and I did not have any problems with it. :weird:

[legacy-HuFlungDung]

I really have to wonder if the internet is good enough to try to support a bunch of players at 10000 netspeed? I have my doubts that anything but a top of the line server and connection can really do the game justice.

Yet, I suppose lots of servers out there are someone's "hand-me-down" and it just cannot put out the response in proper time. Why would I, as the lone 56k'er on most servers always be the last one to get into the game?

From what I have noticed, it seems like the first server that I visit (on a given reboot) is the one that responds the best. After that, I never know what I'm going to get, but usually performance degrades until I reboot.

Hopefully, there will be some more server side improvements to be coming up. I've had quite a lot of fun online with the game, even as is.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump:sour:

[legacy-LagMagnet]

hmmm, maybe its a bandwidth thing.

i hosted a game with my mate and it always dies with really naff lag for him and it is unplayable.

I did play with netspeed. which should have been fine at 10000.

i got 256kbps so i got plenty more upstream left with 10000 setting.

lowering it seems to help a little but it really kills framerates. but if i increase it to 20000 or so it did help smooth things out.

20000 = 20k/sec so that should be fine with just the one player.

it did still ocassionally happen but pings were kind of stable (but high 80-120 or so).

i wonder if the netspeeds between client and server have to be the same? i dont know much about it so am guessing.

Maybe worth a try. i would have thought it was adjusted automatically.

[legacy-D3vil.R3d]

Originally posted by Doc Pox
Hi mate,
can I just say that I think you are in danger of confusing an already confusing topic........ here we are trying to sort out a climbing ping bug, where your ping is normally ok but then climbs to 999++++ without any apparent reason. It sounds to me like your problem is slightly different and it is in the demo version whereas we are largely talking about a patched retail version. (which can make a lot of difference)

You're right, but what i was meaning is that i have a problem lag-like and i believed that there was a sort of... nested bug in the core of the code and it should be the same (or almost) of the retail version. I don't think the two of them have different netcode.
Btw, (probably) i have done some confusion between topics, sorry... :)



Originally posted by Doc Pox
However as I could suggest

You say on ADSL but you say your netspeed is 2600..... if you set your connection type as cable/adsl your netspeed should be 10000.... I know it is obvious but have you tried it?

Oh, yes... forgot to mention i tried. First i tried with the menu thing, setting the ADSL/Cable option, then i tried with different values, finally i put my hands in the console and used the netspeed command.
Yes, i tried with the "netspeed 10000" too. Of course it didn't worked.
...mmm... what i haven't tried yet is a greater value... :weird:



Originally posted by Doc Pox
What FPS you you typically get on line.... you need to be sure that it is lag on not baaaad FPS and if your stat net is showing a good connection I would suggest it is the later.

Tipically i play with AvP2, NWN, NOLF2 but before i played Q3 and UT but also CS and RtCW with no problems at all (ping around 80 - 100). And never had (big) frame rate issues. ;)
The fps aren't so high, but sure i am above 30 and the game runs smooth, even with lot of bots.
Of course, i tried to play with all the graphics lowered down, but... guess what? Frame Rate risen up and the match was still unplayable! :D
My specs are:

-AthXP 1700+
-512MB RAM
-GeForce 3 64MB (Ti200 - no oc)
-HD 40GB
-Win2000 + SP2

What i see is that it's like a sort of local lag, so the ping is still low (though is the stat net accurate?) but gameplay is discontinuous. Look: when i say discontinuous i mean that the fps are still on 30/40!
If there is a bandwith problem, on the system bus, it should show up offline too, isn't?



Originally posted by Doc Pox
Should you buy it......Hell yes.... for such a modest outlay you will get years of pleasure trying to get the F**king thing to work... now that is what I call value for money!!!!!

Hell yes! I think i'll follow your suggestion as soon as i can! http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/contrib/blackeye/hihi.gif
But... it really is hard to resist the temptation, maybe in the retail version... maybe the patched game... http://jeeptalk.org/crack/smilies/contrib/blackeye/lookaround.gif

[legacy-Doc Pox]

WTF....?
.
.
.
.
.
Anyway similar thread here no answers.....

http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=238043




This is strarting to get a bit painful......
Has anybody got anything useful to say or even any feedback regarding whether changing netspeed cures the problem???

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump:sour:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump:weird:

[legacy-HuFlungDung]

Since netspeed is related to framerate, I noticed in the ut2003.ini file that the minumum desired framerate for most all video drivers was set at 30 or 35 fps. But, D3D was set at 60. I believe these are defaults (unless I tinkered with it so long ago that I forgot about it).

Just for a test, I did set this to 30 fps, since I do run in D3d. I enjoyed one entire round of very stable ping of 230 on my 56k connection. I thought, Ahah, but alas the effect did not seem to be permanent. Even without changing servers, eventually, my ping did rise to about 500.

Maybe we need to clear the cache between games with the command:

obj garbage

at the console.

Also, I hope the server admins will set the max client rate to 10,000 since the whole effect could be related to guys logging on with a 20000 netspeed and hogging more than their share of the server's meagre resources.

[legacy-Parantapa]

Bump.

Bump the hell out of this thread until someone from epic responds.

[legacy-SiliconCore]

I even get lag when i play this game in LAN :sour: Yet all other games flows like water. I believe that the people responsible for UT2k3's network-code really screwed up this time. :(

[legacy-Triakel]

I had no lag problems online when playing the demo, but the full version -- both before and after installing the patch -- has not worked properly online. In fact, it is useless online. I have been playing against the bots for the past three weeks.

I don't believe it is a hardware issue. I have a 1.2 ghz Athlon system w/256 mb RAM and a Radeon 9000 vc. Not a killer rig, but good enough to play the game quite smoothly offline.

I have an ADSL connection, a Linksys router and have no problems playing other games online.

I will be patient, but I think it is the developer's responsibility to address this problem more effectively than saying "it's the servers." That sounds like a guess.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump it up ....bump it up :cry:

Do they do f**K all about these forums

Let me tell you about tonite... the only nite this week I have had probs......

I was running a server on my other pc.... been running fine for about 3 hours, sometimes me playing sometimes about 5 noobs having a good time. Then around 9.30 my bro joined and he was getting lagged so he went elsewhere and I followed him. When I got there ( I think it was jolt) he is on 999 ping and so was I. We tried another server and same thing so he gave up and I went back to my server where all the noobs had disappeard but my ping was fine as it was on all other servers I went to????


Suggestion could be....

1. could it be related to buddies lists because the only time I use mine is Sunday and only on Sunday does it all go wrong.

2. My brother has such a laggy arse he infects me with it in some way.... lol sorry bro???

:D :D

[legacy-Parantapa]

Originally posted by Triakel
I had no lag problems online when playing the demo, but the full version -- both before and after installing the patch -- has not worked properly online. In fact, it is useless online. I have been playing against the bots for the past three weeks.

That is precisely the problem that I have.

The demo ran without a glitch and I did not even have to tweak anything to make it run properly.

But the full game ... :sour:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump:cool:

[legacy-[SKS]Stink_Weed]

You are obviously not alone. At least that is a good thing because now you know it is not a problem with your P.C or connection. Here is what happened in my situation and what I did to help remedy the situation.

- Loaded the UT2K3 demo the night it came out. I played the demo a lot with no problems what so ever.

- Purchased the full version about 1-2 weeks after it was released. I first uninstalled the demo version then installed the full version. I was still able to play with no problems and no real lag to speak of.

- Downloaded and installed the patch shortly after it was released. This is of course when I started getting the dreaded 999 pings.

Here is what I tried that seemed to help remedy my situation somewhat. I say “seemed to help” because my ping rate is still not like it used to be in the original UT game.

(My buddy swears that after he cleaned off some spyware running on his computer that everything was O.K. I did that and it did not seem to make a difference.)

The change that "seemed" to help me out was changing my netspeed from 10000 (which must have been the default value) to 1500. Here is how I changed the netspeed value…

First, I started UT2K3 and connect to a (low ping) server. Next I brought up the console by hitting the ~ key. After the console popped up I typed in STAT NET. I was now able to see what my connection was doing (ping rate, packet loss, netspeed, ect.). So then I returned to the game (still having the green stats in the upper left-hand corner of my screen) and continued to play until my ping hit like 3000-5000. When that happened I again went back into the console. I then changed my netspeed from 10000 to 1500 by typing NETSPEED 1500

This has been the change that has helped me out the most. I hope that Epic addresses this issue head-on. I have resorted to playing the demo more then I play the full version. So far it has really been $50.00 down the drain because I really only wanted to play UT2K3 on-line but I can’t deal with this lag anymore. I hope the next patch will fix all of this crap. Good Luck

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump

[legacy-Twinkle]

Quote:

My brother has such a laggy arse he infects me with it in some way.... lol sorry bro???

Heh. I'd kick your arse if I weren't seeing it 6 and a half seconds after it was actually there.

The lag on sunday was absolutely unplayable.. but them my connection speed on sunday was shagged. I could get nothing better than 44k ps, and freeserve was working so slowly that I could barely surf websites.

I'm switching ISP this week, and I'll also be uninstalling and reinstalling UT +deleting all the registry stuff - complete roll-back of patch. I'll let you know whether this makes any difference.

I think many people have variations on this kind of high lag problem - servers showing as N/A on the list, then re-pinging them and getting a decent ping, then going back to N/A.

One site downloaded a "crotchshot" mutator, don't suppose that has anything to do with it?

It's really weak of epic not to do something about this problem. i'm off to post something in the main forum about it, see if I can promote some interest/flames;)

[legacy-Doc Pox]

All...... if you want this sorted go and keep this thread on the front page in front of "Forum Goodies" and "anyone play pen and paper role playing games?"

OMFG
Give me strength

http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239306

[legacy-CowPits]

Inspecteur Clouseau says "did you heargh me seiy beump!?, yes! zthis is whet i seiyd yu idiet, beump"

beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...
beump...

p :p :p :p :up:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump:confused:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

Heeee even the forum has Laaaaag..... sweet

ROFL
:rolleyes:

[legacy-HuFlungDung]

I don't know what the problem is, but for me, on 56k dialup, whenever my ping starts to escalate, I open the console, and type:
obj garbage

and then my ping comes back down to normal for the rest of the map.

If I knew how to bind this command to a key, I would. I now just do this habitually right after every map change. I think it helps.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

For everybodies info.... after some testing I do not think the problem is caused by the patch.

I installed an unpatched version on my other machine and when my ping went to 999 on my main patched machine it did the same on the unpatched machine .... which suggests to me the problem lies elsewhere.

:cry:

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump

[legacy-registrau]

I would really appreciate some feedback from the game developers about this problem that many of us are experiencing lately.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

bump

[legacy-StevePolge]

When you see a really high pings or a ping spike, try lowering your netspeed (at the console, type netspeed xxx). Also use stat net (F6) to look at the net connection. Ping spikes are due to Ut2003 trying to transfer more data than your connection can handle (this can be anywhere along the connection, including the server's pipe). Playing on a DSL server could very easily cause this for some players but not others once the server is saturated. The server is the culprit if significantly lowering your netspeed doesn't fix the problem.

One other thing you may want to try changing is bCapFrameRate in the [Engine.LevelInfo] section of your UT2003.ini file. Its true by default (in patched versions). Making it false will increase your clients frame rate (if you are on a slow connection), but cause occasional corrections since the information you send to the server is no longer perfectly synched up to what you are doing on the client.

[legacy-Necessity]

Altered netspeed down as low as it can go and that brought my ping down to 500.

People on the same ISP as I do not have the same issues.


Back up you go.

[legacy-Doc Pox]

What the man sas is true (no doubt) and even works sometimes.... but I feel it is treating the symptoms not the cause and I say again it don't always work.

Plus why should you have to use 56k settings on a DSL line, are they saying that everybody's DSL is as bad as 56k, or could it possibly be something to do with ut?

:rolleyes:

[legacy-mo||y]

BUMP

I made this account just to post about this problem. I paid for this game specifically to play online. I cannot play this game right now with this problem. I play other games like Quake and EverQuest without any problems. No packet loss and no rediculous ping times. This is definitely linked to only Unreal 2003. This problem needs to be addressed ASAP.

Some explanation or some indication that this is being looked at needs to be brought up immediately.

[legacy-Another User]

Yo people

I hope some can be bothered to read this far through the thread, cos my suggestion may help a few people, it has helped me loads.

It has probably already been mentioned within this post, but I'm in a ruch and don't have time to check through all the pages

I honestly had no idea that people were still having this problem. I had thought that patch 2166 has solved these probs for everyone and I currently have no probs whatsoever

I'm usin broadband and my netspeed is set to 10000

I have added this link below and it has details on how to alter priority of UT2K3, which worked wonders for myself. The credit is not mine if it works cos I pinched this from Shadrak - rock on fella!

http://www.ina-community.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239980&highlight=abovenormal

Hope it works for someone - all the best - see yer online I hope

[legacy-Doc Pox]

If anybody is in the UK on NTL boadband with a motorolla surfboard I can help you...

(Assuming you have already done all the obvious stuff)

[legacy-Xperience]

Got the same damn 999 ping problem !
Even when the ping is not that much i get hugh pack losses all the time.

Have the game installed on 2 of my systems.

- one with Windows XP with SP1 and without it.

- the other with Windows 98 sec.

Also tried different kinds of network cards.
Tried different netspeeds.
All this **** didn't help.

My downstream and upstream are ok.
Tested it several times.
So it must have something to do with the game it self.

If i knew that this game had these damn bugs before it came out, i never bought it !

Hope they will bring out a good patch which can resolve this damn problem.

My specs are below.

Regards,
Xperience

[legacy-Xperience]

forgot my specs :D

[legacy-fr4j0]

I would first like to say "it's not what you can give to the internet it what it gives you".

The biggest problem I had was that I was using a ISP with 11+ hops to the gaming server. (hop- each pass through a router on the internet backbone)

Try visual route to see... (look for it in google :P )

a/ How many hops that your conneciton take to get to a game server ( Im from the Uk and the server that I play on is on the jolt network - on the Nildram Backbone)

b/ Is there a 'weak' spot on that connection? I.E. Packet Loss (I was getting 10% ave packet loss on my old ISP with 11+ hops, although I changed to a more suited 5+ hops ISP) My ping dropped by 50 to around the 50-70 mark (Im on good old ISDN btw)- and my packet loss was zero)

Your frames per second (fps) is tied by the unreal engine to your netspeed - a xDSL user and/or cable user changing his or her netspeed to say - 1000 will only obtain a fps of around 20 ( or it does on my rig)

So...

I have run a 'fix' for my OS noraml FPS so overriding the default 60 to around 80 - look fine and play good.

(56kers @60 fps = 3800 -- ISDN @ 4500 to 5500 and XDSL @ 6000)

To get a good fps or a least a happy medium of 60 fps - I do the calc *64 x fps= 3800 (figure rounded to nearest value) although I persoanlly use 4000 to 5000 because Im looking for a fps of around 80.

*See the www.unrealadmin.org site for a explantion - a bit beyond me =o It's in there somewhere

I have changed all the settings in the ut2003.ini to mindesiredframerate=80 and UseVsync=false

I do have bad days and I do get lag at peek time like every one else.


And fianlly, I help (and use the word losely, a server in the UK - the netspeed is set to 8000, although away back in UT days ;) - I always thought that many a UT PUBLIC server was set to the bare minimum - around 3000 - with only the private servers higher at around 6000 ( ok I could be wrong). And to finsh this hellish post that makes no sence...


see above ""I would first like to say "it's not what you can give to the internet it what it gives you".""

Any Mr Epic - beta patch 2181 rocks!! - (my 2cents)

regards

fr4j0

:)

[legacy-boogenass]

I had the same problem and I went through my whole network trying different things with no good fixes but when I patched up to 2166 my ping has been staying below 75......?.......I dont understand it but Im not complaining:)

--------------------
AMD 1800+ CPU
G-Force 4400
1024 ddr ram
2-80gig hard drives
____________
1500 download
1500 upload
Cable internet
____________

[legacy-Xperience]

Originally posted by fr4j0
I would first like to say "it's not what you can give to the internet it what it gives you".

The biggest problem I had was that I was using a ISP with 11+ hops to the gaming server. (hop- each pass through a router on the internet backbone)

Try visual route to see... (look for it in google :P )

a/ How many hops that your conneciton take to get to a game server ( Im from the Uk and the server that I play on is on the jolt network - on the Nildram Backbone)

b/ Is there a 'weak' spot on that connection? I.E. Packet Loss (I was getting 10% ave packet loss on my old ISP with 11+ hops, although I changed to a more suited 5+ hops ISP) My ping dropped by 50 to around the 50-70 mark (Im on good old ISDN btw)- and my packet loss was zero)

Your frames per second (fps) is tied by the unreal engine to your netspeed - a xDSL user and/or cable user changing his or her netspeed to say - 1000 will only obtain a fps of around 20 ( or it does on my rig)

So...

I have run a 'fix' for my OS noraml FPS so overriding the default 60 to around 80 - look fine and play good.

(56kers @60 fps = 3800 -- ISDN @ 4500 to 5500 and XDSL @ 6000)

To get a good fps or a least a happy medium of 60 fps - I do the calc *64 x fps= 3800 (figure rounded to nearest value) although I persoanlly use 4000 to 5000 because Im looking for a fps of around 80.

*See the www.unrealadmin.org site for a explantion - a bit beyond me =o It's in there somewhere

I have changed all the settings in the ut2003.ini to mindesiredframerate=80 and UseVsync=false

I do have bad days and I do get lag at peek time like every one else.


And fianlly, I help (and use the word losely, a server in the UK - the netspeed is set to 8000, although away back in UT days ;) - I always thought that many a UT PUBLIC server was set to the bare minimum - around 3000 - with only the private servers higher at around 6000 ( ok I could be wrong). And to finsh this hellish post that makes no sence...


see above ""I would first like to say "it's not what you can give to the internet it what it gives you".""

Any Mr Epic - beta patch 2181 rocks!! - (my 2cents)

regards

fr4j0

:)


Well how do you explain then that other games that i play online such as UT and Medal of Honor i never have ping problems or Pack losses !!?

I only have this problem with UT2003.
Other games for playing online goed very well.

Regards,
Xperience

[legacy-fr4j0]

hmmm....good point :bulb:

regards

fr4j0

[legacy-DaPlayer1]

Originally posted by CowPits
BTW, this kind of lag gets you KILLED :mad:

oh yeah....u get kill good....I would fire and seconds later, my bullets flew out and by that time, the other player is long gone or he shot me... and i have road runnner high speed net

[legacy-0Xcel]

Originally posted by StevePolge
When you see a really high pings or a ping spike, try lowering your netspeed (at the console, type netspeed xxx). Also use stat net (F6) to look at the net connection. Ping spikes are due to Ut2003 trying to transfer more data than your connection can handle (this can be anywhere along the connection, including the server's pipe). Playing on a DSL server could very easily cause this for some players but not others once the server is saturated. The server is the culprit if significantly lowering your netspeed doesn't fix the problem.

One other thing you may want to try changing is bCapFrameRate in the [Engine.LevelInfo] section of your UT2003.ini file. Its true by default (in patched versions). Making it false will increase your clients frame rate (if you are on a slow connection), but cause occasional corrections since the information you send to the server is no longer perfectly synched up to what you are doing on the client.

Hey, you should know that lowering netspeed does, well ive read about it anyway in UT, and if you play instagib, then it is not a good idea ;)

Anyway, another one with the problem here, with NTL also Doc Pox, but using a Ambit cable modem.

Made a thread about it also here quite awhile ago: http://forums.gtgames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=285611

[legacy-MuDvAyNe1337]

Did u set the connection in settings to cable modem becuase if u dont it will run a lot slower if its set on 56k then cable

[legacy-john.andliz]

I had a similar problem and found a fix.

I am on DSL256 also. Shortly after hooking up to DSL, AND after downloading another "Epic Bonus Map Package" I noticed the same problem.

I would hook up wither servers, run at 60-90, and then creep way up to 300 or above. It was like there was software running in the background and it was slowing me down.

All my background programs were shut off. It was really annoying. I finally took my computer in to a guy I know. We deciphered the problem. The song file was geeking. In other words, while you were playing the game, the songs were "shuffling" at a tremendous rate. You could actually go into the song file during gameplay and see the songs shuffle without stopping to play anything - it was totally corrupted.

The solution was to "Remove All" songs - just let the server play the music - and play a Disturbed CD on your CD player. I do not know if the 2225 patch fixed this problem. All I know is my problem is gone (smile!).

Anyone sounding like this could be them, find your hotkey for your songlist. During gameplay, when you are lagging, select the songlist, and see if your songs are wigging out. Good luck. :)

[legacy-Erbman]

Well just to chuck my 2 penn'orth in.... UT2K3 has to be a beta still....... surely....right ???? :p

Any online game that lags this bad can't be fully developed and tested.

I want my money back, EPIC you bunch of thieves. I don't wanna pay to beta test ur crap. :(
Your as bad as Microsoft. 1 million fixes later and oops...we've found another critical error that needs a critical update.
B0ll0cks!! get it right the 1st time rather than rushing this kinda substandard game onot the market. It's an online game that has flawed netcode and is unplayable online...
How could this have been missed?? Simple.
Profits matter.
Bit rich really when u consider Unreal's history.

I wish everyone should boycott paying for EPIC software until they fix this.
They couldn't stand to lose the potential profit loss. Ya never know if they *cough* actually ever read any of their forums *cough*lol they'll realise what's up, that they're p1ssing people off a treat, and sack the lamers who were responsible for that crap netcode.

The end of an era perhaps.

Will be for me I think. When my ping's OK chances are I get booted for "Modified Package Detected" AND I DON'T CHEAT!!!!!!
time to look for a "finished" online FPS game. This one's doomed already.

Why should I lower my netspeed to 56K when I pay over £30 monthly for a 1MB connection?

This has taught me one thing....I'll never buy another one of their badly developed games again without first testing it, and by that I mean i'll use a "free download" from an IRC channel...i.e. a cracked version.

Even then I still think they owe me lol. How long has UT2K3 been out now :rolleyes:

Epic are actually promoting and encouraging piracy by burying their heads in the sand, and hoping the problem will go away or well forget when we buy the next version 2K4 or whatever(yeah right!) They should hang their heads in shame!!!

People aren't prepared to pay full price for a half-finished game :(
The level of tweaking required by the user to try and alleviate the symptoms are laughable.
This game is on retail sale. If a small kid gets the game, you expect him to trawl through various ini files/console settings etc to get the damn thing to work???. I think not. Should've been sold with a warning.

"DO not purchase unless you want to finish the programmers job 4 them"

As already mentioned, other games work fine, so cop out answers like "It's server saturation" etc just don't cut it.

Rant over :)

[legacy-john.andliz]

Why don't you tell me how you REALLY feel :D

[legacy-Erbman]

Originally posted by john.andliz
Why don't you tell me how you REALLY feel :D

roflmao :D

Just thought i'd share :haha:
Thought this may have provoked a reaction by Epic. *sigh*

Maybe they'd defend their position on one of the
worst cases of PR in living history? lol

Makes no difference anyways...
Epic ain't gonna do a thing about it are they?. Hehe.

[legacy-AshTrai]

@ ppl with ntl cable.

about a year ago, my pings started to sky rocket from the norm 60 to UK servers to over 9k and would just escalate as i played...I minced around for about a month with this crap ping during peak times and then took some action. Because my m8 (lives other side of the town from me) was getting the same kind of problem our attentions went to the cable connection itself. After some investigation, it turned out that our UBR was profoundly overloaded (worst in the country at 1 point). The thing that gets overloaded is the UPLOAD channels. It only effects games so ur upload/download on other programs is unaffected. I could quite easily upload/download off FTP etc... turn that off and go into UT and my ping fly up to 20k in a few minutes and i lag off the server.

a way to get around this, is to scan the upload channels to see which upload channel has how many users on it.. and then swap to this channel. Obviously, this is only a temporary fix... and is only permanently rectified by NTL by doing a resegmentation on the main UBR and its local subsiduries.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/docsdiag/
download the .zip and FOLLOW the instructions on that page (i use the command line "jview /cp docsdiag.jar docsdiag -ubrip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -traffic"). After about 20 mins, this program gives u a list of how many users are on each upload channel.
If u have the (super uber 1337) motorola surfboard sb4100 or similar motorola cable modem then u can change the upload channel. Just goto http://192.168.100.1/ then config. Change the upload chan to what u want, click save changes and then reboot the modem.

worth a try for ppl with ntl cable...