Multiplayer lagfest

[Moloko]

Why is this game so laggy when the servers fill compared to UT2004?

[bclagge]

UT3 is very demanding on the CPU. I'm willing to bet that many servers don't have a high enough tick rate or powerful enough hardware, or there are too many games on one box.

[Sincreator]

Look for 80 tick servers. There's not many, but they are out there.

Just to list a few:

Confused gaming DM
Taffy's TDM
Ratman's UT3 DM
...:::Relentless Terror:::...(currently down, but should be back up soon according to the owner)

PS: As far as I know, Midnite Gaming is the only provider of 80 tick servers for UT3.(Could be wrong though)

[Moloko]

I play on servers in the 60-80-100 ping range . You reach a certain point where the game becomes unenjoyable, as any skill becomes secondary to guess work and everyone just starts spamming to offset, also hit detection and grahical problems such as slow downs near rockets occur. For me the difference in playing full pub,compared to say 5v5 game is game breakingly dramatic...should it be?

The original question wasn't meant as rhetorical,tho I am pretty fed up with lag issues in UT3. I was just after a definitive answer as to where the exact cause lies. Btw, my cpu/gpu are plenty powerful.

[rhiridflaidd]

Because the server's CPU is capping out and can't handle the number of players - or possibly because the server doesn't have enough bandwidth. Both of these increase exponentially with playercount.

The official UK servers, for example cannot handle 32 players on some maps - on others they are fine, since map complexity also affects playability. I think they are comfortable at 28 - so the line between maxxing out and not is very fine.

So it isn't your PC, it's the servers.

For me, none of the maps can propperly cope with 32 players, if you look at their blurb they typically say - desigend for 12-18 players.

In ut2004, only the Titan server could really run 32 players, so UT3 is either far more optimised, or typical server hardware now is far better - or both.

But it took a lot of fine tuning of maps to make them 32 player capable- both in terms of node placement and gameplay flow, and the map's deign and number of pickups - 32 player maps need a lot of optimisation and playtesting.

But 32 player games are by far the best games to play - once all the right ingredients are in place.

[Taffy]

This is one of the reasons I set up Taffy's TDM. 16 palyers on a low tick server is borderline unplayable at times.

Also, I was tired of continually running into my teammates because there were 16 players in a map that was designed for 6 max. Teammates getting in your way affecting your ability to move properly, blocking your shots causing you to suicide, etc... It was literally driving me crazy.

Hit detection issues are virtually eliminated on an 80 tick server. I was tired of running around with a full wad of goo only to not have it shoot when I released the fire button.

I play some every day, so an admin is present for a while each day. I consider the server to be the people's who regularly play on it, not mine. I am constantly taking map requests. We try out a couple new maps every two weeks or so, and if the majority likes the map it stays...or it goes if players don't like it. I don't spam the server with a bunch of maps that haven't been approved by some of the regulars. I have also made server config changes as requested by regulars.

We got rid of TheLongestYard today and added Gutter. Too many players were leaving the map when TheLongestYard was played. Gutter seems to have all the components of a good DM/TDM map.

The server is in Chicago, and while it isn't super popular yet it's getting there. It went off for over 7 hours friday night. So check it out.