Hm... Excessive Shot Lag with Weapons?

[fru]

I've had the same feeling too, and I've played a lot of ut2k4 (T)DM/Duels to notice the difference.

For me the Flak primary seems to be the biggest one, rocket primary not as much but it still feels like there is a delay.

I'm starting to wonder if a delay was hard-coded into the game, I know the rate-of-fire is ever so slightly longer than ut2k4's, but even when you get used to it, it still feels like ****.

This is with a <44ms ping btw.

[theeDEATHMASTER]

All weapon fire is 'server authority'. You press fire, a packet is sent to the server, the server responds, and says yes, you fired (and also responds whatever else is going on in the game, who you might have hit, etc).

If you have a low ping, it's not a problem. With a high ping, you can click fire, wait 250-500ms, then see the bullet come out when the server response that you did in fact fire.

The alternative is 'client authority'. Here, you click fire, if you hit something, the hit is also sent to the server too. The client tells the server what it did or did not hit. If you have a bad ping, it doesn't matter. In fact, with client authority, it benefits you to have a bad ping. Your opponent will move very slowly as his position slowly updates. Client authority is also ripe for cheating since the client tells the server who it hit.

If you were making a FPS and you have to choose a method, what do you think is fair? Client authority or server authority?

If you play on a server you have a good ping to it won't be a problem.

Indeed, but lets face it. Cheaters will always be there, its up to the community to get help get rid of them (like vote kick/ban if the admin isn't around). I don't see it as sufficient reason to stop the game from having the weapons used the way they should be. (like not firing 20 meters in front of someone to hit them, I really hoped I left that behind with dail up). And the only servers that seem to be worth joining on my list are usually the lagged up ones.

[Apop]

I downloaded the game for the free weekend (I'm a veteran and decent FPS player) and also experience major delay with flak, slightly with rockets and especially with the sniper. It shoots instantly but the trail appears a good 2-8 meters behind the target depending on the distance. Flak on the other hand has a pure delay between mouse click and ingame shot.
I play on servers with a ping of 30-40. I'm unsure if this delay is intended or not. A real instant sniper would be way too strong but in this game it acts really weird.

[Warped_Out]

Hey Guys,

I've been playing UT since its inception and have never left it. I am still active and still manage one of the last original UT clans.

This may sound really strange to you guys considering what I am reading, but I have found UT3 to be the best running, best playing, best weapons set up UT that Epic has introduced thus far. They may have screwed up with no web admin and some bugs in the beginning, but the game has been right on.

So, how am I experiencing such a great game and you guys are experiencing such a bad game?

There are a load of factors to be considered. Most of you are discussing lag, so lemme concentrate a bit on that.

Have you bought a new mouse lately? Older logitechs are prone to bad mouse buttons. Have you increased your mouse polling to more than the standard, say at least to 500 ms? Have you tweaked any of the mouse settings in the UTinput ini? Lord forbid you are trying to use a remote mouse to play UT3. Use an LCD? Do you know, your 2 ms LCD might not have 2ms response time at the Native resolution your running. A lower resolution may provide the faster Response or Refresh that was advertised. Have you adjusted your settings in game or are you running your game settings all the way on high? UT3 is very challenging for most video cards. Have you updated your's lately? Is your driver up to date? Have you upgraded your cpu? I have upgraded twice on my cpu since UT3 came out. As I mentioned, it is a very intensive game. Are you having heating problems with your video card? That can cause you some problems. What about your internet connection? Are you on a router with your sister in the next room downloading Itunes? Have you checked to see if your provider can upgrade you to a better download configuration? You playing on a campus connection with 5000 guys downloading porn, what would you expect? You gonna have spikes. Spikes cause lag. Have you tweaked your UT3? There are alot of tweaks you can find on Epic forums to make your UT3 run more smoothly.

Okay, that is just a few things to think about. As for the sniper, you have to lead a shot slightly, just like a real rifle. As for the shock? It has a smaller hitbox, you have to be more accurate to hit it, once you get the knack, its fun as hell. I experience no lag on any weapon I use.

One of the previous posters suggested trying a server running 80 Nettick. Wanna try one? I have two up on TDM running now at 80 tick and they are smooth as glass. They are: Vipers TDM - Chicago and Vipers TDM2 - Atlanta.

Need some of the tweaks and diagnostic things I was talking about above? Find them on www.wmclan.com

Better yet, find help from experienced UT'ers on our IRC channel at:
irc.gameradius.net - Channel: #War-Mongers

Don't know how to use IRC? Find a free client and easy step-by-step instructions on our website: www.wmclan.com

What I am saying is that you can find help to make your game run smoothly. Myself and others are more than happy to help you if you are interested.

Good Luck.......

[The Demon Slick]

Are you on a router with your sister in the next room downloading Itunes? You playing on a campus connection with 5000 guys downloading porn, what would you expect?

Lol. Like when my nephew was home for the weekend at my brothers (nextdoor) and was tapping my wireless.

[Sincreator]

I believe I've played with you Warped out, and I definitly play in the Viper servers alot.(When there not full. lol)

There is a very noticable difference between 30tick and 80tick. I hate the "dud" shots when they happen, and usually when I play on a 80tick server, it rarely ever happens. It also seems that my projectiles come out sooner there as well.

[DrFish]

No general problem, but very obvious with flak cannon secondary mode. Not very disturbing though. Flak secondary is nothing I would need in milliseconds. It's just there for tactical reasons.

ASMD, link gun and rocket launcher are actually more responsive than any UT game ever made so far.

FYI: I have a very good DSL connection, and play mostly on servers with ping below 30 ms.

[CaptainSnarf]

And the only servers that seem to be worth joining on my list are usually the lagged up ones.

Bingo! That's the problem everybody is having, IMO. With populated servers few and far between, it's hard to find a server worth playing on. You end up sacrificing your ping and thus your overall quality of gameplay in order to play on a populated server. There just aren't enough people playing ut3 for everybody to find a good match up, but it works for most people.

[Taffy]

I have two 80 tick servers up as well. Here are the specs:

DM server 216.52.148.178:
Training Grounds - NEW PLAYERS ONLY SERVER - Chicago
2.66 Xeon quad CPU
8G Memory
Windows OS
Internap Chicago data center

TDM server 216.52.148.166:
.::.Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers.::. - Hi Performance Xeon 3.0 quad - 80 Tick
3.0 Xeon quad CPU
4G Memory
Windows OS
Internap Chicago data center

BD&HR server has been the top TDM server for the last few months at a World UT3 rank#20 and a North American UT3 rank#9. I can turn the tick rate up to 100 on the BD&HR server and still easily support 14 players. I don't think there'd be a lot more benefit though.

[B0T0X]

Wow, this is not the response I expected. Apparently a LOT of people are having problems. More casual gamers just don't notice .25 and .5 second delays so the fact that over 2/3rds of people think there is a problem indicate to me that there really is.

By the way, I don't have setpoint installed, I'm playing on low-ping servers, and the problem is existent both offline and online for me.

Time for me to post in the 2.1 Community Request Thread I guess.

[Shino]

yes the lag really exists and it has nothing to do with the mouse.i think its a way to help noobs.if that lag wouldnt exist it would be impossible to go in an open space cause u'd be instantly taken out by even the average sniper players.
this way u need far more experience to be succesful with hitscan weps and flak,weapons that need a great deal of aim and prediction and if u come from another game and ur very good with aiming,here u'd have to start again and u'd be ->almost<- equal to any other noob of the game .this is the main goal of the programers i belive^.^

It Isn't a hitscan anymore then,Misleading players who has played previous Ver.'s of UT and are used to using shock as a hitscan weapon.

Hitscan
One of the most well-known examples is the railgun in the Quake series. The advantage of hitscan weapons is that because they hit instantly, there is no need to lead the target (to aim slightly ahead of a moving target in order to compensate for the time it takes for the projectile to reach it).

Once they put any type of "delay" on the gun it isn't a hitscan anymore because you must lead a shot.
Offline you still must lead a shot with shock in ut3 too, so when playing online you must lead your shot for lag and the "delay".

To be simple, Shock isn't a hitscan in ut3.Still a useful gun no doubt but shouldn't be called "hitscan".

[B0T0X]

To also respond to radu's remark... Breaking the came to help noobs is never the way to "fix" anything. I doubt Epic did that intentionally but if they did then BOO. You don't ruin the experience for experienced players for the noobs. Newbies are newbies because they lack experience, and they should address that problem by gaining experienced on their end, not by breaking the game for everyone.

Anywho, good discussion everyone Thanks for your comments.

[DrFish]

To be simple, Shock isn't a hitscan in ut3.Still a useful gun but shouldn't be called hitscan.

To be simple, that is bs.
Shock rifle is, seems and has always been pretty instant.
Based on what experience or proof would you not call it one?

[zer0kewl]

never noticed.
maybe people just having some input lag ?
using gaming mice or not.
got big advantage really.

edit:
i use g9 logitech mice.
with setpoint ofc polling speed set to 1000 wich equals <1ms respons time

[theeDEATHMASTER]

I use an MX518, and yes, the shock is definitely still hitscan (offline at least) or I don't notice any extremely small delay there is.