UDP vs. TCP distribution [was: Re: [e2e] Can feedback be generated...]

[Eric A. Hall]

> Deliberately compensating for lag in the game client in some
> similar way would be interesting.

This was [re]introduced as a fairly big problem just a few weeks back,
with client-based clock emulators being used to eliminate programmed
delays. EG, for those actions which required client-side delay (casting a
spell, healing, shooting a paced weapon, etc.), emulating the clock (and
running the emulator at very high rates) meant that client-side delays
were essentially removed from the game.

It has been around is some form or another for a while. UO has long
suffered from a "fast walk" hack that allowed players to move at their own
pace instead of a rate set by the server. This was eventually fixed with
rotating random keys and encrypted commands.

The clock hack essentially made these fixes irrelevant, and allowed for
many more cheats.

Closing the loop, what this is driving is a return to closed communities.
Diablo saw it badly (nobody with any sense played on the public servers
when the clients had a built-in "God mode"), others are recognizing the
problem and are now designing for it. I think it is trending away from
massive multiplayer towards multiple-islands.

-- 
Eric A. Hall                                        http://www.ehsco.com/
Internet Core Protocols          http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/