Syncing, CRC checks & Other Suggestion for MTA

[=DA=Blunted]

Syncing needs to adapt the method derived from Unlagged a mod for Quake3

Here is how Unlagged Syncs Shot's

What is it?

Unlagged is a server-side modification that compensates for latency with instant-hit weapons. Basically, that means you never have to lead your rail, machinegun, shotgun, and lightning gun shots, even if you have a high ping. HPB's can rip it up with a railgun just like anyone else.

Since it's server-side only, it's pretty cheat-proof, since the server is still the final judge on hit tests.

What isn't it?

It's not a magical lag reducer. It can't reduce your ping or recover your lost packets. All multiplayer games have limitations that only magic, time travel, or a brand-spanking T1 will fix.

That being said, I've been able to rail in some pretty bad conditions while playing on an Unlagged server.

What does this have to do with Alternate Fire?

Alternate Fire versions 1.52u and above have Unlagged built in. I made Unlagged as a separate project, but with this end in mind.

How does it work?

Basically, an Unlagged server has the ability to move players back in time for the duration of a hit test.

The server stores 1/2 second of movement information for every player. When one of the players fires an instant hit weapon such as the railgun, the server does one extra thing before the hit test: it moves every other player to where they were when the shot was fired. After the hit test, it moves them all back. This is done without the server sending the updated positions, so it doesn't matter that the players are moved.

The net effect is that, for the duration of the hit test, all of the other players are in the same positions that they were in when the player fired the shot. If the firing player had someone in his sights, his target will be hit even though it took a while for the signal to fire to reach the server.

What effect does it have on gameplay?

Well, the most obvious effect is that everyone will take more damage from players with high pings. HPB's on an Unlagged server have the ability to rail like everyone else. The machinegun, shotgun, and lightning gun also become very deadly.

Another nice effect is that, no matter what your ping is, your aim with instant-hit weapons will feel exactly the same. You can practice up on an Unlagged server where you ping 300ms for a game on an Unlagged server where you ping 100ms.

This would please everyone from the LPB to the HPB and keep it all fair competitively.

CRC Checks

Here's my two cents, first off inside the client it's self in a block of encrypted code there should be a function for the client to check it's own CRC, encrypted so it's harder to find. My friend that hacks right now told me that he would defeat this new check by returning a null CRC, so to avoid this issue have the server side perform a CRC check on the client therefor if the client lies to it's self with the null then the server will ask it if it's hacked and the client will not be able to lie to the server since an invalid reply would lead to the server rejecting the client connect.

Game play Improvements

make it so you can stand on the back of the pickup truck like your enemies could in single player, also make it so you can pop out of the sunroof in the washing ton's & limo like the Russian's were doing in SP.

add the additional hitbox's for the player models (head,legs)

ask R* if you can use the GTA3 font & insane stunt bonus sounds like GTAT does as that is a cool feature, of course ask GTAT for permission as a courtesy to their work.

add additional spawn points for robber, sailor, mexican classes.

please place more cars in area's that are devoid of them as it stands.

do not sync the hunter, in fact remove it as a spawn killer with auto targeting dual m60's would ruin the play balance, I don't really mind the missiles as it takes immense skill to fire a shot correctly but the m60's need to be reduced in damage to keep the play balance fair. personally if you keep it at full strength I'd be flying around murdering everyone in sight to an unfair level in my opinion

in closing please vote on the pole and thanks for reading =)

Edited March 27, 2004 by Guest

[Mastertom]

i think this post is the best one ever... on this forum...

all great stuff...

hope the devs read this with the same excitement as i did...

[[KFC]KungFu]

umm what poll?

Wow quite a lengthy post there.

Most of what you are requesting is undoable at the moment because this is a client side game. Quake3 is server side so the server is the final judge but in MTA every computer is it's own judge. If you pause you are invincible ect...

Other things are undoable because some things that the program does in singleplayer are not possible for Tommy to do in single player therefore not possible in multiplayer. (pickup truck and sunroof idea that is)

a good example is how ppl are getting on and off buses in single player. Those models are spawned as they get off and destroyed as they get on the bus. There isn't a way to get a player to ride on a bus because it wasn't possible in Single Player.

ask R* if you can use the GTA3 font & insane stunt bonus sounds like GTAT does as that is a cool feature, of course ask GTAT for permission as a courtesy to their work.

This was funny... thanks

[-UtopiA-]

I didn't read it all... *sigh*...

But anyway, damn good stuff in there. Who would have thought about that? Not me. Sounds good, though.

[l2ebel]

Other things are undoable because some things that the program does in singleplayer are not possible for Tommy to do in single player therefore not possible in multiplayer. (pickup truck

http://forum.mtavc.com/viewtopic.php?t=4804

add the additional hitbox's for the player models (head,legs)

could you explain this a bit more? i got no clue what you mean

[Kent747]

about the syncing, i responded to you via pm, . there are some things you aren't considering, a Quake3 server is not blind to hte map geometry. Our server is.. its a bit harder for us to implement things like physics and collision detection in our program.. as we don't have the source to that section of VC's code .

We are looking into other methods, we just haven't decided which is best, what it comes down to is time, and experimentation.

Kent

[[KFC]KungFu]

Other things are undoable because some things that the program does in singleplayer are not possible for Tommy to do in single player therefore not possible in multiplayer. (pickup truck

http://forum.mtavc.com/viewtopic.php?t=4804

add the additional hitbox's for the player models (head,legs)

could you explain this a bit more? i got no clue what you mean

Why would you link a thread where this idea was shot down? IJs said maybe possible? Im lost...

Was it what eAi did? Nah prolly not since

I think that mta will include this at some point. When is just the questions. Theres a lot going on in gta3:mta 0.[whatever] so it may have to wait i suspect, as its not the easist thing to implement.

eAi

hmm

[eAi]

Am I going mad? Wasn't there a post very like this here earlier today? I replied to it in some length, and now its vanished

eAi

[l2ebel]

[KFC]Kung Lao: i was just a bit suprised/confused coz you said its undoable... oh well we will see, at least The Hitman has a link to check

eAi: yesterday evening there was a thread in this section about dropping unused weapons...(you replied) and after 1 h it was gone i cant imagine what happened to this topic and i dont think a mod just deleted it o_O

[eAi]

There was this almost exact post here earlier today with a poll like "Use the Unlagged method?" "yes" "no", then this long post... Thats weird...

eAi

[[KFC]KungFu]

maybe you had a premonition?

that is odd...

rebel,

I am no expert by any stretch... I am just repeating what I have read/heard. I would like to see all this stuff work but I was just trying to give him an accurate answer. Thanks for keeping me honest.

[=DA=Blunted]

I dd have a pole but I took it down, also what about the CRC idea would that be hard to implement?

I saw in another thread someone said to lose the xyz co-rd's and let the client handle it, that seems like a good idea since we wouldn't have client's fighting each other over position because of the supposedly uncorrupted position "packet"

as for the riding in the gunner's position on the vehicles I didn't see your post before mod, and I'm glad someone brought it up before me.

[=DA=Blunted]

well in single player a player or npc model has four hitbox's these are the places you can actually shoot the model. there's one in the head, one in the chest center mass, two in the legs at the calf/knee/upper thigh. as it stands in mta I believe right now the only hitbox coded for the model's is the chest hence why every robber and mexican aims at your chest hitbox to kill you.

[=DA=Blunted]

ask R* if you can use the GTA3 font & insane stunt bonus sounds like GTAT does as that is a cool feature, of course ask GTAT for permission as a courtesy to their work.

This was funny... thanks

I wasn't joking I honestly would like to see this and as it stands GTAT used it first so as not to be considered biters by the lamer members of the fan community permission should be asked, of course it's at the teams discretion either way is fine with me just get R*'s permission and add it.

[MAD_BOY]

1. crc idea allready mentioned

2. big font with extra sound, bad idea, it sucks

[=DA=Blunted]

1. crc idea allready mentioned

2. big font with extra sound, bad idea, it sucks

1. didn't know crc was already mentioned in the exact way I described

2. big font with extra sound is good plus the normal stat text, but colored in the vice city color scheme.

how about that better?

[Si|ent]

kungfu said:

a good example is how ppl are getting on and off buses in single player. Those models are spawned as they get off and destroyed as they get on the bus. There isn't a way to get a player to ride on a bus because it wasn't possible in Single Player.

Actually mate it would be possible, and has been considered. Just messy and possibly a crash-magnet, It's way way way down in the priorities tho so dont expect it anytime soon if at all

The Hitman: No, we wont be using great big spammy messages every time someone does a stunt. (p.s, we wouldnt have to ask rockstar to do so)

p.p.s. Poll removed as it serves no purpose. This kind of thing is an internal decision rather than a 'would you guys like to see giant bananas you can ride on' type question

[Prokopis]

0mG giant baNanaz yes yess yesssss!!!1

BTW why bother wasting time on the coach anyway? It's not like it would be used at all by the time it'd get in MTA, plus it's slow as hell. Maybe for the sake of completeness, but still not much of a gaming thrill. Unless...

... unless you could get it to fit all ppl on a serv. Then everyone would get in and sing "the wheels of the bus...". Meh.

Seriously though, I don't get what good Hitman's suggestion would be. Listening to applause or some other cooky audio every time you'd pull a 360 or something? Wouldn't that get on stunter's nerves real quickly? I know it would annoy the hell out of me .

[MAD_BOY]

2. big font with extra sound is good plus the normal stat text, but colored in the vice city color scheme.

it still sucks, cause it's annoying to have it, i like this stuntmode more than the gtat one, simply because the fonts + sounds = annoying

[=DA=Blunted]

No problem MrBump the poll was more asking people such as yourself your thoughts on the approach I was suggesting, seeing if the experianced people agreed that was a good method to stop the cheaters.

To each their own personally I miss the announcer from GTA2 as I miss all things from GTA2 and seeing as Liberty City and Vice City are only 2/3's of the map in GTA2 a GTA2 styled announcer is fitting in my mind.

Thanks for your time =)