How do you play multiplayer games?

[bl00k 0]

I just want to know how everyone plays multiplayer games of OFP. Do you play on LAN, over the Internet, dial-up, GameSpy, etc.

Please detail your experiences getting into MP games and how they run once you do get in.

I'll start off. I have played some LAN games that work good at first and then seem to run poorly. The netcode seems to really suck. When I'm in a vehicle driving and my buddy is in it with me riding it just looks like I'm driving in circles on his screen but is fine on mine. Also, after a while into the game it seems to lag so bad that I see things my friend did 5 min ago.

All of these things happen when we try playing on the Internet too. To play on the Internet we just type in the IP address to get it going. I want to know how many people use GameSpy to play games and how well does it work?

Thanks.

[LAW Soldier fd 0]

over the internet, with an SDSL 2.3megs both ways. In our squad, we got a lot of ADSL 512/256 people, and due to mostly bandwidth reasons, I'm the one hosting games. Tried it on LAN, and found no problems with lag or other "major" issues.

I'd like a dediserver, because once there's more than 8 people aboard my game, my game suffers a great deal due to low framerate and a jumpy mouse. The netcode cannot demand so much. It just can't. :P

amd 1400mhz, 512mem, geforce2..

But that's another topic.

I use Kegetys's OFPLauncher.exe, which is an excellent tool to join games residing at IP addresses. Skips the splash screens etc. I warmly recommend it to everybody.

Here's the link:

http://koti.mbnet.fi/kegetys/flashpoint/tiedostot/OFP%20launcher.zip

I too have sometimes noticed the circling-vehicle thing, but nowadays it's very rare. Being aboard jeeps or tanks, no problem.

[zovirl 0]

Tried once on the Internet with a T1 connection. Didn't have very good pings on Gamespy (even with a T1), didn't like Gamespy, never even got around to launching the game. Gamespy...bleh.

So, all of my gaming is on a LAN. Sometimes on a 10MB hub at, and sometimes on a 100MB switch. LAN gaming is better anyway because you can yell at the other players instead of trying to type or use microphones.

As far as the interface, joining games, etc., I am happy with the way it works. I like having a dedicated server just for the handy commands like #restart. I wish you could save a multiplayer mission, it would make joining in the middle possible and it would make those long multiplayer missions more practical, but other than that I'm happy.

We have done both dedicated servers and non-dedicated servers. One thing I have noticed is that a server requires a LOT of power, especially if there are a lot of AI guys in the level. I think a lot of the problems people are blaming on "netcode" and "bandwidth" actually stem from not having a good enough server to do the AI calculations. I tried running a dedicated server on a Dual P3-550 Xeon with 512 RAM, and it wasn't quite fast enough on some of the larger levels. AI units jumped around. Made sniping kinda hard, but it was ok if you weren't trying to snipe. Hosting some of the bigger levels on my P3-933 computer really killed the framerate, to the point where I couldn't play.

Anyway, I would suggest getting the 1.27 beta (it does seem to improve server performance), playing on a LAN, and then making sure you have the fastest dedicated server computer possible.

[KAS Stace 0]

Was playing on a lan yesterday, Athlon 1.2 256 host who was also playing through his machine, 7 other players, all game types were just fine, no lag even for the slower machines. Only a 10mps lan as well.....

[Mister Frag 0]

I haven't tried a LAN game yet, though all of the telephone jacks in my home support network connections -- I only have my personal system and a company-owned laptop. The laptop is strictly for company use, so no gaming on it. I also only own one copy of OFP...

Anyway, I have a dual PIII-800 system with 512MB of RAM and GeForce2 GTS running Windows 2000, and an ADSL connection (1500 down, 384 up).

I tend to host our network games using the non-dedicated server, and we get four or five people together, mostly for private co-op missions. We all have DSL with one exception (cable). We're on V1.27, and use the built-in voice communications; most of us use a Microsoft Sidewinder Game Voice.

The MP games are very enjoyable and mostly trouble-free. No network lag or system slowdown on my machine running the server.

We are pretty disciplined and don't all chatter on the voice channels. When we play team-based adversarial games, we use the Side channel.

None of us ever bothered with Gamespy, but a few of us have The All-Seeing Eye.

[RN Malboeuf 12]

<a href="http://www.udpsoft.com/eye

you" target="_blank">http://www.udpsoft.com/eye

you</a> know, I'm getting tired of posting that!