Multiplayer is just one big lagg & horrible to play

[Jackdaniels 10]

The Multiplayer aspect of this game has got to be the worst I have ever seen in a game. How on this earth are you suppose to play this game online with so much lagg? I have a 10 meg connection and a ping of 17ms, but all I get is massive lagg. Looking back at Ofp and how great that game was, it makes me scratch my head and wonder where Bis went so wrong with this effort. With this game it seems they went wrong at every turn. I played Ofp for 4years soiled and have already given up on Arma 2 up after just 3 days.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Jackdaniels

[Cobalt_UK 0]

My personal experience of Arma 2 in multiplayer is one of absolute frustration. CTD's, network server lag and absolutely disgusting frames per second. All add upto a very unenjoyable experience.

No doubt this will all get patched up in time. But i think the problem is, alot of people just won't give Arma 2 'time'. I personally didn't hang around to see Arma 1 patched up to a playable experience. I bailed out after a couple of patches, and no doubt i'll be doing the same with Arma 2, if it isn't sorted out asap.

Also unlike me continuing to have some kind of faith in Bohemia/Arma 2 before it's release. I definitely wouldn't offer that same kind of faith for a possible future Arma 3. If these problems aren't corrected soon, i'll be opting out of any future BI releases.

I love the idea's/creativity/vision/scope/direction of Bohemia, and what they have to offer to the game world. I just think their idea's/vision are extremely poorly executed, especially at launch. I don't even think you could say Arma 2 is in BETA stage right now - maybe pre-alpha?

[dunedain 48]

I always thought that Armed Assault netcode wasn't much better than on Ofp but from my 2 days experience on ArmA2 it's unplayable on all servers i've played on. :/

I really hope this can be fixed.

[UsesTactics 10]

I have to agree. I had a lot of trouble merely installing ArmA2 (it wouldn't run). And even now after solving that problem it is slow to load up.

Today I tried multiplayer. I have a 2mb connection and the server ping of 32. Under conditions where games such as Crysis multiplayer will run smoothly ArmA2 is a complete mess. The frame rate is horrendously slow and unplayable. Often the frames simply stop and the screen is left frozen on a pixilated mess.

I am completely behind BI on their ambitious vision and amazed at the potential of ArmA2. But I am disappointed that ArmA2 hasn't yet lived up to this potential. I hope that in the not too distant future something can be done to help gamers enjoy BI's efforts.

The question is whether poor performance online can be solved by the game being patched? Or whether we need to upgrade our hardware and internet connections?

UT

Vista

Intel Core 2 Duo 6400

2 GB RAM

Nvidia 8800 GTX

[Jackdaniels 10]

Cobalt Uk - Bis just don't seem to make progress from there past mistakes! How can the multiplayer aspect of this game still be so bad - When in Ofp they seemed to master a game that wasn't really built with multiplayer in mind. I was very disapointed when Armed assault 1 arrived, but I have to say Arma 2 is the the biggest disapoinment of the lot. I am a member of a clan that has over thirty players and the few that bought the game to trial it for our clan have given up on it already. That to me says this will not last as a multiplayer game, it's like they made arma 2 with all the fancy graphics and such, but didn't realise that no computer is good enough to run it all. I even joined a sever tonight that had all the terrain switched off and yet still it was unplayable.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Jackdaniels

[Rasa-be 10]

I concur with this thread. Low fps, then glitching, then crash. System comparable to UsesTactics

[Maizel 10]

I find that everything said about the Multiplayer also holds true for the singleplayer.

The game is one big mess overall.

[Lima-14 10]

I don't know if it's just me but the interface / UI leaves a lot to be considered when playing online.. apart from the lag, and the off 'recieveing' messages where I can hear but not see anything (apart from the recieveing message).. but the UI just confuses me.... Ive worked out that you can select a (AI) soldier slot and then click (ok?) I cant remember..

But when seeing the mission load, then get presented with the selection screen again, then another load screen.. it leaves me wondering if Ive actually joined a multiplayer game.. eventually the map / scenario loads..

It's the the non-fluid/ non-flowing aspect of joining a MP game could be improved.. just puts me off....

There are plenty of games (MP) when you're in a lobby, you select what you want to be and then join the game.. no screen flashing backwards and forwards etc.. no worries...

I've played OPF, ARMA I and now ARMA II - and tbh - Ive always thought the netcode could have been better - 10/10 for the game but 5/10 for the netcode / MP aspect.. it really needs tightening up (and patching)..

Here's hopeing development (BI) are on the ball this time and I agee with UsesTactics - am also behind BI on their ambitious vision for desktop warfare and I'm hopeing that ArmA2 can achieve it's full potential.

And I also hope that in the not too distant future something can be done to help gamers enjoy BI's well deserved efforts.

Regards

Lima-14.

[Jackdaniels 10]

Lima-14 - The problem been is how long do they need? They have had as far back as Ofp and Arma 1 to get the netcode right - I really never thought a game in this day and age could play so bad online.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Jackdaniels

[longers 10]

multiplayer, singleplayer

it's all a mess tbh

multiplayer more so

amazed the game was released in this condition !

[Lima-14 10]

Lima-14 - The problem been is how long do they need? They have had as far back as Ofp and Arma 1 to get the netcode right. I really never thought a game in this day and age could play so bad online.

Well I've just patches to 1.20 - let's see if some things have improved.. :)

BTW - Did you ever play B.R.E.E.D ?? omg that netcode, well the whole game didn't play correctly.. atrocious AI pathing, extremely buggy netcode.. (at best I think I only ever saw 2-3 servers up and running) - the game looked promising but fell flat on it's face.. (That games was 100 time worse then ARMA/OPF etc..) lol...

Regards

Lima-14

[Jackdaniels 10]

Now I know why only the good games release a free beta that you can test and play before you buy.

[Lima-14 10]

Hmmm.. tried 2 games and after a few minues Im getting the 'Recieving' crap message again.. BI why dont you let the game CTD.?? its a pain trying to alt tab and then try and kill off the arma process. :mad:

Processtracker showed a peak mem usage of 1,562,108k (about 1.5GB) an now it's settlrd down to approx 584k mem usage.

Regards

Lima-14

Edited June 23, 2009 by Lima-14

[HOPEnSPIRIT 10]

Plays fine no lag seen yet...

[Zaldronthesage 10]

if you play on a server from your region you get less lag...logical common sense would tell you that. If your in USA and play on a German server, dont expect to get a 17 ping no matter what your connection...your ping is just what it is, to and from(hence the ping part) I play on USA servers and I have no problems...and im on just plain old cable. Go figure.

[Jackdaniels 10]

if you play on a server from your region you get less lag...logical common sense would tell you that. If your in USA and play on a German server, dont expect to get a 17 ping no matter what your connection...your ping is just what it is, to and from(hence the ping part) I play on USA servers and I have no problems...and im on just plain old cable. Go figure.

You say you have no problems? Well maybe you would like to share your secret of a lagg free game. I think most people here already know that if you connect to a sever with high ping you are going to have problems... I know it's the first thing I learnt when I started online gamming.

Maybe you are playing a four man coop or maybe it's a single player coop and that's the reason you have no lagg...Please go and play warfare with thirty players and come back and tell me you have no problems. Because I certainly don't feel it's my 10 meg connection that is at fault, or my computer that I would consider to be a very good rig. So I'll repeat what I have said -Would you mined explaining the secret of your lagg free games to everyone!!

Edited June 24, 2009 by Jackdaniels

[r1ckyr4y 10]

haha WOW..

My mind just went from "ERRR I want to play this game or at least the demo damnit!!" to.. "well, theres still Operation Flashpoint 2". I find it hard to believe that a company would release a game in that condition but there you have it. Later guys.

::jumps on opfp2 forums::

[Johnnie_Walker 0]

Please go and play warfare with thirty players and come back and tell me you have no problems.

I have been playing 36 man crCTI mission at XR server with maybe a single lag spike due to a player with very low bandwidth, in fact I'm trying to add even more slots as the game runs fine.

I have to say 1.02 have been a big improvement in this aspect.

Sometimes you have to have a lot of patience, the receiving screen can take as long as 5-10 min when you join a server with lot of players.

Regards.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Johnnie_Walker

[Zipper5 74]

Jackdaniels - hopefully you're not coming to this game's multiplayer having played multiplayer in other games such as COD5 and expecting the same result. ArmA II doesn't have perfect netcode, not at all. However, you must consider many other factors with a game such as ArmA II. First off, most other games play in very small areas that do not require any streaming at all, thus requiring much less of the bandwidth. In ArmA II, the entire island has to be streamed for all users.

I think the "lag" you're talking about is targets further in the distance warping a lot. It is annoying, yes, but think of why it does that. If the netcode devoted the same amount of bandwidth to every unit on the map, regardless of if the player could see it, it would not even run. It devotes less time and effort to things further away from the player than it does to those closer to it. That way it's actually playable.

Also, you've got to consider if it's actually the game causing you the issue, your internet, or the server you're playing on. Each of those could cause serious lag in the game if something goes wrong.

You cannot say ArmA II's netcode is in bad condition. It's not perfect, but when you look at what it must do for multiplayer, you realize that it does a pretty damn impressive job. The singleplayer also isn't "terrible". And r1ckyr4y - look forward to being even more disappointed. ;)

Edit:

You say you have no problems? Well maybe you would like to share your secret of a lagg free game. I think most people here already know that if you connect to a sever with high ping you are going to have problems... I know it's the first thing I learnt when I started online gamming.

No, if you think that, you really don't know what you're talking about. Ping dictates the distance from you to the server. Not if you're going to cause lag and have issues in the game. I live in the Middle-East, so I'm pretty far away from all servers and get pings no lower than 150ms. However, I see the exact same thing my friends do and get no lag 95% of the time. Unless your ping goes into ridiculous numbers like 800ms and above, it does not really matter, especially not in a game like ArmA II.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Zipper5

[dvolk 10]

For me 1.00 and 1.01 were awful. 1.02 is much better.

I don't know if that's because BIS improved the code or people upgraded their servers or learnt how to make lag-free missions, but I get hardly any lag with 1.02.

There's still the slight hint of wraping in vehicles and large distances, but it's nothing compared to what it was.

[sirex 0]

Hmmm.. tried 2 games and after a few minues Im getting the 'Recieving' crap message again.. BI why dont you let the game CTD.?? its a pain trying to alt tab and then try and kill off the arma process. :mad:

Processtracker showed a peak mem usage of 1,562,108k (about 1.5GB) an now it's settlrd down to approx 584k mem usage.

Regards

Lima-14

goto map. leave map.

job done.

[Rasa-be 10]

It's not about lag, ping. It's about major FPS drops and glitching when gaming multiplayer.

[whisper 0]

I don't know if that's because BIS improved the code or people upgraded their servers or learnt how to make lag-free missions, but I get hardly any lag with 1.02.

My experiments tell me the server makes it all. I went from an old architecture server which couldn't handle much and was under a constant yellow-chain status when playing Warfare/CTI to a newer architecture, which is still insufficient to run the bigger missions atm (I should get a 3GHz instead of a 2GHz processor) but can handle medium sized (crCTI 10vs10 is very smooth, with very occasionnal yellow chain, most of the time at the end of mission after hours of destruction all over the map causing a bit of a mess ;) ).

In crCTI, when going above 30 players, server FPS goes lower than 10 and there issues appear again.

The missions run today under ArmA2 have a scale and scope far, far greater than their OFP equivalent.

The server makes most of the performance and enjoyement you'll have. The other part is how your own PC handles the game, obviously.

[Mickd 0]

I think the missions that the community themselves are making need to be looked at too. I wanted to run a COOP event on the Charlie Foxtrot server and I tested the missions. Of the 12 missions i tried, 7 of them had Server (not client) FPS less than 20 with 1 person on it! Thats mental. Only 4 of the missions i tested had a Server FPS of 49-50 with 1 player while the last mission was down to mid 30s. The stock BIS missions all run at 50FPS BTW.

To run larger missions they must be kept as clean and clear as possible of as many scripts as you can manage. At IC-ArmA our mission file is in the region of 45kb and we were able to run 100+ players because the missions were simple & were super optimised.

[craigsa 0]

I cannot believe this thread, I am waiting for my order, thought I would give BIS another go after the ARMA 1 disgrace.

If this game is as bad in multiplayer as you guys say then I just give up.

I am tired of spending my money for something that is not complete