Slammin

I've read them, but I needed to go through this myself too.

Not sure why anyone would not be willing to do this simple fix. Thanks for posting this!

Well, from all the testing I've done so far, the one thing that sticks out the most for me is this 'microstutter' and it seems to be directly tied to the client pingperiod value. When I set pingperiod=1 on the client, I get a microstutter at about a rate of one every second. It is really easy to see when you do a roll. You can also notice your fps drop about 6 fps from whatever it was for a split second during this microstutter. Setting pingperiod=2 causes the microstutter to happen every two seconds. Even if you are not in motion, you can see your fps take the 6 fps hit while sitting on the ground. I've tried setting my AGP in bios from 64 to 256 and the microstutter remained. I'm not sure this microstutter is related the the stuttering folks see during formation flying, but my guess would be that it probably is. I'm all out of ideas.

NEWS FLASH! The F4 install dance has been dealth with, and for quite some time now. Basically, you just install F4 from CD, then install FF3. Done. Almost kinda like installing LockOn 1.0 and then adding FC 1.1, only different names. Really, F4 has become THAT easy. Eye candy? Well, yes, FF3/CobraOne does add weather effects and such, and yes, the clouds, weather, and new gfx effects look great too, but really, F4 has come a long way! Oh, and F4 hasn't lost anything from the original. Some even say it has gained too much. It is definitely a high fidelity sim and I guess the learning curve has been raised over the years, but it is also good the technology we now have allows such a bird to be brought SO close to us. Anything even remotely based on F4 is more than welcome on my machine!

I don't have a monitor or keyboard connected to the server. I did have the maxpacketsize set to 1200 for some reason. I set it to 512 now. I went through HL to connect and my ping is usually below 25 that way. I have seen the stutterring though and now know what to look for. Thanks for assisting!

Yes, the server has nothing else running, is a minimal install of WinXP Pro running on a dual P3 1GHZ box with 768 RDRAM. My DSL line is 6mb down, 608kb up and easily hosts 9 players with 1.02. I flew for a few minutes this morning in close formation and things looked pretty normal to me, but my ping was only 25 too. I'm going to set the server to pingperiod=2 and see what happens.

No comment....

I guess it is a little frustrating listening to all the whining given that those of us that went for the download the first day it was available were called fools for doing so, since the CD version would not have the activation issue. Notice how all the ill feelings about SF have been transferred to ED now? Nobody even talks about SF anymore; folks just want the addon ANY way they can get it at this point. I can understand the frustration but any complete idiot can safely assume ED is not 'holding' this addon from Westerners as some kind of conspiracy. Then again, I've seen some strange behaviors in the past from some of our community, so who knows?

I just made a new map with only a few planes. Bases are very close together and it is up on HyperLobby. My current IP is 65.69.91.75.

Server is up. Fresh install (no changes made to default config files), running in windowed mode with lowest possible gfx settings selected. Mission: Cranes and Eagles.

I'm pretty sure those messages are due to the client being dropped before the servers connect table updates to reflect the drop. When a client connects, the client is assigned a number. If the client drops and reconnects with the same IP, the old connect becomes invalid for a period.

Most likely just a sound issue. In IL-2, you would get a nice pause the first time you fired your guns and to avoid it happening in combat, you could either take DX sound Accel down a notch, or just fire a short burst of rounds before taking off when you join a server.

Intel HT=ON here. But I do think this is tied to the local system, specifically, the hosting system. Didn't someone say that the net code has been changed from synchronous to asynchronous in 1.1? This to me would mean that the host machine has a higher workload now since it has to be able to service clients simultaneously instead of one at a time. Question: I know Ice runs a standalone server, and he says the problem does not exist there. Could this be something that just affects non-stand alone servers? I have a stand-alone server and can put it up anytime if someone wants to test. Server is a dual P-3 1Ghz, 768mb RDRAM. Fresh 1.1 install but I haven't built any custom missions yet.

Hey, what is this StarForce thingy? :-) I know, I know.... Bad joke! LOL!

I must be confused then. Could have sworn him, Cougar and a few others were once regulars on my servers.

He was pretty dangerous in IL-2 as well!

Thanks aceflier. I'm only tossing out ideas man. I'm not seeing the stuttter issue either, but I don't fly formation. I have no doubt it's there, from what I'm hearing and am only trying to help out. Again, not meaning to offend. And yes, you may be on to something. If SF causes an interrupt to be injected if it in fact 'hijacks' your IDE channels, and your system is using the swap file while playing, and I think even with a gig or ram, you will still be entering swap land, then yes, you may be on to something. Thing is, I have no reason to think that SF is in fact 'hijacking' mine, nor anyone else's IDE channel at this point. What I do know is that the default net settings with LockON can be optimized. I think this is what this thread is about, for now.

lost my train of thought. Be back tomorrow....

Aceflier, if you don't mind, and please don't be offended, but can you exit this thread? LockOn networking issues is really not a new issue. Some of us have already been through the tweaking pains more than once. If this leads to SF (doubtful), we can start a new related thread. Please let us continue to explore our current direction. Thanks man, Slam

Since I have not been in a situation where I experience thise stutter, I kind of lead to a 'local machine' issue, which is why I posted the link to that latency tool. It really did do wonders for me in the past. Still, I doubt it will help here though. This might be more than just a local PC resource issue. Let's try to find out what we can.

Man, I felt so alone when I went through all this when I was hosting and it is good to have you guys test with me. Granted, my primary issue was server crashing. And like you all know, this micro-stuttering wasn't an issue with 1.02. Though I admit I still have not experienced it, I gotta say that I haven't been in a situation where I think I should see it either, but I trust you that it is there. Perhaps I should join you guys for some formation flying. I just installed FC on my server. Gotta get all the activation stuff going now, but again, I will test as much as I can here as well.

Might be a Windows Priority thing, might be that there is too much info to pass in a maxPacketsize=500 (FC default), and position update packets are being fragmented. My guess is the latter. I'm certainn with 1.02 the maxpacketsize was much larger. LockOn uses about 4 times the bandwidth that IL-2 uses and I'm sure this is because there is a lot more to calculate; Sam sites scanning, clients scanning with radar, etc. I'm going to install on my server here and do some tests, but seeing that my server (which I haven't run in awhile) was set to pingperiod = 1, but my maxpacketsize was adjusted to a non-default value, I suspect that maxpacketsize is the parameter we need to be testing with.

Born in Washington DC. Been in St. Louis, Mo. for the last 25 years. Hope to move back one day!

I just fired up my old 1.02 server because I was curious and this is what I have in my config.lua: pingperiod = 1; maxPacketsize = 1152; Thing is, I don't remember what the default maxPacketsize used to be, but I'm sure it was a value greater than 1152, because I am sure that I've only tried values smaller than the default. I really think if we nail down an optimum maxpacketsize, we will get rid of the stutter, but at what expense, is the question. I will do some experimenting with FC and my server as soon as I get some time.

Me thinks 'asynchronous' is the key reason, as you've pointed out GG. Before, an incorrectly configured modem player was definitely a server killer. Sounds like this may have been fixed. If communications are asynchronous now, that would definitely be a plus I would think. I guess I will fire up a server and see firsthand what gives. I would love to use some of the online missions I've created that have events happening long enough that I did'nt have to restart them until I got home from work (when the server didn't crash). Expect a new ground pounding A-10/SU25t FC server up this weekend!