Instability in Multiplayer with attacking enemy units

[Speed_2]

Hello guys,

I had this multiplayer mission in mind, first, you fend off an attack of around 50 attacking units, approaching Zugdidi from the south in line abrest. Next, you support a friendly armored advance about 15 km to the south.

 

Unfortunately, after building the mission once, then having to rebuild it from scratch AGAIN due to CTD issues, it looks like Black Shark isn't able to handle a battle with 50 units in it. The first go around, the mission, when hosted in multiplayer with clients connected, would consistantly CTD the host at around 4 or 5 minutes. The rebuild, while stable at the host end, would often have clients CTDing. Some clients had no problems and no bugs, but others would lock up and/or CTD after just a few minutes. The computers of the people locking up and CTDing were a mix of new and old hardware, and one of them was a brand new machine. It's not the clients' fault.

 

I was hoping to have a more dynamic and changing battlefield by having enemies and friendlies advancing, defending, and doing battle. Unfortunately, it looks like DCS is unable to handle this. I may now understand why the missions online are so static, without dozens of units advancing or retreating.

 

Does anyone have any tips or ideas as to how to make a stable mission where units actually advance and retreat, I mean, fairly "large" numbers of units like 50?

Edited January 8, 2010 by Speed_2

[Panzertard]

"Large amounts" ~= 1000+ units ... trust me, I've tested ;)

Altough such amounts of units kills FPS - no doubt.

50 units shouldnt be a problem at all.

 

Now what we've seen there are a few limitations / problems;

- Some units may cause CTD in specific formations; http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=771088&postcount=24

- ABRIS may cause CTD if too many units are visible; Large MP mission, units not hidden, Enable ABRIS/NAV = MP Client Crash

- Certain triggerzones may cause CTD; Need support from ED!

 

If you can work around those issues, confirm that you're not using such situations - maybe you could post your mission and we'll have a look at it?

Edited January 9, 2010 by Panzertard

[Speed_2]

Thanks Panzertard! No, I never bothered to disable units being visible on the Abris- that's something I do as a step near the end, and this mission was a WIP. However, the CTDs didn't seem to be directly tied to switching the Abris to map mode. Thanks alot for that tip!!!

 

I found out about the CTDs with cone formation myself, but line abreast SEEMS OK, and that's what I've been using.

 

Note that these crashes only occur with clients connected.

 

I'll post both missions. "The Battle of Zugdidi_19" is the one where the host consistantly crashes in multiplayer. The "NEW Battle of Zugdidi_28" is the one I rebuilt from scratch, that is stable for the host but very unstable for some clients.

The Battle of Zugdidi_19.miz

NEW Battle of Zugdidi_28.miz

Edited January 9, 2010 by Speed_2

[Scooternutz]

Awesome mission while I was in.

[Speed_2]

Ok, I've made the changes and turned the units invisible. I'll be trying it out when I get a chance to see if stability is improved. In the meantime, if anyone else has some insights, they would be greatly appreciated as well!

[Speed_2]

Just got done testing the mission. It worked great, perfectly stable for the four people flying it. I do believe that hiding the units fixed it! Thanks a million, Panzertard!!!!!