Multiplayer Design

[Hamblue]

When designing a mission, does the use of triggers reduce the object count and it's effects of FPS?

Example, If you have 100 tanks in a mission, andset it up in 4 groups, where group 1 has 25 tanks with the other 75 hidden. After group 1 is destroyed, group 2 shows up with another 25 tanks and 50 hidden. Repeat with group 3 and 4.

 

Is the object count during play reflected by only the 25 at a time or the same as if you just put up 100 tanks from the start.?

 

Hope I worded it right. :pilotfly:

[chromium]

Take this info with REEAALLLY a lot of care.

 

taking 3 units in the scenery,

 

Unit with AI active count 85%

Unit with AI off but active count 10%

Unit not active count 5%

 

I usually put about 400 units in the scenery, taking care that no more tha 150 units are active at the same time, to archive good stable scenery for 16 clients.

[Hamblue]

Take this info with REEAALLLY a lot of care.

 

taking 3 units in the scenery,

 

Unit with AI active count 85%

Unit with AI off but active count 10%

Unit not active count 5%

 

I usually put about 400 units in the scenery, taking care that no more tha 150 units are active at the same time, to archive good stable scenery for 16 clients.

Thanks

So when you have 400 total units with 150 active, do the 250 inactive units affect the FPS/stability of the game? Also once a unit is destroyed does it no longer show as a unit and it's effect on FPS/stability?

[chromium]

Thanks

So when you have 400 total units with 150 active, do the 250 inactive units affect the FPS/stability of the game? Also once a unit is destroyed does it no longer show as a unit and it's effect on FPS/stability?

 

I did never compare dead units effetct... mostly because the worst MP situation is usually at the first fire moment: every unit is there, every client (usually) is in flight, and some fire and smoke are showing...

 

but I believe that a dead unit, not showing anymore and whitout AI active, should be similar to non active units... not affecting performaces.

[Hamblue]

Thanks

Also, how do you import custom objects? From the static option list I don't see several structures that have been in custom maps, such as cranes and the nuclear cooling tower.

[Ripcord]

Hamblue, this is a really good question. And a good response from Chromium, thank you!

 

Some related questions:

 

1. What if we had only 8 MP players? Could we double the amount of ground units? Or triple them? Or would it even make a difference at all?

 

2. What if half of my ground units are located sufficently far from the battlefield? Say I have 300 units engaged around Poti - active combat there. Would I be safe with 300 units elsewhere, far away, in Russia, in Tbilisi, etc? Here I mean SAM sites, supply areas, and of course units near airfields. Maybe only 100 of them could ever make it to the front lines, as reinforcements, and then it would be later in the mission.

 

3. Does it matter what kind of MP players we have? In terms of frame rates, is 16 players flying aircraft basically the same as 4 players flying aircraft and 12 driving tanks/APCs or other vehicles?

[chromium]

I'll try to answer but take into account that everything is pretty much empiric...

 

Point 1:

 

as said up it's the count of active AI units that matter most. I believe (but still I have to test) that a scenery with 1000 or 1500 units is pretty playable if the AI active units count stay at about 150.

 

So, maybe, you can first try to prepare a 1500 units scenery, every units must be AI off, and is better if most group is platoon size (3 to 4 units) except for great company/batteries needings (SAM battery, Supply companies). Than check if this scenery works well.

 

Than, you can active AI on "n" groups (let's say for a total of about 100 units) and see if everything goes well.

 

It is all too much dependant by:

 

1. Server performances.

2. Client performances (you need them to have at least 15-20 fps anytime);

3. Connection perfomances and other net related issues (can't help, it's not my knowloedge at all...)

4. type of AI and services connected (CA clients, JTAC AI, Tanker AI, AWACS AI, FC3 + DCS slots...)

 

Said this, with 8 client you should keep 400 or 800 units... but maybe you can't increase active AI units more than 100... so, 250 in the upper example.

 

It's up to all of us understand those limitations, expecially now that 1.2.3 have changed MP code.. and maybe everithing that I say is not clued anymore with the sim.

 

Point 2:

 

I believe that units staying out of combat need less AI calculation... again, no scientific data available to me. Maybe it's more important if a unit is actually in the battle or not than their position relative to the fire.

 

 

Point 3:

make a guess? no affordable data available... but as for personal experience, it's more important the AI different kind of units. About the client, I think that the "3D" slot such as airplanes or helicopter count the same, while CA slot doesn't count much.

Edited March 2, 2013 by chromium

[Ripcord]

Good well-considered responses, sir. Thank you

 

Yes it will be interesting to see how much 1.2.3 improves performance on 'larger scale' missions, if at all.

[Hamblue]

Is there a way to add several vehicles to the same group?

Say I add 4 BTR-80's and want them to be in the same group.

I call the group for the first one BTR Group 1.

The second one I enter is automatically called BTR Group 1a. etc for the other 2.

When doing triggers I want to set when the 4 are dead. (Entire BTR Group1)

The list however shows them as all separate.

If I pick the first unit in the group will the trigger know to trip when all 4 are dead?

Thanks

Edited March 3, 2013 by Hamblue

[NECK]

Is there a way to add several vehicles to the same group?

 

Yes, when you have created a unit, select it, and in the infoscreen you get on your list, you should find a place where it says unit (below Country and above category). Press the righternmost arrow towards the right, and you woull create an new unit in the group. (group name is the name at the top, and the unit name is below type.

 

Say I add 4 BTR-80's and want them to be in the same group.

 

Not that I know of. I think you have to use the method i mentioned above

 

Hope this did answer your questions?

[Hamblue]

Thanks

What I was doing wrong was when I added a unit as you said I didn't realize that the added unit type could be changed. Lightbulb went off.

Thanks again.

 

I shouldn't have started messing with this. Now I'm getting hooked.

[Ripcord]

Is there a way to add several vehicles to the same group?

Say I add 4 BTR-80's and want them to be in the same group.

I call the group for the first one BTR Group 1.

The second one I enter is automatically called BTR Group 1a. etc for the other 2.

When doing triggers I want to set when the 4 are dead. (Entire BTR Group1)

The list however shows them as all separate.

If I pick the first unit in the group will the trigger know to trip when all 4 are dead?

Thanks

Also is there a section that covers multiplayer? I don't want to add questions if the info is already covered somewhere.

 

Open a ground unit and see where it is says 1 of 1 unit. Click on that second box and make it one of 2 or one 3. That's how you add units to the same group -- and no, they do not have to be the same kind of unit. In fact you can even mix armor, artillery, and unarmed, etc, in the same unit. They do have to be from the same country.

 

On to the triggers question -- you can set up a trigger to fire when a group is ALIVE LESS THAN X %. Use this if you need the fire for just some of the units in the group getting KIA. Otherwise, if you want ALL units to be KIA for hte trigger to fire, then you use GROUP DEAD.

[Hamblue]

Thanks.

BTW. The multiplayer section question was before I realized they moved my thread into this section :poster_oops:

[Jona33]

You want the trigger to be true when an entire group is dead? I'm fairly sure there's a group is dead. If that doesn't exist use group alive less than; 1%. I'd be surprised if there isn't a group dead trigger.