Request for Better Online Experience

[Scrap Daddy]

can anything be done with online lag? If we had actual tournaments where we actually drove, id cream.

[shedRift]

can anything be done with online lag? If we had actual tournaments where we actually drove, id cream.

   I thought it was just me that lagged so bad.  I tried playing with someone and only one of us could tell what was going on, and it was the same for both of us hosting.  The person connecting always stuttered terribly once the game started.  A complete crash also happened once and was unrepeatable.

   I could code some solutions. How about stream jpeg images of the host's screen to the connecting user and have them watch it in Google Chrome or Firefox? (All the while having the game minimized, but running on the connecting user's computer. May need some special tools to route keypresses to the minimized game.  Hopefully that is possible in Windows.)  It would get pretty hacky.  I could also try something with remote logins?  I have no experience with remote login on Windows although I know it is possible.  Or how about SSHing the connecting user to the host's pc, of course without any sort of root privileges, and then have them essentially play on the same computer, as a LAN game. (Do LAN games through 2 games open on the same computer lag?  I hope not.)  Or how about SSHing but running a completely local game, under the exhibition menu, only one instance of the game open, and sending key presses to the host via SSH? I have a couple other ideas and variations floating in my head...

Sorry, I typed that really fast and it is really messy.  I really need to try experimenting.

[Sage]

HOW COME YOURE THE FIRST ONE TO THINK OF USING REMOTE ACCESS.

but actually it would still probably lag, and would be hard to find a good view angle

[Thyrus]

HOW COME YOURE THE FIRST ONE TO THINK OF USING REMOTE ACCESS.

but actually it would still probably lag, and would be hard to find a good view angle

laggy may be but with trovs actioncam it should be a fair fight

[Scrap Daddy]

Yeah that's genius, I can't believe no one has thought of that before. There could be a host and then both people would have to join to make it fair too. 

Keep it up man, your work is inspiring.

[shedRift]

HOW COME YOURE THE FIRST ONE TO THINK OF USING REMOTE ACCESS.

but actually it would still probably lag, and would be hard to find a good view angle

I have only watched someone use remote access on Windows 7.  It was a steady stream, but there was a delay.  Obviously internet speed also plays role.  However, it was not seemingly random and lengthy stuttering.  It would be an improvement, but I don't think it would be the very best solution among the ones I listed.  What makes viewing angle so difficult?

Yeah that's genius, I can't believe no one has thought of that before. There could be a host and then both people would have to join to make it fair too. 

Keep it up man, your work is inspiring.

What you mentioned was one of the other ideas I had floating.  It just would need to have one person to be trusted with the mouse, if that is a problem in any way.


First thing I found, looks like it will simplify this a lot.  I am yet to test it.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/371955/Motion-JPEG-Streaming-Server

[Sage]

With an odd viewing angle, it could be hard for player 2 to see and control their robot. Usually the camera follows player 1, and a static camera would be weird.

[shedRift]

I actually would prefer the stationary camera, the other ones do not seem tuned right, the follow speed is often too slow.  This is particularly annoying for my jump maps.

[Scrap Daddy]

A sideline view like in real robot fighting.

[Trovaner]

I seem to recall the orbit cams following my bots better on one of my old PCs but its been so long that I can't say for certain... The watch cams are a little more responsive to movement but they don't work as well in large arenas. Static cameras tend to be too far out and it is easy to lose track of bots when using them. The tourney cam works well for AI vs AI but it can be cumbersome if you are having Human vs Anything. Nowadays, I use action cams for almost all of the arenas. If you want a sideline view, I could probably make a special Action Cam that mimics the watch cameras but keeps all bots in view. While I'm at it, I could probably do something about the responsiveness of the orbit cameras.

[shedRift]

I need to try camera coding.  I noticed the weird occurrence in which follow speed depended on the screen resolution.

[Trovaner]

Since we were starting to tangent from Robot Arena - More Than Four Robots, I split the topic.

@shedRift: There isn't much customization when it comes to the stock cameras but you can try making your own action cams. In version 2, I refactored the code so that it is easier to make your own (however, it hasn't been released yet because I wanted to add an FPS checker and improve the POV system so that you are guaranteed to have all the bots in view).

Edit: If I get the chance, I've also been planning to code some cameras that follow a predefined path for specific arenas. This would work well for your jump maps, racetracks, obstacle courses, etc.