I'm busting out the decent grammar so you know this is a big deal. I've been thinking about this for a long time now.
Havok. Ro7 (formerly). AGOD. These all suck. But there is one tragedy of ra2 that is more tragic than all the others.
Online play. Without it, half of the game is locked.
I'm not exaggerating.I feel like most people don't even drive their robots anymore, and I understand why. AI tournaments are the only way we can really compete, so why bother testing them in a way that is irrelevant? This, i think, is the most unfortunate part of the game currently. Driving your own robot is just as much of a part of the game as building it, and is very undervalued because people aren't used to it. It's almost a lost art. I really think if online ra2 is fixed that it could almost single-handedly extend the life of the game for years. Hear me out.
Being able to drive your robot opens up new worlds in RA2 that I think most people don't even consider. Suddenly useless bot types become viable. Rammers and Pushers can be incredibly lethal in the hands of a good driver who knows how and when to pin and uses arena hazards to his advantage (yes, hazards). Powerful bot types become weaker in the absence of ai. HS and SnS are easily avoided - simply wait them out until an ideal opportunity, ai has to move forward but you don't! Spikeballs against an opponent who does not brainlessly rush to them are not scary at all. Wedges would becomes considerably less common when the human ability to flank opponents becomes the norm.
Bigger still, new building techniques on a scale never seen before would be opened up. No longer do you have to only protect the front of your robot. You can add a separate system on the back and switch between them at will. Adaptive weapon systems using servos and linear actuators (think Seism 13's wedges,
) can be just as viable if there is a human controlling them. Mecanum-like drive systems allowing your robot to strafe are easily driven by a human with a bit of practice. it's mind blowing
how much the game opens up creatively once you remove ai limitations.
Another huge deal though is the variety in arenas that would be available to use (or create). This has huge implications on all the other points above. Fight in the octagon or the compressor or
even the obstacle course arenas with no trouble. Certain bot types that are normally obscenely powerful become weak in the right arena. SnS ruining your day? Pit him. Push him under a hammer! Use your brain! People don't even think of these things since they haven't had to for so long. New crazy arenas that take immense driving skill that ai would destroy themselves on can become crazy fun to play on and watch. One person can build and hand the robot off to a person who is amazing at driving! There are so many possibilities.
However possibly the biggest benefit though is it would make tournaments a total blast. Like, seriously. Seeing a robot driven by people as opposed to AIed is night and day. You can use
flair! You can use strategy.
you can make fun of sage cause he cant drive And most of all, it is much more fun to watch. I guarantee tournaments will take off if you can see videos of human opponents. Half the people don't even watch tournament videos anymore and just read synopses. Online play will add some much needed entertainment value.
This is just the beginning.
There are so many possibilities that most people don't even think of because they are so used to building around ai limitations and thinking in that limited mindset.
I beg, I IMPLORE the community to try and find a fix for this. This is the BIGGEST issue in RA2 right now bar none.
We used to play RA2 on 'lan' severs hosted on Hamachi, which was unplayable. We currently use Gameranger, which is slightly less unplayable, but still abysmal (ie 10+ second lag at times). I know for a fact that RA2 works like a dream when played on an actual local network. There is no input delay whatsoever. I've tried with college buddies and its the most fun I think i've ever had in the game. THIS is how RA2 was meant to be played. I'm trying to find solutions but I'm not the best at netcode or modding and am only one man. But I guarantee that if online becomes a reality,
this will save the game.
Is it possible to host a dedicated ra2 server? From what I've heard when gamespy was up the lag was not necessarily bad, but i'm not sure if it's possible to host a personal one at all, let alone with good results. That might be a good first step if anyone has a server they would be willing to test with. apanx and i messed around a little with
another client but its a bit too early to see how good this is.
Please discuss, we need to find some sort of fix for this. Any ideas would help.
Possible solutions / Issues
Hamachi / incredible latency issues for the non-host, upwards of 10+ seconds of lag.
Gameranger / similar to hamachi, though generally slightly better performance. still bad.
Alternative such as Tunngle? / TBD
Dedicated server / TBD, may not be possible
Gaminganywhere VM client /apanx is testing this a bit and seems to have a bit of luck so far, still seems to be fairly laggy without a way to mess with RA2 coding
NVIDIA Gamestream (thanks Mattiator) / Requires both parties to have NVIDIA cards, and both parties to have a copy of the robot. other issues TBD, but seems to currently be the most promising option
Parsec Gaming / client similar to NVIDIA Gamestream, but without the NVIDIA card requirement. Initial testing shows promise.
bring up any ideas and I'll add useful ones to this post. And please, just because the possible solutions may have issues doesn't mean it's out of the park. please test on them if you can. Anything helps.
Show Posts
