Ping Equalizer

[karamazovapy]

Taken from a conversation in #lxgc:

<karamazovapy> my VPS is hosted in utah and I just played with six people who were all FROM there
<karamazovapy> my ping was around 100 but they were playing in the 40s
<karamazovapy> didn't realize it was such a handicap!
<module000> moreso in FPS's...but anything other than slow-rts or turnbased it will cripple you in
<karamazovapy> I got by alright
<karamazovapy> there's an option for simulating higher ping. might look into it, if it's smart enough.
<module000> that's implemented in bloodfrontier i believe...a queue for outgoing traffic to horribly simplify it, and the queue is based on the highest ping
<module000> maybe you could bug quin, he's the brain behind bloodfrontier
<karamazovapy> does it work?
<module000> it does in bloodfrontier, everyone gets traffic at the same rate as the highest ping, so no wild skipping or delays
<module000> of course it means you have to keep the 3000ms bastards off your server
<karamazovapy> hmm
<karamazovapy> with the size of our community, clocked out pings aren't a very big issue
<module000> maybe a config option to block players with greater than <x> ping a host could config?
<dantheman53> or only limit it to 300ms and everyone above that is SOL

I think this is an idea worth pursuing. Anyone else?

I have no objections.

That was a great game, and you still completely owned _k. But I agree - a ping equalizer (as long as it is just a server option) seems completely reasonable.

[karamazovapy]

I'd personally set the limit around 150ms. I don't mean to complain, I just never noticed it back when I hosted from my machine...! Ping at that level is completely playable, you just lose a little edge.

I have to agree now - I just played a game against some people from elsewhere and my ping was 100+. While it didn't ruin me, it debilitated me for sure.

[karamazovapy]

I believe THIS game has a built-in ping equalizer. At least its predecessor did, so I assume they haven't gotten rid of the feature.