What has been the largest MP scen run?

navwarcol · Post by **navwarcol** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:51 am

What is the largest (in number of units, and in time) MP scenario that has been run by H3 MP at the moment?

hermanhum · Post by **hermanhum** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:12 am

Sadly, ANW does not seem up to the challenge of large MP scenarios.  The ones I call "moderately medium-sized" can already crash the current server hosted by AoA.

I am not certain exactly which scenario factors are most relevant.  Nor, do I know if it is due to the number of units, map size, or a combination of both.

There were reports of players running medium-sized scenarios such as Freek Scheper's "Oil on the Fire" and having the server throw them off for "timing out" (failure to respond to the server in a timely manner.)  The two players involved were both connected with high-speed connections.

My personal suspicion is that the large Uncertainty Zones played a significant factor.  IMO, the singlemost important factor for scenario size is number of units.  However, when the game detects and tries to track multiple sonar, ESM, a few hundred missile contacts, etc., the CPU demands are just enormous and I don't think that it can keep up even with high-speed transmission lines.  The amount of data going out to the players/observers and return acknowledgments seem to cause major problems.

In the past, we have been able to run some 'medium' scenarios such as "Flight of the Governor" from Freek's battleset, "Hugo's Folly".  We had to manually drop contact with the units inside large UZs in order to keep the game from crashing.

hermanhum · Post by **hermanhum** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:37 am

One player tried the StrikeOps scenario from the HDS II GIUK battleset over a LAN connection and it was crashing him out, too.  So, I don't believe it is a connection speed that caused the problem because that scenario is playable on any moderate computer.

navwarcol · Post by **navwarcol** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:05 am

From what I have been able to tell in some limited testing today, the number of units definitely is a parameter. There is a viable "Plan B" that may become "Plan A-2" if there are too large scenarios being run for the MBX being set up..would like to hear from Mr Sharp here if he has any ideas officially from AGSI regarding MP limitations, also.

hermanhum · Post by **hermanhum** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:10 am

This issue was discussed with AGSI before.  At that time, the idea for an adjustable response time (instead of the currently hard-wired 30 seconds) was considered.  I don't know if it will be implemented or not.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:59 am

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navwarcol · Post by **navwarcol** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:18 am

That would fit, mostly, within parameters. The idea from the MBX standpoint being that the only time MP will "enter the picture" is for the actual tactical level combat, with the rest being played out according to set orders. I could live with this situation...
It would entail a fairly large amount of coastline however..but the maps could be limited somewhat. Knowing what to look for, is half the problem. Thanks

hermanhum · Post by **hermanhum** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:36 am

Freek's "Sea King to Chile" scenario encompassed much of S. Am. with a large amount of coastline, too. It ran fairly well due to the relatively few number of naval and aerial units.

rsharp@advancedgamin · Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:20 pm

Dale got it correct. Performance is limited by a lot of math for detection. So unit and sensor counts are the biggest indicators for performance.

I've done some work on MP in 3.10 to make it more stable. What appears to be happening is that the server begins chewing on the simulation and doesn't respond to the clients in time. Then the clients believe they are disconnected and were not handling that situation correctly (crash). This could be more likely on slower connections but a slower connection wasn't necessarily required to make it happen.

Further work is planned to improve MP with larger scenarios and imperfect connections.

The LOS check is concerned with the visual range of a unit (binoculars, weather, and altitude) and if there is any land between the sensor and target.

Thanks,

FreekS · Post by **FreekS** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:01 pm

Ive played Carcrash a bunch of times, it has 4 smallish carrier groups, medium number of planes and neutrals and very little coasline. Size of map is aroun 500x500nm. It usually works but becomes very slow with planes/missiles in the air. I'd call it a medium sized scen made specifically with the (then) known MP performance characteristics in mind

Really MP works only well with small to medium sized scens.

Freek

What has been the largest MP scen run?

What has been the largest MP scen run?

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