A generic proxy system for networked computer games
NetGames '02 Proceedings of the 1st workshop on Network and system support for games
An efficient synchronization mechanism for mirrored game architectures
NetGames '02 Proceedings of the 1st workshop on Network and system support for games
Local-lag and timewarp: providing consistency for replicated continuous applications
IEEE Transactions on Multimedia
A distributed architecture for multiplayer interactive applications on the Internet
IEEE Network: The Magazine of Global Internetworking
Mammoth: a massively multiplayer game research framework
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games
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When developing distributed server games it is important to consider consistency of decisions made at different servers as well as the response time experienced by the players. This paper examines two approaches that are commonly used to improve the consistency of distributed servers: local lag and timewarp. Local lag can be used to remove inconsistencies, however it can significantly increase the response time experienced by players. Timewarp on the other hand allows inconsistencies to exist, for a short time, before rolling back time and correcting the decisions in the servers. This paper aims to produce a platform to experimentally evaluate the effect of each of these on players. To do this we have developed a distributed version of Quake III that includes both timewarp and rollbacks. In this paper we present the first set of results obtained with this test-bed. These results examine the performance, based upon the score in the game, of computer-controlled players, or "bots". We present results on how varying both local-lag, and network lag (with and without timewarp) effect "bot" performance. With the results it shows that the combinative use of local lag and timewarp could achieve a similar effect of half reducing the network lag. We plan to use the test-bed to test the effect on real players at a later stage.