Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] I'm sure that system info thing (caps lock isn't it?) shows a metre for bots and one for AI. -- Draco -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] Good idea about the system load, is there anyway to check it from the Source engine? But saying that, I added "simple" Ai like Mossman and it was able to hold a couple more NPC's before becoming laggy again. I was also thinking about the bot idea and how that would work, because the bots just act as clients controlled by the engine. But for some reason network usage ramps up pretty fast with them, which is weird because the CS:S bots are quite good at it but are more complex than the SDK bots. On 2/22/06, Jason Houston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > -- > [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] > If you add lots of the SDK bots to a server, especially an listen server > you > get a hell of a lot of CPU related lag as you strugle to process all of > them. This happens in other games too. If all else fails do what the > Brainbread team did, if no one is near, kill the npcs. If theres too many > in > the area, kill some npcs. Don't spawn anything unless the player can > interact with it. Set up triggers for when the players enter somewhere. > > Try and optimise the NPC's more if you need LOTS of them. Yet again, > brainbread is an example of this, the zombies are rather docile, rather > dumb > and doesn't do as much processing. You could also cut down on some extras > like animations, certain sounds and other tidbits. > > > -- > Draco > -- > > ___ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders > > -- - Benjamin Davison -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] If you add lots of the SDK bots to a server, especially an listen server you get a hell of a lot of CPU related lag as you strugle to process all of them. This happens in other games too. If all else fails do what the Brainbread team did, if no one is near, kill the npcs. If theres too many in the area, kill some npcs. Don't spawn anything unless the player can interact with it. Set up triggers for when the players enter somewhere. Try and optimise the NPC's more if you need LOTS of them. Yet again, brainbread is an example of this, the zombies are rather docile, rather dumb and doesn't do as much processing. You could also cut down on some extras like animations, certain sounds and other tidbits. -- Draco -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
On 2/22/06, Benjamin Davison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > -- > [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] > Kills the network, any suggestions on how to lower the bandwidth of NPC's > like the zombie? Are you sure the lag is network related? AI puts a heavy load on the server, a lot of NPC's on the map will mean the server is doing a hell of a lot more work and using a fair bit more memory than having a bunch of players on the server. First thing I'd check would be cpu and memory usage on the server. The next point to consider is how much information gets sent for each NPC across the network? How much of that do yo need to be sent from the server and can any of it be predicted on the client? i.e. is it really necessary for the NPC position to be updated every frame? Maybe it can be predicted on the client and the server information can be sent less often. Where can you get away with small differences? Where can you get away with big differences? > Or should I roll my own AI(eek) Rolling your own AI won't change the network load unless you make it mostly client side. In any event you'd probably still be better off using the supplied AI and predicting some of it client side. Be aware that moving things client side is not a panacea for lag. My comp is running pretty close to maxed out on some mods, so while moving a whole lot of stuff client side may reduce network lag, it may also hammer the client in to submission :} Good luck! I think more mods should have AI in MP/Co-op, so let us know if you find a good solution :) -- Jeff Fearn "Postmodernism: Once more without feeling." -- Geoffrey Nunberg ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] well I have no programming experience with this sort of thing.. But I would assume that adding an npc to the game would be like adding a player to the world too. Since everyone needs to be aware of what the npc is doing at all times. So since the source engine and valve specifially state to not allow more then 32 players on a server or experience heavy net lag, I think you are slightly limited in the number of npcs you can have. But thats just a guess. to get around it you might have to make your own net code geared specifically for npc's, or, just have the npc's client side and then when player B kills NPC Z, Player A will not see it. Which if you are creating some sort of coop mod then thats probably not a very good thing. So my best suggestion is just make new net code for npcs. Something with a lot less overhead. -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
Re: [hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] You could try having the AI server side..or client side..whichever it isn't on already..lol On 2/21/06, Benjamin Davison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > -- > [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] > Kills the network, any suggestions on how to lower the bandwidth of NPC's > like the zombie? > > Or should I roll my own AI(eek) > > -- > - Benjamin Davison > -- > > ___ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, > please visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders > > -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
[hlcoders] Lots of NPC's on screen in a multiplayer.
-- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] Kills the network, any suggestions on how to lower the bandwidth of NPC's like the zombie? Or should I roll my own AI(eek) -- - Benjamin Davison -- ___ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
