Posted 27 November 2012 - 09:41 AM

We know that one area of the game that comes correctly under constant scrutiny is the netcode, after all what is an online game without solid stable netcode? So where do we currently stand with the games netcode and what improvements can we all look forward to in future builds.



Well we certainly haven’t been standing still, though to be fair we can understand how it may look that way from the outside looking in. After all we not long ago disabled Mech Knockdowns and currently lights are still very difficult to hit due to lag issues.



We know the decision to disable Mech collisions wasn’t the most popular; however, as was stated at the time we wanted to disable the feature until we could do it justice and it also helps to simplify the situations we deal with in the netcode while we take a back to basics approach starting from the ground up.



This is exactly what we are doing and have been doing for weeks now our network engineers have been going over the movement code and re-factoring it with everything they’ve learned so far working with CryEngines netcode and simplifying the system to make it more robust and less prone to bugs. This isn’t a fast process but as mentioned weeks ago we had meetings discussing the long term roadmap for Mech movement and weapon firing and we decided to take the time to get it right from the ground up.



The first phase of this as mentioned is the re-factor of the net movement code which is already a ways along and we’re looking forward to seeing the new improved version internally soon. From here our goal is to correctly handle basic rigid body collisions (knocking over trees/lampposts) and then when we are happy the core movement code is now solid re-visit weapon firing (again building upon the newly solidified core).



Finally we will re-introduce Mech collisions in a hopefully much improved state (for those who saw it in closed beta that means no teleporting snapping or knocked down Mechs and proper damages being dealt for all Mech types). We are aiming to release all this work in phases to the community as it progresses.



We know there is a great desire in the community to see the netcode improve and it isn’t easy for us to make the call to take more time getting it right but ultimately we feel it is the best course for the game and hope that the community can get behind our decision to do what is best long term for the game.

