rec.autos.simulators

> I live in Australia, and use an analogue 56k USR serial modem, which i
> have capped at 26400 baud and so far, i have had dozens of warp-free
> connections into USA based hosts with N3.
> I have also had a few warpy ones, but the warpy ones i have been in,
> were warpy for everyone else as well, even those with cable, not just
> me.

> I have my modem capped at 26400 baud and have taken the time to setup
> my on-line DUN for as good & error free as possible connections, and so
> far, nearly all my on-line experiences with N3 have been as good as N3
> on-line can get..
> Normally my pings to the USA based hosts are in the region of 260 to
> 400 ms  and providing the host has taken steps to tune his own
> connection, then that level of latency has been perfect for me from
> Australia to the USA, in N3 on-line racing...

> Up untill tonight, i had not even bothered to try hosting any events,
> but i gave it a try tonight, with my modem still capped at 26400 baud.
> I set up a race at Michigan and also limited the ammount of people who
> could join to four..

> ( i did not set a client latency cap, nor will i ever do so )

> Three other USA based drivers joined my race at Michigan and the
> connections were as good as a lan, i kid you not.. !!!
> There was NO warping at all, from any of the three clients who joined
> my race, and they all said i was just as solid as they were.
> One of the drivers was following me with only inches to spare between
> us, at speeds over 200 mph and not once were we ever in danger of
> touching, through latency issues...
> This was all done through my analogue modem at 26400 baud, with me
> based in Australia and the three other clients based in the USA.
> The only thing i will add here, is that the clients who joined my race,
> all know about on-line issues and how to fine tune their connections
> etc. for on-line play.
> Also, it is obvious that clients in N3, do not require more than 8800
> baud of bandwidth each, or it would have been impossible for the three
> clients who did join my race to do so, seen as how i had my modem
> capped at 26400 baud..

> So, to cap this off, i now know, that a ping of up to 350 ms, from an
> analogue modem can/will be perfect for N3 on-line, if steps have been
> taken by the modem user to fine tune his/her DUN etc..
> I have noticed very slight warping, once my ping gets closer to 400ms,
> but it is very slight and hardly noticeable to the other clients that i
> have questioned in regards to my connection quality at the time..

> So, maybe, just maybe, any N3 hosts reading this post,  might try
> upping their latency caps a bit to a more reasonable level, like 400ms
> maximum, if they really feel they need to kid themselves that latency
> capping will cure their on-line woes anyway..
> I have proved to myself, and others, that latency capping N3 below 350
> ms, or restricting clients to cable only etc.. will not cure warping,
> but education on connection issues will.

> N3 has got the potential to be a good on-line sim, on an international
> scale, so why do hosts insist on setting ridiculously low capping
> limits on their races, that do nothing, apart from keep out
> international sim racers who would like to be able to enjoy N3
> on-line...  ?
> The answer is simply ignorance of connection issues.!!!!
> I am not being peevish etc.  i am simply trying to get the message
> across, that a latency of 300 to 350 ms etc.  will work perfectly, in
> N3 on-line, as my testing over the last 3 weeks has proven to me.

> Obviously, we can't control the routers to or from the host and client,
> so there will be times when we should disconnect ourselves and try
> again, but at least, i know now, that N3 on-line can work, and work as
> good for a medium ping modem client as it does for a low ping cable
> client.

> This can only be good news to us all, and thanks have to go out to
> Papyrus for making on-line racing over an unstable medium, like the
> internet, possible to us, firstly with GPL and now with N3.
> The future is looking bright.  :)
> Cya on-line..
> Cheers,
> Ron

>Latency is the amount that the different systems (in a race) are out of
>"perfect time sync", yes?  If so, 350 ms equals about 77 feet (~25 meters),
>at a simulated car speed of 150 mph.  77 feet is about 4 car lengths.

>Surely this makes it difficult to have "nose to tail" racing as was
>mentioned in an earlier post??  What am I missing??

>I live in Australia, and use an analogue 56k USR serial modem, which i
>have capped at 26400 baud and so far, i have had dozens of warp-free
>connections into USA based hosts with N3.
>I have also had a few warpy ones, but the warpy ones i have been in,
>were warpy for everyone else as well, even those with cable, not just
>me.

>I have my modem capped at 26400 baud and have taken the time to setup
>my on-line DUN for as good & error free as possible connections, and so
>far, nearly all my on-line experiences with N3 have been as good as N3
>on-line can get..
>Normally my pings to the USA based hosts are in the region of 260 to
>400 ms  and providing the host has taken steps to tune his own
>connection, then that level of latency has been perfect for me from
>Australia to the USA, in N3 on-line racing...

>Up untill tonight, i had not even bothered to try hosting any events,
>but i gave it a try tonight, with my modem still capped at 26400 baud.
>I set up a race at Michigan and also limited the ammount of people who
>could join to four..

>( i did not set a client latency cap, nor will i ever do so )

>Three other USA based drivers joined my race at Michigan and the
>connections were as good as a lan, i kid you not.. !!!
>There was NO warping at all, from any of the three clients who joined
>my race, and they all said i was just as solid as they were.
>One of the drivers was following me with only inches to spare between
>us, at speeds over 200 mph and not once were we ever in danger of
>touching, through latency issues...
>This was all done through my analogue modem at 26400 baud, with me
>based in Australia and the three other clients based in the USA.
>The only thing i will add here, is that the clients who joined my race,
>all know about on-line issues and how to fine tune their connections
>etc. for on-line play.
>Also, it is obvious that clients in N3, do not require more than 8800
>baud of bandwidth each, or it would have been impossible for the three
>clients who did join my race to do so, seen as how i had my modem
>capped at 26400 baud..

>So, to cap this off, i now know, that a ping of up to 350 ms, from an
>analogue modem can/will be perfect for N3 on-line, if steps have been
>taken by the modem user to fine tune his/her DUN etc..
>I have noticed very slight warping, once my ping gets closer to 400ms,
>but it is very slight and hardly noticeable to the other clients that i
>have questioned in regards to my connection quality at the time..

>So, maybe, just maybe, any N3 hosts reading this post,  might try
>upping their latency caps a bit to a more reasonable level, like 400ms
>maximum, if they really feel they need to kid themselves that latency
>capping will cure their on-line woes anyway..
>I have proved to myself, and others, that latency capping N3 below 350
>ms, or restricting clients to cable only etc.. will not cure warping,
>but education on connection issues will.

>N3 has got the potential to be a good on-line sim, on an international
>scale, so why do hosts insist on setting ridiculously low capping
>limits on their races, that do nothing, apart from keep out
>international sim racers who would like to be able to enjoy N3
>on-line...  ?
>The answer is simply ignorance of connection issues.!!!!
>I am not being peevish etc.  i am simply trying to get the message
>across, that a latency of 300 to 350 ms etc.  will work perfectly, in
>N3 on-line, as my testing over the last 3 weeks has proven to me.

>Obviously, we can't control the routers to or from the host and client,
>so there will be times when we should disconnect ourselves and try
>again, but at least, i know now, that N3 on-line can work, and work as
>good for a medium ping modem client as it does for a low ping cable
>client.

>This can only be good news to us all, and thanks have to go out to
>Papyrus for making on-line racing over an unstable medium, like the
>internet, possible to us, firstly with GPL and now with N3.
>The future is looking bright.  :)
>Cya on-line..
>Cheers,
>Ron