Lets go back in time to read the status of multiplayer in 1996..
racing from Papyrus in 1996. This press release was full of the wishes and hopes
of papyrus. The question is how far did they come in 6 years. What have they
accomplished. Maybe all the goals werent met, but NASCAR 2002 is still the best
online racing experience we have! Good Work Papyrus, Don Wilshe 2002..
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Papyrus Hawaii MP Status 6/9/1996 From Hawaii Producer Ed Martin
ED MARTINS HAWAII STATUS REPORT!!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read this note. I'll try to keep it as brief
as possible, and I'll try my best to stay away from the "I'd-like-to-thank-
the-Academy-everyone-involved-in-the-project-my-mother-God-and Elvis" stuff.
My reason for writing is to bring you all up-to-date on where we are with
"Hawaii", give you an idea of where we are going, talk to you about a few
important issues, and answer some questions...
First off, what's been going on since Hawaii opened on April 23rd? Well,
the big news, which we'd been dying to tell you all from the beginning, is
the truth about Hawaii...Hawaii is just the prototype for something much
larger. On May 17, we made public the announcement that NASCAR has
sanctioned us as their 13th & newest division - the NASCAR Racing League
(NRL). I'll talk more about that below.
The purpose of making Hawaii public back in April was to bring in as many
people as possible, get their feedback, and work out any remaining technical
issues as we started to build the NASCAR Racing League. Well, it worked.
Did we get feedback! I spend a good part of my time these days up on
rec.autos.simulators pouring through comments and criticisms, and trying,
as much as I can, to get feedback back out to you. I said I'd try to stay
away from the "thank you's", but I really do want to thank you for all of
your input. Good, bad or indifferent, anything you've got to say about
Hawaii is just going to make the NRL better. PLEASE keep the comments coming!
As for the technical issues, quite frankly, we weren't sure how well the
service would perform under constant heavy stress. We had pushed it pretty
far during the closed beta testing, but that was nothing compared to the
thousands of new users spending literally millions of minutes online once we
went public. Overall, the system has worked well. Yes, we've had some
problems here & there - some we expected, some we didn't - but overall,
things have gone better than expected.
As you may have noticed, the number & frequency of client updates has slowed
down. Don't take that to mean that things aren't changing. In the
beginning, we had to make some changes to the client software to handle some
unexpected problems (when you go from about 300 closed beta testers to a few
thousand public prototype users, a few things are going to pop up!). Since
then, most of the changes have come on the server side.
Where are we going? Well, in the short term, you can expect to see more
solid connections, smoother transitions between servers (e.g. scheduler to
race & back), and real-time skill level updates after every race. For the
most part, all of this will happen on the server side...although you might
see another client update in the next few weeks.
How about the longer term? Two things sum it all up: NASCAR Racing 2, and
the NASCAR Racing League. Both are under development as we speak. NASCAR 2
will be available this fall. There is a ton of info online about NCR 2 -
including some concept screen shots - so I won't go into a lot of detail
here. However, a few of the big features include a spotter/crew chief audio
function to help you on the track, much improved frame rate (including
support for top 3D accelerator boards), real race weekend structure, all 16
tracks in 1 box, 8-player IPX network support, and an improved/streamlined
interface.
Of course, NASCAR Racing 2 will be the "engine" that drives the NASCAR Racing
League. Fully sanctioned by NASCAR, the NRL is unlike anything else that
exists today. Although based on a computer game (NASCAR Racing 2), and
online technology, the NASCAR Racing League is truly a sport. Fans will be
able to join NASCAR as a fully licensed & sanctioned member. In fact, you'll
fill out the same membership application that the racers in the other 12
divisions sign. In addition to the pickup races & user-created series that
you find now on Hawaii, the NRL will offer fully sanctioned series which will
be officiated by NASCAR. Members will compete for championship points in a
number of series in hopes of becoming the 1997 NRL champion.
Because the NRL exists in the virtual world, we have the flexibility to be in
multiple places at the same time - or, at the same place, multiple times.
Put differently, in the Winston Cup division, they can only run 1 race at a
time at Bristol. In the NRL, we can run hundreds there at the same time.
And we plan on taking advantage of that. NRL series will have multiple
iterations broken up, for example, by skill level groups and/or time. The
goal is maximum flexibility for the users, open availability for anyone
interested in participating, and a level playing field for all. Whether you
are a rookie new to the sport, or an old-pro that's been racing for years,
there will be a place for you in the NASCAR Racing League - and there will
be plenty of competition for you with people at your level.
There's way too much to tell you about the NRL to cover in this note. In
future notes, and of course, online in rec.autos.simulators, I'll go into a
lot more detail. Trust me, it's going to be awesome!
I do want to cover a couple of important/serious issues in this note:
reckless driving and bad language. Bottom line, there is no place for
either of these on Hawaii.
A blessing & a curse of driving in the virtual world is that nobody can get
killed. It's a blessing for the obvious reasons. It's a curse, because
some people take advantage of it, and ruin the fun for everyone else. I
think there are 2 situations...
Situation 1: There are people who are honestly trying to learn, but end up
causing accidents by mistake. Face it, there isn't one person reading this
note who was an ace at the game the day they took NASCAR Racing out of the
box. It takes time.
Everyone has to start on Hawaii at the bottom of the pack. It's the only
fair way to do it. An unfortunate side effect of that is that we end up
with hundreds and then thousands of people all racing at skill level 0 - some
because they haven't had time to move up yet, others because that is their
correct skill ranking. It's an unavoidable problem at the start... but it
works its way out. [I'll give you a little secret. If you are a skill
level 0 & you want to move up, nominate the shortest race possible at your
favorite track, and finish 1 or 2 races. Presto!... you'll be a skill level
1. Don't try to win, just stay out of trouble & finish the race. Then,
when you nominate a race, set the minimum skill level to 1. Easy, huh?]
To those who deserve a skill level better than 0, but are getting upset at
the rookies causing accidents, please be patient. Everyone has to learn.
Everyone deserves a chance. And you know what? No matter how good you are,
there is probably somebody out there that is better than you are. Someday, it
might be you who finds yourself running in an upper-skill-level race against
people who think you don't drive so well. What goes around, comes around.
Situation 2: The second situation is the one that will not be tolerated -
people purposely driving recklessly. I don't care if you're doing it because
you think it's fun, or if you're doing it because it's your way of winning a
race. That type of driving is not acceptable, and it will not be tolerated.
If anyone sees someone driving like this, and you're sure it's being done
maliciously, please send a note to [email hidden], and we will handle
it. We monitor many races, but we can't watch them all. Please let us know
if you see anyone out there causing trouble.
The second issue I want to talk about is bad language. Over the past few
weeks, we have been getting an increasing number of complaints about vulgar
language. The most classic case was an un-named user who decided to
let-loose on a rookie driver who accidentally caused a wreck. As it turns
out, the person getting sworn at was an executive from NASCAR. Boy, did I
hear about that one the next day!
Bottom line...vulgar language will not be tolerated. Just last week, we went
through the chat logs. This week, we will be sending out warning messages to
people who have been "a little too vocal". If we see it again, these people
will be ejected from the system. Further, we will continue to monitor the
chat logs, and that will be our policy: 1 warning, then you're out. Period.
I hope I've made myself perfectly clear. Hawaii, and soon NRL is a family
atmosphere, and we will make sure that we do whatever we can to protect that.
We're not going to run around playing the "moral majority police", but
likewise, we're not going to let our service degenerate into gutter language.
OK, off of the soapbox... Let's open the floor up to questions...
Q: Long distance charges are killing me! When are we going to see local
access numbers.
A: The strategy for NRL is local access numbers. However, I don't think
you'll see them during the prototype. Here's why...
There are 2 factors in data communications: bandwidth & latency. Bandwidth
is an easy problem.. every data network can handle 28.8 these days, & we only
require 9.6 (at least with the prototype). Latency is the killer. Latency
is the delay in getting data from point A to point B & back again to point A.
For NRL to work, we need complete round trip latency of 250 milliseconds or
less (that's ¬ of a second). The data networks out there today can not
deliver that. Most networks will deliver peak latencies of 1-5 seconds...or
worse!
Before I go on, let me tell you why we need low latency like this. NRL is
the nightmare application for data networks. We have a large number of
competitors, moving at very high speeds, all very close together. "Bumper
to bumper, 200MPH down the back straight at Talladega"... sound familiar? Add
to this the fact that we are ALWAYS sending data. If you look at the send &
receive lights on your modem when you're on Hawaii, they never go out while
you're racing.
Let's take the "large number/fast moving/close together" part first. Because
the racers are almost literally on top of each other, it's vital that all
racers have exact info on where the other people are at all times. To prove
my point, I'll use my favorite analogy... Hop in your car, go out on the
expressway, speed up to 200 MPH, get bumper to bumper with 31 other cars.
Now, close your eyes for 5 seconds... You're dead! Game over!
Online racing is really no different. If you don't have data about the other
cars all the time, it's the virtual equivalent of closing your eyes.
Now the "sending data all the time" part. Data networks are set up to take
large chunks of data, and deliver them from point A to point B. These large
chunks of data get broken into smaller chunks (packets). The packets are
spewed down the line, and many times, all end up taking different routes
until they arrive at point B where they are re-assembled. What I'm trying to
demonstrate is that the data is not sent in a consistent stream.
Let's contrast this to the telephone. If you & I were on the phone, we would
have a direct circuit between the 2 of us. While we were speaking, we would
hear each other virtually instantaneously. However, if we were to try to
talk over a data network, there would be a delay in hearing each other
(latency). Why? Since we don't have a direct circuit, the data going
between us is going to go through a large number of switches & lines. In &
of itself, that is going to add latency. Further, along the way, chances are
that some of the data (packets) might get held up due to other traffic on the
line. That type of delay is OK if you're looking up a stock quote, or
waiting for Sim Racing News to refresh a page, but it just doesn't work with
racing.
Fear not...the news is not all bad. There are ways to do it, and there are
companies putting it together. If you want to do low latency over your data
network, you need to do 2 main things: 1) utilize the latest & greatest in
data network technology (typically ATM) & install super-fast switches
throughout the network; 2) do not over-subscribe the network.
The second part of that is the biggest problem. EVERYONE oversubscribes
their network. If you have the bandwidth for "x" sustained 28.8 connections,
it is in your best financial interest to put "x" times some large number of
connections on that line. For the most part, this is fine because: 1) almost
nobody utilizes 100% of their connection all the time; and 2) most people &
applications could care less is there's a slight delay. The bottom line is
that even if it takes a little longer to get the data there, it does get
there in the end. [Unfortunately, in the case of NRL, 1) we DO use 100% of
the bandwidth all of the time; and 2) we DO care if there's a slight delay.]
What does over-subscription do? Analogy time again... Remember the old days
of "party lines" on the phone system? In case you don't, it worked like
this... There was 1 line that 2 (or more) homes used. When the phone rang,
it rang differently at each house (1 ring at my house, 2 rings at yours)
depending on who the call was for so you knew who (which house) was supposed
to answer. In case I'm letting my age show too much, this is the same thing
as the "new" system today where you can have 2 numbers on 1 line at your
house - 1 for you, one for your kids. Depending on which number is called,
the phone rings differently, so little Katie doesn't pick up dad's call, and
dad doesn't have to talk to little Katie's little friends. (Isn't it funny
how old technology can be re-packaged as new technology, huh?).
Anyway...that all works fine until both dad & little Katie (or house 1 &
house 2 in the party line analogy) want to use the phone at the same time.
Whoever gets there first (party 1), gets the line, and party 2 has to wait
until the line is free (of course, if party 2 happens to be dad, the concept
of priority arises, but let's not go there just yet...)
That's over-subscription. Many times, the single line (i.e. limited
bandwidth) will work just fine. However, when the time comes that there are
multiple parties wanting to use that limited resource simultaneously, one
(or more) of the parties is going to be delayed (i.e. latency) waiting for
the first party to finish up with the resource.
Companies like MPath & Total Entertainment Network have allied themselves
with large internet service providers (PSINet & Concentric Network
respectively), to deliver "low latency games over the internet". Both
companies are using super-fast network technology & they are guaranteeing
a portion of their networks which they will not over-subscribe. Both are
currently in beta & it looks promising.
And then there's the Imagination Network. Sierra On-Line, who now owns
Papyrus, used to own INN. Given that relationship, there have been a number
of doors opened to us, and we continue to talk to INN about some exciting
ways to deliver NRL.
So, back to the original question...when will we see local access number for
Hawaii/NRL? In order for that to happen, we need to wait for a low latency
network to be commercially available. That should be sometime this year.
Then, we have to adapt our technology to work on that network. You see, the
networks that are trying to do low latency are pretty much all internet
service providers (ISP's). The internet talks TCP/IP. Hawaii does not.
Now that might seem like a minor issue, but it's not. Right now, we are in
the midst of figuring out exactly how long it is going to take us to build
a TCP/IP NASCAR Racing League. I'll get into that topic in a future note.
For now, the answer is that we won't see local access numbers until NRL comes
out, and we probably won't see NRL until sometime in 1997.
Q: "But, Ed...I hear all these claims from people at MCI, Sprint, etc. that
they can deliver low latency right now. What's up with that?"
A: Well, 1) just about any data network CAN deliver low latency, but once
you load them up, they DON'T (see discussion of over-subscription above);
and 2) the 250 ms number for NRL is for the absolute worst case. Most
companies, when they quote a latency number will mention the average or the
best case. When you look under the covers, there is not a nationally &
commercially available network that get deliver consistent low latency today.
Believe me, we looked (and looked, and looked, and looked...)
Q: How about IndyCar Racing II on Hawaii?
A: As part of our deal with NASCAR to become the 13th sanctioned division,
we all agreed that it was necessary to concentrate on NRL, so we do not plan
to bring ICR 2 to Hawaii anytime soon. Believe me, there's more than enough
effort to just bring NRL/NASCAR 2 online!
Way back, when we first showed & talked about Hawaii, we were thinking that
we would bring ICR/ICR 2 online, along with other Papyrus games. We were
even toying with the idea of jumping into the low latency online games
service business (e.g. Total Entertainment Network, MPath, etc.). Time &
experience brought us to the point where we realized 2 things:
1) We are in the content business, not the network service business. Let's
leave low latency data networks to someone else. Frankly, we don't see a
ton of long-term promise in that area. Let's let the other guys fight it
out... it's going to become a commodity. Let's concentrate on killer content
(games) and a great infrastructure around it (leagues, scheduling, etc.)
That's where our expertise lies.
2) It is a lot more work than anyone every expected to A) make the game work
& make it fun; B) build the infrastructure around it; and C) test & perfect
the whole thing.
Once we started talking to NASCAR about the NASCAR Racing League, it became
pretty clear that we needed to focus 100% on NRL. NRL is a HUGE project.
Does this mean you'll never see IndyCar Racing online, or any other Papyrus
games online? Absolutely not. It's just that we need to do them one at a
time.
Q: I have no trouble connecting to other online services, but Hawaii is
sometimes difficult. I get dropped from time to time, or I see "Shaky
connection" messages. What's the story?
A: In order to make Hawaii operate & get the lowest possible latencies, we
turn off error correction & data compression on the modems. To the best of
my knowledge, no other online service does this.
Turning off data compression has very little impact on the quality of the
connection, but turning off error correction does. As modems get faster &
faster (remember the "old days" of 300 BPS modems... just a couple years ago?),
it takes more & more technology to keep a connection working. Over the past
3 years, the quality of the telephone connections has only gotten marginally
better, but the speed of modems has jumped almost 100 times. Error
correction has a lot to do with the ability to keep a 28.8 connection alive.
With error correction turned off, the connection is VERY sensitive to "noise"
on the phone line. If the noise becomes too great, the modem becomes
"confused" and the connection can be dropped. This is why we typically
suggest dropping the connection speed down to 9600 when people are having
trouble connecting. [BTW, connecting at greater than 9600 BPS gives you no
advantage in terms of racing.]
So, we end up hearing "my phone company tells me my line isn't noisy, and
oh, by the way, my phone line & modem work with every other online service...
so it MUST be on your end, Ed". Unfortunately, that is typically not the
case. If this is happening to you, try 9600 BPS. If that doesn't work,
you can be 99.999% sure that the problem is with a noisy phone line on your
end. We go to great extremes on this end to ensure solid/quiet phone lines.
We monitor them constantly, and they are probably the quietest lines in the
greater Boston area!
Q: Is this note ever going to end, Ed?
A: Yes. But before I go, PLEASE keep the comments coming. Like I said,
that's what is going to make NRL a success. Although we can't support it
as an official forum, I spend a lot of time on rec.autos.simulators reading
& replying. [BTW, if anyone really wants to pursue setting up a separate
newsgroup for NRL, it might be a good idea... "rec.autos.simulators.nrl"?]
See you online!
Ed Martin
Producer, Series Director
NASCAR Racing League
Papyrus / Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Ed Martin at [email hidden]
--
Donald Wilshe
888 588-9207
Martel Brothers Performance, Worlds Largest On-Line Auto Parts Mfg Catalog Library
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