Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: ping numbers are randomly chosen ?
  • Subject: ping numbers are randomly chosen ?
Subject: ping numbers are randomly chosen ?
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Can somebody explain to me why servers show up with for example a ping of 35,36 and then when i join , the average ping is 166 or more with only 1 or 2 people including myself having a the lowest ping of 66 while the total number of players is more then 10 and the average ping is 103(calculated myself)... I see this far to often. when i enter a server my own ping is sometimes 35 but most of the time it is 67 or 66. This is not one server but many servers. I checked all the servers but every time the average ping of all the players is nowhere near the number given in the halo multiplayer field. I could guess that it is my own ping to the server, but that makes no sense especially when the ping i have when i joined the game is higher then the one listed in the multiplayer selection screen before i enter a given server.

I find it very annoying thinking i have found a nice server to play with a low ping and still see evey body warp and here several complaints (including my own about lagg).

Can anybody explain this to me ?



[Edited on 3/29/2006]

  • 03.29.2006 10:49 AM PDT
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Could it be the average ping at the time? It does change, ya know.

  • 03.29.2006 10:57 AM PDT
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The number that comes up in the server list is your own ping, not the average of all the players.

And of course, your ping changes continuously. So yes, it is very normal that it changes from 35 to 66 over and over again.

  • 03.29.2006 10:57 AM PDT

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The ping number is a representation of how long in milliseconds it takes for signals to pass back and forth between your computer and the server your connecting to. The lower the number the better. Now these number will fluctuate depending on a bunch of variables: programs running on your machine, how many ppl are on the server, if you have cable how many people in your neighborhood are using the cable also, etc. If your ping stays under 150 you should be having a problem. If it is jumping higher, 300+, you may have a problem with your network, particularly if you have a wireless network in your house.

  • 03.29.2006 10:59 AM PDT
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Thank you for replying, all of you afcourse ...

Well, i have been monitoring my ping in the past and it is stable, so i see 35 before i enter the game but while being in the game ping goes up to a minimum of 66 to a maximum of 78) and stays constant for my favourite servers . My ping does not vary much at all.

Also i noticed that some "killers" there ping rises when they are attacked (and they win afcourse) from 66 to 203 for example and drops down again when they killed the person they where fighting with.

The person that attacked the "killer" ping is usually constant at 68. I have had this myself too. I shoot someone with a higher ping then me but they still shoot me after i killed them or i shoot them first but they kill me and 2 seconds later i see i killed them. Notice that new people are not joining the game at these moments . It does not make sense at all.
This is also happening when the server is filled with the maximum amount of players.

It is public knowledge that when people enter, the server can hickup and strange lagg effects can occur so i am not talking about those moments.
I know you cannot expect a perfect LAN enviroment but it is really annoying sometimes....

I had to blow of some steam...

  • 03.29.2006 11:16 AM PDT

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I had an interesting thing happen the other day.

I was experimenting with different video settings to see what would happen. I made a change, (I'm not going to say exactly what), I didn't see a big change in how the game looked or played and my ping was about 73ish. I was told that I was lagging the game and warping all over. I said, "but my ping is low", and was told that is not the only factor. They said video settings could cause it. I opened my setting and changed back to how I used to have it and got no more complaints.

I always thought that the video card just sent signals to the monitor and that the processor on the motherboard calculated position and direction and the server was the final arbiter of where you are on the map and that the only data that went over the net was your position and actions.

  • 03.29.2006 5:58 PM PDT

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If you notice someone warping and there ping jumping 100 or 200 points at a time it is a good bet they are "print screening". Pressing the print screen button will take a screen capture. The side effect is that it causes a lag spike because it is creating an image file on your machine. Pretty cheap tactic.

  • 03.29.2006 7:36 PM PDT
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Posted by: SimonJester753
I had an interesting thing happen the other day.

I was experimenting with different video settings to see what would happen. I made a change, (I'm not going to say exactly what), I didn't see a big change in how the game looked or played and my ping was about 73ish. I was told that I was lagging the game and warping all over. I said, "but my ping is low", and was told that is not the only factor. They said video settings could cause it. I opened my setting and changed back to how I used to have it and got no more complaints.

I always thought that the video card just sent signals to the monitor and that the processor on the motherboard calculated position and direction and the server was the final arbiter of where you are on the map and that the only data that went over the net was your position and actions.


a lower framerate causes the entire computer to lag a bit, so your computer wouldnt be sending its data quite as smoothly if your cpu was bogged down. even just dropping to 30 fps is enough to lag things. i recently turned off speculars and shadows, and things look just about the same, but frames are WAY higher, and i notice less lag.

  • 03.29.2006 11:15 PM PDT
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Also, when more that one person from different areas fight, I've noticed that ping rates will go up for possibly one or both people, and you get some extra lag.

  • 03.31.2006 3:49 PM PDT
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I am wandering about the quality of the halo netcode when i read this. I read somewhere that it is revolutionary because you cannot cheat with it but when the price you pay is that you can experience so much strange lagg effects... It takes the fun away when you shoot someone and nothing happens. i had this multiple times 1,2 or 3 rockets, no effect, the people you encounter do not get shot. same for sniper,grenades including plasma ones ,assault rifle,shotgun ,pistol, flamethrower, tank, ghost,fuelrod, hogs, turrets and banshee. I have seen it all happening with every weapon. It is just a game but it would be weird if i play a ball game outside and my ball just disappeared to re appear on the other side of the field. I am tired of people who just want better looking games with shadows blabla, I rater have a game that has excellent gameplay. Physics second audio third and graphics in the fourth place.
But afcourse it will never happen. eyecandy is more important then anything else with the games of today.

[Edited on 4/4/2006]

  • 04.04.2006 7:15 AM PDT

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The quality of the HALO netcodes blows. You can thank Gearbox for that. As far as being revolutionary, it was, now the hackers had to design different mods and hacks to exploit the mostly server side code. There work was revolutionary, they came up with wire-framing, blue-glassing?, and aimbots, one of which can compensate for the inherent lag. But there is probablyless cheating then in other games.

I think HALO's gameplay is great both in campaign and multiplayer. The eye-candy is a bonus if you have a system with good graphics.

[Edited on 4/4/2006]

  • 04.04.2006 8:45 AM PDT
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Pings fluctuate between battles. As mentioned, ping is the time it takes for signals to be sent and received from/to the host computer. As for the fluctuations during battles, think of it this way. It's easier to describe to someone a walking/strafing master chief than it is to describe two dynamically fighting, constantly strafing chiefs.

  • 04.04.2006 2:56 PM PDT
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It'll be calcuating it from the "ping <ip>" command, which gives the actual ping time, the latency time shown in game next to names is lower than ping time gotten from the command due to lag-compensation measures, so the average ping will be higher than the actual average ping.

  • 04.04.2006 4:36 PM PDT
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@me15ter

Afcourse it is easier but i always say : "do it good or do it not. Not halfway."
And the same goes for programming. you can make a quality program or a halfway crappy program.
A truly bad program is also crappy. Make your choice...

p.s. But then again making halfway programs is the best money making scenario.
You can draw and keep clients(customers) through service contracts. Service contracts would never be used much when software works flawlessly. So it is economically essential that upgrades (read patch grades) continue to exist. Also the need to upgrade would not be there
for most people as the software they bought does everything what they want.
Until that is not the case anymore they will not upgrade(spend money for something they do not need).

Too much hype, too much wannabe's in the world...


In short:" never make a car that last 50 years, except for a small number of people that have the money to buy a new model as they please... You are gonna loose a lot of customers !"



[Edited on 4/8/2006]

  • 04.08.2006 8:47 AM PDT
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It's not easier. It's simply how this (and all games, actually) run. I'm not saying that's how Halo does it, I'm saying that's how internet games (BF2, UT, etc) do it. Hence, you receive more lag when in battle, and less lag when alone.

  • 04.08.2006 10:24 AM PDT
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@Me15ter

Well, i did some comparisons and ut2004 runs smoother then halo.
I tried counter strike that comes with halflife 2 and it also plays a lot better then halo.
So i do not agree with you that lagg is a feature present in the same amount in all multiplayer
games. That there is some lagg i will never deny, but it is a lot less present when compared to halo.
Counter strike is more of a favourite to me personal then ut2004.
But it is true, halo laggs a lot more then other games, it reminds me of unreal tournament and even unreal tournament was never this worse this often..

I noticed something too, and it is a little too often (say every time). I noticed that when i get shot by someone and there is lagg at that moment. Then the next moment i respawn and encounter that person i always win. Even when that person has overshield. I actually shot someone with 3 bullets while they have overshield and full energy. . This is an example, i got many more. I have seen it with others too when i shot someone while i have full energy
and overshield, that person took me out with 1 bullet. And yes, it was a pistol (no sniperrifles in the level).
It is halo itself more then others. I made up my mind halo is out and staying out .

[Edited on 4/16/2006]

  • 04.16.2006 1:08 PM PDT
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@elmicker

:)

Are you sure that it was your belly button ?


  • 04.16.2006 1:17 PM PDT