Latency, called by names such as ping and latency, is a factor directly related to game performance. It is important in MMORPGs as well as games in which the winner is determined by instantaneous reactions such as FPS and MOBA. This is because, if skill casting, hitting, screen shaking, and damage production do not work organically, you cannot feel the hit.
Designer Jeong Seong-hoon of Nexon Games said, ‘Let’s sharpen the sense of play of real-time MMORPG!’ As a lecturer in the session, he shared how to create a sense of impact in environments with long latency such as LTE and Wi-Fi.
Since latency is inevitable in real-time multiplayer games, the quality of the game depends on how much the developer improves. In order to fill this gap in delay time, the next action is predicted and produced. However, since it is not possible to predict all information, only a part according to the passage of time is carried out and the result is derived according to the set rules.
 |
In the case of online games, the state of the network often changes due to external factors. If the delay time is prolonged due to external factors, the predicted value may be wrong. In this case, correction is made. Synchronization when the predicted state and the actual state received from the server are different.
It looks simple in a nutshell, but the process is not. Predictions must be accurate and stable, and to do so, they must inform more frequently, more states, and corrections must be natural. Often, users express that ‘the character moves while teleporting’ is a problem that occurs because the correction is not natural.
Designer Jeong Seong-hoon said, “Prediction and correction are complementary. Even if the prediction is wrong, if the correction is natural, the predictive model can be used aggressively. I hope this lecture will be helpful as anyone who makes online games experiences this situation.” He concluded the lecture.
 |
