68 replies to this topic

[Kablammo11]

Thank you, Andrew.

But, if I understand this right, this would mean that in a multiplayer game, the shot played by player A could only be transmitted for viewing to players B, C and D after it has come to a stop. That would mean a 6 to 7 seconds delay for all the others...? 

And for an 18 hole round that would sum up to 4 x 72 x6.5 seconds = half hour accumulated delay over one foursome round. So you would have to find a way to sort of broadcast a shot live to avoid that.

 

@Ian: Hello! I am Ed Winchester...  Oy, you ain't  seen me, right?  ...which was nice

[spikel]

I guess I'm confused now, I thought that meant that the server app would decide the outcome and send the results at the same time to everyone thus ensuring the same exact result.

[IanD]

Yes.. it does. Unsure how you became confused...?

 

If the shot played by the player is determined by the server app, then everyone will view the same details in real time. I think Kablammo believes we'd need to wait for the players ball to come to a stop before the others can view - but that isn't the case. The server app would generate the result almost instantly, and the resulting post shot would begin displaying to everyone at the same time. There may be a small pause for the player taking his shot, but I'm hopeful it isn't something that will cause a major problem with online play.

 

The fun comes with disconnections and how they resume play. If the server app received the info correctly then, resuming shouldn't be a problem for those disconnected.

[Kablammo11]

Yep - didn't put on my reading glasses for Andrew's last post and was too damn proud to enlarge the fonts in my browser... Server app, right... Sorry, spikel: Looks like I'm the one who's confused. 

[spikel]

Thanks guys my understanding was correct then. Sounds brilliant cause already the same shot shot will not have the same result

[Andrew]

yeah you guys worked it out.  Actually the server will not wait for the shot to be finished before it starts sending data to the clients.  As soon as the ball is in flight data will be sent.  We will then use interpolation on the client end to interpolate between data points received on the client meaning that slower internet speed computers will have more interpolation than faster ones but at the end of the day it should still all be seen at the same time.

 

This will allow us to introduce any random elements we want to. It also means that if users select things like random weather then all the players will see the same random weather...

[Ron Piskorik]

This will allow us to introduce any random elements we want to. It also means that if users select things like random weather then all the players will see the same random weather...

That sounds great for online games but what about online tournaments that are played at different times?

I wouldn't mind some randomness in online tournament conditions but I would not want complete random wind directions.  I would like the general wind direction and speed be the same for all players in the tournament.  In strong winds it is frustrating when one player has the wind at his back on the par 5's and long par 4's and another player can't even reach the fairway on his drive.

I also hope that you will have a method to prevent a player from quitting a tournament round and starting over.  I seem to remember you said something about this a long time ago but it would be nice to know that you are still thinking about it. 

[Kablammo11]

I also hope that you will have a method to prevent a player from quitting a tournament round and starting over.  I seem to remember you said something about this a long time ago but it would be nice to know that you are still thinking about it. 

 

I think the party line on that is that you may interrupt a tournament round and resume it later from where you left it off, but that it would be impossible to play 17.5 holes, then quit and restart from the beginning to go for a better score (as in TWO). Andrew was quite adamant that this would not happen under his watch.

One and done all the way!

[spikel]

That sounds great for online games but what about online tournaments that are played at different times?

I wouldn't mind some randomness in online tournament conditions but I would not want complete random wind directions.  I would like the general wind direction and speed be the same for all players in the tournament.  In strong winds it is frustrating when one player has the wind at his back on the par 5's and long par 4's and another player can't even reach the fairway on his drive.

I also hope that you will have a method to prevent a player from quitting a tournament round and starting over.  I seem to remember you said something about this a long time ago but it would be nice to know that you are still thinking about it. 

I've heard this argument so many times and I still don't understand it at all. In real life tournaments, golfers face different weather throughout the day. There is an element of luck to this but in general it usually balances out over four days. One par 5 a golfer may get lucky while another is into the wind, but on the next reachable par 4 it is possible the unlucky golfer will get a break. Now I don't think wind direction should be absolutely spastic as that isn't how wind in real life works at all.