Server based game augmentations. The transition to cloud. Really possible?

[Shifty Geezer]

In the case of Crackdown 3, it's an online game so no increased costs. Crackdown 3's importance is to show that complex worlds can be structured such that their data can be sync'd over the internet. The showcase was thousands of 3D objects being updated, but that was only ever demonstrated over a LAN AFAIK. Crackdown 3 working over the internet would be significant, but perhaps the reason for the delays is it just doesn't work the way they hoped?

 

[legendCNCD]

Cloud gaming has been working for a long time... https://www.wiztivi.com/wiztivi-gaming/
https://www.wiztivi.com/wiztivi-gaming/
Its still a different thing to render some parts I think, on the cloud.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's game streaming - a different application of the Cloud as discussed in this thread. Game streaming is far more likely to happen before Cloud augmented (locally played games with enhancements created in the cloud) games, because streaming is already a tech that's been running for years and has multiple parties invested in its development. The internet data is also a known quantity - input upstream and a predictable compressed video feed downstream. For cloud augmentations, the datasets needed for communicating the world states are more awkward and variable and more sensitive to internet glitches. eg. In online gaming, objects can jump about when they aren't in sync, whereas that doesn't happen in game streaming.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Like I said, BF V will sychronize a lot of the world physics and animation will be synchronized. I'm assuming all destruction physics will be server-side, as well as player rag doll. Not sure about foliage. They've said the movement of foliage will be sync'd so it'll be "fair" in terms of spotting player movement through grass etc. Everything needs to be mirrored between games so there isn't an unfair advantage in terms of positioning and visibility. They're moving away from the canned destruction physics to a more simulated model. If an explosion happens inside a house, the debris will fly out. If an explosion happens outside, the debris will fly in. Tanks rolling through houses will destroy the walls in the correct directions.

 

[Malo]

That's a shit load of object data to synchronize across many players. Will be amazing if it works well.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Should be gameplay revealed tomorrow.