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| Thread: Heroes 4 Multiplayer - modem users need not apply. |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Constrictor
Tavern Dweller
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posted September 16, 2002 05:08 AM |
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Heroes 4 Multiplayer - modem users need not apply.
Just tried out some Heroes 4 multiplayer over a 56k modem with a friend of mine who has a cable modem. I checked my data transfer stats during the game and found that over the course of a single turn on a medium map (37K data size map) I would send about 300K of data over the line - that's about equal to sending the entire map 8 times! For me, that means about a minute and a half of downtime per turn wasted. I shouldn't even have to say it, but this is completely unacceptable.
Was the entire Heroes III programming team scrapped or something? Didn't they learn a single thing from the problems with Heroes 3 version 1.0 multiplayer? Any professional programmer with even minimal experience with networked games knows you DO NOT have to send the entire map back and forth, you only have to send tiny little packets which say what has CHANGED. Multiplayer real-time strategy games wouldn't even exist if it weren't for that fact.
I find it utterly insulting and outrageous that it would take them 6 months to release this pile of trash of a patch on the Heroes community. I've purchased almost every game in the Heroes series, starting with one and including the horrible Chronicles series, and this is the biggest slap in the face I've ever experienced.
If anyone from 3d0 or NWC reads this message, please, PLEASE fix this problem. I can not purchase another product produced by them until this is resolved.
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vesuvius
Hero of Order
Honor Above all Else
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posted September 16, 2002 05:16 AM |
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I wish
that the programmers etc.. would read these posts, but fan support by 3d0 is almost nonexistent. We've known that since ToH started. Only way it could change is if the franchise was bought by another, more friendly corporation.
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jb239
Famous Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 05:32 AM |
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I agree....
We can only hope 3do makes a 2.1 patch sometime.
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I will not lose.
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Constrictor
Tavern Dweller
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posted September 16, 2002 05:51 AM |
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Thanks
Thanks for your support guys. I posted a copy of this message at the 3d0 boards in the hopes that maybe someone with a clue will read it. I AM getting cable modem in about one week (thanks to our cable company upgrading to 2 way digital cable lines recently), so I will be participating in the ToH regardless, but I will not purchase the expansion pack until they fix this issue.
Fingers crossed,
-Chris
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salpinx
Hired Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 06:41 AM |
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one slow connection is all it takes to bring all the players to their knees. i'm playing on a T1 and can really tell the difference between broadband and modem users. the game is already at a slow pace, the transfer issue makes playing with modem connections not an option.
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rychenroller
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 07:44 AM |
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Yes I agree with this post. For one, I'm not going out to spend the amount of money required to set up a cable connection just to play this game (which midnight did hehe) The transfer times are getting worse and worse, and with a 56k connection, looping all the way out to Australia, it is just a total waste of time. Need to try things out with a local player, where the latency is good and at least one of us has cable. Unfortunately there are no randoms to throw ourselves into 
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Myctteakyshd
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vesuvius
Hero of Order
Honor Above all Else
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posted September 16, 2002 08:08 AM |
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reminder
I hosted a game (having cable modem) with a person in New Zealand on a 56k. Our transfer times were very fast approx 5 seconds.
So Im saying circumstance can allow 56k users to play it.
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rychenroller
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 09:21 AM |
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Jb also hosted a game with me Ves, he has at least a cable connection, but toward the end of about the first week of play, transfers were agonizingly long. Maybe it does have a little more to do with the pc speed as well, although I'm not sure what Jb is running these days.
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Myctteakyshd
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Destro23
Promising
Famous Hero
Keeper of GrongGrong
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posted September 16, 2002 02:15 PM |
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Well Rych ,
you can always come try with me too.. I got super fat 100mbit connect now and comp is upgrade almost to maximum capacity hehe..
So i'd say if my transfers are bad then means some serious bad news for 56K in australia.. But as I recall that isp of yours is trash anyway  Theres no other isp's around? sometimes thats all you might need.. The amount of connections they run off each hub ect.. can have a detremental effect on lag time..
But I really could care less about a long transfer for a good game.. so if you can bare it so can I.
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The Dead Walk!!!
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jb239
Famous Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 02:54 PM |
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Here is an example of how transfers are
I tested with Pandora after testing with Rych.
I run an AMD with 1.3 ghz and 256 mb of ram and cable and pandora runs about a 1.8 ghz and more ram with DSL. we tested 2 maps, and first map, which is a lil bigger took about 30-40 seconds for transfer and other which was a lil smaller took about 25-35 seconds.
what is up with that? transfers there should be instant! not to mention I had 0 things open, i played the game right after rebooting.
I like H4, but the extra time for transfers is making it so I cant play and finish a game. and it even makes me wanna refuse games with people who got over 200 ms ping to me
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I will not lose.
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mklthrkngl
Known Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 06:39 PM |
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hmmmm
I played my first multi last night against salpinx. i didn't notice any trouble with the data transfer. I'm sure though thta s time goes by i will play games that will have a bad transfer rate and will experience many drops. As well i will play many that have a nice solid, fast connection like my game last night. This sounds a lot like when i payed homm3. In fact this sounds a lot like everygame i've played online. I've even had slow/dropped connections playing online cribbage. It's not just 3do games, it's online games in general. Unfortunatley, even though many peeps have a highspeed connection, much of the internet still is not moving highspeed. How many times have you been in a homm 3 game where the connection started out crap but after a drop or 2 became ok? The data route after the drop changed and was faster is all. Sometimes you r sig. will be routed thru a 28.8 line and boom! a slow data transfer.
Now don't get me wrong, there is always a way to package the transfer better to obtain better speeds, but i'm just saying that it's not all the fault of the company.
Also, because the transfers for homm3 involve much more data then homm 3 ever did, 56k users will prob. never experience the same transfer speeds they were able to get with homm3. There again, it's not just homm4 game limiting 56k users. How many 56k users have a good online experience with dungeon siege or any of the host of graphic intensive online games? I for one will not even start a game like diablo or d.siege with a 56k user. Remember mech warrior 3? they had to start separating peeps by there connections. They had open servers so there was no lag for fast players while slow connections would just stop for a few seconds while it tried to catch up. You'd usually find some sort of ordinance up yer @ss when you started back up again!!
ps. I work with dial up internet everyday, basicly it's dinosaur technology. Most modems in use today are stil using the same chipsets produced 6-7 years ago. The industry really hasn't progressed because they figured the modem connections would have been phased out by the better highspeed technology by now. Of couse it hasn't and we are left with this hodge podge of fast/slow connectivity.
pps. My 2 cents
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OK!! So i cann't spell well! So shoot me!!
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ironmlh
Known Hero
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posted September 16, 2002 09:14 PM |
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Transfer speeds
I have played 3 online games of H4. All involved had cable connections. 1 of the players where here in the US with me and one was in Israel, the Other....Europe somewhere.
All transfer times where negligible, i did not even notice any slow down at all.
One of my games vs the guy in europe lasted 6+ hrs and no affect on transfer times.
Clearly others have not had such good luck, but i dont think that H4 is too blame for that.
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ironmlh
Known Hero
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posted September 19, 2002 09:40 PM |
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Cable to Dialup
Well i am moving tomorrow. CUrrently i have cable and like i said, have had no noticable delays at all during the transfers.
My new place has only a dial-up connection, i will let everyone know how this transition affects the transfer speed between turns....
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"Knowledge has discarded all biblical teachings"
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blade
Hired Hero
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posted September 21, 2002 02:21 AM |
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terrible
LichKing and myself tried to play our first H4 game a couple of nights ago.We both have 56k modems,and I run it on a pentium 3 550mhz.I think LichKing has about the same specs as me.Transfer rates were terrible from the very start.It took about 2-3 minutes each and every time.After about a week of gametime,we couldn't stand it anymore and gave up.I don't have the option to upgrade my connection yet,don't know about Lichking.
I quit playing H3 a while ago,and was really looking forward to playing some h4 multi.I think it could be really great.
I sure hope things can be fixed so that I'm able to play it without having to wait 3 minutes for my turn.In the meantime,does anyone have any ideas on how I could speed things up myself?
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vesuvius
Hero of Order
Honor Above all Else
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posted September 21, 2002 03:21 AM |
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since some of my opponents take 15 minutes per turn
2-3 minutes wait wouldnt be so bad lol
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blade
Hired Hero
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posted September 21, 2002 05:36 PM |
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15 minutes.......how do you find time to play?:-)
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ironmlh
Known Hero
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posted September 23, 2002 02:49 AM |
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Dial up need not apply
Well.... having just downgraded to a dial up connection due to a recent move, i find that H4 it completely, totally, without a doubt unplayable with a 56 k connect.
ANd.its not for a lack of trying.
Have played probably 12 hrs or more the last 2 days....and transfer times are between 4-8 minutes after my turn is done and after my opponents turn is done...that is 8-16 extra minutes per turn. FOr one week of play time that is 56-112 extra minutes..
Ask yourself...does that sound playable?
I have played against fellow 56k users..and the time was 50% more....the above stats were based on playing a cable host and a DSL host.
It is very hard to figure out how a map that is 50k in size, can equate to that long of a transfer. I hope 3DO will do something about this soon..
Until then...I guess i wont be playing H4 at all...
And too think i waited 6 months to play it, finally get to play it, love it. Now i move one week later and cant play it!!!! I'm pissed.
Yes i have tried to get DSL or Cable here..but it is not available, i was thinking of running a phone line 5 miles to a friends house, tapping into their line..see if that works...lol
Later
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"Knowledge has discarded all biblical teachings"
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jb239
Famous Hero
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posted September 23, 2002 03:31 AM |
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yup..i think the transfer problem is keepin h4 back
For Heroes 4 to blowup as Ves predicted, 3do needs to fix these transfers, or we will see less playing h4 than those playing h3, since many cant get faster connections.
The transfer rates even effect us cable/dsl users, since it becomes harder to find a game, unless we also wanna wait several minutes between turns.
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I will not lose.
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blade
Hired Hero
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posted September 23, 2002 11:09 PM |
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Quote:
For Heroes 4 to blowup as Ves predicted, 3do needs to fix these transfers, or we will see less playing h4 than those playing h3, since many cant get faster connections.
The transfer rates even effect us cable/dsl users, since it becomes harder to find a game, unless we also wanna wait several minutes between turns.
Have to agree on that score,it's damn nigh impossible for Heroes 4 to get the kind of activity Heroes 3 did before the transfer rates are fixed.
One of two things have to happen.
1.A patch(And I don't see 3do doing that anytime soon,if ever..please,correct me if I'm wrong)
2.We all get cable modems or dsl (Wich I haven't got availible to me)
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CraigHack
Known Hero
Have fantasies, will travel...
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posted September 24, 2002 01:07 AM |
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Well I cant explain it but I have played 3 games now over a 56k connection and it is a little slow.... but playable.
One game was with Poelzi in Austria, ping was 557 when we started but we finished the game with no problem. Certainly NOT anything like the transfer time with Heroes 3 version 1.0.
Make sure you play a map with NO COMPUTER GUYS just neutral towns if you have a high ping.
And dont play 6 person games until it's patched
I did fail to finish a game with Attila, we had a ping of about 1500 and tried it just for a test. Forget it!
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The Gods have brought us together... I can't imagine why.
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