NYMag, intelligencer; Chris Roberts on the Future of Gaming

FZD

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FZD
Essentially it is to live a completely virtual life in a science-fiction universe that has almost no boundaries.
Well, that's a nice goal to have I suppose, but the ramp of my starfarer only works under perfect conditions.
I can't land on a slightly uneven terrain, the ramp doesn't go all the way down and I might get stranded.
I can't land on terrain dotted with rocks, they will prevent the ramp from opening.
I can't open the door and the ramp separately.

I know that these things will likely see more work done in the future, but I can also see that there will be boundaries, though maybe not the kind you'd traditionally expect.
 

Devil Dog Hog

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they never mention what a big scam Star Citizen is

Fake News
Don't worry, Derek Smart will do that for you, and then also say how better his game is, and more detailed, and that he did it all himself, and no one does it as good as he. (Look mom, I drew a stick figure with crayons, they taste great!)
 

ColdDog

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Take away:
"The cool thing with Stadia is if everything’s in the cloud, there’s almost no time difference to talk between servers and clients and there really isn’t any difference between the two."
  1. This is a interesting development from AWS to Google. Am I reading this right?
 

maynard

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Take away:
"The cool thing with Stadia is if everything’s in the cloud, there’s almost no time difference to talk between servers and clients and there really isn’t any difference between the two."
  1. This is a interesting development from AWS to Google. Am I reading this right?
I'm pretty sure that using Lumberyard ties CIG closely to Amazon;s cloud

incorporating Stadia would be incredibly risky - an API change from either Amazon or Google could bork everything

I expect Amazon is hard at work on a Stadia competitor which CIG will use when it's ready for prime time

so don't expect thousands of players one one shard any time soon

that's so far out that the game will likely be out of Beta before then
 

FZD

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FZD
Take away:
"The cool thing with Stadia is if everything’s in the cloud, there’s almost no time difference to talk between servers and clients and there really isn’t any difference between the two."
  1. This is a interesting development from AWS to Google. Am I reading this right?
Well, that is assuming that EVERYTHING is in the cloud. The player included.
If the player is not in the cloud, well, then the player will have to have a client to talk to the client that's in the cloud talking to the server. From purely the servers perspective, this might mean that the players have less latency, but from the players perspective it could mean they got 10ms more latency than before, since there is one additional hop in between.
 

Vavrik

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Well, that is assuming that EVERYTHING is in the cloud. The player included.
If the player is not in the cloud, well, then the player will have to have a client to talk to the client that's in the cloud talking to the server. From purely the servers perspective, this might mean that the players have less latency, but from the players perspective it could mean they got 10ms more latency than before, since there is one additional hop in between.
There is a kind of equalizer built into this process. Players who aren't using a cloud based client are also impacted by the same latency. You can't escape it.

The benefit of using a cloud based client is not that it reduces the latency that you experience, but it reduces the amount of processing your device needs to do. that processing does not occur at the speed of light either, so there is a benefit to having a cloud based client, if you have a weak processor or a slower than normal network (which is a big problem around the world.)
 

FZD

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FZD
There is a kind of equalizer built into this process. Players who aren't using a cloud based client are also impacted by the same latency. You can't escape it.
What do you mean? Like, the server stops and waits until the last player sends ack? That'd be horrible D:

The benefit of using a cloud based client is not that it reduces the latency that you experience -- so there is a benefit to having a cloud based client, if you have -- slower than normal network (which is a big problem around the world.)
I'm confused, by "slower than normal network", do you mean bandwidthwise? But cloud based client would require more bandwidth. Considerably more. It's basically a stream of pictures rather than an update to entity locations and actions. And as I said, from the players perspective, the latency would increase also, unless in some very, very specific cases, like say you got the cloud server right next door and your internet cable is copper, but theirs is fibre, and for whatever reason you can't get fibre yourself. Or perhaps they got a private cable directly to the right destination, while your cable would go the scenic route. But realistically, cloud based client does not offer any benefit to your internet connection, it requires more bandwidth and adds some time to latency. What it does do, however, is enable the user to offload virtually all the processing to the server
 

Vavrik

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What do you mean? Like, the server stops and waits until the last player sends ack? That'd be horrible D:
I didn't say that, and no that's not what I mean.

I'm confused, by "slower than normal network", do you mean bandwidthwise? But cloud based client would require more bandwidth. Considerably more. It's basically a stream of pictures rather than an update to entity locations and actions. And as I said, from the players perspective, the latency would increase also, unless in some very, very specific cases, like say you got the cloud server right next door and your internet cable is copper, but theirs is fibre, and for whatever reason you can't get fibre yourself. Or perhaps they got a private cable directly to the right destination, while your cable would go the scenic route. But realistically, cloud based client does not offer any benefit to your internet connection, it requires more bandwidth and adds some time to latency. What it does do, however, is enable the user to offload virtually all the processing to the server
You seem to be reading more than what I wrote. All I'm saying is, if you don't have a PC capable of running SC, or you have network bandwidth issues, you can use a cloud based service as an equalizer of sorts. You'll be losing some frames per second and probably some resolution, which it's not ideal but you can then play SC with a network or computer system that cannot otherwise play the game.

You don't use something like this if your device can play SC. You use it if you cannot.
 

Radegast74

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Take away:
"The cool thing with Stadia is if everything’s in the cloud, there’s almost no time difference to talk between servers and clients and there really isn’t any difference between the two."
  1. This is a interesting development from AWS to Google. Am I reading this right?
I'm pretty sure that using Lumberyard ties CIG closely to Amazon;s cloud

incorporating Stadia would be incredibly risky - an API change from either Amazon or Google could bork everything

I expect Amazon is hard at work on a Stadia competitor which CIG will use when it's ready for prime time

so don't expect thousands of players one one shard any time soon

that's so far out that the game will likely be out of Beta before then
My take from the article and from using Stadia is that with Stadia, you don't have the game on your PC, it is on the Google Server, so in essence (overgeneralizing) your computer is just a "dumb terminal" for the game, displaying the streamed video. It would be similar to running Star Citizen on Shadow.tech (except, Shadow.tech has their own servers and isn't on AWS, so there is going to be some latency there that wouldn't be an issue with Stadia).

Because Star Citizen seems to need the individual players PC to do the client-side work, as well as the servers to do the server work, I don't foresee anything other than Lumberyard any time SoonTM.
 

FZD

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I didn't say that, and no that's not what I mean.


You seem to be reading more than what I wrote. All I'm saying is, if you don't have a PC capable of running SC, or you have network bandwidth issues, you can use a cloud based service as an equalizer of sorts. You'll be losing some frames per second and probably some resolution, which it's not ideal but you can then play SC with a network or computer system that cannot otherwise play the game.

You don't use something like this if your device can play SC. You use it if you cannot.
Ahh, I see now what you mean. Yes, this is absolutely how it works and why you'd use it.

I was just confused because the question was about the latency benefit mentioned in the article, and it seemed a bit like you were claiming there to be some sort of network benefit for those with 'slower than normal' internet connection whilst also saying it wouldn't decrease latency, which would then only leave bandwidth.

Perhaps you meant to say "but not if" instead of "or"?
so there is a benefit to having a cloud based client, if you have a weak processor or a slower than normal network
 

Vavrik

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Ahh, I see now what you mean. Yes, this is absolutely how it works and why you'd use it.

I was just confused because the question was about the latency benefit mentioned in the article, and it seemed a bit like you were claiming there to be some sort of network benefit for those with 'slower than normal' internet connection whilst also saying it wouldn't decrease latency, which would then only leave bandwidth.

Perhaps you meant to say "but not if" instead of "or"?
I meant OR as in the logical operation. Which ever combination makes the OR true, both conditions or one of the conditions.
So either a device that struggles to process SC data, OR a device with a struggling network, which also means both.
 

FZD

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I meant OR as in the logical operation. Which ever combination makes the OR true, both conditions or one of the conditions.
So either a device that struggles to process SC data, OR a device with a struggling network, which also means both.
That is how I initially interpreted it. However, there is no latency or bandwidth benefit to using a cloud based client. If you have a poor connection to the game server, adding another hop in the between and turning the feed into image stream only makes matters worse.
 

Tealwraith

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Is it possible that CR wants to make worlds where laser guns don't work, but you can learn and cast spells like Everquest? Fly to a space station in orbit and have to get a wizard to teleport you down to the surface? LOL, sorry, I was thinking Ready Player One.
 
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Moolah

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"Essentially it is to live a completely virtual life in a science-fiction universe that has almost no boundaries. It’s an open sandbox that allows you to be whatever you want to be. If you want to be law-abiding, you want to be a pirate, you want to be a farmer, you want to be a trader, you want to be a miner — it’s almost like a second life that’s in a science-fiction universe realized at a fidelity that hasn’t been previously possible. "


I love this ideal but what about becoming a bar owner and selling beer? or opening a pawn shop? or any other types of store?

I understand the need to control the economy but I would think they could still find a way for me to get rich as a barkeep!
 

Vavrik

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"Essentially it is to live a completely virtual life in a science-fiction universe that has almost no boundaries. It’s an open sandbox that allows you to be whatever you want to be. If you want to be law-abiding, you want to be a pirate, you want to be a farmer, you want to be a trader, you want to be a miner — it’s almost like a second life that’s in a science-fiction universe realized at a fidelity that hasn’t been previously possible. "


I love this ideal but what about becoming a bar owner and selling beer? or opening a pawn shop? or any other types of store?

I understand the need to control the economy but I would think they could still find a way for me to get rich as a barkeep!
I like that attitude!
 
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FZD

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I love this ideal but what about becoming a bar owner and selling beer? or opening a pawn shop? or any other types of store?

I understand the need to control the economy but I would think they could still find a way for me to get rich as a barkeep!
I think becoming a bar owner wouldn't even be that far fetched. You can own your own stations etc. Probably have some choices what to do with them.
 
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