A response to today’s update. Once again, the update may seem disappointing until you consider the hidden information. I’ll keep it brief.
What’s the difference between the old way to combo and the new way?
OLD WAY:
A, A ,A AA AAAAA AA AAAAA
NEW WAY:
A (hold)
The old way requires the system to process many inputs of the A button. The new way executes the same attack with less information. Why is this important? Online play of course.<!--more-->
When playing online, everything you input into the system has to be processed and sent around the net to be picked up by the other system. The fewer the inputs, the smoother the online play can be. Think about a game like Paper Rock Scissors. When the timer counts down to zero you have to input one of the three options. Right when you input your choice, that information is sent online. The data is collected, compared, and a winner is picked. No big deal, right? This system would work smoothly even with a THOUSDAND online players playing in a single game. As long as each system collects their player data when the timer counts down, the winners and losers can be calculated at the system’s leisure.
Compare to a simple game like Paper Rock Scissors, Smash has approximately one thousand times the amount of data to be communicated every second (I made up this figure to illustrate my point). In order to keep things smooth developers have a few options.
1) Slow down the game so that less happens per second. This reduces the amount and frequency of critical data transfer. Mario Kart DS features an online mode in 100cc instead of the maximum speed 150cc.
2) Adjust the code of the game so that the game can still function if data transfer is slow or some of the information is lost while traveling across the net. If a player has a particularly slow connection in Mario Kart DS, their kart will jump and teleport around the screen because he can’t communicate his position to the other systems. When some of the information is lost, the other systems can assume that the laggy player is driving straight along the path. In this way, hiccups in information transfer can still provide a fairly consistent online experience. This is the essence of “non-guaranteed checking.” When data from a player isn’t guaranteed to make it through the net, precautions are programmed in.
3) Adjust the speed of the game according to the slowest player. Jump Ultimate Stars for the Nintendo DS does this. Instead of having to deal with bumps, teleports, and skips while playing this handheld fighter, the game speed simply slows down to accommodate everyone. This would be like playing slow motion melee at its worse, and normal smash at best. I’ve played this mode a lot and I have to say it isn’t bad. When the game moves in slow motion, I think in slow motion with it. My strategies are the same; they just move slower. This is the essence of “guaranteed checking.” The game will not continue until all the data is received from everyone.
It’s true that holding A to combo is simpler making the game more accessible to different kinds of people, but it never hurts to consider if Net-coding is behind these decisions. Won’t somebody think of the Net-Coding!?
What’s the difference between the old way to combo and the new way?
OLD WAY:
A, A ,A AA AAAAA AA AAAAA
NEW WAY:
A (hold)
The old way requires the system to process many inputs of the A button. The new way executes the same attack with less information. Why is this important? Online play of course.<!--more-->
When playing online, everything you input into the system has to be processed and sent around the net to be picked up by the other system. The fewer the inputs, the smoother the online play can be. Think about a game like Paper Rock Scissors. When the timer counts down to zero you have to input one of the three options. Right when you input your choice, that information is sent online. The data is collected, compared, and a winner is picked. No big deal, right? This system would work smoothly even with a THOUSDAND online players playing in a single game. As long as each system collects their player data when the timer counts down, the winners and losers can be calculated at the system’s leisure.
Compare to a simple game like Paper Rock Scissors, Smash has approximately one thousand times the amount of data to be communicated every second (I made up this figure to illustrate my point). In order to keep things smooth developers have a few options.
1) Slow down the game so that less happens per second. This reduces the amount and frequency of critical data transfer. Mario Kart DS features an online mode in 100cc instead of the maximum speed 150cc.
2) Adjust the code of the game so that the game can still function if data transfer is slow or some of the information is lost while traveling across the net. If a player has a particularly slow connection in Mario Kart DS, their kart will jump and teleport around the screen because he can’t communicate his position to the other systems. When some of the information is lost, the other systems can assume that the laggy player is driving straight along the path. In this way, hiccups in information transfer can still provide a fairly consistent online experience. This is the essence of “non-guaranteed checking.” When data from a player isn’t guaranteed to make it through the net, precautions are programmed in.
3) Adjust the speed of the game according to the slowest player. Jump Ultimate Stars for the Nintendo DS does this. Instead of having to deal with bumps, teleports, and skips while playing this handheld fighter, the game speed simply slows down to accommodate everyone. This would be like playing slow motion melee at its worse, and normal smash at best. I’ve played this mode a lot and I have to say it isn’t bad. When the game moves in slow motion, I think in slow motion with it. My strategies are the same; they just move slower. This is the essence of “guaranteed checking.” The game will not continue until all the data is received from everyone.
It’s true that holding A to combo is simpler making the game more accessible to different kinds of people, but it never hurts to consider if Net-coding is behind these decisions. Won’t somebody think of the Net-Coding!?
