Understanding netplay lag

[_eternal]

I've been getting into SSBM netplay but my lag has varied greatly so far. The game runs at a smooth 60fps outside of netplay (i7 930 and Radeon HD5850), and I've only been playing with people with around 30ms ping (pad buffer 2 or 3). Some games have been smooth, but others have had lag spikes, and I'm trying to understand why.

1) if my PC is lagging due to processing on my end, does this affect my opponent in any way?
2) does it matter who hosts?
3) if the pad buffer is too low, would that cause stuttering? This was my first suspect, but I tried changing the buffer to 3 for a 30ms game and the spikes kept happening.

 

[alijahdamessiah]

The pad buffer should be 1 for every 16 ping I believe, so 2-3 should be fine

 

[alijahdamessiah]

Hosting doesn't matter too much in my experience, and no your PC is fine

 

[_eternal]

That's precisely what I'm confused about - the settings seem fine, but I feel like some matches are laggier than others. The only other factor I can think of is the opponent's computer, but I'm not sure if PC lag gets synced to the other player.

 

[Y-L]

1) Yes, if your CPU is struggling under load your opponent with lag too in order to stay synced.

2) Not really. If one of you has hardware/Internet lag your opponent will experience it too.

3) Yes, if the buffer is too low the game will lag because it doesn't have enough time to send/receive all the data so the game must slow down to compensate. 1 buffer for every 16.66ms of ping but I recommend one for every 16ms since your ping will jitter +/- a few ms and you'll want the wiggle room to maintain a consistent 60 fps. So basically the rule of thumb is divide ping by 16 then round up. For example 35 ping /16 = 2.1875 = 3 buffer. Always round up even if it's barely over a round number.

If you're wondering whether you're experiencing hardware lag or internet lag in a netplay game there's a simple test you can do to determine the culprit. While the game is lagging, raise the buffer to 100. This allows the game to compensate for an extremely high amount of ping which will eliminate any internet lag even if you're spiking. If it still lags at 100 buffer, you know it's hardware lag. If the lag stops, it's internet lag.

 

[_eternal]

Thanks, that makes sense. Explains why there's more to it than just ping.

Slightly off topic, but do you happen to know what the input lag on the Raphnet adapter is? I understand that it's technically slower than the Mayflash with Dolphin's Native Support but I don't know how much.

And on top of that, a 75Hz monitor will add around 1 frame of display lag, comparable to a CRT? I'm playing on a VE247. I heard that response time is difficult to measure so I'm not sure what role that plays.

 

[Y-L]

Slightly off topic, but do you happen to know what the input lag on the Raphnet adapter is? I understand that it's technically slower than the Mayflash with Dolphin's Native Support but I don't know how much.

Raphnet probably has ~2ish frames of input lag? Not exactly sure. It goes Nintendo = Mayflash 4 port > Raphnet > Mayflash 4 port on pc mode > Mayflash 2 port > Other adapters

The 4 port adapters really blow the others out of the water. When I switched from my Mayflash 2 port to my Nintendo adapter I noticed it instantaneously. Since Dolphin natively supports them, it can register their inputs as fast as they can be sent which makes them lagless. Also, using direct connect you get a 100% accurate controller mapping. I would say it's worth the 15-20 bucks for the 4 port adapter but that's just me.

And on top of that, a 75Hz monitor will add around 1 frame of display lag, comparable to a CRT? I'm playing on a VE247. I heard that response time is difficult to measure so I'm not sure what role that plays.

According to Displaylag, the monitor has approximately 11ms of lag. Note that display lag =/= response time. Response time is just a measurement of how fast a pixel can turn from black to white to black again or something along those lines. Companies just do it to put a low number on the box, it has a very little contribution to the total amount of display lag. But yeah, not sure how accurate the site is but that is approximately a frame compared to CRT.

So total on your setup would be about 3 frames before the buffer (2 from the adapter 1 from the monitor and assuming you're using exclusive fullscreen), but keep in mind these are just guesses.