I sat down and did a dedicated Multi session on ATAG tonight!

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by theOden

So there's a workaround for the hotfix not showing serverlist?

Yes, if switching to LAN and back to Internet does not help, create a your own server for a minute.

[pupo162]

ATAG is probably the best server around but it has a huge issue. its on the other side of the world, and my entire squad based on europe has 200+ ping. this makes the game really hard, so we end up doing bomb sorties alone on our server without nobody to fight.

if only there was an Atag-europe, or other server where people would go in Europe...

[ATAG_Septic]

Originally Posted by pupo162

ATAG is probably the best server around but it has a huge issue. its on the other side of the world, and my entire squad based on europe has 200+ ping. this makes the game really hard, so we end up doing bomb sorties alone on our server without nobody to fight.

if only there was an Atag-europe, or other server where people would go in Europe...

Hi Pupo,

I and a few others connect from Europe without significant problem. I wonder whether you could expand on the issues you experienced as it should not be a game-stopper from UK at least.

It seems from UK around 130 ping is typical. This in itself has not caused any issue for me. There are a few problems with connection though on occasion. I have no expertise whatsoever in this field but I understand there are fundamental omission from the game in that there is no Net code yet for the server admins to tinker with. The server also has a very high capacity but can only use a fraction of the bandwidth it has because of a Steam or game restriction.

When the server is busy I do see some lag but whatever the cause this is also experienced by my colleagues who live close to Chicago. If all players were in Chicago I imagine it would probably be fine but still have the odd problem when sixty people are on.

Bliss or someone similarly knowledgeable can explain this with much more clarity but I know he expects some difficulty when the population goes much above fifty. [edit, 50 is probably fine, I think it takes a few more, nearer to 80 before there are bandwidth probs]

Don't give up old chap, it's certainly playable and enjoyable from Western Europe. There are a growing band of Antipodean players who are having some fun, although I'm sure they have a few problems. I understand their ping is often around 300?

Cheers,

Septic.

[pupo162]

Originally Posted by ATAG_Septic

Hi Pupo,

I and a few others connect from Europe without significant problem. I wonder whether you could expand on the issues you experienced as it should not be a game-stopper from UK at least.

It seems from UK around 130 ping is typical. This in itself has not caused any issue for me. There are a few problems with connection though on occasion. I have no expertise whatsoever in this field but I understand there are fundamental omission from the game in that there is no Net code yet for the server admins to tinker with. The server also has a very high capacity but can only use a fraction of the bandwidth it has because of a Steam or game restriction.

When the server is busy I do see some lag but whatever the cause this is also experienced by my colleagues who live close to Chicago. If all players were in Chicago I imagine it would probably be fine but still have the odd problem when sixty people are on.

Bliss or someone similarly knowledgeable can explain this with much more clarity but I know he expects some difficulty when the population goes much above fifty.

Don't give up old chap, it's certainly playable and enjoyable from Western Europe. There are a growing band of Antipodean players who are having some fun, although I'm sure they have a few problems. I understand their ping is often around 300?

Cheers,

Septic.

yest its still playable, but is a bit of an immersion maker, to be forming up a bomber squad, and then suddently everyone jsut jumps 50 meters to another location.

Is also an issue to have fighters jumping a bit around. this are sporadic issues of course.

im not giving up tough, its better than ever now. im pretty sure when more people start showign up an eruropean server will arise, without compromising the 40+ people on ATAG.

[JG52Krupi]

Originally Posted by pupo162

yest its still playable, but is a bit of an immersion maker, to be forming up a bomber squad, and then suddently everyone jsut jumps 50 meters to another location.

Is also an issue to have fighters jumping a bit around. this are sporadic issues of course.

im not giving up tough, its better than ever now. im pretty sure when more people start showign up an eruropean server will arise, without compromising the 40+ people on ATAG.

Odd I fly ATAG from the UK and don't see aircraft jumping around, but I do have a very good internet connection.

[ATAG_Septic]

Originally Posted by pupo162

yest its still playable, but is a bit of an immersion maker, to be forming up a bomber squad, and then suddently everyone jsut jumps 50 meters to another location.

Is also an issue to have fighters jumping a bit around. this are sporadic issues of course.

im not giving up tough, its better than ever now. I'm pretty sure when more people start showing up A Eruropean server will arise, without compromising the 40+ people on ATAG.

I couldn't put up with that either old chap but it's rare for me. I have no idea about how lag-spikes occur precisely. Maybe Krupi has a point about his good connection? Maybe more dedicated European servers will spring up if the current progress with the game is maintained?

Let's hope so

Septic.

[335th_GRAthos]

Originally Posted by droz

I've played some multi before, on and off, but tonight was the first time I've really sat down and played some Multiplayer.

1st, ATAG's server is absolutely kick @#$. There were 40+ players on when I joined (more than any server at any given time in IL2 1946 has had in a loooong time).

Indeed, what ATAG with their server did (actually, they run two servers) was the best promotion for CoD and the best morale-boosting effort for all of us de-moralised IL2FB pilots when the CoD days looked really bad.

RESPECT & THANKS!

[and to the couple of other server-hosters, too]


~S~

[Nitrous]

Originally Posted by banned

Jumped onto ATAG and had a blast. The hotfix is spot on. I didn't need to turn off grass etc, only clouds. It was great to be able to fly around enemy planes without any freezes at all. The whole time flying was smooth as.
It's definately on the right track. I reckon they can make the Beta/Alpha patch the official patch now, through Steam.

Won't be long and I'll be seeking an Aussie Squad again and get right into it.

Check out the Real Aussie Air Force (RAAF)

Great bunch of guys

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by pupo162

yest its still playable, but is a bit of an immersion maker, to be forming up a bomber squad, and then suddently everyone jsut jumps 50 meters to another location.

Is also an issue to have fighters jumping a bit around. this are sporadic issues of course.

Sounds like not a ping issue but packet loss issue (connection quality). There are certain programs that can monitor packet losses. Do not know which ones exactly.

[Blackdog_kt]

I'm in SE Europe and i usually have pings around 200, only yesterday was a bit higher.

I think Septic is correct though, it seems that the server is somehow throttled because of Steam or the sim itself.

I've listened to the ATAG admins on TS talking about it a few times, saying that the server is capable of streaming data at a much higher rate than its monitoring tools show it currently is. Also, whenever we drop to single digit FPS (it happens once every hour or so with a lot of people on and lasts for 5-10 seconds at most), it happens simultaneously for everyone.

This points to a network/bandwidth management issue. If it was problems specific to our installation or PC setup it wouldn't be happening to everyone at the same time. Bliss said that their server is sitting very close to or directly on top of one of the main backbones, which gives it good connectivity to almost the entire world.

It seems as if it's an occasional server side hiccup, since it affects people simultaneously, it affects players that have no FPS/stability problems otherwise and the server shows low bandwidth utilisation.

That being said, it's a great place to fly with helpful and friendly pilots, as well as admins who took the time to weather the initial storm, tinker and experiment with missions and scripts when almost nobody did (the other such server that was active from the start was Repka).

Plus, small problems like these are just that, small, and don't take away from the big picture. For the most part it's a very stable environment, i've been there with 90+ people flying last week and it was not a problem.

I don't fly online much, but lately i try to join in for a Saturday night session each week and it's a blast.