486 connection issues

[feipoa]

I've been playing Subspace since 1997 on and off on my 486. I am using a Cyrix 5x86-120, 128 MB EDO RAM, and Windows NT 4.0. I've never had a problem connecting and I usually receive about 20-30 fps. I have not played in many months, but recently I tried to connect to SSCU Trench Wars, but upon connection I get "no data coming from server." After this, I can still play offline solo in this zone.

 

I think the problem is related to my computer being slow during initialization of the game, coupled with high packet loss from a few servers, notably these (after 11 cycles),

 

10 66.36.224.213 ge3-2-1.core1.iad1.hopone.net 90.0 100 100 100

11 66.36.224.149 ge8-0.core2.dca2.hopone.net 90.0 90 90 90

12 209.160.60.238 gec2.distb2.dca2.hopone.net 90.0 100 100 100

 

However, on the same network connection, and on a faster computer (PIII 850 Mhz in XP Pro), I can play in Trench Wars fine.

 

Also, on my 486, when I connect to Choas, I can connect in spectator mode, for which I just hit ESC, 1 to change ships and I can play. Chaos has the same loss as Trench Wars after 11 cycles.

 

Questions:

 

1) Is there a command I can use, once I see "no dataing coming from server", to reconnect to the server without hitting escape and connecting again? I want to avoid this in/out process as I beleive the timeout may be the of the slow computer during initialization of the game.

 

2) Are there any ports I should forward on my router to help things out?

 

3) What else can be done to fix this?

[PoLiX]

The high packetloss tends to be caused by Hopone, though we're not the only game with servers experiencing this issue. Sadly they won't admit it is an issue, nor fix it, so many players have to suffer as it'd take a lot of effort to get priit to move things. So nothing can be done on your end, except play in DSB or non-SSCU/SSCX zones during the issues.

 

The only difference between Chaos and Trench is trench's use of lvz to "change" the map tiles.

 

Now my question being, what do you mean play offline solo?

[Samapico]

I think he means how the game still runs after a 'disconnected from server' message. You can still fly around and do nothing useful

[»Blocks]

Mad props for still rocking the 486.

 

If you have access to a server in another location, you could try tunneling your traffic through it to avoid the bad nodes.

[feipoa]

Samapico is correct -- fly around and do nothing useful. I was just trying to mention that there is not a hardware/software conflict with my old 486 system. If I could not fly around after "no data from server", then there would be more at work.

 

What do you mean by play DSB? Unfortunately, I am not very up-to-date with Subspace acronyms. Does it mean "fly around and do nothing useful, not on a server"?

 

It seems like I recall there being some command in the past I could type when "no data coming from server" to reconnect while still in game mode. Has my memory faded substantially? Does anyone know this command, or series of commands? Is development work still being done? If so, and if this command does not exist, it might be of some benefit.

 

I should also mention that when connecting, it acts as if it is going to go right into the game, then it just sits there for 30 seconds. The memory usage goes up by 90 MB, which I don't recall happening in the past. I don't get this 90 MB spike in Choas zone.

Edited April 3, 2011 by feipoa

[PoLiX]

DSB - SSCU Death Star Battle sorry

 

Sadly no command, and nothing is being developed with the client atm.

 

Sounds like it has to be something with recent LVZ changes in trench wars then. LVZ = extra in game graphics. I do get about 75fps lower in Trench than I do in Chaos when flying around bases, so something is up there screen wise.

 

What you might try doing, is on the main menu click on View -> Options. Then on the "Other" tab, uncheck "Use Optional Level Graphics and Sound". You might also try unchecking some of the options under the "Graphics" tab.

 

I understand it worked fine til recently, but Trench has made some changes graphically recently.

[feipoa]

Thank you for the tip, however I had already unchecked "use optional level graphics and sound" and unchecked all items under the graphics tab. I agree that it must have something to do with what you call LVZ, because other less old computers on the same home network can play in Trench just fine.

 

Are there any settings in Advanced options that may be helpful? I have everything unchecked. At one time, I had found an optimization thread for "Advanced options" here but can not seem to find it now.

 

How do we get word to the developers of Trench that some users would like to be able to toggle a legacy mode?

 

In addition, a command for the next release of continuum (if there is one), to be able to reconnect to a server while still in game mode.

[PoLiX]

Try checking all the boxes at the bottom of Advanced options. If issues, try unchecking Software Emulation 1st.

[feipoa]

Issue remains unresolved.