Registered: Apr 2001
Location: :.::...:.:..:...::..:::.:..::
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These are all guesses on what the specs for a server might be. I'm no guru on running a server, but I don't think this would be a bad template on gauging how your server will perform.

Server
Minimum:
Pentium 3 700 Mhz
256 MB RAM
High bandwith connection (DSL, Cable, etc)

This server should run good with about a 20 player limit.

Recommended:
Pentium 3 1,000 Mhz (1 Ghz)
320 MB RAM
High bandwith connection (Cable +)
Linux Operating System

Hopefully will run with a 60 player limit.

Optimum
Pentium 4 1700 Mhz (1.7 Ghz)
512 MB RAM
OC3 connection
Linux Operating System

This bad-boy might be able to handle upwards 100 people.

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Things To Consider:

- Smarter Bots mean More CPU Power (Unless they are coded VERY well). Try hosting a server with 40 bots in Tribes 2 and see if your server chugs...

-100s of DYNAMIC deployables spawned on the server at once (AKA: Houses)

-13 towns according to Strider... times that by 5 (to be conservative) for the number of bots in each... 65 bots in the towns alone. 20 wandering bots. 15 more for family bots... 100 bots so far.

-Regular events on server... hitting the ore pile, hitting a baddy, casting a spell. You get the idea.

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Last edited by GiB WaKeR on 04-20-2001 at 06:40 AM

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
Posts: 615

Something to consider...
Don't assume something is being added to the game unless I gave it the final "go". There's no way there will be 13 towns or whatever. 2 towns, that's what I'm doing. Maybe another 2 more, one for each race, so 2 towns per race total.

issues:
-smarter bots: they lag because of all the script code T2 uses. Trust me there's PLENTY to remove.

-Regular events on server: no problem there

-100s of dynamic models: Indeed an issue. I'm guessing the best way to go about this is blank LOD's for all buildings. I'm already investigating what happens when thousands of interiorshapes are added in a map despite a blank LOD that prevents any of them from actually being rendered when far enough away

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 592

fog is always a good way to help with that sorta thing

or just mess with that stuff then CALL it fog

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Since you hadn't said anything I had to go with the next best thing... and since Strider is the official story master that seemed like a good place to start from for the purposes of speculation. I didn't mean to mislead people by it, but I know the more towns there are means the more lag (as bots have to populate it) so if I wanted to try to give a fairly accurate specs I needed to go by a source, and frankly I had no idea what you were planning...

I'm not sure how it all works, but I think that by just processing moving data and just "regular events" it uses up CPU cycles (actually, I'm really sure it does), which is why if you join a 60 player server on a 500 mhz server it will lag because theres way too much "regular events" going on. So when thinking of your server, you should think of how many people will be on there and how your processor would handle thoose "regular events". ("Regular Events" is anything a player would do, from moving to firing a weapon (or swinging a sword))

For the dynamic objects, the LOD might help the Client, but for the server the LOD has no effect for it since calculating LOD is all Client-Side... And every object takes up some cycles, so make sure to also consider that as a server host.

I'm not sure on how that many objects effect a server, but, again, I was SPECULATING it will take up some CPU power, which it undoubtably will. So I also wanted to let people know to consider that as well.

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Last edited by GiB WaKeR on 04-20-2001 at 06:38 AM

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: St. John's Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 1811

My two cents:

Smart bots: #1, you van't have 40 bots in T2, only 16... I've tried... I DO have the game... Thank God...

System Requirements: Well, DUH!

Graphic problems: What the hell? We can remove all the excess crap from the maps to make it look great! Water has NO lag whatsoever on the system (ripped from TribalWar forums) because Rick1111 coded it himself, and he is probably one of the best at Dynamix...

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TRPG Story Master

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: St. John's Newfoundland, Canada
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Makaze has fogless maps ( Grievers breathe methane on their planets, so no fog would be there ;-þ ) and they somehow limited visible distance... Very cool... Something to consider, JI?

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"Smart bots: #1, you van't have 40 bots in T2, only 16... I've tried... I DO have the game... Thank God..."

It slows you down alot with just 16 bots, so I was saying imagine it with 40. I'm sure you can ripped some of the crap out of them and it will be a faster process, but when I think of what you have to ADD to get them to be compatible with RPG (use stashes, know where houses are, know how to get in house, must be in close to use weapons, to aim a ranged weapon, etc, etc, etc), I don't think you'll see a "night & day" difference in performance. Plus, the AI code WAS done by a professional at Dynamix, so just some food for thought.

"System Requirements: Well, DUH!"

Uh... ?

"Graphic problems: What the hell? We can remove all the excess crap from the maps to make it look great! Water has NO lag whatsoever on the system (ripped from TribalWar forums) because Rick1111 coded it himself, and he is probably one of the best at Dynamix..."

Double Uh... ??? Graphics have nothing to do with a server... thats all Client-side... And, water DOES slow you down since it IS made up of polygons, but the amount is minimal, so you don't even notice... but not sure where that came in...

"Makaze has fogless maps ( Grievers breathe methane on their planets, so no fog would be there ;-þ ) and they somehow limited visible distance... Very cool... Something to consider, JI?"

Thats also very easy to do, just boot up the editor and change the command line that says "visable distance" under the sky I believe... (I might be wrong on the sky part, but its one of thoose functions for the overall map enviroment) No bells and whistles to that...

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...

Look, when you're talking about billions of objects just sitting at rest in a server, that really has VERY little impact on the SERVER itself, since the server doesn't give a **** about polygons, the server never renders anything.

Rendering and display is entirely client side.

Also, even with T1RPG, JI had a lot of the non-essential things done client side only, because that kills server lag too, I'm sure it will be the same here.

When you have 16 friggen bots running around your map, the game also has to prepare everything for rendering, has to decode the MP3 music (if you haven't turned it off yet like I told everyone too) and a few other things the server just WONT do.

Honestly, I'd REALLY suggest you just wait until we have a basic release of T2RPG to muddle with before you start saying how laggy its gonna be, because theres really NO way to tell until we have a working model.

Plus, nobody really knows what goes on in those dark coding recesses of JI's brain, and he may end up doing all sorts of wacky code alterations to get speed speed speed!

So really, just wait and see, its about all we can do.

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Registered: Mar 2001
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Posts: 924

alot of people use 56k

56k runs pretty bad at 32 people

so even IF a server could hold 60 people, that doesnt mean you should

plus dungeons and everything would be filled up, and trying to lvl up would be pure hell even with the party system.

i dunno if a server could handle 40 bots or not, havnt seen it so i cant say anything

trpg could handle quite a few stupid bots

i hope none of the t2rpg will have wind walkers

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 4229

1. You guys worry too much.

2. Mir or whoever said polys barely affect the server is absolutely corrrect.

3. Yeah, JI should be able to get about double the speed out of the bots by ripping all the crap out.

4. Get a fast enough computer/Overclock the one you have and you shouldn't have any more problems...

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Registered: Apr 2001
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Well, thats basically all the crap I said... but uh, good recap. Simplifies thing.

Also, I forgot about the fact that if you host your own server (non-dedicated) and turn on bots, your comp is also doing the displaying aswell as the bots and world physics... Good thinking there Mir!

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PaladinPimp:
I'm on a 28.8 ( >:( ) and I run O.K in 50ish servers... Sure it may lag in really heavy places, but I live.

Have you changed your network settings down? If so, try 28.8, might help your performance with less packet (bandwith).

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Registered: Mar 2001
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Oh yeah, I've got a 56K modem, never connects faster than 26000, but I never have lagging problems except when running either more than 2 sessions at once, or am trying to host a multi player server. Niether of those is reccomended anyhow, so 56K should work fine with loads of players and bots.

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TRPG:
Binkers and Newbies, remort 19, level 74 Guardian.
Only 8027000 exp till remort 100!
Gear:twin f14 courier spacecrafts, everything you could possibly want, except badges. Will pay 1.5 mil for exp badge.

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Registered: Mar 2001
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Posts: 3009

Would this server be good?

1.33 GHz AMD Athlon Thunderbird
512 RAM
20 Gigs
250-300 Kilobits per second upload (Cable)

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Solar

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 4229

Looks great assuming you have good download speeds as well...

How bout this.

600 mhz celeron, OCed to 1 ghz. (Will be upgrading later on this summer)
shared T1 line. (do not have until end of year, so no stats)
256 meg ram PC 133
45 Gig HD.

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TRPG:
Binkers and Newbies, remort 19, level 74 Guardian.
Only 8027000 exp till remort 100!
Gear:twin f14 courier spacecrafts, everything you could possibly want, except badges. Will pay 1.5 mil for exp badge.

Middle Earth, level 5 Admin.

Mystic Demon RPG, level 4 Admin.

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Registered: Apr 2001
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Solar: Looks tight

DeathMerchant: Should be ok, depending on that T1. (Nice overclocking job BTW, it runs fine at 400 more mhz than recommended?

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