TheTRIBESEngineNetworkingModel
orHowtoMaketheInternetRockforMultiplayerGames
by
MarkFrohnmayerandTimGift
[Link]@[Link]@[Link]
Abstract
Thispaperdiscussesthenetworkingmodeldevelopedtosupporta
"realtime"[Link]
developedforTRIBESII,andwasfirstimplementedinStarsiege
TRIBES,amultiplayeronlineteamgamepublishedinDecember
'[Link]:supportfor
multipledatadeliveryrequirements,partialobjectstateupdates
andapacketdeliverynotificationprotocol.
Overview
StarsiegeTRIBESsupportstwomodesofplay:singleplayeror
[Link]
supportsupto128humanorAIcontrolledplayersinasingle
[Link]
[Link]
andisdesignedtodealwithlowbandwidth,highlatencyand
intermittentpacketloss.
Themodeldealsprimarilywiththedeliveryofdataandakey
conceptistheclassificationofdeliveryrequirements.
Alldataisclassifiedintooneofseveralrequirementcategories
andthedesignofeachcomponentinthemodelcentersaround
[Link]
follows:
1.
2.
3.
Nonguaranteeddataisdatathatisneverretransmittedif
lost.
Guaranteeddataisdatathatmustberetransmittediflost,
anddeliveredtotheclientintheorderitwassent.
MostRecentStatedataisvolatiledataofwhichonlythe
latestversionisofinterest.
4.
GuaranteedQuickestdataisdatathatneedstobedeliveredin
thequickestpossiblemanner.
Thenetworkingmodelisdividedintothreemajorcomponentsas
showninFigure1:
1.
AConnectionLayerthatdealswithnotificationanddelivery
[Link]
layeralongwithastreamclassprovidethegeneral
infrastructureonwhichtheotherlayersarebuilt.
2.
[Link]
layeremploysfivestreammanagerstodealwithevents,object
mirroring,inputmovemanagement,staticdataandstring
[Link]
differentdatadeliveryguarantees.
3.
ASimulationLayerwhichmanagesallobjectsinthe
[Link]
scopeofthisarticlebutseveralitemsarerelevant:the
advancementoftime,objectscopingandclientprediction.
ThoughStarsiegeTRIBESemploysaclientserverconnectionmodel,
[Link]
preventsthismodelfrombeingusedinpeertopeerormulti
serverarchitectures.
SimulationLayer
Ghost
Manager
Move
Manager
Datablock
Manager
EventManager
String
Manager
StreamLayer
StreamManager
ConnectionManager
ConnectionLayer
PlatformPacketModule
Figure1
PersistentObjects
Thoughpolymorphicobjectpersistenceisnotanintegralpartof
thenetworkingmodel,itisafeaturethatisusedextensively.A
largepercentageofdatatransmissionisdoneusingpersistent
objectsandthepolymorphicnatureoftheobjectsusedtohide
thetypeandcontentofthedatafromthenetworkingcode.
Eachclassthatisdeclaredpersistentregistersa"class
representative"(ClassRep)objectwiththePersistmanagerandis
[Link]
[Link]
mappingassignedClassIDstoClassRepsthePersistmanagercan
[Link]
constructionbyClassIDalongwithvirtualreadandwrite
methodsprovidesbasicpolymorphicIO.
[Link]
classIDiswritten,thentheobject'svirtualwritemethodis
[Link],
constructingtheobjectusingthePersistmanager,andthen
[Link]'s
class,andthedataitreadsandwritesarehiddenfromthe
streammanagers.
ConnectionLayer
TheConnectionlayerprovidestransmissionofpacketsbetween
hostmachinesandisdividedintotwomodules,aplatformpacket
[Link]
providesbasicconnectionlessunreliablepacketdelivery,
[Link]
managerprovidesavirtualconnectionbetweentwohostsandwhile
itdoesnotprovidedeliveryguarantees,itdoesprovidepacket
deliverystatusnotifications.
Thisnotificationguaranteeisveryimportanttothe
architecture;apacketlayerthatsupportsonlyguaranteedor
nonguaranteedpacketswouldnotbesufficienttosupportthe
[Link]
deliverymodeishandledisdelegatedtoahigherlevelthe
connectionmanageronlyguaranteesthecorrectnotificationofa
sentpacket'sstatus.I.e.,ifapacketisnotifiedasdroppedit
waseitherdroppedordeliveredoutoforder(andsubsequently
dropped),andifapacketisnotifiedasdelivered,ithasbeen
delivered.
TheConnectionmanagernotifiestheStreamlayerofthestatusof
[Link]
[Link]
transmittedbytheConnectionmanager;theStreamlayer,andits
associatedmanagers,[Link]
packetsareneverretransmitted,theyarefreedimmediatelyafter
transmission.
StreamManager
Packet
Data
PacketNotifyEvent
DeliveryStatus
Packet
Data
ConnectionManager
Packet
Address
Data
Packet
Address
Data
ConnectionLayer
PlatformPacketModule
Figure2
TheConnectionmanageremploysaslidingwindowprotocolinorder
[Link],
transmissionstopsuntilanAcknowledgmentisreceived.
Acknowledgmentofpacketsisonlyusedtoadvancethewindowand
[Link]
overheadof3bytesperpacket.
Thoughnotpartoftheprotocol,animportantfeatureofthe
architectureisbitpackingprovidedbyacustombitstream
[Link],
includingread/writefunctionsfor:asinglebit,variablelength
integers,variablelengthnormalizedfloats,andHuffman
[Link],includingtheheaderandthe
slidingwindowprotocol,[Link]
packingfeaturesareusedextensivelyandvirtuallyalldatais
transmittedusingthesmallestnumberofbitspossible.
Examplesofbitpackingusingthebitstream.
Writingintothepacket:
if(stream>writeBool(updateDamage)){
//Uses1bit
stream>writeInt(mDamageState,2); //Uses2bits
if(mDamageState!=Dead)
stream>writeInt(mDamageLevel,6);
if(stream>writeBool(mRepairActive))
stream>writeInt(mRepairRate,4);
}
Thematchingreadmethod:
if(stream>readBool()){
mDamageState=stream>readInt(2);
if(mDamageState!=Dead)
mDamageLevel=stream>readInt(6);
mRepairActive=stream>readBool();
if(mRepairActive)
mRepairRate=stream>readInt(4);
}
StreamLayer
TheStreamlayeriscomprisedofaStreammanagerandtheEvent,
Ghost,Move,[Link]
managerdealswiththefrequencyofpackettransmissionaswell
[Link]
streammanagersdealwiththepackinganddeliveringofdata
[Link],
dealingprimarilywiththecompressionofstringdata,isnot
coveredinthisarticle.
TheStreammanagerallocatesandtransmitspacketstoits
[Link],eachStream
[Link]
setbytheremotehostsStreammanagerandrepresenttheamount
[Link]
dedicatedserversetthesevaluestorepresentthebandwidthof
[Link]
witha28.8modemthenitcouldsetarateof10packetsper
secondwithasizeof200toproduceabout2Kofdatapersecond.
Theclientmaychangetheseparametersontheflyinresponseto
[Link],
theserverimposesamaximumbandwidthperclientbasedonits
ownconnectionquality.
PacketsareallocatedbytheStreammanagerandfilledbythe
Move,Event,[Link]
intothestreamisgiventothemanagersinafixedorder,this
[Link]
packetsizeisexceededorallthemanagersaredone,thepacket
[Link]
3showsanexamplepacket.
Header
StreamManagerData
Move
MoveManagerData
Packet1
Event1
Event2
EventManagerData
Event3
GhostState1
GhostManagerData
GhostState2
Figure3:ExamplePacket
WhenapacketisdeliveredtotheStreamlayerforreading,it
simplyhandsoffthepackettoeachstreammanagerinthesame
fixedorderandeachmanagerisresponsibleforreadingthedata
writtenbyitscounterpart.
TheStreammanageralsoprovidesaTransmissionRecordforeach
packetthatitconstructs(showninFigure4).Whenastream
managerstoresdataintoapacket,itstoresinformation
[Link]
ConnectionmanagerNotifyEventoccursforapacket,the
TransmissionRecordforthatpacketisprocessedbytheStream,
EventandGhostmanagers,andisusedtoprovidedelivery
[Link]
Eventsforeachpacketintheordertheyweresent,the
TransmissionRecordsarestoredinasimpleFIFO.
EventStreamManager
TheEventStreammanagerisresponsibleforprovidingguaranteed
andnonguaranteeddeliveryofeventobjectsfromonehostto
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
TransmissionRecords.
WhentheEventmanagerisgivenapackettowriteinto,itpops
eventsoffitsoutgoingqueueandwritesthemintothestream
untileitherthepacketsizeisexceeded,thequeueisempty,or
[Link]
writtenusingthemethodsdiscussedearlier.
Onceeventsarewrittenintoastream,theyarelinkedtogether
[Link]
theStreammanagerisnotifiedofapacketsstatus,the
TransmissionRecordforthatpacketispassedtotheEvent
[Link]
deliveryofthepacketthentheeventsattachedtotherecordare
[Link]
signalsnondeliverythentheeventsassociatedwiththelost
packetaresimplypushedontotheheadoftheeventqueueforre
transmission.
Transmission
Record1
NextRecord
EventList
GhostList
Event1
NextEvent
Event2
NextEvent
TR2
TR3
Event3
NextEvent
Figure4:Transmissionqueueincludingrecordwith
events
Whenthemanagerisgivenapacketstreamtoread,itunpacksand
[Link],
itisaddedtoanorderedqueueusedtoprovideordered
[Link]
(fornonguaranteedevents)orastheorderedqueueisadvanced.
SinceneitherthetransmittingnorthereceivingEventmanagers
storedeliverystatusinformationintothepacketstream,this
protocolimposesverylittleoverheadabovethatalreadyimposed
bytheConnectionmanager,normally3bitsperpacketand1bit
perevent.Ifapacketisdroppedanadditional714bitsper
packetmaybewritten.
Inpacking,deliveringandguaranteeingEventobjects,theEvent
managerprovidesafundamentalserviceusedbymanyother
[Link],
unpackedandprocessedusingvirtualfunctionsandthePersist
manager,theEventmanageritselfhasnoknowledgeofthetypeor
contentsoftheseevents.
Anexampleofasimpleevent:
classSignal:publicEvent{
enum{
SignalBits=4,
};
U8signal;
public:
Signal(U8s){
guaranteed=true;
signal=s;
}
voidpackData(Bitstream*stream){
stream>writeInt(signal,SignalBits);
}
voidunpackData(Bitsream*stream){
signal=stream>readInt(SignalBits);
}
voidprocess(NetConnection*ps){
printf("Recievedsignal%dfromhost%s",
signal,ps>getObjectName());
}
};
GhostStreamManager
TheGhostmanagerprovidestwokeyfunctions:the"ghosting"of
objectsfromonehosttoanother,andthetransferringofstate
[Link]
isacopyofanobjectpersistedandtransmittedtoaremote
[Link](and
thusperremotehost),butmaybeghostedbyseveralGhost
managersatonce(todifferentclients,forexample).Ghostsare
createdusingaformofguaranteeddeliveryalsousedtosupport
[Link]
dataisconsideredvolatileandtransferredusinga"MostRecent
State"algorithm.
Sinceghostinganobjectinvolvesnetworkoverhead,theghost
managerdoesnotghostallobjectsinthesimulation,butinstead
hasaconceptof"scope."Objectsmaycomeinandoutofscope
foramanagerforanumberofdifferentreasons(thisprocessis
managedintheSimulationlayer).Whenanobjectcomesinto
scope,itsghostistransferredtotheremotehost;whenan
[Link]
isinscope,statedataistransferredbetweentheobjectandits
ghostandisupdatedataratebasedonitspriorityandstate
[Link]"ghostalways"
objects,whicharealwaysinscope.
Whenanewobjectcomesintoscope,theobjectistaggedwitha
[Link]
isassignedfromalimitedrangeandisusedbythelocalmanager
[Link]
managermaintainsadictionary,whichtranslatesGhostIDsinto
[Link]
anobjecttoitsghost,itsGhostIDisembeddedinthestreamso
[Link]
RecordsStateMaskrepresentsstatedatathatanobjectis
interestedintransferringandistheheartofthe"MostRecent
State"[Link]
dependantsetofrelateddata,orstate,thatwillbe
[Link]
onestatebit,changesinrotationasanother,andpossiblya
changeinanimationstateasathird.(TRIBESsimulationobjects
typicallyhaveupwardsof20stateflags.)Eachstateistracked
andtransferredindependentlyoftheothers,providingthe
abilitytoperformpartialupdatesofanobjectstotalstate.
Whentheghostmanagerisgivenapackettofillbythestream
manager,[Link],itbuildsan
updatelistwhichincludeseveryobjectwithastatuschangeor
[Link]
change,[Link]
transferringordeletingofghostsfromtheremotehost;an
object'spriorityisavalueassignedbytheSimulationlayeras
[Link],theupdatelististraversed
inorderwritingtheGhostID,statusandobjectstate
informationintothepacketuntilthepacketisfilledorthe
[Link],
atransmissionstructureisconstructedcontainingthestatus
[Link]
totheTransmissionRecordforthepacketasshowninFigure5.
TheStateMaskbitsintheTransmissionstructurerepresentthe
statedatawrittenintothestreambytheobject.
Transmission
Record1
NextRecord
EventList
GhostList
TR2
Object1GTR1
NextRecord
StateMask[111]
NextObjectTR
Object2GTR2
NextRecord
StateMask[101]
NextObjectTR
Object1GTR3
NextRecord
StateMask[010]
NextObjectTR
TR3
Figure5:Transmissionqueueincludingghosttransmissionrecordsfor
objects1&2
Whenaghostmanagerreceivesapacket,itreadseachsetof
[Link]
ghost,thePersistmanageriscalledtoconstructtheobjectand
[Link]
statuschangeisadeletionrequest,theghostobjectisobtained
[Link],
[Link]
obtainedfromtheIDdictionaryanditsunpackmethodiscalled
[Link]
usedbythesourceobjecttopackdataisnottransmittedtothe
[Link]
intothebitstream.
Theguaranteeofobjectstateinformationhappensasfollows;
StateMaskbitsrepresentstatechanges,soifanobject's
positionchanges,itsetsits"positionstate"bitintheState
[Link],the
[Link]
bitnowrepresentsstatedatathattheGhostmanagerneedsto
transfertotheobject'[Link]
packet,objectswithanonzeroStateMasksareaskedtowrite
intothepacketstreamgiventhecurrentmaskforthatGhost
[Link]"positionstate",theobject
[Link]
representswhichstateswerewrittenintothepacket,andthe
maskisstoredinatransmissionstructurewhichislinkedtothe
[Link],theStateMaskis
[Link],thentheStateMask
foreachobjectwhichhaddatainthatpacketisupdatedto
[Link]
subsequentlysentpacketcontainedthesamestatebitforthat
[Link],ifalater
packethasalreadybeensentwithalaterversionofthatstate,
thenthisrequirementhasbeenmetandnootheractiontakes
place.
InFigure5,ifthepacketforTransmissionRecord1islostthen
bits[101]forobject1and2areconsideredlost;whereasbit
[010]forobject1isnot,becauseGTR3,alaterupdate,has
[Link]'sStateMask,
thenthatstatewillgetretransmittedatthenextopportunity.
Statuschanges,suchasobjectconstructionanddeletion,are
handledinasimilarfashion.
Exampleofstatemasks:
Anobject'spositionchangesanditsetsitsPositionState
[Link]'s
stateandcallstheobjectspackmethodwiththestate
[Link]
itspositionandwritesitscurrentpositionintothe
[Link]
containingthePositionStatebitinthenotification
structureforthatpacketandtheStateMaskisthen
cleared.
Firstpossibility:thepacketisdeliveredandthestate
[Link]'sposition
hasnotchangedsincethepacketwassentandtheState
Maskisstill0sonofurtheractiontakesplace.
Secondpossibility:thepacketisnotdeliveredandinthe
meantimetheobject'[Link]
[Link]
newPositionStatedatafortheobject,thePositionState
[Link]
samepositionwillgetresentthenexttimetheobjectis
packed.
Thirdpossibility:thepacketisnotdelivered,butinthe
meantime,theobject'[Link]
notificationofnondelivery,anotherpacketwasalready
[Link],themanager
knowsthatPositionStatedatahasalreadybeen
[Link]
possiblebecausetheGhostmanageronlyguaranteesthatthe
latestversionofthestatedataistransferredandnotany
[Link],
thisisexactlythebehaviorwewanttheposition
informationcontainedinthelostpacketisstaleandwe
don'[Link]
notifiedaslost,wealsodon'twanttoretransmitthe
currentposition,asithasn'tchangedsincethesecond
packetwassent.
Fourthpossibility:thepacketisnotdelivered,andinthe
meantime,theobject'[Link]
positionchangewasrecentandnosecondpackethasbeen
[Link]
PositionStatedatafortheobject,theobject'sPosition
[Link]
havealreadysetthebititself,sothiswillnotchange
[Link]
itwillwriteitscurrentposition,notthepositionsent
[Link],the
positiondatalostinthedroppedpacketisneverresent.
LiketheConnectionmanager,Event,andotherstreammanagers,a
serverwillhaveaGhostmanagerforeachclientconnectedtoit.
IfthereareseveralGhostmanagersghostinganobject,the
[Link]
willhaveadifferentGhostIDandStateMaskforthatobject
[Link]
anobjectsetsoneofitsstatebits,itupdatestheStateMask
foreveryGhostmanagercurrentlyghostingitandeachmanager
tracksandupdatesstateinformationindependently.
Thisprocessoftrackingstatemasksandguaranteeingthe
deliveryofstateinformationbetweenobjectandtheirghostsis
[Link]
almostexclusivelyonthismechanismtotransferinformation.
MoveStreamManager
TheMovemanagerguarantees"soonestpossible"deliveryofclient
inputmovestotheserverand"soonestpossible"deliveryof
[Link]
deliveryofmovesandalsotosynchronizemoveprocessingbetween
[Link]
thatmovesareonlysentfroma"client"connectiontoa"server"
connectionandControlObjectstatedatafromserverobjectto
clientghost.
Inputmovesareusedtocontrolsimulationobjectssuchas
vehicles,cameras,[Link]
byanInputManager,whichcollectsamoveevery32milliseconds.
Movesconsistofx,yandztranslations,yaw,pitchandroll
[Link]
deliveredtoobjectsbytheMovemanagerandarethesolemeansof
usercontrolledobjectmovement.
TheMovemanager,similartotheEventandGhostmanagers,writes
informationintoeverypacketstreamallocatedbytheStream
[Link],itmakesnouseofthe
TransmissionRecordortheConnectionmanager'snotification
[Link],theMovemanagerprovides"soonestpossible"
deliveryofmovestotheserverbywritingmovesintoeverypacket
[Link]
[Link]
lastmovereceived,whichtheclientusestoadvanceasliding
[Link],the
clientsimulationishalteduntiltheserveradvancesthewindow.
If3packetsaredroppedinarowthenanymovesuniquetothose
packetsarelost.
InStarsiegeTRIBES,everymoveinthecurrentwindowwas
transmittedineverypacketguaranteeing100%deliveryofall
moves,butthiswassometimesthecauseofanegativefeedback
[Link]
bywideningtheslidingwindowandcausingmoremovestobe
[Link]
packetsizecouldexceedtheconnection'sbandwidth,causingmore
[Link]
guaranteeddelivery,theclientrespondsbetterwhenlargenumbers
[Link]
servercontrolobjecttogetoutofsyncwhichmayproducea
momentarywarpingfortheclient.
TheControlObjectforaclientistheobjectthatreceivesthe
[Link]
[Link]
Objectshavetwomajorrequirementsthatdifferentiatethemfrom
[Link]
[Link]
movesgeneratedbytheplayerandboth,giventhesamestarting
state,[Link]
controlobjectmustbeabletotransferitscurrentstateon
[Link],andthuscantransfer
informationusingtheghostStateMask,theMovemanagerprovides
aseparate"Soonestpossible"deliveryofaControlObject'sstate
[Link]
[Link]
informationsenttoaghostisnormallylimitedtothatneededto
rendertheobject,[Link]
Objectstateinformationmustincludeeverythingneededto
deterministicallyprocessinputmoves."Soonestpossible"
deliveryofthiscontrolstateinformationisachievedbyhaving
theControlObjectwriteitscurrentstateintoeverypacketsent
[Link]
deterministicmoveprocessingisusedtokeeptheControlObject
anditsghostsynchronized,andtoallowtheclienttopredictthe
motionofthecontrolobjectaheadofserverupdates.
DeliveringmovesandControlObjectstateupdatesassoonas
possiblealongwithclientpredictionofmoveprocessingallows
smoothandimmediateresponsetoplayerinput,whileproviding
fullvalidationofallplayermovesbytheserver.
DatablockStreamManager
TheDatablockmanagerprovides"lateststate"deliveryof
[Link]
whichcontainrelativelystaticdataandthemanagerguarantees
[Link]
theGhostmanager,theDatablockmanagerisasymmetric,and
[Link]
commonuseofdatablocksistotransmitinitializationor
referencedataforghosts.
Datablocksarecopiedtotheclientinastreamofguaranteed
[Link]
updatedduringthenormalcourseofasession,butonlyatfixed
timessuchaswhenfirstconnectingtoaserverorduringamap
[Link]
[Link]
currentvalueofthiskey,afterwhichthekeyisincremented.
Themanagerkeepsthehighestkeyvaluetransmittedtoitsremote
[Link]"lateststate",ifa
Datablockismodifiedseveraltimesbetweenupdates,this
[Link],sincethechangesto
datablocksarelowinfrequency,theGhostmanagersoverheadof
partialstateupdatesisnotnecessaryachangeddatablockis
retransmittedinitsentirety.
UnliketheotherConnectionstreammanagers,theDatablock
managerdoesnotwriteinto,orreadfromthepacketbitstream
[Link]
fromthescriptinglanguageandinvolveloopingthroughallthe
existingdatablocksandtransmittingeverydatablockwitha
modifiedkeygreaterthanmanager'[Link]
datablocksisperformedbysendingguaranteedDatablockEvents
[Link]
objecttotransmit,andthedatablockispackedaspartofthe
event.
Asanexample,theVehicleclasshasanassociatedVehicleData
[Link]
propertyattributessuchasshape,maximumspeed,maximum
acceleration,suspensionpropertiesforwheels,[Link]
Vehicleobjectisconstructed,itisassignedaninstanceofthe
[Link]
Datablockrepresentsadifferentsetofattributesdescribinga
differenttypeofvehiclesuchasatank,scout,transport,etc.
TheVehicleclassitselfrepresentstheinstanceofthatvehicle
typeinthesimulationandprovidesallthecodeanddynamic
attributesnecessarytosimulatethevehicle.
VehicleDataDatablock
Instancewithstatic
vehicleattributes
Server
VehicleDataDatablock
Copyofstaticvehicle
attributes
Client
VehicleClassObject
Datablock
Dynamicvehicle
attributes
VehicleClassGhost
Datablock
Dynamicvehicle
attributes
Figure5:VehicleDatablockrelationshipmirroredonclient
Theadvantageofthisseparationofstaticattributedataand
instancedataisthatDatablocksarenormallyonlytransmittedto
[Link]
ghostedtotheclient(aprocessthatcanhappenoften)itsends
onlyitsdatablock'sIDalongwithotherdynamicdatarelevantto
[Link],whilestill
providingtheflexibilityofdefiningstaticattributedataon
theserver.AsshowninFigure5,theclientwillmirrorthe
samerelationshipofVehicleinstancetoVehicleDatadatablock.
Sincedatablocksareonlytransferredattimeswhenthe
simulationiseffectivelystopped,morebandwidthisavailable
anddatablockscancontainmoreinformationthanwouldnormally
[Link]
extraoverheadtothebitstreamduringthenormalcourseof
simulation.
SimulationLayer
TheSimulationlayerperformsanumberoffunctionsofwhichonly
afewarerelevanttoadiscussionofthenetworkingmodel.
Thesearetheadvancementoftime,scopingfortheGhostmanager,
andclientsideprediction.
Advancementofsimulationtimeiscenteredontheprocessingof
moves.Movesaregatheredevery32milliseconds,andthe
simulationisadvancedin32millisecondincrementswithamove
[Link]
areadvancedinthesamemannerandifaMovemanagerisnot
controllinganobject,thenitispassedNULLmoves.
Thoughclientobjectsareadvancedinfixedincrements,the
[Link]
presentasmoothview,especiallyonamachinewithahighframe
rate,timeisalwaysadvancedtothebeginningofthenext
interval,andghostobjectsmaintainbackwardsinterpolation
informationwhichisusedto"tween"framesbetweenticks.
Objectsontheserverareneverrenderedsotheydonothaveto
performthisfunction.
Simulationobjectsmustbescopedandprioritizedfortheghost
[Link]
[Link]
sense,thismeansallobjectsthatarepotentiallyvisibletoa
clientfromthatclient'[Link]
scopingisperformedusingaspatialdatabasemaintainedbythe
[Link],the
objectitselfdeterminesitsownprioritybasedoninformation
suchascurrentghoststatemask,distancefromthescoping
object,projectedradius(usingthescopingobjectsview
frustrumparameters),relativevelocity,animationstateand
interestmodifiers(projectilesthataremovingtowardsthe
clientaremoreinterestingthanvehicles,vehiclesaremore
interestingthanitems,etc.).
Therearetwoformsofclientsidepredictioninthismodel.
FirstistheControlObjectmovepredictionperformedbytheMove
[Link]
foundationforcontrollingandpredictingobjectssuchas
players,vehicles,[Link]
performedbynoncontrolledghostobjectssuchasprojectiles,
items,[Link]
objectsthemselvesandnosupportingstructureisprovided.
AnexampleofapredictionstrategyisthatprovidedbytheItem
class,[Link]
entirelybythephysicsoftheenvironmentanddoesnotprocess
[Link]
[Link]
dynamicobjectishitontheserver,thenitsghoststatemaskis
[Link]
clientghostreceivesanupdatefromtheserver,itinterpolates
itscurrentpositionsmoothlytotheserver'supdatedposition
[Link]
thevehicleandplayerclasses,whichhavetodealwith
predictingmovementfromotherclients.
Summary
Byclassifyingdataaccordingtoitsdeliveryrequirementsand
organizingthestreammanagerstoefficientlymeetthose
requirements,theTribesIInetworkingmodelattemptstomake
[Link]
objectscopingandprioritizationofpartialobjectstate
updates,theTRIBESIIengineallowssmoothvisualizationof
largevirtualenvironmentsoverlowbandwidthconnections,even
whenasubstantialnumberofobjectsarevisibletoaclient.
Thoughthemodelprovidesasolidfoundationfornetworktraffic,
itisnotsufficienttosimplyprovideafastreliableconnection
betweenhosts;therewillalwaysbebandwidthandlatencyissues
[Link]:choicesmade
whendecidingwhichobjectbehaviorshouldbemanagedbythe
serverandwhichbytheclients,whichobjectstateinformation
totransfer,howtoorganizeobjectpartialstates,howto
prioritizeobjectstatechangesrelativetoeachother,which
compressionalgorithmtouse,andhowtoperformclientside
[Link]
effectonperceivednetworkperformance.
ThismodelwasfirstimplementedinStarsiegeTRIBES,which
[Link]
IIhasthefollowingimprovements:
1. ReorganizationandsimplificationoftheConnectionandStream
layers.
2. BetterpacketheadercompressionfortheConnectionmanagers
notificationprotocol.
3. Areductioninthenumberoftimesmovesareretransmittedto
avoidnegativefeedbackloopsduetoincreasedpacketsize.
4. Betterdatacompressionbyindividualobjects.
5. TheadditionoftheStringmanager,whichprovideshighorder
compressionforrepeatedlytransmittedcharacterstrings(not
discussedinthisarticle).
Severalmodificationstothemodelhavebeenconsidered,and
thoughtheywillnotbeimplementedforTRIBESII,areworth
[Link]:
1. [Link]
arecurrentlyproducedataconstantratedictatedbythe
[Link]
producedassoonasdataisavailablefortransmissionordata
priorityreachesagiventhreshold.
2. [Link]
Connectionmanagersarecurrentlyprocessedatthesametime
[Link]
couldbechangedtosupportaprimarysimulationthreadwitha
[Link]
ConnectionandStreammanagerswithlowerlatency
communicationwiththeirremotehostaswellasprovidebetter
supportformultiprocessorhardware.
3. Theadditionofnewstreammanagers,includingamultiplexing
[Link]
simplerapproach.
4. [Link]
[Link]
couldbemodifiedtoadjustitsperclientbandwidthbasedon
thenumberofconnectedclients.
5. Determineamethodofautomaticallyandeffectively
calculatingtheavailablebandwidthonaconnection.
Bandwidthsettingsarecurrentlysetmanuallybyaclient.
Acknowledgments
ThoughseveraloftheideaspresentedhereareuniquetoTRIBES,
othershavebeenassimilatedfromothersourcesovercountless
yearsofreadingandtheauthors,beingtoolazytoresearch
theirsources,wouldliketothankeveryoneinonesentence.
