Falcon 4.0 was published late in 1998, proclaiming itself “The new benchmark in flight sim technology”. It was ambitious, full of promise, and so riddled with bugs that it could barely run for 60 seconds out of the box. Now it’s 2003, and some people are still out there playing Falcon 4.0. Are they a lonely bunch of freaks blindly obsessing over a shattered hope, or do they know something the rest of us don’t?

`swamp

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"You need broadband!"

In case you missed it:

F4 Unified Team's SuperPak 3

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A typical example: me on a broadband connection in Malaysia hosting a TE with 5 other pilots in different parts of Australia (most of whom were on dialup)...absolutely plain sailing! No lag, no stuttering and no breakup in Roger Wilco comms! Since it came out, I have yet to register a CTD for TEs! This compares extremely well to the absolute disaster which was SP2 (which had me casting loving looks at <gasp!> Flanker 2, Janes F/A-18 and <double gasp!> Eurofighter Typhoon!

Yes, Falcon4 has always been bandwidth hungry but with broadband now widely available to go with the rejigged multiplayer code in SP3, multiplayer issues are a thing of the past.

My only gripe is in the in-game comms which clearly needs more work! The bugs in it go beyond the usual bandwidth considerations. If they can be resolved (SP4 maybe?), then realistic radio functions will be well received by the hardcore F4 community, expecially now that 8-12 player TEs are now common place.

Mosquito

What problems are you experiencing...I might be able to help.

My 56k buddy usually hits the 2nd button first.

Is this likely a cause of some of our troubles?

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quote:

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Originally posted by James Sterrett:
I recently noticed the Freebirds VFW site claims that the first player to hit the second button on the loading screen supposedly hosts all the ground units in the mission.

My 56k buddy usually hits the 2nd button first.

Is this likely a cause of some of our troubles?

(We're using -pf 100, -ip, and -bandwidth, the last one tested via the site you recommend over at Frugal's.)

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I haven't heard of this one before...but how are you connecting up....what's the host's upload and is it the greatest upload of you all?

If your 56k buddy is hitting the second button first after committing, it sounds like you need to be a bit more ordered about the way that pilots go into the 3d world.

Here's my advice:

1. The pilot with the greatest bandwidth hosts the mission (remember, the host is the guy who puts up the game, not necessarily the one who puts in 0.0.0.0).

2. When you're all in the mission schedule screen, you should commit to the 3d world like this:

a) Host commits
b) Client 1 waits 3 seconds then commits
c) Client 2 waits 3 seconds after Client 1, then commits...and so on.

The host should always commit first, and pilots follow through with a few seconds of seperation. That way any syncing issues in the code are ironed out and Falcon has a chance to catch up with itself across the network.

The code also prioritises what messages are sent to clients, so in times of bandwidth strangulation, less important updates may not be sent.

My own golden rule is for everyone to set their bandwidth in the command line of the shortcut using -bandwidth xxx ensuring that their tested upload goes in there.

regards,

I'm the host, and use -bandwidth 110; this is on the conservative side compared to testing. The 56k line uses -bandwidth 24 which is slightly aggressive compared to testing; RW is also in use (I host).

quote:

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Originally posted by James Sterrett:
Thanks! We'll give that a try next time we fly.

I'm the host, and use -bandwidth 110; this is on the conservative side compared to testing. The 56k line uses -bandwidth 24 which is slightly aggressive compared to testing; RW is also in use (I host).

For what it's worth, I have to use an actual IP; 0.0.0.0 failed. I'm guessing this is because I'm behind a router (in the DMZ).

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Try using -ip x.x.x.x in the command line...it might help.

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[We do use the -ip command; -pf 100 too:

"C:\Program Files\Falcon4\FalconSP.exe" -pf 100 -ip 68.82.136.112 -bandwidth 100

quote:

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Originally posted by James Sterrett:
Tried it, still had trouble with his machine cutting out. 8( Smaller missions ran fine (as before), but larger missions eventually mean he drops out.

[We do use the -ip command; -pf 100 too:

"C:\Program Files\Falcon4\FalconSP.exe" -pf 100 -ip 68.82.136.112 -bandwidth 100

]

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Okay, can I just check that you are hosting 7 players (8 including yourself) with 100kbps upload? If you are and it is running okay I'm very impressed...the MP code was written to allow 33kbps per client...so with your upload you should only be supporting a maximum of 3 clients (3 x 33kbps).

To be honest, anything higher than eight is a real problem. Friends with uploads of 2000 kbps ( ) report problems with more than 8...although I have a screenshot with 13 in a TE

The other ugy is on ther 56k modem line, and his upload speed is less than 33k - which we suspect is the source of the trouble.