Calling Milton Shupe - are you reading?

[barryward12345 0]

G'day MiltonI have just posted to the Bushnet forum - as I have been having spasmodic multiplayer connection problems which are driving me crazy!!! :( I have tried everything - read every posting about multiplayer in every Sim forum on the net. Can't see any pattern to the problem at all - but a light possibly turned on today.Here is my post to the Bushnet forum"I notice that some people on Bushnet are flying models that are known to be "resource hoggers" eg Miltons Commander a/c series. Milton himself elsewhere has said that his a/c are very complex - both in the polygon department and in the VC panels department.This morning I connected to Bushnet when there was no one else flying - the connection was virtually instantaneous. After disconnecting , some short time later, I noticed that someone had joined flying the Commander 500 so I attempted to connect again. This time the connection looked like it was going to be unsuccessful - it took quite a long time but then suddenly connected.So far this is the only thing that makes any sense to me in my struggle to find some kind of pattern to my problems.I wonder if any others who have spasmodic connection problems like me could observe (on the server webpage) just who is flying what when they can't connect - perhaps there is a pattern in this."I am just wondering if you could add to this -- and by the way , thanks again for your GREAT models . I am particularly looking forward to the VC version of the Dash7Regards Barry

[Guest Milton]

>G'day Milton>>I have just posted to the Bushnet forum - as I have been>having spasmodic multiplayer connection problems which are>driving me crazy!!! :( I have tried everything - read every>posting about multiplayer in every Sim forum on the net. ... {snipped}Man, that must have taken a lot of time. :-)>Here is my post to the Bushnet forum>>"I notice that some people on Bushnet are flying models that>are known to be "resource hoggers" eg Miltons Commander a/c>series. ...Thank you :-) Are you being paid by anyone to make these statements. LOL>Milton himself elsewhere has said that his a/c are>very complex - both in the polygon department and in the VC>panels department.>Not complex but early ones were "over-modeled". The VCs are not complex, though there were a few gauges that dragged down FPS. There were fixes posted for these. Textures are overly heavy ... that's just my inexperience.>This morning I connected to Bushnet when there was no one else>flying - the connection was virtually instantaneous. After>disconnecting , some short time later, I noticed that someone>had joined flying the Commander 500 so I attempted to connect>again. This time the connection looked like it was going to be>unsuccessful - it took quite a long time but then suddenly>connected.>>So far this is the only thing that makes any sense to me in my>struggle to find some kind of pattern to my problems.>>I wonder if any others who have spasmodic connection problems>like me could observe (on the server webpage) just who is>flying what when they can't connect - perhaps there is a>pattern in this.">Well, I don't know Barry, but I do know this. We (the team) have been flying the Aero Commanders for two years on MP without these issues.Also, I might note that I see no difference in FPS for the Commanders and the default aircraft here. Might just be my 2~Ghz Athlon with an intergrated OMB GPU though. :-)>I am just wondering if you could add to this -- and by the way>, thanks again for your GREAT models . This statement just doesn't fit with the "resource hoggers" eg Miltons Commander a/c series" statement above. :-)>I am particularly>looking forward to the VC version of the Dash7That may be a long wait.>>Regards >>BarryIn case you did not detect it, I am irritated by this kind of post. I really don't want the Commander series being blamed for burning up video cards or hard drive crashes or stopped up Internet connections or dump valves that won't dump. You, sir, have been around long enough to know better than this.Regards to youMilton Shupe

[Guest deKoven]

Have to say here; I've flown the AC 680 many times on multi, it's one of my favorite planes. I've never had any problems with it at all. I fly once a week with my Alaska Winds buds and have used it for our flights (except for the Misty Fjords area, too big for that.):D

[Guest abent]

Haven't done any multi-player but can vouch that the AeroCommander series from 500-680, for such complex and beautifully modeled aircraft, are some of the smoothest running a/c on my system. Frame rates with these planes are as good as any plane I've had in FS be it default, freeware or payware. From the point of view of modeling, texturing and preformance, I rank them at the top of my a/c list. Now just waiting for Team AeroCommander's turbine 681 version. ;) :D Adam

[Guest Milton]

Barry,After a night's sleep, and reading all the posts on the Bushnet forum, I can see the frustrations you have experienced. I have been flying the Netwings FSHost server with up to 15 pilots in custom aircraft with the Howard and Aero Commanders, i.e. multiple Howards and Commanders in a session without issues.Take a look at the pings rates you get when attempting connections. If you cannot connect, you can check your side of the link with the PING command in a DOD or CMD prompt.PING 24.30.128.165 -tThis will give you continuous results every 2-3 seconds. End the window with a Cntrl+C.Best ping rates are less than 100ms, but it should work fine up to 300 or so. Over 1000ms is a problem. Also, when unable to disconnect, try closing the firewall temporarily, joining, then restart the firewall.

[barryward12345 0]

Thanks Milton for the help. I must absolutely and unreservedly apologise to you if I annoyed you in ANY way with my post. Perhaps the manner in which I used my words could have been much better. Your FREEWARE a/c are (IMO) probably the very best available for Fsim and certainly the range of them that you have created since Fs2002 with the Dash7 also puts you right up in the "most appreciated" list when quantity is combined with quality!! :)You are quite correct about my frustration with connecting to multiplayer - primarily the Bushnet ( which I like a lot because of the niceness, consideration and maturity of the players). In another life, I was an engineer and I hate "mysteries". When something happens randomly with no seeming pattern, It is just so difficult to figure out what the problem is. The common answer I see in regard to multiplayer connection problems usually relate to incorrectly configured firewalls - but I can completely disconnect all firewalls and the problems persist. Furthermore, if somebody with a miconfigured firewall somehow was able to connect to multiplayer, then surely any interference caused to one player should affect others as well.However, the question of net traffic is seldom discussed. One of the problems that I am "theorizing" about relates to the amount of data that has to be pumped down the line when people fly on multiplayer with "high poly" a/c. One of the mysteries that I recently encountered was when I could connect instantaneously to the Bushnet in one time and five minutes later could not - this was when a high poly a/c had joined the server. I am thinking that the data still has to be pumped down the line even if Fsim at the other end then uses a default a/c to display on the screen.I am certainly going to try out your ping test -- have never done anything like that so far. I guess I should try it out both when the server is quiet and also when busy.Regards and thanks Barry

[Guest Milton]

Barry,Hi-poly aircraft cause no additional net traffic. What you see is what you have. Textures are not sent over the net. Only minor data details about type of aircraft, coordinates, alt., hdg, speeds, etc. These are all data items, not textures, not scenery, not poly's, not animations. Your sim does that work. No net activity occurs in that regard.The server sits with tentacles, each one with connection to a player. When you connect, there must be a reasonable ping rate among all players or you will not be connected. Modem users can drastically affect global connections in this way.Now, if your computer is stressed by what it is rendering (hi poly/hi-res textures), and you do not have FPS lock on, the sim will take resource from the NIC connection and response ability. This may prevent connection.We always join in default or low poly/res aircraft, then switch. It also helps to rename your aircraft so that others do not see your hi-res/poly unit but instead see a default that you joined in or they see their aircraft instead.So, use a frame lock, join in default aircraft, and rename any hi-poly/res aircraft you may fly. You may also try joining before loading your aircraft. That is an option as well and then the FS overhead is not an issue for joining.