Network games

These are the different phases in a network cup:

  • Registering: Server waits for players to join. Tracks can still be changed and track records can be transfered to and from the server. If "Continuous Reg" is not selected, this is the only phase where new players can join.
  • Cup: Waiting for the next race. If the client does not have the track or cars, they are downloaded.
  • Car Selection: If car is not fixed, players can select their car for the next race.
  • Race: This is the actual race phase. After this phase, the game goes back to the cup phase if there are more tracks left. If you happen to join when a race is on, you will have to wait until the next race starts before you can actually drive your car.
  • Cup Over: Waiting for the server to quit or restart.

Server controls moving from phase to phase. It is also possible to make an automatic server which does not have the overhead for graphics. See autoserver article for instructions on how to do that.

Lag prevention

Lag and jerky car movements can be caused either by bad network connection or if there are lots of cars, slow graphics. For more information, see the Troubleshooting document.
Prefer servers whose ping times are low. Pings of less than 100 ms are good, pings of more than 200 ms are very bad. The ping is especially bad if the ping times vary a lot. The game uses an advanced prediction system to try to cope with high pings. As long as the server ping remains between the min prediction and max prediction times, manouvering your own car should be smooth. If prediction is high, there may be warping, though, especially when colliding with other cars.

If you have problems, you can debug the situation by pressing the diagnostics key (F10 by default). If FPS is less than 50, the problem is probably in graphics (change graphics settings). You can also see your ping time and "serv diff" which tells if the server is getting your event messages in time. If "Serv diff" is red, prediction times are incorrect for the network connection. If it is negative, the server is receiving your events too late, which causes controlling your car to be very hard. If the number is too big, you are making unnecessarily lots of prediction which can cause extra warping. If automatic prediction adjustment is on, the game tries to adjust prediction but if you want to do that manually, you can use the prediction change keys (PageUp and PageDown by default). You can see the red "Serv diff" information when necessary even without pressing F10.

Line editing

In network games, you can write messages and commands in the Write Message box. There are several line editing key key commands available. For example, Shift+Backspace clears text, Left and Right arrows (or Ctrl+f/b) move cursor, Up arrow (or Ctrl+p) displays the previous command, Ctrl+a goes to the beginninf of the line, Ctrl+k cuts text from the cursor and Ctrl+v pastes it.