enforcing fog as a serverside variable

anomaly · Post by **anomaly** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:09 pm

I have created a couple of maps that use fog as part of the game play. I've noticed that when someone has an older client or turns fog off they have a distinct advantage when they get a laser flag. That player is able to shoot other players on the far side of the map! They really shouldn't even be able to see the other player. _radarLimit is 0 on this map.
Having the option to enforce fog on the server would really be nice. I'm proposing this for 2.2.x version BZFlag.

pyr0 · Post by **pyr0** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:59 pm

wont happen. fog would be ok for some video cards, but other users cant use fog for the simple reason that their system isnt good enough to use it without bogging down. my old one used to have to be played on low settings with nothing special and i only got around 19-25fps on average, where as this system with high or exp. settings, i hit 60 without a problem, on high now and with a variety of settings changed and i get 90fps on average.

its a user thing, not a server thing. tip i have is to remove laser or limit it better

anomaly · Post by **anomaly** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:35 pm

Well on my system fog actually improves the FPS. Every detail isn't being rendered. Most of what I have read suggests that fog will improve performance. But I see your point. And I did remove the laser flag.

Longhair · Post by **Longhair** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 10:12 pm

I like the idea. I realize that this would require some coding on the part of the developers of the game which would really be the final decision, but the decision shouldn't be made based on people who have computers that are that old. If you're using the "don't want to exclude old computers" logic, most of louman's maps wouldn't have been made either.

pyr0 · Post by **pyr0** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:23 am

true. but i dont much mind excluding under certain circumstances. removing a users control over options that may affect the performance of said persons game, thats another thing completely in my mind. As you said though, its up to the devs. Either way wouldnt bother me much since my system can handle it.

On the other hand, i say leave the option in, but make an explicit override for maps that want it because it works to help gameplay. Then warn the user when they join, as part of the server welcome message, that fog is enabled by the server.

-pyr0

anomaly · Post by **anomaly** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:05 pm

Just to clarify, I don't want to remove the player's ability to turn off/change the fog options in the menu. I want to be able to control whether a player can turn fog off or not if I think the game play is affected by the map's use of fog. That would be at the server admin's discretion. A server side variable, i.e. , _fogEnforce. If true then the player can not turn fog off. But he/she can change the option between fast|best.