I don't use Vista thankfully. I use XP and wiating for windows 7 before making the jump. It is a good thing that you brought up mentioning the Vista issues, as some users may be having problems related to that.

pseudomelon: yeah, that's more than enough.

Well, it could still be a software issue. Or an ISP issue. There was a time where I couldn't play 4v4s in Supreme Commander as well. It happened over night, nothing changed that I know of, so I assumed that it was something the ISP did. Months later it was gone.

I know about that thread, but didn't help in my case.

I too have constant huge spikes...almost constant (maybe 3-8 seconds of normal activity, then again with 1000+ lag for a lot of seconds and so on).

If it's an ISP problem (i doubt it because torrent p2p traffic works fine), i would like to know what's the cause, because at this moment, i don't know what to tell them and how to make them understand my problem. At their end, my connection acts normal.

I've played today a 3v3 match, and i still had those spikes, but very rare (intervals measured in minutes, not seconds, like in 5v5 matches). It seems that it gets worse as more players are in the game, culminating with 5v5 matches when it lags almost constant and the game freezes. I usually quit, to let others still enjoy the game.

Thx, but please tell us if you can play a 5v5 game, that's the ultimate test, imo...

While at first i was looking at my ISP its now switched back to Stardock/Demigod.

I've been monitoring latency, packetloss and the packets themselves (types, destinations etc). Every spike comes along at the same time the game is sending Application Data to Stardock. Frogboy confirmed the IP was Stardocks NAT.

From what Monk and others have told me, this issue was apparent in the Beta. I can only assume because the game is sending TCP data to the server and not getting through it attempts to resend over and over and over, causing the large upload spike which then clogs all your other interweb tubes.

Unfortunately something like this isn't going to be fixed quickly.

Well the game transfers information to other players through UDP, but communicates with the NAT server with TCP.

Why its happening, who knows. I just look at hundreds of thousands of neon lines to find some common occurance.

EDIT: Should just mention this is purely speculation ya know, could be utter coincidence that this always occurs with attempts to transfer data to stardock.

EDIT2: As far as i am aware (And any network savvy person feel free to contradict me on this) TCP does the following...

My PC says, "Hello, wanna chat TCP stuff?" (SYN)
The other PC says, "Sure, lets chat!" (SYN-ACK)
My PC says, "Great!" (ACK)

This is a three-way handshake and establishes the connection. Now i am sure the connection is dependant on IP/Port identifiers. The problem might be that IP's have a tendancy to change (This is NAT in action), I remember Frogboy saying some can alter every minute or so. So suddenly your computer is sending information on a connection that no longer exists (because your IP is different) over and over, hence the upload spam. Eventually your PC recognises this, and re-establishes the connection (lag spike finishes).

One possibility at least.

Well, play a 3v3 and double the upload figure. Probably be just under that. Never managed a 5v5 myself so i couldn't say.

Has anyone having this sort of troubles have tried the latest beta patch?

In my opinion its your guys connections. I've had plenty of 4v4s (never got a 5v5 going befor .. but yet haven't tried since beta patch).

It isn't software i don't think because you can eliminate it and still have the problem. Dead Ghost says even on 2 different drives / OS installs he still lags.

So honestly guys its your connection not demigod ... you just have a very weak weak broadband connection. PC gaming takes a big demand on your connection and your PC specs.

I run this game full evreything without a single bit of lag and could play any game with any amount of players and have no issue. From what i've seen is that you guys have a very very very veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy crappy upload but that isn't what is always hurting you ... you guys barley seem to pull 5 Mbps on the DOWN when the speedtest server you are testing is only ~50miles away (a.k.a Protocept00).

Computer Specifications

My specs:

Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz

Memory (RAM): CORSAIR 4GB (4094MB) DDR2 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel

Hard Drive: Intel X25-M 80GB Sold-State Drive (SSD)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB

Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio (Good soundcard on my mobo)

And my vista boot time is around ~20sec to desktop.

Connection

Next is connections .... i don't know how much this game takes connection wise but with my connection i am never even concerned. But after looking at some of you guys and seeing what your speed test showed.

My connection is Comcast and this is my speedtest (NOTE: I was downloading a torrent on another PC on my network at the time of this speed test. I was roughly DLing around ~150KB/sec and uploading around 200KB/sec during this test).

So see i personally think its your connection and maybe some of your PCs (Keyword: MAYBE since i don't know most of your guys PC specs) if they aren't strong enough. If the processor or the PC is getting bottlenecked it could cause you to lag but from what i've seen your guys connections are just extremely weak and i don't think they can handle more than a 2v2 because if you think about it ...

2v2 = 3 ppl for your PC to talk to and your PC has to relay everything your doing to them so their client can show your charcter doing what your doing.

3v3 = 5 ppl for your PC to talk to ... and upload your movements.

5v5 =9 ppl for your PC to talk to ... and upload your movements.

So thats just my 2 cents . Hope it helps!

(Post Edited to fix picture).

My PC isn't a problem (my sim speed is always >4): 8800GT, E6400 Core2, 4 GB ram, Vista x64, playing in 1360x768 (on a HD TV). I've posted my netspeed tests, and pls note that the closest srver was at 1000 miles away, and still had 44 ping.

Also, i've tried today a test, playing some games with BandwidthMonitor in use, so i can see my upload and download in real time. In some 2v2 game (which worked fine), my upload was at 2-4 KB. In a 4v4 game (in which i've had huge spikes, like usual), my bandwidth monitor showed around 18-20 KB upload use, and that is well below my available upload bandwidth.

And more, i have a friend who's connection speed is the same as mine, just different ISP, and he can play the game without the spikes i have.

Demigod is the only mp game i've had this problem with.

Then maybe the speed isn't the main issue of problem if your friends ISP is (literally) the same speed as yours. If he is the same speed and can play fine but you can't then it just sounds like you are having bad hops to other people. As you go out online you "hop" around your ISPs servers to get to where you need to (like the person 10 states away who your playing demigod with) and the hops your modem is taking is causing you to have lag or some packets are getting lost which could be causing it. Im not sure what i can tell you to do because it has to do with your ISPs routing ... not much you can do on that.