This is continued from another post, because the conversation ended prematurely.
The original thought was this:
It seems that low upload bandwidth users cause the majority of the lag issues. These users do fine in 2v2, and sometimes 3v3, but fail horribly in 4v4 matchups. Could proxy connections be used to split a packet multiple ways, so that the user only has to upload one set of information, which the proxy would then duplicate to all of the players in the game?"
Pseudomelon then related it to the bug with higher user count games people are having, which for no apparent reason cause lag with more players:
Actually, low upload bandwidth isn't the problem. Proxies have been tested with this glitch, and do not solve the problem. Switching to another connection from another area, however, can sometimes fix the problem, even if its speed is lower (!!!) It's a difficult problem to figure out.
I've read through the massive data-analysis thread for this issue, and agree that in their case, the bandwidth seems to have nothing to do with the issue. But in other cases like mine, where I only have 50 kb/s upload, reducing the amount of data that needs to be uploaded would be beneficial.
Istari then joined the conversation, saying:
The user would still have to transmit the data to the proxy server so it wouldn't solve anything.
The bottom line is that someone with a poor Internet connection is going to have problems playing this game on the Internet with lots of people.
From what I can see,in a 3 vs. 3 match the typical player has to transmit their data to five other players. When a player has a problem connecting to another player, they then upload to a proxy, which sends it to the user. What I was suggesting is that instead of my having to upload the same data five times, we only upload it once to a proxy server, which then relays the data out to the five other players. I'm not sure if it is possible to code. that's why it was in the ask - GPG/Frogboy thread. A lot of it depends on whether the data I send to XJohnX is the same as I send to Sarmis, and how much control Stardock has over the proxies.
While I can't promise that it will fix the problem, I know I can't play 4v4 on Demigod, but I can play 3v3 with ease. I can also play Warcraft 3 with eleven other users without an issue, which also uses P2P connections. There are many more shades of grey when it comes to internet connections now - its not just "good" and "crappy."
