The Online AspectPage 10
SDOE Mission Making Tutorial - Part 2
by Scott Verge
The online side of mission making is a whole new ball game. In one way you dont need as much in-depth testing cause half the time all the slots are filled, so theres no AI and the other half of the time no one follows waypoints. In some ways that makes it easier to make online missions but you still have to follow the design rules: Balance, Numbers, Flak, and FPS.
Balance: This is just as important online as offline and maybe even more so. You might like the challenge of being out-numbered but some of the guys online wont.
Numbers: There are 2 thoughts to keep in mind when designing online missions pertaining to #s. The most people that can fly online in one game is 16 and you have to make a couple versions of the same mission with lower #s. Why? Well when there is only 8 guys playing it is a waste to have 16 planes on the map (especially if you didnt pay attention to the way the AI acts in the mission). So I would way make a medium sized mission of around 8-10 players and get it all working the way you want. Then add some planes for a 12-16 and take some away for a 4-6; a 6, 10, and 16 should be the minimum you make---more is even better but dont go overboard. People dont want their multiplayer folder filled with ten versions of the same mission.
Flak: Give main airfields (or those that might be attacked or used as a landing base) at least one defensive Flak Panzer and be careful how much you use cause FPS limitations are an even bigger concern online. Which leads right into the next concern with online missions---Frame rate or Frames Per Second (FPS).
FPS: You might be able to handle sub 20 FPS offline but online not only is your computer more taxed but going below 20 FPS can sometimes cause warping. Try to follow the rule of keeping everyone above 20 FPS. Also you might make a mission for your P3 600, Voodoo3, 256 MB RAM beast but if you get 30 FPS dont expect me to get that with my P2 266 with a Voodoo Banshee vid card. And dont forget those out there flying with a AMD K6-2 300. Some times people like using clouds and while they look great they can be a big hit on FPS. I find the overcast isnt as bad as the cloudy and partly cloudy. They all have their place though.
When you make a new mission and want to use it online you have to put it in your fighter squadron/media/missions/multiplayer folder. If you want to host, you will need to add this line to your sdemons.ini: NetMaxPlayers=16. If you use SDOE control under the general tab check Allow 16 Player Net Games
Online can be bewildering, who should I go for? Tailslide? OK!!!
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