Command Response Time: how fast units respond to new commands (your unit affecting clicks and keypresses, e.g. you tell a unit to hold position, it will keep moving for a few pixels, then it will cease movement)
Latency-Based Lag: this type of lag feels as though everything is going a bit slower in a fairly consistent manner, e.g. workers take a few seconds longer to build than they should, a ling takes longer to run from point A to point B, someone cast a slow-time spell on the whole game
Higher Turn Rate = Faster Command Response Time; More likely to have Latency-Based Lag
Lower Turn Rate = Slower Command Response Time; Less likely to have Latency-Based Lag
Hosting Guidelines:
- In general/when unsure, use dynamic turn rate (put the slider all the way to the left)
- For games where micro is not important (e.g. desert strike) always use dynamic or a very low turn rate of 8-12
- For games where you expect some Latency-Based Lag no matter what, but micro is definitely moderately important, set a static turn rate of 10-12
- For games where your response time is critically important (e.g. snipers, bounds), but you don't know the players you'll have in game, set a static turn rate of 14-16.
- If you have a private lobby where you know the players, or you're willing to accept the lag, or you're willing to ruthlessly ban people based on their latency bars, host with 18-24TR.
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Blizzard has not too long ago made it so that the latency bars in the lobby indicate the likeliness that a player will lag on different settings - I highly recommend you give this article a read-through: Lobby Latency Bars (link dead, see: archive ), though I've taken some excerpts below below... note that as a host you might not see what other players are seeing; you might see all green, but two players could still be at one bar with eachother:
On dynamic turn rate:
Quote
5 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 16 on low latency
4 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 12 on low latency
3 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 10 on high latency
2 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 8 on extra high latency
1 bar - the player cannot play at any TR on any latency
4 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 12 on low latency
3 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 10 on high latency
2 bars - the player should be able to play at TR 8 on extra high latency
1 bar - the player cannot play at any TR on any latency
With a static turn rate:
Quote
5 bars - high confidence that this player can play at selected TR on low latency
4 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on low latency
3 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on high latency
2 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on extra high latency
1 bar - the player is unlikely to be able to play at selected TR, or has no connectivity to you
4 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on low latency
3 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on high latency
2 bars - the player should be able to play at selected TR on extra high latency
1 bar - the player is unlikely to be able to play at selected TR, or has no connectivity to you
In additional to turn rate you have the in-game "Low Latency", "High Latency", and "Extra High Latency" settings, which are like the "big gear" on a bicycle, where turn rates are the "little gear". You can use these settings for additional control over the Command Response Time and Latency-Based Lag.
Notes on Lag
- Not all lag is Latency-Based Lag, a UMS map may be poorly designed using lots of location heavy conditions and heavyweight actions and cause lag on even the fastest computers, or a map may be well designed and someone has a crappy computer or has a bunch of other things open slowing down their computer; it is in this case that using the "Save Game" trick or "Lag Detection Triggers" can help you to identify a lagger. Historically there have also been "conflicts" between certain players that disallow them to play together with certain hosts without lag.
- Lag is very unlikely to be due to your upload/download bandwidth in the case of StarCraft, rather pay attention to your ping to something like google.com or specifically to other players, high ping (or high ping based on the host settings and the other players in game, rather), crappy computers, crappy routers/networking equipment, congested wifi airspaces, lossy networks, or poorly programmed game networking, are the primary causes of lag.
References
Actual Data on Turn Rate Frame Rate Ms (link dead, see: archive )
Lobby Latency Bars (link dead, see: archive )
Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Mar 23 2021, 5:33 am by jjf28.
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Reached the top of StarCraft theory crafting 2:12 AM CST, August 2nd, 2014.
Reached the top of StarCraft theory crafting 2:12 AM CST, August 2nd, 2014.