Medium Counter-Strike On Roadmap 100 TIC Rate and LERP Timings

[postwarscars]

I'm relieved to see that EGO has finally updated the server to 100tic. While the hitreg hasn't dramatically improved, it's at least allowed things like movement to become more fluid/proper compared to how the server previously felt.

My suggestion is as follows: if you allow the server to be set to 100tic, you need to allow, or force, cl_interp 1 and cl_interp_ratio 0.01. The current settings are 2 and 0.02 respectfully. CS Source servers should, ideally, show frame timings (LERP) between 10 and 15 ms, which runs in accordance with cl_updaterate and cl_cmdrate being set to 100 and allowing the server to update accordingly with your hitbox rendering. EGO currently allows for 20, and previously allowed for 30. These are fairly high and don't accurately represent frame timings in-game.

That said, part of the reason there are so many hitbox issues is, as others have mentioned, the size of the server, the number of players with 100+ ping, and because no-block actively offsets player hitboxes and can lead to inaccuracy in game. I'm not advocating for any changes here, I'm just acknowledging that these are part of the problem but are fundamentally not "fixable." Regardless, the change to 100tic is welcome for me if no other reason than because I can move more fluidly in situations I couldn't previously (ie: air strafes).

Again, sorry for the novel.

 

[GardenGroveVW]

I'm relieved to see that EGO has finally updated the server to 100tic. While the hitreg hasn't dramatically improved, it's at least allowed things like movement to become more fluid/proper compared to how the server previously felt.

My suggestion is as follows: if you allow the server to be set to 100tic, you need to allow, or force, cl_interp 1 and cl_interp_ratio 0.01. The current settings are 2 and 0.02 respectfully. CS Source servers should, ideally, show frame timings (LERP) between 10 and 15 ms, which runs in accordance with cl_updaterate and cl_cmdrate being set to 100 and allowing the server to update accordingly with your hitbox rendering. EGO currently allows for 20, and previously allowed for 30. These are fairly high and don't accurately represent frame timings in-game.

That said, part of the reason there are so many hitbox issues is, as others have mentioned, the size of the server, the number of players with 100+ ping, and because no-block actively offsets player hitboxes and can lead to inaccuracy in game. I'm not advocating for any changes here, I'm just acknowledging that these are part of the problem but are fundamentally not "fixable." Regardless, the change to 100tic is welcome for me if no other reason than because I can move more fluidly in situations I couldn't previously (ie: air strafes).

Again, sorry for the novel.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'm glad that people of the CSS Dust2 server are finally coming forward and posting on the forums, while that is said, not that I don't believe you and your knowledge, but I do have a question..

How do you know that no-block offsets the player's hitboxes, can you help explain this so I can look into it?

 

[postwarscars]

Thank you for the suggestion, I'm glad that people of the CSS Dust2 server are finally coming forward and posting on the forums, while that is said, not that I don't believe you and your knowledge, but I do have a question..

How do you know that no-block offsets the player's hitboxes, can you help explain this so I can look into it?

Hey, no problem!

Again - I don't think this is something you can actively change because of the player count, but NoBlock prevents collisions between players by forcing them to no longer be seen as physical boxes on the server. The upside is you don't run into each other, the downside is that sometimes overlapping boxes are presented incorrectly.

AS AN EXAMPLE: if two player models overlap with each other, and an opposing player shoots the model of one player it will actually hit the other player instead. This is because of a shift in where the server is "seeing" the players as they're no longer colliding (this is a huge pet peeve of mine involving NoBlock, because I die a lot to teammates running into my body which causes me to get shot). You can usually tell this is occurring because it'll feel a bit like lag when you are hit as there's a small gap in when you die.

The other way you can tell this is the case is because it's harder to get collateral lineup kills in a NoBlock server than it is in a server without it.

Now, without concrete proof, I suspect that part of the way this is achieved causes hitboxes to render in front of, or behind, a player's model (or that CS Source struggles to understand physical boxes vs. non physical ones regarding hitboxes). I'm theorizing based on years of experience, so I'm not at all saying I'm correct about this, it's just how it's often felt to me.

What I can tell you is that you could put me in a double-blind test of a server with NoBlock vs one without and I could tell them apart by hit registration alone. It's a double-edged sword in this respect. I personally don't like NoBlock, but again, I think it's a requirement for a server the size of EGO and I'm in no way advocating for its removal, no matter what my personal preferences are. I'm not even sure there's a way to fix the tradeoff of collision vs. sometimes offset hitboxes.

 

[postwarscars]

FOLLOW UP:
I saw that you allowed for us to adjust cl_interp and cl_interp_ratio appropriately! I cannot stress enough how important that change was. The server feels MILES better than it ever has. I was genuinely astounded at the difference.

I know that some days the server feels better than others, but it's never felt like this. Thank you so much for allowing that change to come through.

With that said, you may want to make sure that players are aware their rates should be set properly, because they might otherwise attribute the changes to "lag" when it's really on their end. Those settings are as follows:

cl_updaterate 100
cl_cmdrate 100
cl_interp 0.01 or 0.015
cl_interp_ratio 1
rate 30000 (this one matters by far the least in my experience)

Again, thank you so much for this change. Please, I implore you, do not revert it.

 

[GardenGroveVW]

FOLLOW UP:
I saw that you allowed for us to adjust cl_interp and cl_interp_ratio appropriately! I cannot stress enough how important that change was. The server feels MILES better than it ever has. I was genuinely astounded at the difference.

I know that some days the server feels better than others, but it's never felt like this. Thank you so much for allowing that change to come through.

With that said, you may want to make sure that players are aware their rates should be set properly, because they might otherwise attribute the changes to "lag" when it's really on their end. Those settings are as follows:

cl_updaterate 100
cl_cmdrate 100
cl_interp 0.01 or 0.015
cl_interp_ratio 1
rate 30000 (this one matters by far the least in my experience)

Again, thank you so much for this change. Please, I implore you, do not revert it.

Np, now be a champion and get those old farts posting in discord and the forums... the more input we get the better the server gets..

Sending direct messages to Legend, Cas, CSS leader.. etc. helps but gets lost.

Anyways, thank you for the input and hopefully it gets better for everyone!