“Multiplayer Etiquette” – a simple standard to reduce FAF disconnects for everyone

[Thomy100]

Hi guys,

The admins and everyone helping to maintain this great community project for this, best RTS Game ever, do an amazing job.

The main issue und joy killer, to me at least, is the very fragile multiplayer connection architecture of this game that causes lots of disconnects.

Since changing the game’s networking model isn’t realistic, I’d like to propose a community “Multiplayer Etiquette”: a simple, practical checklist that helps players minimize connection problems on their own side, for the benefit of everyone in the lobby.

Step 1 - ensure stable internet connection

The biggest problems are unstable connections (packet loss, jitter, WiFi issues)

How to address this:

• Use Ethernet cable or at least powerline internet connection
• If Wi-Fi is unavoidable, use 5GHz, not 2,4 GHz

WiFie micro drops and jitter spikes are one of the main reasons for random freezes and reconnect attempts in FAF

Step 2 - Avoid upload saturation ("bufferbloat")

Upload congestion causes latency and jitter spikes that FAF’s lockstep model handles very poorly.

• Before starting a match, pause cloud sync's like OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.
• Close stuff like Steam or Torrent downloading software
• Avoid heavy uploads or backups

If all, or at least most, players would consider these two steps, this would help to reduce connection loss in games by 30%

There are of course more steps that could be taken but these are the two most straight forward and easiest to apply.

Is it possible to put a Text note like the note about the discord server, on the matchmaking page with these tips? It might help to nudge the players into the right "multiplayer connection behavior" to have less disconnects.

Thanks in advance for the consideration dear admins.

[wilson_]

gen z learning how to use the internet. i like.

[maudlin27]

Re "Close stuff like steam" - do not do this once a game has started, as it can cause the game to close (instead just pause any steam updates)
I've also found windows 11 likes to randomly start updates that make my PC slow to a crawl for 15m+, there's an option to pause them for a week, although I dont know how reliable it is.

[IndexLibrorum]

@maudlin27 I believe there is a setting in FAF that allows you to just not start steam while playing FAF. That might help if people believe having steam open is an issue (which it probably shouldn't be, since steam should recognize a game is open and cease all downloads automatically.)

[maudlin27]

@IndexLibrorum Yes but if steam is already open then it can still cause an issue I think (e.g. I recall at least one time where I've had steam open from playing a different game, then later played FAF and thought I'd exit other programs only to find it closed down the FAF game)

[Thomy100]

I just think it would really help if information like these would be more visible somewhere in the FAF application, eg. on the Matchmaking page.

Teaching the players the "right" online connection behavior would go a long way for the stability in the multiplayer games. Less mid-game drops or connection losses -> less frustration & more games.

I try to inform people while in game but way too many believe their 2,4GHz Wifi con is "just fine".

[Skrat]

Separately, I would like to mention the difficulties of the players from Russia. Cloudflare, which the FAF actively uses, was blocked in Russia. If we make detailed instructions with other players from Russia to solve this problem. Will the faf administration be able to post it for all newbies from Russia and for those who haven't visited for a long time? For example, on the authorization page?