[MUD-Dev] Net protocols for MUDing

[Shawn Halpenny]

On Fri, 20 Mar 1998, J C Lawrence wrote:

[...]

> Given a client which is doing predictive work on the scene it
> represents to the user, and a server (push or pull) which updates the
> client with the requisite data for verisimilitude, there is a problem:
> 
>   > sc
>   You are near to death.
>   > l
>   Bubba is here.  
>   > kill bubba
>   You attack Bubba. // At this instant Bubba's client dissappears.
>   Bubba pushes you with his shield.  // Predicted first act of Bubba.
>   You are dead.  // Result of predicted action.
>   Bubba suddenly vanishes!  He has logged out.
>   You are alive.
> 
> This is of course a variation on the colliding space ships, and
> suffers from the "who owns the decision" problem described above.  The 
> key point however is that prediction only goes so far.

And what if this _sort_ of thing were a desirable feature?  Think Dan
Simmons'  Hyperion et al. and the Shrike battles where the thing just up
and disappeared.  Suddenly, you notice your arm is severed from your
body and the thing is standing next to you, swing completed before you had
the slightest clue it had returned.

Admittedly not a strong premise, but it was amusing to think that people
would be trying to a) obtain/force poor network connections to the server,
or b) hacking the client to selectively drop packets here and there, c)
etc.,  all in hopes of getting the drop on our erstwhile hero.

--
Shawn Halpenny - stockpiling mud-dev articles to reply to when time permits