Netcode

[Sniperwolf572]

I´ve checked everything. There even was an initiative with collecting signatures to get DSl, but no luck so far.

Wow, I was collecting signatures for DSL too, it took them three years to enable DSL at my suburbian apartment. Altough wireless was available all that time, it was too expensive for home use.

Also, Heatseeker is right, I played OFP with 56k, and ping wasn't a big issue. But OFP is not the issue here. Now, assuming BIS started with OFP and went to improve the netcode for OFP:E and (maybe) then improved it more for ArmA, there is a high chance of game being playable on ISDN/56k too, but I wouldn't bet on it. In the recent video, where LAN gameplay was shown, the game went very smoothly despite OFP sometimes being laggy over LAN, especially with CTI-s.

I hope for the best.

[Balschoiw]

It would end a lot of speculation if the DEV´s or Placebo could give some info.

[Suma]

Arma Bandwith is like ofp, depending from the mission. Arma also got alot of Elite optimizations, so there is chance that bandwith usage should be a bit lower than ofp.

I would even say ArmA bandwidth requiremens are lower than OFP, thanks to numerous optimizations, but as already said, it really depends on the mission, and with more players and more complex missions the bandwidth requirements will be higher.

While developing Xbox version, we estimated around 32kbps per player is needed on the server in a moderately complex mission, including voice over net. Your hosting options will therefore be quite limited, but you should be able to play at least some missions.

That said, I do not have any solid numbers from ArmA net testing yet, therefore the above is only estimation and it is by no means guaranteed.

[Balschoiw]

Thx for the answer.
Looks at least like I don´t have to give up online gaming with Arma totally. I hope there is still room for people like me who don´t have access to DSL or higher.
Player numbers and mission dimensions will evolve with Arma so maybe I will show up for some coop "Steal the car"
Guess it´s time to think about some really lonely evenings
Anyway, I can temporarely use channel bundling to get 16Kb/sec downstream which will double my costs but should make it possible to play at least some missions online.

If you need solid numbers about ISDN performance with Arma, send me the Beta

Thanks again.

[Average Joe]

Thanks for the Input Suma

[Serclaes]

I doubt there'll be much support for 56k or ISDN. It's simply old and obsolete, just like graphics cards get old and obsolete so has 56k or ISDN. While I understand some people have to have it due to limitations, the fact is majority of online gamers have ADSL so I doubt BIS cares much about it.

Actually thats not true. ADSL and 56k uses the same Analog method to transmit data while ISDN uses the Digital way, allowing to send on the lower Hertz frequency of the usual dualconductor copper cable you find in every household that has a phone. So in fact, DSL is a step back.
But DSL+ISDN = you can be on phone while downloading the newest FFUR without any bandwitch losses of each of them.

Thanks for the statement Suma

[bn880]

Yah umm, guys, don't confuse kbps with kBps. I doubt there is an ISDN connection out there that is only 16kbps downstream. 16kBps, perhaps? (Bytes)

[Rekrul]

Actually thats not true. ADSL and 56k uses the same Analog method to transmit data while ISDN uses the Digital way, allowing to send on the lower Hertz frequency of the usual dualconductor copper cable you find in every household that has a phone. So in fact, DSL is a step back.
But DSL+ISDN = you can be on phone while downloading the newest FFUR without any bandwitch losses of each of them.

Uhm, so you're saying that you can only have phone+DSL if you have ISDN? Are you also saying that ADSL is analoge?

[Frederf]

Yes ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) is analogue. That is why you have a "Modem." A modem is always a Analolgue to Digitital converter. In a way DSL is "very fast dial-up" apart from the radically different protocol differences, but the same priciniple for information transfer. Whether I call DSL "a step back" is another matter. It's certainly limited by the digital->analogue->digital conversions that have to take place.

What I would really like from this thread is not some subjective "Oh, 128kbps DSL will be fine." subjective crap. I want to know:

Server hosting 10 players, typical mission: A kBps down / B kBps up
Server hosting 30 players, typical mission: C kBps down / D kBps up
Server hosting 50 players, typical mission: E kBps down / F kBps up
Server hosting 100 players, typical mission: G kBps down / H kBps up

Client usability starts to noticable suffer for pings in excess of P ping.

[Rekrul]

Yes ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) is analogue. That is why you have a "Modem." A modem is always a Analolgue to Digitital converter. In a way DSL is "very fast dial-up" apart from the radically different protocol differences, but the same priciniple for information transfer. Whether I call DSL "a step back" is another matter. It's certainly limited by the digital->analogue->digital conversions that have to take place.

You're stretching the analoge-definition a bit far with this. As you already pointed out, the D in ADSL is for digital. Fair enough that you need an AFE (analog front end) either infront of, or integrated in the DSP (DSL-chip) for the physical layer, but this convertion has virtually no impact for performance. ADSL use advanced digital signal processing and algorithms to be able to send more data thru than with digital signaling. While ISDN might have digital signalling, it use over 1Mhz for a 64+64+16kbit/s link and is obviously not realistic for high-speed connections. (However I must admit I'm not familar with the ISDN PSD mask or its frequency use). How you can say that ADSL is more limited than ISDN is something I don't understand.

PS! Sorry for thread-hijack.

To drive this back on topic, I certainly hope BIS learned their lesson and does not use DirectPlay as their netcode this time.