The srcds0407 source beta engine causes terrible lag problems at the start of rounds on a full server and had to be backed off all my machines. It better not be included as a mandatory change in the next release as that would be disastrous. If Valve insists on that change they need to make it optional controlled by a cvar, not forced on everyone.
It is unclear to me why they started changing that part of the code to attempt a fix the problem in the beta, when it doesn't sound like that was the area they had previously fiddled with. Valve shouldn't be changing code to try to fix something in an area of the code they hadn't touched when they broke it. That is only shifting the sands and in this case introduces new problems for different people. I have to admit I have been fortunate not to have suffered from any of the lag problems reported through this forum except from the beta srcds0407. I run a mixture of operating systems on various boxes, both 32 bit and 64 bit, AMD and Intel, single and multi processor and various kernel versions. I use glib2.3.6 by default and also tried glib2.5 but have been unable to re-create the problem on any combination. The fact that it doesn't affect everybody makes it sound like they have done something in the code that can now upset the operating system. If it was something basic it would be in the main valve code and affect everybody. Maybe they updated their compiler version or used different compile switches, or added a rogue system call with un-initialised parameters. It's a bit like renice stopped being useable in a past valve engine release, that's probably due to the game upsetting the operating system and something else they have not been able to track down. The only other thought on why UKCS has been unaffected maybe that we only use our own custom mod not any off the shelf mods used on most other servers. Its won't be the mods themselves, but maybe a combination of libraries along with the latent bug introduced by Valve that causes it to exhibit itself. However, I think some people say they could get the problem without any mods but not sure if that was confirmed. Only Valve will know ALL the changes they introduce between releases, and it's those areas they changed including the build process they should review and only relating to those areas they changed should they look to apply a fix. The biggest factor that affects the playability and popularity of the Valve's Source games is how smooth and tight their games feel to play. I'd like to see more focus from Valve concentrating on improving performance and underlying feel of the game as that's something that benefits all players and what want above all other things enhancements. Too much time seems to be spent making changes and introducing features that assume the basics are already in place and perfect, when they are not. Players want a game they can play smoothly on the PC they already have at home which requires making both the client and server side work with lower CPU and without hangs and glitches. Continuing to develop the game in a direction that requires ever more powerful Client PCs and graphic cards prices most of the potential players off the game. Similar goes for the amount of CPU the server side now requires, now demanding the very top end available hardware to support them which again out prices most and affects the end users experience who play on them. I've ran Valve based game servers for five years, and CSS has never ran as well as it did before the changes at the end of 2005. Back then it ran with significantly less load on both client and server and felt overall more enjoyable to play. Valve needs to concentrate on improving the fundamentals of their games, and the number of players and popularity will go up which has to be Valve's reason for making changes. In contrast, I wonder how many more people were drawn to play CSS by dynamic weapon pricing, HDR, those new text boxes and some of those valve maps which were very pretty but too laggy for the average player? How many players benefited from the cl_restrict_server_commands constraint imposed on server mods against how many were negatively affected by the knock on affects of introducing it? Did Valve ever fix the problem where the downloads directory of user sprays gets very large over time and causes lag every time people spray while it searches the directory to find the needed file? Or is each server owner still expected to know they need to provide their own regular purging? I'd like to think Valve fixed that one, if not, why not. The better voice codec was on the right lines - focussing on the fundamentals of the game. Let's hope valve find their direction and spend their coming development time on the top requirement of every player - improving the fundamental smoothness and feel of the core game itself. TC UKCS Mega Game Servers (www.ukcs.net) _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
