Packet Loss and Latency in Unreal Tournament 2003

1. Packet Loss and Latency in Unreal Tournament 2003 Tom Beigbeder Rory Coughlan Corey Lusher John Plunkett

2. Background • Major draw of first person shooters (FPS) is the multiplayer aspect • The Internet was not designed for the real-time nature of computer games • Most games descend from one of two lineages – Quake or Unreal

3. Game Information • Majority of research has been done on Quake-engine based games, in particular Half-Life • Unreal Tournament 2003 is a popular fast-paced FPS game • Includes multiple types of weapons, typical of most other FPS

5. Network Traffic • Unreal Tournament 2003 transmits over 5000 packets per minute • Majority of game traffic is carried over the User Datagram Protocol • No retransmission functions built in • Need for precise movement and aiming requires constant updates from a game server, which requires low latencies and packet loss rates

6. Goals of the Project • Determine the impact of packet loss on player performance • Contrast with the effects of latency • Determine the specific components of gameplay that are most effected by network connection degradation

7. Technologies Utilized • Unreal Tournament 2003 • NIST Net • Ethereal • All Seeing Eye

8. Lab Setup

9. Methodology • Divided game into basic components such as precise aiming, and movement • Performed controlled tests at different levels of packet loss and latency • Analyzed results

10. Complex Movement Results

11. Precise Shooting Results

13. Restricted Deathmatch Results

14. Full Game Results

15. Conclusions • Despite making gameplay less enjoyable, levels of packet loss and latency likely to be encountered by average players do not statistically impact player scores • Latency was more detrimental to player performance than packet loss • Packet loss was only noticeable at levels higher than 25%

16. Future Work • “Bursty” Loss • Variable Latency • Unreal Tournament 2003 compared to different game lineages

17. Questions