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so i guess the handle works only for entities created with ent_create?



Naw, I'm pretty sure there is no problem using handles and ent_createlocal, but it would only be valid on your computer, as the other comps have no knowledge of the entity.

Your online finds are intresting, thanks for posting them. While I haven't actually done any testing online yet(plan to use the -sim in the future). I'd think your right that this is probably due to the positional updates not reaching their destination in time from the server. There is multiple solutions to this, and it really depends on what your trying to do:

- You can have it so your interpolation of entities on the client are 2 updates behind your servers real position. That way if one update is delayed or lost, there will always be an extra one. This sucks on it's own, cause your entities wont be very near to their real positions.

- If this fails(both updates lost), then extrapolation based on previous updates would be your only choice.

- How weak was your connection for your second test? If your game is planned for dsl and lan only you may be able to get away with these things. Most people with 56k(like me) don't even bother playing UT online ect. Cause it isn't too fun. Also, usually the people who run servers should have the best connection. Player amounts factor in as well.

Since my game uses quite a bit of projectiles. I'm going to have to keep the entities as close to the server position as possible. I think i'll keep it 2 updates back(currently it's only 1 update back), but extrapolate constantly on top of that. Using the angle of the player and the angle to the next update position to help deterine where to extrapolate too. I dont know if this would be possible for all game types, since racing is more constant and predictable than an FPS game.

If your doing an FPS game, I wouldn't reccomend a constant extrapolation, because you'll have great overshooting. Keep things back, but deal with it on the server. No one knows better in an FPS game if the player running is actually behind where he is in reality. You'd still do targeting on the client, but you'd have to back everything up on the server to verify it. Racing games, especially with projectiles, don't have this luxury. If you see someone win a race, when on your screen there behind you, but in reality they crossed the finish line first, you'd be mad... so it's sorta a given to extrapolate. If anyone knows of a good solution for this, it would be great though, cause extrapolating can cause problems.

Heres a couple more Q's to consider - what type of internet connection are you aiming for with your rts/fps hybrid? Was send_unreliable set for your positional skills when you did the online test? Also, mabye try sending more updates to see what happens, only 4 updates a second seems a little low, I think even quake2 have 10 updates a second. Hope to hear the answers sometimes soon, I think this is a good learning experience for both of us.

Quake2 Multiplayer Specs:

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~timf/bottim/q2net/q2network-0.03-4.html