The documentation states that setting client.preload_rsc to 2 will cause clients to preload all resources including those uploaded by players. Does this apply only to uploaded resources existing at the time a connection is made, or does it also apply to resources uploaded during the lifetime of a connection? If a resource is created during the lifetime of a connection, will client.preload_rsc==2 cause that resource to be downloaded immediately by all clients, including those that do not need to access it immediately? Are icons created by icon arithmetic treated the same way as icons uploaded by players?
I'm also interested in how the server sends the results of icon arithmetic to the client. Does it send the final .dmi file of each calculation or does it send instructions that cause the client to repeat the calculation?
ID:259292
 Mar 6 2001, 2:40 pm
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On 3/6/01 5:40 pm Paul Mikell wrote:
The documentation states that setting client.preload_rsc to 2 will cause clients to preload all resources including those uploaded by players. Does this apply only to uploaded resources existing at the time a connection is made, or does it also apply to resources uploaded during the lifetime of a connection? If a resource is created during the lifetime of a connection, will client.preload_rsc==2 cause that resource to be downloaded immediately by all clients, including those that do not need to access it immediately? Are icons created by icon arithmetic treated the same way as icons uploaded by players? Good question. We have wavered back and forth on this resource loading feature, so it is likely to change (for the better) in the next few releases. The current system, I believe, will automatically transmit all graphic files (bmp and dmi), and possibly sounds (wav and midi), when they are uploaded with preload_rsc==2. The logic is that such files may require immediate display on the client when they are requested so it is valuable to have them cached as soon as possible. Icon arithmetic should work the same way. When preload_rsc==1 (or 0), user-uploads (and icon-arithmetic, I think) will not be transmitted until requested. I'm also interested in how the server sends the results of icon arithmetic to the client. Does it send the final .dmi file of each calculation or does it send instructions that cause the client to repeat the calculation? As Deadron indicated, the server is currently performing this task somewhat inefficiently, sending the new, adjusted icon each time. We should be able to perform this operation client-side, _especially_ in the simple case when only the colormap has changed. But, also as Deadron noted, it is surprisingly a non-issue thus far! | |
Surprisingly this doesn't seem to be much of a bandwidth problem. Living & Dead uses it extensively, and there have been no lag issues. There was, once... four players ganged up on four cops, and bullets, red tints, and stuff flied everywhere. It's REALLY lag intensive when you do something big, like tint a whole X column or something. | |
My understanding is that the .dmi is sent after adjustment.
Surprisingly this doesn't seem to be much of a bandwidth problem. Living & Dead uses it extensively, and there have been no lag issues.