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DOOM 3 will use P2P System?

Ant writes "From Page 6 of FiringSquad's QuakeCon 2002 Postmortem article: John Carmack said something at the end of the Q&A about how the multiplayer will be only four players? Tim: After 2 hours of talking up at the podium, sometimes you leave a few details out. Doom 3 multiplayer will be fully scalable. It will be a peer to peer system. We haven't started working on it yet. Tell everyone not to panic - it will be fine. John just forgot to mention it'll be scalable past four players. It's hard to give a hard number because we haven't started working on it yet. Right now we're focused on making Doom 3 a kickass, over the top single player game."

20 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. DOOM 3 will use P2P System? by bsDaemon · · Score: 3, Funny

    This proves my suspicions that "gamers" are pirates and perverts. trolling is so much easier than being clever.

    1. Re:DOOM 3 will use P2P System? by elfkicker · · Score: 3

      Every client has the ability to be a server, but most games are definately implemented as vanilla client/server. And for games which use a universal ladder/auth (ie Westwood games) the do communicate through a central server to maintain state, prevent cheats, keep ranks, etc.

      The crossover to real P2P is when all connected clients are also acting as servers to eachother concurrently. Of course the problem with that it introduces massive opportunities for cheats and DoS exploits. It's also hard to maintain a reasonable amount of latency.

      IMHO, games are best done through a state maintaining central server(s).

  2. Eye candy! by ObviousGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not to bash eye candy, but doesn't anyone have a better idea for gaming than FP shooters?

    What could Wil Wright or Al Lowe or Sid Meier do with a badass graphics engine behind them?

    We already know what Carmack can do.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  3. P2P multiplayer by cdf12345 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Taking a cue from the RIAA, the gaming industry will attempt to place fake opponents onto the networks. These oppenents (bots) will appear normal, but will repeat themselfs after about 30 seconds."

    p2p gaming.....wow.

    --
    Chicago2600.net more than a lifestyle, its a survival trait.
  4. Slap-in-the-face to ATI and Matrox by ptbrown · · Score: 5, Interesting

    P2P is a fad and I predict that sometime after the beta they'll have things set up in a more traditional client/server fashion... though they likely won't call it that.

    But what I found much more interesting was this quote:

    "Absolutely, but Linux version basically means an NVIDIA version - that's the only safe bet for working video under Linux in Doom 3."

    Gah!!! I hope ATI and Matrox see that and consider it a challenge. It's really discouraging that the only quasi-respected video drivers for Linux are proprietary.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from Gods.
  5. P2P in gaming. by Karhgath · · Score: 3, Informative

    P2P architecture has existed way before any P2P file exchange system.

    Previous iD's games used a client-server architecture. Now, they changed it to use a Peer to Peer 'protocol' and architecture.

    What does it mean? Since it won't use a client-server protocol, you won't be able to join a game that has already started(that was stated at QuakeCon). The game is 'hosted' on each player's computer that exchange data about the current state of the game. There is no central server that handles all the load. Each player communicate in peer to exchange the information, hence the name.

    Peer to peer architecture is what is used in most Real-Time Strategy(RTS) games like Starcraft, Warcraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, etc.

    So, there's absolutely no relation to P2P file exchange like kazaa and such, just he architecture that has been used extensively before.

    Now... the question is: why? Also, won't that allow hackers to create better hacks? Usually, games go from P2P to Client-Server because of security concerns, even if Client-Server is usually 'slower'. They rarely go the other way around. But that's another completely different topic.

  6. Really? What about security? by Maggot75 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm very interested to see how they will tackle the security part. In general, you cannot trust the client. Ever. Introducing a P2P network will enable one hacked client to wreak havoc on other clients. Some redundancy might be introduced to prevent cheating, but that would increase bandwidth, neh?
    Are FPS's perhaps already trusting the client anyway? Is a cheat-proof multiplayer FPS a myth?

  7. Not article material by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    OK.

    Someone asks about the multiplayer Doom 3. They haven't worked on it yet. In the middle of a live Q&A session, Tim is assuring everyone the game will be multiplayer. He starts throwing out words even though he doesn't know the exact way it will work, because, hey, they haven't done multiplayer yet.

    Tim blurts "It will be a peer to peer system." That's the entire discussion of that in the whole article. There is nothing else.

    By "peer to peer" system he simply meant "yes, you will be able to hook up your computers and play together" and nothing else. Why does this deserve a front page article? It doesn't. It was obviously something he said while in a live situation and he wasn't sure of the details.

    The poster of this article looks sillier than the stock market and Alan Greenspan. What's even more disturbing is that Taco fell for it too. Someone needs to send over good strong pot of coffee.

    It's days like these when the trolls start to make sense.

    --
    ...
    1. Re:Not article material by SoLoatWork · · Score: 3, Informative

      Someone asks about the multiplayer Doom 3. They haven't worked on it yet. In the middle of a live Q&A session, Tim is assuring everyone the game will be multiplayer. He starts throwing out words even though he doesn't know the exact way it will work, because, hey, they haven't done multiplayer yet.
      Wrong.
      This was revealed during John Carmack's Q&A session, a man who doesn't usually "throw out words" when he doesn't know "the exact way it will work".

      Tim blurts "It will be a peer to peer system." That's the entire discussion of that in the whole article. There is nothing else.
      Wrong.
      The talk with Tim was after Carmack's speech, and it was a 1-on-1 with a reporter, Tim wasn't talking to a crowd.

      By "peer to peer" system he simply meant "yes, you will be able to hook up your computers and play together" and nothing else. Why does this deserve a front page article? It doesn't. It was obviously something he said while in a live situation and he wasn't sure of the details.
      Wrong, again.
      By "peer to peer" he meant, *gasp*, peer to peer. He is not stupid and realizes what peer to peer means. To answer your question: it deserves a front page article because the new Doom is using a different type of networking code than the Quakes. We're all big fans of the id games and this is "New for nerds, stuff that matters"

      The poster of this article looks sillier than the stock market and Alan Greenspan. What's even more disturbing is that Taco fell for it too. Someone needs to send over good strong pot of coffee. It's days like these when the trolls start to make sense.
      Cultural reference drivel. Next.

  8. DOOM 3 will use P2P System? by James+Foster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why is there a question mark after the title of this? It's been stated by id, that DOOM 3 will use a peer-to-peer network architecture. There's nothing uncertain about that.
    This has been known for around about an entire week now... it's been stated multiple times.

    Also, to clarify, when they say "peer-to-peer", they don't mean a network of users like Kazaa or file sharing applications, they mean that it is client-to-client as opposed to client-to-server.
    The best way of thinking about DOOM 3's multiplayer is as being the same as the original DOOM's multiplayer. 4 players, and no such thing as a "server".
    The only actual uncertainty is the 4 player limit. It was initially mentioned, but now Willits has said that it is scalable beyond that... This is unclear as we don't know if he means that the game can go beyond that, but the network code is ideal for 4 players, or means that the game will have a hard limit of 4 players, but mods and games based on the engine will be able to scale beyond 4 players.

    Also, it is known for definate that once a game has started, additional players cannot join. This limitation is due mainly to DOOM 3's physics engine. Basically, there is so much physics data that would need to be synchronised, that if a player had to "catch up" with the physics data, it would probably be a lot of data to send, and since it's constantly changing data, it is likely that as the player recieves the data, it becomes invalid.

    It will be interesting to see how other games deal with the problem of physics data. As physics engines in games become increasingly complex, it will become harder for programmers to cope with players joining a game that has already started. Perhaps if all games employed "rounds" (like Counter-Strike), then player's wouldn't have to wait long until the game restarts and they can start playing. This already has to happen when a player joins a Counter-Strike game that's already in play.

  9. Re:why? by sane? · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Why focus on single player?

    Because you can't really do a good storyline if all people are doing is shooting their mates.

    Because only a subset of the gamer community is interested in multiplayer. Many more don't want to have to go online to play.

    Because, in the end, multiplayer limits what you can do, even in a FPS.

  10. This is great! by JediTrainer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is what I've always loved about Descent! For those of you who're not familiar with it, Descent was P2P, not requiring any one machine to be a server. Somehow the load was shared amongst all the clients. It was never a problem if one machine in particular crashed or disconnected - the game continued between the rest.

    Granted, I think it was made to work on a LAN only, but if ID could pull this sort of feat off with Doom 3, I'd be all for it!

    I'm guessing that this would eliminate the need for one person to have tons of bandwidth and a good machine dedicated to be a server. This should allow virtually *anybody* to start a game (even those on dialup, maybe?)

    As someone who's cable is limited to 128k up, I'm very excited about this development!

    --

    You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
  11. single player claim to fame. by kaisyain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What was the last FPS that made it's claim to fame in single player mode only? Probably the original Doom.

    You're joking, right? Goldeneye 007, Half-Life, Deux Ex, Thief, System Shock, Rainbow 6, Jedi Knight, Medal of Honor: Frontline, No One Lives Forever, MDK, Outlaws, Hitman, Shogo.

    I like playing FPS because they let me pit my wits against other people.

    You can play most games online, from Backgammon to Chess to every RTS made nowadays.

    1. Re:single player claim to fame. by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 3, Informative

      > You're joking, right? Goldeneye 007, Half-Life, Deux Ex, Thief, System Shock, Rainbow 6, Jedi Knight, Medal of Honor: Frontline, No One Lives Forever, MDK, Outlaws, Hitman, Shogo.

      You missed Max Payne ;-)

  12. Ever heard of Half-Life? by solios · · Score: 3, Insightful

    HL was the last game I remember being an FPS with a decent storyline. Sure, nobody really went into great detail about the plot when they were discussing it on the smoke deck- they always talked about the weapons, character interaction, facial movements, enemy and ally AI... Halflife had a LOT of really nifty things that kicked ass for single player- things that just didn't apply to the multiplayer aspect.

    I fiddled with UT and Q3 when they came available, but HalfLife spanked the pants off of them both- if anything of that caliber single-player ever comes around, I'll probably check it out. Until then, I'm sticking with RPGs. I like FPS, but I fucking HATE multiplayer.... it's great to see iD focusing on the one thing that makes a game great- the single-player experience.

  13. Cool! by trauma · · Score: 4, Funny

    A game that can warez itself!

    (Yes, I know what peer networking really means in the context of the article, but it wasn't funny that way.)

  14. QUAKE? by veddermatic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Last time I checked, that was a singleplayer game that they threw a few LAN maps into at the last minute.... the rest is history.

    --
    Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
  15. Re:why? by Reziac · · Score: 5, Informative

    Probably hard marketing facts:

    At the height of the Quake-online frenzy, Doomworld ran a poll asking how many people played in each mode: single, deathmatch, coop. Turns out solo players outnumbered DMers by 4 to 1, and coop players by 20 to 1. (Sample size was several thousand, so statistically significant.)

    DOOM (primarily a solo game) outsold all versions of Quake (primarily a multiplayer game) *combined* by at least 3 to 1. And that's even tho DOOM came out when home computers were still a relative novelty, and priced out of many people's reach. By the time Quake came along, most households already had a computer (and PCs cost a lot less too). So -- Quake didn't sell as well even tho more people had PCs by then. Obviously, something went wrong with the spectrum of Quake's market appeal, and consensus is the lack of really good solo play.

    I'd hazard a guess that DOOM3 won't really be playable over the net unless you have broadband. Which would artificially limit its market to the small subset of net users who actually have broadband (the last figure I saw was under 20%). Which would be stupid, from a sales standpoint.

    In short, the single player market is a helluva lot larger than the multiplayer market. And idSoftware is really in the game *engine* business, which multiplies that market by a factor of however many companies they license their code to.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  16. It's all about the 3D Engine by Matthew+E.+Kieren · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is so incredibly amazing about DOOM 3 is the 3D engine , not so much the game itself. Even if the gameplay sucks, it doesn't matter. It's all about the 3D engine that John Carmack is creating. It's like no other before it. Not only does it raise the bar for other game engine developers, it will also be licensed out just as the Quake engine has been. John knows what he's doing -- if he thinks P2P is best for DOOM 3, then he's obviously the most qualified person to make that decision right now. I think they decided to make a single player game for a number of reasons; the original DOOM was single player oriented, and they've also been focusing on multiplayer for so many years that it must be refreshing to take a break and work on a single player game for a change.

    Personally I can't wait to play it because I'm also a Resident Evil fan. I remember playing the very first publicly released version of DOOM when it came out.. I had nightmares from playing it so much. :) This "scary" type of gameplay isn't for everyone, but a lot of people do enjoy it and I'm one of them. Oh, you want something else? A multiplayer game? A roleplaying game? A strategy game? Wait for other game developers to catch up or license the DOOM 3 engine. It's just a matter of time. The important thing is that there is now a new level for the other guys to catch up to, and that fact alone will benefit everyone. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of the same old recycled 3D engines, it's great to see something new! :)

    I think they are limiting it to 4 players because the game is so resource intensive. Anything above 4 players would be a strain on the system. This is also probably one of the reasons they don't have a lot of monsters on the screen at the same time. In my opinion for this particular type of gameplay, dozens of "A.I. dumb" monsters on the screen isn't very exciting. I personally prefer sacrificing quantity over quality. But what is so incredible about DOOM 3 is the wonderful 3D engine John has created! Shadows and lighting are the most important things to me in a game, and from what I've seen of the screenshots and videos, DOOM 3 does it beautifully. :)

  17. Peer to Peer Gaming Is Hardly New by Robotech_Master · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Look at Battlenet. It has a lot of the characterics of a peer to peer system. If you host a Starcraft game where only one person has the map, first it downloads from that one person to one more person, then from those two people to two more people, then from those four people to the other four people (if it's an 8-player game)--in other words, from peer to peer. And there is no one specific set host--Battlenet itself assigns the host based on who has the best bandwidth and processor power...and if that person gets dropped, someone else's machine takes over.

    Peer to peer doesn't automatically equate to Napster. It just means people send stuff to each other instead of to and from one master server. Geez, Slashdot stories are like playing buzzword bingo these days.

    --
    Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org