Real cases
A case · you decide
Lag and the jumping player
Lag — the latency in a teen team's online game
In testing at 200 ms latency, the other player's character jumps from spot to spot instead of moving smoothly.
Position updates arrive in bursts. Drawing each one the moment it lands makes the character teleport.
The client always holds the last two positions it received, each stamped with the time it was sent.
What should the team do about the jumping?
With interpolation on, playtesters stop noticing the lag, even though it's still 200 ms.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?
A case · you decide
Serva and Rollo settle a hit
Serva & Rollo — server authority, working with rollback
Player A's screen shows a hit. Player B's screen shows a miss. Both clients insist they're right.
If each client decides for itself, whoever cheats or lags worst wins.
Rollo's job: when an input arrives late, rewind to the moment it was sent, apply it, and replay forward so the result is fair. On a server this is often called lag compensation.
Who decides whether it was a hit?
The team logs every disputed hit for a week. The server's call matches the replay every time.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?
A case · you decide
Ticks and Relay tune the server
Ticks & Relay — a 17-year-old running a small multiplayer game for friends
Kai's game server updates 10 times a second. Players say other characters stutter across the screen. His laptop server is already busy, and his friends' connections are slow.
Ticks knows the trade: 60 updates a second is six times the messages of 10.
Relay knows the other lever: each screen can smoothly draw the in-between positions from the last two updates it received.
What should Kai try first?
Update often enough, then let each screen fill the gaps.
Who made this?
“In reality, every technology reflects decisions made by designers, companies, and communities, and carries the values and power of those choices.”
- Who benefits from this technology?
- Whose needs are ignored?