12-09-2003, 07:05 PM
Firstly there is two kinds of "lags":
"Your computer fails it" lag and true lag.
"Your computer fails it" lag is technically not lag, but since it affects your gaming experience in a likewise manner and is generally confused with real lag by many players I think it is important to cover.
"Your computer fails it" lag is caused by your computer being too slow or overstressed to handle all the operations in the game while maintaining full speed. In singleplayer mode this is usually not that great a problem in singleplayer since the game will try to "keep pace" with you and thus everything will be moving sluggishly if you do. In online play, however, the game cannot just try to keep up with the slowest guy and thus things might be happening around you while your computer catches up. This can be deadly in several situations.
Common symptoms on "your computer fails it" lag are:
Movement often seems slow and "jerky".
Sometimes everything seems to move very slowly, then everything seems to move in brief bursts of supersonic speed.
Long load times when entering new areas, especially if these use new graphics sets.
Game moves slowly when there are a lot of graphical effects on screen at once (seas of multiplying maggots, Frozen Orb spamming sorcerers, minion necromancers).
Though "your computer fails it" lag is generally less dangerous than real lag because that you are usually more aware of your surroundings and the fact that you lag it is nonetheless still deadly in the right situations.
Especially the lag when entering a new area can be problematic. This phenomenon is also known as CD-access lag as it is generally caused by Diablo 2 having to access new ressources on the CD for rendering the new area (or boss monster).
Though most areas are designed so that entrance areas and waypoints are free of monsters there are a few areas where you will be attacked immediately on entry (Duriel being the most significant). Due to other player actions monsters might also have been lured into the vicinity of entry points, not always due to malicious reasons (more on that immediately below).
One especially dangerous class of adversaries coupled with CD-access lag are other players with malicious intentions (ie. PK's). They might deliberately "trap" waypoints and town portals with monster groups so you will be beaten to pulp while your CD drive is speeding up. Also CD access lag is probably the biggest reason why waypoint guarding is such a popular and effective tactic for PK's.
One obvious way of getting rid of the CD access problem is to install all the graphics resources unto your hard drive, though this will take up a lot of your disk space.
The other type of lag is the real lag. This is caused by problems in the connections between the involved computers. This might be your modem, though this is usually the least problem. It might also be your internet connection. This can be a problem if you are on a shared internet connection (like me). Finally the problem might be actually be over at Battle.net itself. Battle.net's resources are not infinite and they are quite busy as you should probably know.
Common symptoms of real lag are:
There is a noticable delay between pressing a button to your character doing the designated action.
Monsters and other objects reacts late on your actions. (You hit a monster. A second later it reels in pain).
Monsters and players suddenly "teleporting" in and out without any reason. (When experiencing this kind of lag you really ought to exit the current game).
You suddenly find yourself teleported back to a place you were right before.
You seem to be able to move around normally and attack in melee, but your actions have no effect and your are unable to interact with your environment at all. Monsters and other players just stand or walk in place. (Here you also ought to exit the game, if the game doesn't do it for you first).
You suddenly encounter a solid straight wall of utter black void, like you have reached the end of the world.
Like you have probably already figured out when all these things happen the game is moving on quite happily. While all seems calm to you monsters (or nasty players) might actually be in the process of beating your hindmost cheeks rosy.
What can be done about lag? In case of "your computer fails it" lag there are quite some options. Of course you can upgrade your hardware if you are rich, but all of us do not have the privilege to do so freely.
There are fortunately other things you might do. Installing all the graphics resources unto your hard drive will eliminate the entire CD-access problem for example.
If your performance is just generally slow there are still something to do, though this usually includes a tradeoff. Not running the game in 3d mode for example might result in a significant increase.
You might also want to play with smaller groups. An eight player group can present a quite large strain while a 3-4 player group is far more manageable.
But for all that is good please don't bug the minion necromancers and zoo druids about it. They usually represent the least part of the problem anyway and the protection that their minions offer usually makes up for any inconveniences.
Finally remember that sometimes the good choice might be just to live with it. Sure there are situations that are just plain unacceptable, but many times you'll be suprised how well you do under awful conditions.
Personally my setup is definately not among the best. Sure it could be a lot worse, but it is still bad enough to make the spoiled kids out there go: "OMG, go eat some rotten fruit you hobo!". My processer is dated, my graphics card is a cheap piece of standard issue cardboard, I am on an underpowered shared connection and I even play on the (purpotedly) laggy Europe realm, and then I even play a goddamn skelliemancer, but I'm doing fine (most of the time).
Learn to "get a feeling" for your lag. Expect monsters to be a bit misplaced from their visual positions. Carefully backing out might solve a lot of the "CD-access" woes (If going after Duriel, get a non-lagging companion to distract Duriel while you enter). Learn to drink healing and rejuvenation potions in due time and not while you are hovering at death's door. Generally, be careful and patient.
"Your computer fails it" lag and true lag.
"Your computer fails it" lag is technically not lag, but since it affects your gaming experience in a likewise manner and is generally confused with real lag by many players I think it is important to cover.
"Your computer fails it" lag is caused by your computer being too slow or overstressed to handle all the operations in the game while maintaining full speed. In singleplayer mode this is usually not that great a problem in singleplayer since the game will try to "keep pace" with you and thus everything will be moving sluggishly if you do. In online play, however, the game cannot just try to keep up with the slowest guy and thus things might be happening around you while your computer catches up. This can be deadly in several situations.
Common symptoms on "your computer fails it" lag are:
Movement often seems slow and "jerky".
Sometimes everything seems to move very slowly, then everything seems to move in brief bursts of supersonic speed.
Long load times when entering new areas, especially if these use new graphics sets.
Game moves slowly when there are a lot of graphical effects on screen at once (seas of multiplying maggots, Frozen Orb spamming sorcerers, minion necromancers).
Though "your computer fails it" lag is generally less dangerous than real lag because that you are usually more aware of your surroundings and the fact that you lag it is nonetheless still deadly in the right situations.
Especially the lag when entering a new area can be problematic. This phenomenon is also known as CD-access lag as it is generally caused by Diablo 2 having to access new ressources on the CD for rendering the new area (or boss monster).
Though most areas are designed so that entrance areas and waypoints are free of monsters there are a few areas where you will be attacked immediately on entry (Duriel being the most significant). Due to other player actions monsters might also have been lured into the vicinity of entry points, not always due to malicious reasons (more on that immediately below).
One especially dangerous class of adversaries coupled with CD-access lag are other players with malicious intentions (ie. PK's). They might deliberately "trap" waypoints and town portals with monster groups so you will be beaten to pulp while your CD drive is speeding up. Also CD access lag is probably the biggest reason why waypoint guarding is such a popular and effective tactic for PK's.
One obvious way of getting rid of the CD access problem is to install all the graphics resources unto your hard drive, though this will take up a lot of your disk space.
The other type of lag is the real lag. This is caused by problems in the connections between the involved computers. This might be your modem, though this is usually the least problem. It might also be your internet connection. This can be a problem if you are on a shared internet connection (like me). Finally the problem might be actually be over at Battle.net itself. Battle.net's resources are not infinite and they are quite busy as you should probably know.
Common symptoms of real lag are:
There is a noticable delay between pressing a button to your character doing the designated action.
Monsters and other objects reacts late on your actions. (You hit a monster. A second later it reels in pain).
Monsters and players suddenly "teleporting" in and out without any reason. (When experiencing this kind of lag you really ought to exit the current game).
You suddenly find yourself teleported back to a place you were right before.
You seem to be able to move around normally and attack in melee, but your actions have no effect and your are unable to interact with your environment at all. Monsters and other players just stand or walk in place. (Here you also ought to exit the game, if the game doesn't do it for you first).
You suddenly encounter a solid straight wall of utter black void, like you have reached the end of the world.
Like you have probably already figured out when all these things happen the game is moving on quite happily. While all seems calm to you monsters (or nasty players) might actually be in the process of beating your hindmost cheeks rosy.
What can be done about lag? In case of "your computer fails it" lag there are quite some options. Of course you can upgrade your hardware if you are rich, but all of us do not have the privilege to do so freely.
There are fortunately other things you might do. Installing all the graphics resources unto your hard drive will eliminate the entire CD-access problem for example.
If your performance is just generally slow there are still something to do, though this usually includes a tradeoff. Not running the game in 3d mode for example might result in a significant increase.
You might also want to play with smaller groups. An eight player group can present a quite large strain while a 3-4 player group is far more manageable.
But for all that is good please don't bug the minion necromancers and zoo druids about it. They usually represent the least part of the problem anyway and the protection that their minions offer usually makes up for any inconveniences.
Finally remember that sometimes the good choice might be just to live with it. Sure there are situations that are just plain unacceptable, but many times you'll be suprised how well you do under awful conditions.
Personally my setup is definately not among the best. Sure it could be a lot worse, but it is still bad enough to make the spoiled kids out there go: "OMG, go eat some rotten fruit you hobo!". My processer is dated, my graphics card is a cheap piece of standard issue cardboard, I am on an underpowered shared connection and I even play on the (purpotedly) laggy Europe realm, and then I even play a goddamn skelliemancer, but I'm doing fine (most of the time).
Learn to "get a feeling" for your lag. Expect monsters to be a bit misplaced from their visual positions. Carefully backing out might solve a lot of the "CD-access" woes (If going after Duriel, get a non-lagging companion to distract Duriel while you enter). Learn to drink healing and rejuvenation potions in due time and not while you are hovering at death's door. Generally, be careful and patient.