WAR-Primeval SE Beta3 - Need some feedback

[KurlonT]

I should also mention that I don't have the time or skills (yet) to make custom content. I would use only stock models and textures. That map is loaded with custom rock meshes. It would be cool to play that one in UT3 though.\

Any other ideas?

Would any of these work?

ONS-Urban = textures from WAR-Downtown + WAR-Market District
ONS-Island Hop = textures from WAR-Islander
ONS-Aridoom = textures from WAR-Onyx Coast

[Cain]

Based on what I have been told I can tell you that a Quad Core won't be able to run 64/64 smoothly, unless Epic has gone nuts and completely re-written all their code.

I'm told that the GSPs use single or Dual Core Xeons for the big games, like 64P Battlefield 2, they tell me the Quad Cores cannot handle a process that large using that much CPU, and from my experience running UT games back to 1999 they use more CPU than anything else on the Planet. I can only imagine trying to run a 64p UT game !!

You guys all remember I had to build that new cutting edge AMD server box and was one of the few who could run 32p ONS that was smooth 99% of the time.

I'm giving very serious consideration to building my first new server box in 4 years, and if I do it will be based on the new x5272 Dual Core Xeon, and I guarantee it can run 64/64 with this game smooth as buttah.....

Stay tuned guys, I wanna e-mail my buds at Epic and ask them about 64p UT3.....

---

Guys, what maps do the 64p servers run ???? And can you point me towards some servers running 64p games, or as close as you have seen ????

Thx !!!

-- Cain

[Cain]

I have been playing on a 64p server for about month. I have never seen it get up to 64, but have played many matches with 50+. I would have to say 70% of the time it runs stable for me. It did however become very unplayable last weekend, and now i see only 5 maps running, bummer.

Its crazy insane fun. You think 32p on Primeval was nuts. Try 50+ on Sinkhole, or Tankcrossing.

Oooooo.. aaaaaa......

OK that is getting mr REALLY interested now !!!

You guys know that for years I have been bandwidth limited by my local ISP, and for good reason, they don't charge me a dime.

The good news is that they have now more than quintupled their bandwidth, and as a result I'm giving serious consideration to building my first new server box in over 4 years.

If/when this happens I will almost definitely give 64p UT3 a good shot, that sounds like a blast !!!

What is the name and IP of that server with 50+ ??? I wanna check it out.

-- Cain

[Slaughter]

Based on what I have been told I can tell you that a Quad Core won't be able to run 64/64 smoothly, unless Epic has gone nuts and completely re-written all their code.

I'm told that the GSPs use single or Dual Core Xeons for the big games, like 64P Battlefield 2, they tell me the Quad Cores cannot handle a process that large using that much CPU, and from my experience running UT games back to 1999 they use more CPU than anything else on the Planet. I can only imagine trying to run a 64p UT game !!

You guys all remember I had to build that new cutting edge AMD server box and was one of the few who could run 32p ONS that was smooth 99% of the time.

I'm giving very serious consideration to building my first new server box in 4 years, and if I do it will be based on the new x5272 Dual Core Xeon, and I guarantee it can run 64/64 with this game smooth as buttah.....

Stay tuned guys, I wanna e-mail my buds at Epic and ask them about 64p UT3.....

---

Guys, what maps do the 64p servers run ???? And can you point me towards some servers running 64p games, or as close as you have seen ????

Thx !!!

-- Cain

Well, no offense, but I think the quad-core comments from Trinity is crap. When UT3 first came out I had 2 32 player WAR servers and a 24 player CTF server going full bore with no sweat. There are quad-core servers running 64p now. GSPs use Dual-core for one main reason: It's cheaper to put in 2 dual-cores than one quad-core.

I'd be more worried that my PC wouldn't be able to keep up more than the server.

[Cain]

Hey, no offense taken at all ...

I'm scratching my head over the Quad Core comments also.... I keep asking around, and would much prefer to get a new Quad Core because they are less expensive by Core, in fact 1/2 the cost.... the Dual cores are much more expensive.

Trinity tells me they simply cannot run a big 64player Ranked BF2 server with a Quad core, they can run it on a single core or Dual core, and I ran 64p unranked BF2 on a Single core Xeon, so I know that works. I'm not 100% convinced that the Dual cores really are more powerful for large processes, - yet I cannnot find anyone to explain the real differences between the Quad and Dual core, nor why the Dual Core XEON costs twice as much per core as a Quad does.

Trinity tells me all their new Servers are Quad core because they cost so much less, BTW.

Do you have any testing date or anything I can research on differences in the Dual and Quad Xeons ??

Let's take this discussion to PM, we are cluttering up this map thread ...

[Slug{CLR}]

Is the server code threaded? If not, it makes sense without affinity set. There is overhead in running a single threaded process on more than one core. The switching between cores comes at a price. The bigger the stack that the cpu needs to push and pop everytime, the higher the price.

I know the client is multithreaded but don't know about the server. Likely BF2 was not since that came out a while back.

Multiple cores really only come into play if the running process is multithreaded. Easy enough to check really, if all cores are humming along at 100% then its multithreaded, if they are hovering around 50% (on a dual), then no go.

[Cain]

That makes sense Slug.

Also aren't Quad cores, just two dual cores cobbled together, and they still need to access the FSB , rather than all 4 cores talking directly ??

I seem to recall there is a penalty to a Quad core vs two Dual Cores....

I doubt the server code for UT3 is multi-threaded, and I'll guess that most GSPs don't want it to be anyway, so they can more easily restrict what CPUs each server instance it sits on. I can ask the Epic guys.

[Nomadicus]

That makes sense Slug.

Slug is on the right track and the details go into the cache hit rates, etc.
I sent you a PM before reading this post on that topic with more details.

I doubt the server code for UT3 is multi-threaded, and I'll guess that most GSPs don't want it to be anyway, so they can more easily restrict what CPUs each server instance it sits on. I can ask the Epic guys.

I am pretty sure it is multithreaded since my PC UT3 is. As slug said, thread/process cpu affinity is key. If it is implemented correctly, the GSP's will have full control over their performance needs. They will actually want this.

Also aren't Quad cores, just two dual cores cobbled together, and they still need to access the FSB , rather than all 4 cores talking directly ??

The Intel quads are 2 dual cores cobbled together, but you'd be surprised how well their FSB works under most conditions. For my current Intel Quadcore, I know exactly under what conditions performance drops off. The new Penrons have the larger 12MB cache and I have one on order. Testing it and comparing it to my "old" quadcore will be interesting.

Given some more info, I can probably create a mathematical model of UT3 dedicated server performance (which I do professionally for a few hundred servers where I work).

Oh Geez Luise! I just remembered, I have legit free access to server modeling licenses (they cost a few thousand $ each) and can model *any* server configuration if I have the baseline metrics.

This could get interesting. Hmmmm . . .

[Nomadicus]

Release Candidate 2 is available.

Enjoy!

Here is the summary:

Name: WAR-Primeval_SE
Version: PC version Release Candidate 2
Compatibility: V1.2
Description: Enhanced WAR-Primeval (which Sanch3z and I released on New Years Day)
Comments: Feedback is always appreciated.

• Improved PS3 frame rates based on most recent feedback.
• Added sniper rifle which a player can obtain by using the teleporter located near each base.
• Added two sniper's platforms located between each manta node and the center node; only available in Insanity and Linear.
• Added Hover Board speed boost near each DarkWalker node.

Link Setups:

• Default - Classic Primeval as close to ONS style as possible
• Insanity - Five nodes with Darkwalkers
• Alternate - Primeval updated UT3 style
• Linear - variation of Alternate
• Orb - variation of Alternate

Screenshots:










Credits: Many thanks to T5K, Zerofrag, Slaughter's Place, Unreal Pinky, and Cain's Lair. Special thank you to the PS3 players that took the time to give me such excellent feedback. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Thanks to BuffyTheSlayer for the above Darkwalker screen shots.
Homepage: www.t5k-clan.com
Download:
WAR-Primeval_SE-RC2.zip (49MB)
WAR-Primeval_SE-RC2_PS3.zip (28MB)