Predictive Modeling To Increase Responsivity of Streamed Games

jones_supa (887896) writes Streaming game services always bump up against a hard latency limit based on the total round-trip time it takes to send user input to a remote server and receive a frame of game data from that server. To alleviate the situation, Microsoft Research has been developing a system called DeLorean (whitepaper) using predictive modeling to improve the experienced responsiveness of a game. By analyzing previous inputs in a Markov chain, DeLorean tries to predict the most likely choices for the user's next input and then generates speculative frames that fit those inputs and sends them back to the user. The caveat is that sending those extra predictive frames and information does add a bandwidth overhead of anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times that of a normal streaming game client. During testing the benefits were apparent, though. Even when the actual round-trip time between input and server response was 256 ms, double-blind testers reported both the gameplay responsiveness and graphical quality of the DeLorean system were comparable to a locally played version of the game.

There is no way this could work for me when I play

[He Who Has No Name]

Nobody can predict when I will suddenly chase a mammoth with a fork while buck naked.

Nobody.

Re:There is no way this could work for me when I p

[tepples]

It can't predict all three at once, I'll grant. But if you've already given the commands to strip naked and wield a pitchfork, then of course it can speculatively run the choice for pushing the joystick toward the mammoth.

Satellite is a rounding error

[tepples]

A video game publisher is likely to view people stuck on satellite as a rounding error. For one thing, satellite players are already locked out of online multiplayer due to latency. For another, a publisher might be under the impression that people who can afford to live in the city are likely to buy more games and/or subscribe to a game longer. It's the same reason that many apps hit iPhone and iPad before Android: studies show that iOS users tend to spend far more online per capita than Android users.

Streaming is the ultimate DRM...

[Anonymous Coward]

... this is just DRM bullshit, lets just call it what it is already. Even worse then always online where a small part of the game code is taken hostage like in diablo 3.

Additional "benefit"

[Loki_666]

Its even easier to pull complete support for the game when it depends on their servers!!! This way they can sell Super Mega Game X+1 to those who used to play Super Mega Game X, forcing them to pay for the new shiny versions, which is really almost identical, with no compelling new features, except maybe slightly better graphics and a +1 to the title.

I now stay 100% away from any games which demand an internet connection to play. If a game is online only, but supports local server or can be emulated via Hamachi or something, then i'm cool with it. Otherwise no.

If this means i can't play game X, then i won't die from the lack of it. Plenty of other games out there which I can play, and play how i want.