Re: Cheating and Stuff
FFXI's graphics aren't limited because they wanted it to be "equal", they're limited because they're lazy and don't want to do extra work on PC. FFXI dats are crummy because we have to share with PS2 graphics, because SE doesn't want to do the extra work.
FFXI is poorly programmed, that's just a fact. There's NO reason a game should have to dominate full screen, there's no reason it should use as much processor power as it can, even when it doesn't need it.
Taken from Cliff of Archbell (windower makers)
Considering that they've pretty much taken FFXI apart by now, they know what they're talking about.
Really, ffxi is shoddy programming, and a crappy port. It's not "Equalism", it's "Laziness" and "stupidity".
FFXI's graphics aren't limited because they wanted it to be "equal", they're limited because they're lazy and don't want to do extra work on PC. FFXI dats are crummy because we have to share with PS2 graphics, because SE doesn't want to do the extra work.
FFXI is poorly programmed, that's just a fact. There's NO reason a game should have to dominate full screen, there's no reason it should use as much processor power as it can, even when it doesn't need it.
Taken from Cliff of Archbell (windower makers)
Interestingly, one of the most simple things I could do (in terms of time required) would be to write a private server base for FFXI. Turns out, though, that this is rather stupid. FFXI is incredibly static, moreso than any other online game in existence, and you wouldn't be able to change the game at all. At most, you could tweak monster stats, and change what people say. But quests? static mobs/npcs in a zone? Items, doors, etc? The zone layout itself? It's all completely static and would require massively complicated client side changes to change anything. So basically, you'd be able to recreate FFXI as it is, with all its flaws. Don't kid yourself into thinking you could make it less laggy or anything. The reason for the lag and problems is completely due to fucking ridiculous clientside and network code.
For instance, they use UDP for essentially all communication with a zone server. For those who don't know, UDP is a network protocol where an individual message is not guaranteed to reach its destination. So with normal UDP if something like an outgoing chat message packet gets dropped, it just disappears forever. Most people who use UDP add Some sort of reliability mechanism, either in the form of a separate TCP channel (which is guaranteed), or via some sort of manual check system to ensure that all packets are sent properly.
Guess how SE does it? They just send "important" messages TWICE. (in the hopes that at least one will get through). Yeah, that's a good way to write network code. Where do these people learn to write this shit? Apparently the same place the network developers did for PSO. This sort of horrific protocol is representative of how the entire game is written. Don't even get me started on how they botched their encryption protocol. I'll only say one thing about it: Electronic Codebook for a STREAM, and with a broken algorithm on top of that. Jesus fucking christ.
For instance, they use UDP for essentially all communication with a zone server. For those who don't know, UDP is a network protocol where an individual message is not guaranteed to reach its destination. So with normal UDP if something like an outgoing chat message packet gets dropped, it just disappears forever. Most people who use UDP add Some sort of reliability mechanism, either in the form of a separate TCP channel (which is guaranteed), or via some sort of manual check system to ensure that all packets are sent properly.
Guess how SE does it? They just send "important" messages TWICE. (in the hopes that at least one will get through). Yeah, that's a good way to write network code. Where do these people learn to write this shit? Apparently the same place the network developers did for PSO. This sort of horrific protocol is representative of how the entire game is written. Don't even get me started on how they botched their encryption protocol. I'll only say one thing about it: Electronic Codebook for a STREAM, and with a broken algorithm on top of that. Jesus fucking christ.
Really, ffxi is shoddy programming, and a crappy port. It's not "Equalism", it's "Laziness" and "stupidity".
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