Why does Packet loss force you to crash?

Community Technical Support Crashes, Connection, Update Problems & Advice
1

Why can’t Gaijin make the plane keep flying straight under instructor controls when Packet Loss starts? How hard is it to code that?
Because not only does packet loss make you crash and give you a repair bill, IT ALSO F$#&%!¿ GIVES A CREW LOCK. WHY?!
its not even the ailerons or rudder being stuck in a position, you can be flying perfectly straight, on the most stable aircraft in the game, packet loss hits and now your planes has done a 180 degree roll, inverted itself and pointed it’s nose down.

Is there a justification for this from Gaijin?

4 Likes
2

From what I’ve heard, it’s related to your last input. So if your last input is pitch+, you continue doing that until the server receives a new input or a stop command.

3

Hmmm from what I heard it was an anti-cheating measure, some people would exploit this or something, so whenever extreme (or any) packet loss is detected you magnetize to the ground I guess

5

I believe War Thunder uses extrapolation to attempt to predict your next movement. What you see on your screen is client-sided. The simulation of your client-side will occur until the server gets your side of the simulation and gives it to everyone(if you know what I mean).

This can lead to “rubber-banding” when the client side differs from what the server saw. Just because you saw yourself flying forward, the server may not have gotten that signal. “Packets” of data from your computer do not reach the server due to connectivity issues. When this happens, the server will attempt to “extrapolate” your next location until your connection to the server is reestablished.

Extrapolation is useful when you have a lower ping, as it can predict and receive your packets quickly, leading to smoother gameplay, which is especially important when dogfighting. The prediction is also helpful for other players to see your movement smoothly. However, once connectivity to the server becomes bad, packets start getting lost. This loss of packets will have the server attempt to predict your movement based off you last input. It seems that the server got your last input of -Gs, even if it’s slightly, like your mouse moves a pixel down.

This is just my thought, but maybe because all aircraft are subject to gravity (or weight), they are constantly pulled downwards. The lift upon your wings and thrust keep you flying level and up, however. The problem is that once packets of data are lost between you and the server, it won’t have much to base your next movement on besides flying forward and gravity. This MIGHT be why aircraft are pulled downwards during packet loss. They are being subject to gravity.

Gaijin should definitely do something about packet loss, maybe by not having you have a crew lock and repair bill. However, I can see how this would be hard to implement. Constantly having the server not only predict, but also check for packet loss from 16+ players would be inefficient, driving up energy use and possibly more breakdowns.

I don’t know if much can be done about this, sadly. There would be an issue, not just with Gaijin, but also with your internet provider and the path through which your packets of data are sent. It could be the signals not reaching or getting confused with other sources sending packets of data at the same time. The location of the server compared to your location may also affect how efficiently and safely your packets get sent. There is no “one” to blame. It’s a mix of everyone’s problems being presented to you :(

holy rant I forgot a bunch of english words :3

6

I had situations where I was level flying or climbing with no input for a while and when packet loss started the plane started doing random turns with heavy desync of course.

I didn’t even touch the mouse or keyboard, and the server decided it’s time to nose-dive

7

It could possibly be the gravity/weight of the aircraft acting. The server will use whatever it has left to predict, even if it’s gravity. The server might also try to predict for randomeness of the player and the next best location, even if it’s in the ground.