yes mods do = lag when on a server that doesnt have or allow them. Here is what I think of Modding in a server that doesnt have that mod.

There are a lot of things that cause lag but somethings are worse than others. Here's a (partial if I missed any) list:
- Any client-side mod that is not replicated on the server or other clients.
- Slow client-side Internet connection (can often be seen in large ping times), proven when lag is seen on EVERY server visited.
- Slow server-side Internet connection (can often be seen in large ping times), proven when lag exists on the one low ping server. Also the server owner may be sharing the Internet connection, reducing into server bandwidth.
- A less powerful 'puter as a server. flserver is VERY CPU intensive.
- A slowed down 'puter due to other programs other than flserver running. A few server owners play FL client on the same 'puter as the server while player amount is high.
- High amounts of players on the server in relationship to server and internet connection speed. A combination of factors hard to distinguish except through experience.
- Large groups of players on a server in the same system usually within sight of each other. Higher bandwidth is used to maintain real time visualizations and localizations.
- Large percentage of players on a server doing missions. Missions consume nearly three times the bandwidth than not doing a mission. FL pecularities.
- Server-side mods which are not replicated on all client-side 'puters. Not a large problem but is exacerbated by many server-side mods in conjunction with many players encountering the mods.
- Although one or two is usually ok, if many of the server's players are on slow connections, i.e. modems, that can slow down the whole server.
- Firewalls becoming too restrictive and checking too much. Have encountered this with older versions of vsmon.exe, a packet checker (I think) in ZoneAlarm (I know).

On my server the limit is 21. I have found when lag happens it is almost always (say 95%) due to a modder, or as Pinger says and so do I, a cheater. Bandwidth can get 5 to 10 times worse than normal and is immensely exacerbated by player amounts, bandwidth limitations and CPU power. The vast majority of servers out there have some sort of bandwidth limitation and CPU power limits and these are most likely the where the lag is coming from. If this turns you off more than having some mod, then go to the several servers that have active sysadmin, active server police or deputized characters and an active community. FL is very holey (no not holy!) but can be made reasonably cheater, and thus lag, free.

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Earendil
SysAdmin of Boston Freelancer server
See server rules and server news for more info.

Ive got v2.6 pro Zone Alarm & just discovered yesterday that's what's causing some of my ping/lag problems.
Even though all the ports are open for that game in the settings its still seems like ZA is blocking them!.The alerts hits its max of 500 in well under a minute!

I know the incoming requests are on port 2302 UDP & I can manually set that open but I don't know what the port range is for outgoing FL traffic.
Anyone know?

Maybe I should just get a new version!

TA SETI

My experiences with ZoneAlarm have been quite negative. I've had to remove it altogether many times to solve a problem. If you're not on a dial-up internet connection, consider just getting a router instead of a software firewall. I haven't seen routers cause any problems with Freelancer yet, and they're a good way to firewall your machine without screwing it up with software

-- JoeBoomz
IONCROSS

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My experiences with ZoneAlarm have been quite negative.

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Sorry JoeBoomz and with all due respect, but from the other side of the coin my experience with Zone Alarm has been nothing short of spectacular. In fact, I could not even get a server for Freelancer to work unless I had Zone Alarm running the show during the beta process. Something to do with my Mac Bridge miniport I'm betting.

If anyone is having problems using Zone Alarm and Freelancer you're simply not doing it right. The creator of Zone Alarm (Steve Gibson) I'm confident would concur. He has forgotten more about firewalls than most people will ever know.

Set up the FL executable to act as a server, that would be the first thing to do....firewalls 101 there.

I for the life of me can not get my GeoCities picture links to work. Cut-n-paste this below to see how my ZA has been configured to run Freelancer.

http://www.geocities.com/pierrelogic/pix/ZA.JPG


Edited by - Stinger on 1/21/2004 6:43:59 PM

Well guys thanks for all the info, especially u Earendil. Quite a few of the points u made answers quite a few questions

I also use Zone Alarm when I play. Initially it would crash the game coz the settings have not been set. I just exit game, add Freelancer to the allow list, and poof I can play with out any problems. Coz I also don't like leaving myself vulnerable to the net

Ah, Stinger, nice try but Steve Gibson just tested the heck out of ZoneAlarm. He doesn't work for them or own Zone Labs. Nevertheless while Steve grandstands a bit, I agree in your assessment about him forgetting more about security than most people have learned. I used to program assembly and it is HARD! He programs assembly language like it was his mother tongue!

I started my server out with ZA. Found that occassionally the TrueVector part (vsmon.exe, the installed in memory part of the firewall) would start sucking significant hunks of the CPU utilization, obvious in the Task Manager. I would kill vsmon.exe through the Task Manager, it would reprompt to reinstall and ZA was good to go another 10 to 12 hrs before it got greedy again. I switched to XP's firewall just because it's there and I already had a hardware firewall - yes, I'm a bit paranoid. Well over longer periods of time I would have the same problem with ZA on my main 'puter. When FL's audio would stutter, I knew vsmon.exe was getting greedy again. So a kill and restart was needed. The good news is Zone Labs promised a fix in their next version. So when it came out I installed it and *poof*, the greedy vsmon.exe had been curtailed! It still uses up to 5% CPU utilization but it's a small price to pay and better than the 99% CPU utilization I used to get!

@Assimilator1 - There is a dozen ports that FL and it's helpers like DirectPlay in DirectX uses. I wouldn't try to figure them out. Neither would I open a port manually. Let ZA be in it's learning mode. It will pop up with something new if anything wants in or out. If it doesn't let you remember it, go in and make those question marks checks, just like the page Stinger shows a link to. Don't want to give the hackors too much access!

You're welcome Menzoberranzan!

---------------
Earendil
SysAdmin of Boston Freelancer server
See server rules and server news for more info.

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Ah, Stinger, nice try but Steve Gibson just tested the heck out of ZoneAlarm. He doesn't work for them or own Zone Labs

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I stand corrected. (see, when I'm wrong I admit it!) Steve Gibson has tested every single firewall that has hit the market in the past decade plus and time and time again the winner is always Zone Alarm. Also:

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For more information on the leak test and Steve Gibson, please visit the following link:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article.asp?aid=36418

After following the steps outlined, if your system has failed the Leaktest, and ZoneAlarm was active and running, there may be a problem with the TrueVector database files. You can refresh them using the link below:

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/s ... uesFAQ.jsp

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Here's the steps to refresh

So this is basically saying if you didn't do the Leaktest to discover a problem with the TrueVector database files and refreshed them as instructed then you're your own worse enemy when it comes to protecting yourself. If the TrueVector database files are not working properly, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that is what might also be causing a spike in CPU usage. Installing some software and not educating yourself on what it really is doing is a recipe for failure my friends.

Look, I'm not here to force anyone to jump on any software bandwagon. But I am here to testify that in all my years of "testing" software I have had only one instance where my computer crashed. (Beta testing Earth and Beyond). But keep in mind other that beta test's I subscribe to on purpose I never (let me repeat that) NEVER use software that is still being tested buy the general public, I keep all my drivers updated religiously (WHQL certified vid drivers ONLY for a good example), defrag my computer on a regular basis, keep my Zone Alarm on 24/7, eliminate spyware weekly, and never (let me repeat that) NEVER have any problem with my computer.

Sure, those maintenance items described above are time consuming, tedious and not practived by most people, that I know. But if more people simply maintaned their computer it would reward them by actually behaving the way it should without any surprises and in turn prompting these same people to claim this or that software is what caused a problem. In reality, it is the user that causes most computer problems.

Can I get a witness Taw?

Edited by - Stinger on 1/22/2004 2:42:25 PM