Here are a few thoughts/tips on playing AA on a 56k connection.
First off let mse start by saying If your stuck on 56k I feel for you. I still play occasionally on 56k.
Contrary to popular belief broadband is NOT available everywhere. sad
I'm sure there are a few people who remember playin AA on 56k. Over the past couple of updates to AA and especially PB it has been getting harder and harder to do.
People are not very forgiving to high pings. Even though the devs have said numerous times "HIGH PINGS ONLY EFFECT THE PLAYER WITH THE HIGH PING!!" Expect some jerk to start a VK on you because your pinging 350ms. (Explain your on 56k and MAYBE you will find some cool people who understand)
You ARE at a disadvantage against players on broadband.
-Tips on getting better gameplay using 56k-
1. Buy a good modem (Hardware based internal or external) US Robotics Courier have always been good to me. Winmodems are cheap but they blow.
2. Turn off call waiting if you have it. (sucks getting disconnected because of incoming call)
3. Check condition of phone cables inside and out. (40 year old wire missing hunks and wirenutted together is not gonna work) A direct cable from the back of the computer to the outside phone box is one way to check internal wiring.
4. Have the phone company do a line check. (Check with your local telco but most will do a test to the outside box for free. Many line problems that people never knew they even had have been discovered)
5. Limit devices on the phone line used for internet if possible. (Ideally you should have a dedicated phone line with nothing but the computer on it)
5a. If using multiple devices on your phoneline, ensure that the modem is the FIRST device connected to the phoneline. You can then run a splitter from the modem phone output to whatever devices you use (answering machine, phone, etc) Do NOT run a splitter on your wall jack before your modem. Thanks An_Angel_Of_Death
6. Check your connection speed (You are gonna need at least 33.6. The closer to 56k the better) You will NEVER get 56k FCC regualtes max at 54.2
7. If your connection speed still sucks find another ISP. (call around and explain you would like to try their service for a day to see if it's better then what you currently have. Most will say SURE!! Compare your connection speeds among several providers) There are ALOT of interoperability problems between customer/ISP equipment. Just find one that works for you.
8. Disable windows automatic update. (Don't want windows to start downloading while playing)
9. Disable Anti-Virus automatic update.(Don't want Norton to start downloading while playing)
10. close ALL other running apps except firewall. (Some may argue this but ANY programs access to the internet can screw up your game) XP is such a bug riddled POS you need the firewall unless you want your box infected.
11. TURN OFF ICS!! (If you are sharing the internet among serveral computers STOP!! you need all the bandwidth you can get)
12. Disable ALL unnecessary protocols bound to your dial-up adapter. (procedure used Varies by OS) No reason to have File and Print sharing or IPX/SPX or QOS bound to dial-up adapter.
13. Adjust your MTU setting (Google on how to do this) or http://www.cablenut.com/ can do it for you, pick 56k.
14. Don't join 26 slot servers. (Sorry but it's just no gonna be playable. WAY too much info going around) There is nothing wrong with 8 player servers.
15. Try and stick with smaller maps (Pipeline, Bridge Crossing)
16. When you goto join a server pick ones with low pings (Having high overhead to begin with dosen't help any)
17. Play on NON-PB servers (PB makes the game WAY more laggy. There is so much more info being sent and recieved)
18. Update PB BEFORE trying to join a game. (Unless you don't mind waiting 7 minutes for PB to update while in the game)
19. use PB Updater v0.2 by Warthog (It's WAY faster and more reliabble then PBWEB) http://americasarmy.filefront.com/file/M...PBUpdater;38515 EVERYONE should use this smile Thanks 0xc0ffee
20. In the very beginning of the round wait 5-10 seconds before moving. (It will give your system a chance to catch up)
21. When you start to lag stop a second (continuing to move will make it worse)
22. Don't run. (Running seems to increase lag) Walking is fine. It means you won't be able to charge the nade that is coming out of main enterence smile
23. Use nades. (sometimes lag can cause shooting inaccuracy. when having problems hitting someone use a nade. Let them try and dodge that tongue)
24. Assault - Get the objectives. (You will probably lose going toe to toe with someone on broadband in a firefight so grab those valves while they are distracted)
25. Defense - Guard the objectives. (No need to go running aroung the whole map lagging yourself to death. Find a good spot near an objective and let them come to you.)
26. VIP - Don't even think of it. (One position you should NOT take on 56k) You need to be quick and nimble and 56k is NOT going to cut it.
27. 203 - It can be done but be wary of ROE (Be very careful using the 203 on 56k a sudden lag spike can get you ROE kicked)
28. Sniper - Don't even think of it. (One position you should NOT take on 56k) The lag will cause you to miss most of the time)
29. SAW - This is your weapon of choice. (Spray and pray baby, spray and pray)
30. DON'T download porn or anything else while trying to play. (Get your priorities straight son)
31. Lead your target (The amount you want to lead your target by is directly proportional to the lag you are experiencing) more lag more lead Thanks -No Fat Chicks-
32. Don't even think of using teamspeak. Thanks 0xc0ffee
33. If you have the time, energy and resources try modem multihoming/shotgunning (running 2 modems across 2 phone lines with an ISP that supports this and combining the bandwidth) XP can do this natively but not all ISPs will support this.
34. Don't use the free ISPs (Juno/Bluelight and other free ISPs are okay for checking your email or viewing the occasional web page but most free ISPs have crappy networks and bad performance) Spend $9 a month and get the dedicated account it's well worth it
35. Don't use proxies or ANY ICS/Microsoft Internet Gateways/3rd Party Caching Software (A directly connected modem is what you want) This type of software will generally slow your connection and add latency.
36. DO a complete scan of you PC for adware/spyware/viruses (That IRC bot or SMTP server you don't even know is running will kill your gameplay) Not to mention irritate the 25,000 email recieptiants.
37. DO play at off hours (The more people online at your ISP the busier the network) Sometimes the most lag free playing is late at nigh or early in the moring.
This is by no means a guarentee you'll be playing with no lag, but it WILL help reduce it some. There are just suggestions to help make gameplay better for people with crappy connections. Forgive the length of this, there was alot to cover.
Please feel free to add comments/ideas of your own.
Finally to all the broadband players please be more tolorent to players stuck on 56k dial down. Give them the opportunity to play WITHOUT getting VK because of high ping. Their ping has NO bearing on YOUR ability to play.
Let me repeat that again for those of you who STILL don't get it. -----Their ping has NO bearing on YOUR ability to play!!!!-----
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