Mission Optimisation for MP

[Heckpupper]

Hey, I'm a part of a team that makes relatively complex missions, spanning approx. 4 hours with up to 80+ people participating at any given moment. 

Those aren't your typical multiplayer missions with a few scripts and spawn points, they also include AI, significant amount of anti-air, vehicles, shipping, a metric ton of blocks, smokestacks, battles and so on. 

 

So, my question is: what affects performace of the serve the most?

 

Obviously players, then AI. 

Does it matter if AI aircraft are fighters or bombers equipped with multiple gunner positions? 

Does it matter if AI is clumped in one sector, or spread around the map?

 

 

What other assets impact performance the most?

 

Live entities such as firing artillery/anti-air/machine-guns?

Scenery such as smoke?

How impactful are blocks? I know they're not too heavy on performance, but there must be a reasonable limit, right?

 

I have a some decent experience and I think I found some answers to those questions, but I'd like to hear from other, more experienced mission designers/server hosts. 

I'd love to find a good balance of immersive and historically accurate, but light enough to work in a multiplayer scenario with 40-60 aircraft duking it out in close proximity at times, +AI flights. 

 

Discuss?

 

 

[Sketch]

In my experience, AAA is the most server performance hit. The flak goes to all players (puffy and small arms) even if they're not in the area. So if you have 100+ flak going off, the server will basically crawl on it's knees. We've done things like remove AAA from spawnable airfields to help remove AAA from the mission, and made the AAA only spawn on checkzones when enemy are near an objective.

 

Then it's bombers that take up server performance. Especially the bigger bombers that multiple gunner seats. The most we've been able to handle with 84 players is about 8 B25s. With 50 people, we've been able to have 12 bombers without to many issues.

 

The next heaviest item is the underscore vehicles.... Especially if they're moving and shooting.

 

The next heaviest is large ships with multiple AAA.

 

Then next heaviest is vehicles that move.

 

Next is moving trains.

 

Then blocks that are active entities.

 

Then blocks that are not active entities.

[Zooropa_Fly]

I think the weather settings can have a big impact also.