Instant Multiplayer Character Movement With 500ms Network Lag (In Blueprints)
20Simulating 3 players on a listen server with 500ms network lag. I've designed my blueprints so that all abilities fire IMMEDIATELY on the local client without waiting for server permission, and then call the RPC to replicate those abilities on the server and to every other client in the game EXCEPT the player who called the ability (because they've already executed it.) You will notice if you watch closely that after a player inputs their ability, it executes 500ms later on the server, and then an extra 500ms later on the other clients. The result is that each client gets to play with 0ms network lag, and so they don't miss a beat when the platforming is hard and fast.
The technique is called Network Prediction if you want to look it up, but most guides you find will do it in C++. I don't use C++, and don't want to spend the time learning if I can produce reasonably similar results using blueprints (I would rather spend my time designing.) I managed to get this working using the Smooth Sync plugin which replaces the default character movement replication in Unreal, and then built my own ability system in blueprints which handles all my RPCs so that abilities fire instantly on each client without them putting the rest of the game out of sync with my own version of network validation where it's needed.
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Downloadable blueprints:
✨Marketplace: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/profile/Slightly+Esoteric+Studios
✨Gumroad: https://jacksonnexhip.gumroad.com/
Popular blueprints:
🛍️ Endless Random World Generator: https://jacksonnexhip.gumroad.com/l/EndlessRandomWorlds
🛍️ Enemy Waves Spawning System: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/1438202ce8354709bcf0764563df7d8b
🛍️ Simple Flying AI: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/flying-ai
Find me:
🎮 My Games (Itch): https://nexhip.itch.io/
🎮 Discord: https://discord.gg/VFSdVKyFWe
🎮 Running Robot Man 4 on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708270/Running_Robot_Man_4/
^ Wishlist my game on Steam.
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