Microsoft working on new MMOFPS technology for massive, epic battles

Imagine battling hundreds or thousands of other players - not just 8 or 16, all on the same server in the same place at the same time.

"How can that be possible? There would be so much lag!"

"DoonyBrook" is the codename of a project Microsoft Research is working on to make MMOs more epic. Watch this video clip and learn how massive, epic online battles become possible.

[BIadestarX]

A similar technique is use when rendering graphics on the screen. Only the area you are looking is rendered... If the game would have to render everything including the parts you don't see than it would run a 1 fps... or less.. hehe. Also, MMO games use a distance type technique and only nearby characters send you data.. which is why on many games the towns are so laggy...

I think this is a more advance technique that can revolutionize the way games are played. If this becomes a reality the need for servers with super expensive internet connection will not be necessary for many games. The way things work today is... all users send eachother data... other games send data to the host and the host updates all users... kind of crazy when you have 32 players.

Now the way this will work is...
If your screen is not looking at the character.. there is no need to receive their data (Weapons info, location info, etc)... when the character is behind walls.. there is no need to send data... if the character is across the map from you there is no need to send data.

If a character is behind you and shot you.. he can send you "shot... you are dead... data"...

Very nice and powerful technique...

I'm sure lots of game companies will start using these techniques...
I can't wait until microsoft make this part of their SDK and developers can easly implement them.

And there are Fanboys here that think Microsoft never innovates. Being a software company obviously give them a level of advantage over their competitors.

Soon... Certain fanboys will not be bragging about having 64 player and dedicated servers.. when an xbox 360 game supports a few hundred players.

[warfed]

do you actually think MS will have games with 100 people online at their expense?

[ArmrdChaos]

If MS was smart they would start getting these MMOs on Live and not require the GOLD members to pay extra. Imagine having multiple MMOs at your disposal with only the one fee for LIVE. If MS provided the server space then the cost would in theory be minimal for the developer and game updates could be offered through marketplace.

[SofaKingReetodded]

if it's done by MS it will run poorly and cost you as much as a small apartment in monthly fees.

NO THANKS

Im one of those that's convinced that anything MS puts their hands on turns to mud.

[nirwanda]

anyone playing online will have to be catered for with servers anyway if it's an mmo so it will be cheaper for MS to do it this way as they will use less severs running more efficient code

[Lyberator]

I wonder how far along the technology is. Like when we'll actually start to see it implemented by developers.

[nasim]

how come this BOT keeps posting this trash everytime.

Mass Effect has liliput enemies on screen since x360 is not powerful enough to handle textures of BIGGER ENEMIES.

MS are trying to make a game with enemies containing barely as many polygons as a typical TETRIS block.

a low powered console will handle detailed enemies???
How come these stories are approved everytime??

DONT forget that x360 has a shared bandwidth of just 22g/s and has a slower cache of 1mb only .

you can have 100x of liliput enemies as in Mass effect

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

Your an idiot.

[ArmrdChaos]

He has 1 bubble and shouldn't even show up...which he doesn't for me.

He has NO voice if you don't give him one. People like him feed off of the negative feedback so don't provide him any. It is a cry for attention that he is not getting anywhere else in life.

Treat him like he not even there.

[Xi]

This would make MMOFPS a lot more viable, sounds like fun.

[Daxx]

Sounds good. I hope they get this "DoonyBrook" thing working.

Also the game Huxley, which is coming out on the 360 in 2008, is a good example of a FPSMMO that could end up changing from a 100vs100 game to a 1000vs1000 game if "DoonyBrook" gets fully produced.

[warfed]

i think SOE should make PlanetSide for consoles....

[sovietsoldier]

i dont know, it still seems like bandwith plays an issue. if we can get a bandwith standard and a bandwith with a speed better then fiber optic then we will have games that play lagg free no matter how many people are playing just as long as your computer is strong enough to do it.

[PimpHandHappy]

100's of ppl shooting it out on a game like Warhawk but much much bigger. That would rule

hey can i ask my 360ppl something? I dont own a 360 so i dont know the answer. What was the biggest game online for the 360? Shooter/War

I dont remember anything bigger the 16ppl but i could be wrong.

I dont think the PS3 could handle 100's of ppl shooting it out let alone a 360. Maybe the next-gen of conseles we will see this. Wont be the PS3 or the 360 because if they where able they would have been much more hype about it.

still a great idea and i hope ppl make it work. I love my online war

[Daxx]

Yeah I don't know what 360 had the most players in multiplayer but in 2008 we'll have Huxley which is going to support 100vs100 (Webzen is going to be hosting the servers btw).

[Xi]

black hawk down for the original xbox had something like 50 player online.

then huxley will have into the hundreds.

[Xbox is the BEST]

COD3 24 players online

[DreamTension]

Launch title Perfect Dark Zero has 32 players online, and is relativly lag free.

[SofaKingReetodded]

is even attempting this is because they realized Sony just ate their lunch when it comes to multiplayer. The PS3 is doing it better, harder and more exciting than the 3FIXME ever could. From day one classics like Resistance to multiplayer juggernauts like Warhawk, PS3 is setting new standards in what is possible on a game console. Those of us who aren't wearing green colored glasses can clearly the 3FIXME has clearly been caught bringing a knife to a gunfight while the PS3 brought a chaingun.

what kind of an idiot tells another person they have no right to own a console??

lol, silly xbots

[Halo360]

PS3 NETWORK SUCKS! Just lettin you know that in case you didn't. You have no unified friends list, you can't send cross game invites, it just sucks all around. Can you even private chat cross game? My guess is no. Hey try stratigizing with your team-mates on FEAR. Oh wait you can't because you can't use voice! Take your blind fanboyism somewhere else Sofa. All your comments are pure garbage and you have no right to even own a console.

[PimpHandHappy]

dont get ahead of yourself. Your already calling out fanboys with a story that isnt even close to becoming a real game. Get real

i guess maybe MS needs to snuff some of the Warhawk love. They dont have a game like it but they sure sound like they want to make one that is better. Good luck

and if they did make a game that has 100's of ppl on one map u can bet that would sell 360's like the Wii or the PS2

ADD ON: guy above me, Thanks

Im going to look into that Huxley game.

peace out and Rampage Jackson is going to mess up Dan Henderson

cant wait

enjoy the games

[BIadestarX]

... intersting... did you see the video? did you fail to see the demo?
did you failed to hear when they mentioned about white papers?
This is not some remote concept of technology which is obscure and that no one can understand how it works.
These techniques are partially used in some games.

Here is how it works: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jeff...

http://www.usenix.org/event...

This one is more detailed.. it even give you the Matematical formulas that makes this happen: http://research.microsoft.c...

Currently even your beloved PS3 developers can read these white papers and apply some of these techniques on your PS3 games.. it's no secret... they are just what will become best practices and obviously microsoft will develope SDK tools that will enable xbox 360 or DirectX developers to implement them in their game easly.

As a programmer and someone who works on some game engines I can see how all of this fit in. I can understand why you see this a some hard to accomplish, far into the future magical technology that will take 10 years to make.

"dont get ahead of yourself. Your already calling out fanboys with a story that isnt even close to becoming a real game." I'm I? What will become real? A technique? Developers can start using it now if they want. It's all writen... developers can make their own implementation.

This is not some Kill Zone 2, Little Big planet or Home... this is more important... since it will affect all the games we play regarding of what console. You should be happy... this is not only for the xbox 360... (It's a technique).. which can be matured and can evolved (who knows maybe Sony contributes to make it better and you can be happier)... right... You people get excited about 1 PS3 CGI video of a game announced 2 prior to the game released.... but no no no... this "DoonyBrook" is nothing to look forward to....
This is beyong the PS3 or the Xbox 360... these techniques can eliminate P2P lag dramatically and improve game experience regardless of console manufacturer... so #@#$(*& PimpHandHappy... it's something worth being excited for.

[pacman615]

you must live in europe, it dont come on here until 8pm in the states on spike tv for free :) , and a new cat alexander houston is gonna crack some heads again , new up and comer in the ufc

@ 9.1 gayjar, i dont think creating tic tac toe with pen and paper count as programming on game engines, but whatever gets your panties wet kiddo

[SofaKingReetodded]

gaystar has a point, this is a technique which means the PS3 will run it that much bigger,faster and better.

LMAO

[SRuN4]

hate to break it to anyone but you'll only see the jump to 64 players in a game and i dont even see that until the end of this generation.

[DreamTension]

"There are very few games that can boast 100 vs. 100 player maps. The kind of chaos those kinds of games cause is special. If they can make those types of numbers stand up to technology requirements and keep the gameplay more fun than the typical "wake up and die" massacre so many players in one match can cause… well, let's just file that in our hope chest."
http://xbox360.ign.com/arti...

We will have to wait and see...

[PimpHandHappy]

Maybe if the PS3 and 360 are still around in 5-6 years they will make a all out war game with that many ppl. But i dont see it happening any time soon.

ADD ON: Bladestar

Yea it is something to get pumped up over but if you dont know this by now you can hype up alot of things but till u see them in action and in the hands of gamers like most of us here it is nothing but promise and if you live your life on other ppl's promises your going to be let down more times then not. I do hope they make it happen thou. I would love to find a group of 30 ppl fighting on the ground and dropping a carpet bomb on em!!1 Much fun

peace

[segasage]

or can never "see" anything happening when Ms is working on it. Usually a cast of "DOUBT" set in. Look at the comments.

If it was sony, there would be plenty of wet dreams and boners, asking when will this be available or more curious to see how this works.

On this Article: We'll see how this plays out, it sounds like a neat Idea, given it works. I wonder how long they have been working on it?

Maybe it will become popular, then maybe not, it sounds good.

[pacman615]

um i hate to break it to you, im a die hard sony fan, and they better not bring this chit to the ps3, unless they have a ton of maps and weapons and great graphics, which i highly doubt they will have any of that, will just be 1000 little kids playing 1000 red ringers, with everyone looking the exact same, and shooting the exact same guns circling one map, oh yeah looks so much fun , i cant wait till it comes and see the masssiveonlinemultiplayerflopf rommicrosoftbecausethatsallthe y doanymoreisjunk thanks :)

p.s. did you see the look on her face when she said it sounds like a big pile of chit, she was serious, she was already doubting it, also the graphics in pitfall or some crap game like that are better than that steaming pile.................. microsoft just sent me an email saying they are banning everyone who plays this junk until 10000000 AD , guess the halohacker got off easy :)

[Lyberator]

Pacman, is your I.Q. below a 5? Just asking........

[PimpHandHappy]

did u read one comment here.

where is the 360 doubters? I said i dont think the PS3 or the 360 can do it. That is about the only comment that says it cant be done.

Stop thinking your in a flame war because thats what ur going to get.

Get over yourself dude! Stop with the hate and go play some games

[segasage]

Or you didn't see nasim's post? He's on every xbox article flaming..

Besides your exactly what I'm, talking about...

your a fool, this is Ms doing, so it has nothing to do with PS3..

Does it make sense MS would be working on thing that they cannot do on their own console?

What douche bag..yeah, you make much sense, MS will alway shave doubters, really that's all I said, and there you go yapping nonsesne. Maybe you have not heard of Huxley... do you homework, will ya.

You cast doubt without knowing sh%t.

[DeckUKold]

they need to put they heads in one so this to work i can see them all working together to make a 1000 MMO

[DeadlyFire]

To be honest I don't like this idea very much but I understand its potienial. It likely won't be used until next generation of consoles if it is to be used on a console.

Only 5 players sending and recieving data at a time with everyone else being bots unless they are in front of you? This sounds a bit odd espeically if you want game rating and things. I believe this tech needs some more time to develope and branch out so that it can at least be 10-20 or 30 players sending and recieving data. That works better in my opinion.

Heavenly Sword is a good example of something similar though using only AI. It has thousands on screen at once, but the ones closer to you ready to fight you actually act normally while the ones away from you do next to nothing or what they are programmed to do moving forward or whatnot.

[pacman615]

to your comment about heavenly sword, what do you expect the soldiers to do , punch their friend in the back while nariko is whipping other soldiers ass, the ai will pick up when you are near that enemy to attack, you could say the same thing about alot of games like that, soldiers dont attack their own, its like a bruce lee movie, he kicks the chit out of every guy that comes near him , but the ones sitting there waiting for the other attacker to try his luck , no one has problems with bruce lee movies, and no one will have problems with heavenly swords ai, if anything will be a great f'n challenge to dispatch 1000's of enemies at one time with diff combos and whatnot, just get a ps3 if you dont have one and drink a big can of STFU !!

[Bnet343]

Hope it comes true

[demolitionX]

sound to me like BS. anyway it's microsoft"what do u expect" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PS360PCROCKS]

Haha their goes the whole "Well resistance had alot of people online"

[risk]

they are already doing stuff liek this, if you guys have seen one of the crysis movies, its called "culling" it makes it so that the stuff you dont see on screen is not rednered by the graphics card, thus saving cycles etc, this increases performance.

oh and i have no idea why u would want more then 30 people in one fire fight, it makes it soo chaotic that it looses its appeal (look at battlefield 2 and how big the maps have to be etc for 64 player servers)

[Bolts]

This tech sounds like it'll require a modern quad core PC with decent amount of RAM to run. Even then you'll need a badass GPU to render a game with 100 peeps and all hell breaking loose.