In GKC, a big problem is server lag. In numerous games, lag is a huge factor in them. Lag and server stress affect the game in so many ways. In this topic, we will explore lag, how to stop lag, and how to play while lagging. I hope you enjoy!
Summary of Lag and What Causes It
There is much to talk about when considering server lag. However, let’s start with a main nemesis… (drumroll please) 
Wires!!!
Wires are certainly an interesting topic when considering lag. They do have obvious disadvantages, of course, such as the memory per wire. The memory amount itself, 10 memory, is minimal, however, as you get progressively further in the development process, the memory starts to add up to outrageous sums. Related to this, there is also lag. This can come from memory usage, but it can also come from screen stress. The idea of screen stress is simple—the more players there are in the game, the more times the servers have to replicate the images on each person’s screen. However, devices that are invisible in the game tend to actually create an extreme amount of server stress before the game. To prevent this, people invented…
Lobbies!!!
The idea of lobbies was simple—get the players to an area outside of the playing map. They do this so that:
A. People can’t see all the devices in the game which creates lots of server stress, and
B. So that—duh—people can’t just look at the map before the game (Unless you want them to see the map. Then just throw this part out the window.).
However, in GKC, wires actually still cause screen stress in the pre-game lobby. This is due to a bizarre effect called mapcasting. Basically, what it means is that wires and channels still affect screen stress even when not on screen. However, since you can’t actually see channels, this effect only applies to wires. Mapcasting mainly happens because of another effect called the server trigger effect, which pretty much states that the servers will react to wires as if they’re still onscreen when they’re offscreen. This is due to the massive functionality and scope of wires and channels. That’s mainly it for wires, but let’s check out another mystery villain…
Spawn Pads!!!
Now I know you’re all confused about this since spawn pads use almost no memory, so I will explain the spawn pad issue as simply as I can. Basically, spawn pads can be a challenge in GKC due to them showing up in the pregame lobby. Other games have solved this by convincing the servers not to show the spawn pads by telling the servers that the lobby is part of the game, but in Gimkit, you can’t exactly do that, because the lobby is also the editing stage. These account for massive strain on the servers before the game even starts, which is not good for two reasons:
- Your lobby will lag, and
- Gimkit has a bad memory storage strategy
Gimkit’s current memory storage strategy is basically this—when it can’t deal with something, it tries to delete it. This is not good for memory. While the spawn pads themselves will disappear, you will retain the leftover data from the spawn pads and already be off on a bad foot, not to mention that you are going to have 70,000 other devices constantly throwing lag at the Gimkit servers. Needless to say, this is not good.
“But TheRealGim1, I play Gimkit all the time and I never experience this much lag that you’re talking about. Why’s that?”
Good question! The answer is that the Gimkit servers are built for this kind of thing, so they can successfully delete the memory data on lower-memory maps. However, this still causes issues. This forces the Gimkit servers to work overdrive on things other than your map. If your map is a simple, low-memory map, your game will probably be fine for a while, but this overdrive will catch up to you in the long run, and at about the thirty-minute mark, your game will begin to lag like any other game. But for higher-memory games… well, that’s where things start getting… laggy. Very laggy. You’ll be better off if most of your memory comes from terrain or props, but if most of your memory is coming from devices… well, then, that’s where things start getting messy. I do not think I need to explain what happens, as most of us have experienced it for ourselves, but it really affect your gameplay (See Section Three: How To Exploit Lag). Lastly, for lag, there is simply the sad reality that higher-memory games lag. They would lag, even without server stress, but high memory usage combined with server stress is not fun. That’s mainly going to be it for the summary. I know there are many minor problems that I missed, but I’m mainly hitting on major problems. I might update this later, but this summary took a while, so I’m just going to skip onwards. All right. Onto stopping lag!
Stopping Lag and Server Stress
So, if you read any of the aforementioned lag summary, you’ll know that spawn pads are a huge part of lag. So, then, what’s the simplest way to stop this? Remove spawn pads, of course! Now, we’re not actually removing spawn pads, for obvious reasons, but two simple solutions for this are:
- Create your lobby in the dead center of the map, where your character automatically spawns, or,
- Don’t create a lobby in the pre-game.
Since the first strategy is relatively simple, we’re going to be focusing on the second strategy for now. What the second strategy is saying is that you have no lobby in the pre-game, but instead have the lobby as soon as the game starts. From there, you could have either a timer to take them to the actual game or have them vote when they want to start (Or something else, if you can think of it). This allows you to hide spawn pads, allowing for less server strain. Next is a relatively simple strategy: USE CHANNELS!!!
I cannot stress this enough. This may seem like a personal bias, but I believe after studying this stuff for like 6 hours that you should use channels. Firstly, channels don’t use any memory, so they provide less lag. Secondly, channels are also faster. I did a non-AUO test earlier, and the channel was faster. In fact, since they went at pretty much the same time to activate a popup, the wire channel actually got canceled mid-test due to how close the pair’s activation times were. But basically, I believe you should use channels for less memory and lag. Lastly, just conserve memory (The Ultimate Guide for Saving Memory). It’s that simple. Think about if you really need a device, or if you can use one device for two purposes. Okay, now, the final section. Playing with lag!!!
Playing With Lag and Server Stress
That’s right. This section is about taking advantage of lag and server stress. If there’s absolutely nothing you can do and you have to play a laggy map, here’s how to do it in three easy steps.
- Make yourself the host.
I have not mentioned this yet, and it’s a simple yet crucial part of the process. The game is always the least laggy on the host’s screen and actually relies on the host’s screen to determine the game. Think of it this way: the host is the first one in, so they have the least lag due to the fact that the game is not replicating things on other people’s screens. Instead, your screen gets undivided attention from the servers as the host. The second person in the game experiences the second least amount of lag, and so on until the last person is in, who experiences the most amount of lag. This brings us to our next step, which is… - If you can’t be the host, get in the game as soon as possible.
This will allow you to have less lag, as previously mentioned, and will let you function very well. Finally, this brings us to step… - If you are laggy, be aggressive.
The upside to being laggy is that the lag will cause things to happen on a delayed scale. This means you can sneak through de@th zones, glitch through objects, and lag through threats. However, if you are playing a battle royale or sh00ting game, MAKE SURE TO LEAD YOUR SH0TS!!! Remember, your screen is delayed behind other screens, so players are ahead of where they are on your screen. That’s it for this section!
I hope you enjoyed this topic. Please comment on how I could improve this, and I’ll see you in the next post. Byeeeeeeeeeee!!!
