Any NetPlay Experts Around?

h3r3tic

@backstander
ya I could understand over time but it instantaneously goes out of sync upon connection has to be a setting issue. Thank you for your replies.

h3r3tic

@herb_fargus
Any particular emulator or setup you have had success with? I can understand a few hiccups but its like consistent when it happens same pauses every 1-2 seconds. Netplay over something on znes on pc cant be to far from this implementation I would think. Which I have seen that working succesfully. My friend and I are pretty determined lol. I hope its not impossible.

backstander

@h3r3tic
I guess I should also note that when I tried this it was on RetroPie 3.7 (I think) and like herb_fargus said, it was pretty dodgy.

My friend and I are pretty determined lol.

That's good, hope you guys figure it out and able to enlighten the rest of us :)
Also when you figure it out, anyone with a GitHub account can edit the official RetroPie wiki. Please put your fix up for everyone else with these same issues lol!

herb_fargus

@h3r3tic I'm pretty sure I was using lr-snes9x2005 though I would assume all versions of snes9x should function... I was using the same exact super Mario world rom for both the host and client, though I used my PC as host and my pi as client (I think) didn't try with two pi's. But as above if you are able to add more tips to the wiki to improve it please do!

backstander

@h3r3tic
So I just tested NetPlay with my two RPi3s on my LAN, one with prebuild RetroPie 4.1 updated to 4.1.5 and the other with Raspbian 2016-11-25 with manual installed RetroPie 4.1.5. Using default port 55435, default delay frames 15, nickname RetroPie1 and RetroPie2. I first loaded up River City Ransom for NES (lr-quicknes) and it ran pretty well. The 2nd player on the Host would move a little jumpy but it looked smooth on the Client. Next I ran Clay Fighter - Tournament Edition for SNES (lr-snes9x2010) and it wasn't bad. It will freeze video for about a half second every 4-5 seconds but the sound was continual.

I still think you should get both RPi's on the same LAN and get it working there before trying the internet thing.

h3r3tic

@backstander
Sorry I didn't get a chance to mess around tonight my friend was busy. But further into this how are your graphical settings setup? Is everything on default or have you messed with anything. I'm referring to things that lessen the input lag like dispmax driver or threaded video off, GPu hard sync, swap chain. Also does dropping the delay frames being that your on the same network improve play maybe? And our pis are on 4.1.5 BTW. I'm curious is different video settings between systems can effect game play.

backstander

@h3r3tic

Sorry I didn't get a chance to mess around tonight my friend was busy.

No worries!

Is everything on default or have you messed with anything. I'm referring to things that lessen the input lag like dispmax driver or threaded video off, GPu hard sync, swap chain.

My RetroArch/Libretro settings are pretty much default and I'm not using any overclocking settings.

Well I did put all CPU cores in performance mode:
echo "performance" |sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Also does dropping the delay frames being that your on the same network improve play maybe?

It might be better over a LAN connection but over the internet it might make it worse. In my test last time I just used the default settings of 15 and it wasn't bad at all.

I'm curious is different video settings between systems can effect game play.

Yes. The closer their settings match the better.

h3r3tic

Is the performance line the same as using force_turbo?

backstander

@h3r3tic

Is the performance line the same as using force_turbo?

No, its more of disabling "CPU clock speed lowering for power saving" mode

"The CPUfreq governor 'performance' sets the CPU statically to the
highest frequency within the borders of scaling_min_freq and
scaling_max_freq."
https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cpu-freq/governors.txt

I've never used force_turbo because when I first got my RPi, I read somewhere that doing that would void the warranty.

Actually changing all of these variables at the same time will void the warranty (or set the warranty bit in the Raspberry Pi)

force_turbo
current_limit_override
temp_limit > 85
over_voltage > 0

Once the warranty bit has been marked, it can't be unmarked!

h3r3tic

@backstander
ahh well Im way past the point already. I overclock everything lol. 35 dollar gamble is fine with me. I noticed there was a little lag in snes in some games with default setting but I dont like running max clock and voltage for no reason. So maybe thats a better answer to keep the cpu from down clocking while in game. Btw Im at 1.4 now overvolt 4 and higher sdram/and gpu freq.

If it is a good substitute for that can I set that on boot? I have noticed much better performance with turbo forced but like i said I dont wanna sit idle running max clocks for no reason and yes I have a cooling fan as well.

If I remember correctly the min can't be set any higher then 600mhz and max would be 1.4 for me so where would it sit just a random spot in between there?

Edit: Nvm this is just like an android phone. Lol totally went over my head. Im a dummy. OK I know how governors work. I'll set the usage lower to like 60 percent so it'll go to max sooner but downclock when idle. Cool

h3r3tic

@backstander
So I got some time to really sit and change each setting at a time last night. We were set on SNES to go smoothly. We ironed out quite a bit but Im pretty much concluding the system cant keep up with emulation and internet while playing. Ive tried lowering just about every setting possible to make faster emulation different video drivers, sound drivers, lower resolution. If we both stand still in say tmnt 4 itll hold 60 fps no lag but once there is guys on screen and we are both putting in inputs frames drop to mid 40s. And we kept check frames between 2 and 4 just dealt with the semi skipping sound all the way to shredder with zero sync issues. So I dont believe it would make a difference on lan. If I could possible cap fps at 30 it would probably be smooth at that sacrifice though may not even be worth to play. Unless there is any possible settings or an emulator to get it to render faster and more consistent.

On a side note digging into the performance and on demand governors. echo performance doesnt do anything unless you physically edit the /etc/init.d/raspi-config through sudo nano in terminal. That file is the file loaded at boot and locks consistent unless changed or deleted. At least on these newest builds of retropie that is. I was also able to change up_threhold and rates in this files which works great for ondemand without forcing max clocks 90 percent of the time.

backstander

@h3r3tic
Do you live in the US? I know our uploads speeds are a joke here. Right now my upload speed is just under 1Mbps. I've read in most of Europe, their upload and download speeds pretty much match.

Over LAN I did notice some frame drops with lots of movement on the screen but it rarely dipped down enough to be unplayable. I think I'll try TMNT as well and see how it runs for me.

So I dont believe it would make a difference on lan.

I still think you should give it a try. Plus it's also much easier to match settings when they're side-by-side.

echo performance doesnt do anything unless you physically edit the /etc/init.d/raspi-config through sudo nano in terminal.

That's interesting! Good fine, I guess I didn't have the governor set to "performance" haha.

h3r3tic

I live on the east coast in NJ. Verizon offers 100/100 which is what bother me and him have. Im pretty happy with it. I will eventually get around to setting it up with him side by side to see where it stands. Let me know anything you come across. I will probably try genesis tonight. Really wanna play through streets of rage.

backstander

@h3r3tic

I live on the east coast in NJ. Verizon offers 100/100 which is what bother me and him have. Im pretty happy with it.

I just tried TMNT4 with lr-snes9x2010 and it ran pretty well except when I got to the first wrecking ball and the game got out of sync and it was like I was playing 2 different games but both controllers where controlling both games. Hard to explain but it was weird.

This time the host did well but the client did that half second little pause every 4-5 seconds like what Clay Fighter did but in reverse.

I will probably try genesis tonight. Really wanna play through streets of rage.

Hopefully another emulator will work better over the internet.

backstander

@h3r3tic
I just tested Streets of Rage 2 with lr-picodrive over LAN and played until the 2nd stage and it ran very smoothly. No sync issues or little half second pauses. Much better experience than lr-snes9x2010!