Uh-oh. I just discovered something else really really bad about Windows XP. Although possible, I doubt if this is a DarkBASIC issue.
It seems that Microsoft has changed something very fundamental.
Please run this short program and analyze it. What can be going on to cause this?
In DarkBASIC it's easy to keep a Cyrix 366Mhz Win98 and a Athlon 1.2 GHz Win 98SE system synchronized in multiplayer.
It is impossible to keep a Athlon 1.2 GHz Win 98SE tightly synchronized with a 1.8 GHz Celeron Windows XP.
I noticed that SLOT RACERS operated more slowly on a faster XP.
That code does not check the OS in any way, yet it runs slower on XP.
The code is designed to run at a constant rate no matter where it is executed.
Next I ran my LAN enabled COMMBAT between the 1.2G 98 and 1.8GHz XP systems. Synchronization problems were apparent. The XP always lags.
The program runs extremely well when using the aformentioned 366Mhz and 1200MHz Win98 systems linked over LAN or SERIAL connection.
Next I wrote the code below to verify what I have been seeing.
Experts one and all
(IanM, Drake, Mr. Bitmap, Rob K, Dark Glory, TDK-Man, cyberluke, Rob K and even Mr. Bamber)
Please examine this code and help me to understand what is happening. Please.
Right now it seems that any Win9X to WinXP real time multiplayer is a crap shoot at best, even over a high speed LAN. If my analysis is correct then for high speed multiplayer we'll need to run all XPs or all 9X systems to stay in sync.
Compile the atached source code on either DarkBASIC Professional or Classic it does not matter.
Win98 takes 2.176 seconds
WinXP takes about 2.564 seconds
The exact same code! What the heck is going on?
Do I have to check for XP and put a fart factor in the calculations?
Thanks in advance.
The more you see, the more you know.
The more you know, the more you see.
