Latency will only be an issue if it's non-constant - most gamers can adjust for lag if it's expected.
I think the underlying idea here is consistency. If I point and click on something that was merely a "mirage" due to network effects, then this is somewhat of a bad experience.
> If you have a general latency of 120ms, then the maximum number of frames per second which react to distinct instances of input is 8.
If you have a round trip latency of 120ms, then the maximum number of action-result-reaction cycles per second is 8, but its possible to have distinct instances of input to information received each frame whether or not that frame accounts for input in the previous frame. You can have distinct instance of input -- and frames that react to them -- as fast as you can show frames and humans can process them. The frames showing the reaction will be delayed by the latency + human response time from the information they react to, but the frequency of those frames is pretty much unconstrained by latency.
Which is why, again, slow frame-rate and high latency are orthogonal (both create the perception of "slowness", but they are different and independent effects.)
The only real relation is that a low frame-rate can mask high-latency, as if the latency (including human response time) is less than time between frames, the latency becomes imperceptible. So, yeah, 8 FPS becomes the frame rate necessary to completely mask 120ms latency.
> If you have a round trip latency of 120ms, then the maximum number of action-result-reaction cycles per second is 8, but its possible to have distinct instances of input to information received each frame whether or not that frame accounts for input in the previous frame. You can have distinct instance of input -- and frames that react to them -- as fast as you can show frames and humans can process them. The frames showing the reaction will be delayed by the latency + human response time from the information they react to, but the frequency of those frames is pretty much unconstrained by latency.
Got it. That makes sense. I was putting the user more in the mindset of a webapp user, where almost all interaction is "action-result-reaction," but when I think about gaming, I am giving a pretty much constant stream of input, coming from a join flow of muscle-memory, my own desires for the outcome, and the input of the visual and audio.
So, sure, I will take many more than 8 actions, and all of them will just be delayed.
120ms doesnt limit the game to 8 FPS though - it means that the image is at ~60 FPS and 8 Frames into the past.
120ms is perfectly fine for RTS and most RPGs or even MMOs... Though MMOs would probably get another ~30ms increase in latency because of the connection from aws to the game servers.
If it wasn't a direct feedback game with mouse to look. I'm sure it wouldn't matter aS much. Such as point and click. Or click to move rpg. Rts. Etc. I'm sure if it was mouse to look or aim. Or even a strong key press to move it'd be noticeable. But still could be great for plenty of games. Though not all
