survey

A Survey and Taxonomy of Latency Compensation Techniques for Network Computer Games

Authors:

Mark ClaypoolAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), Volume 54, Issue 11s

Article No.: 243, Pages 1 - 34

https://doi.org/10.1145/3519023

Published: 09 September 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Computer games, one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world, are increasingly online multiplayer, connecting geographically dispersed players in the same virtual world over a network. Network latency between players and the server can decrease responsiveness and increase inconsistency across players, degrading player performance and quality of experience. Latency compensation techniques are software-based solutions that seek to ameliorate the negative effects of network latency by manipulating player input and/or game states in response to network delays. We search, find, and survey more than 80 papers on latency compensation, organizing their latency compensation techniques into a novel taxonomy. Our hierarchical taxonomy has 11 base technique types organized into four main groups. Illustrative examples of each technique are provided, as well as demonstrated use of the techniques in commercial games.

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Cited By

Gonzalo San José SMarquès JPanadero JCalvet L(2025)NARA: Network-Aware Resource Allocation mechanism for minimizing quality-of-service impact while dealing with energy consumption in volunteer networksFuture Generation Computer Systems10.1016/j.future.2024.107593164(107593)Online publication date: Mar-2025
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Tokey SCannon JDinasarapu SJiang AQamar HClaypool M(2024)Effects of Adaptive Time Delay on Quality of Experience in First Person Shooter GamesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3656993(1-4)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
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Tokey SChen ZMettler CTang DBoudaoud BKim JSpjut JClaypool M(2024)The Effects of Network Latency on the Peeker's Advantage in First-person Shooter GamesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3650002(1-10)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
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Index Terms

A Survey and Taxonomy of Latency Compensation Techniques for Network Computer Games
1. Applied computing
  1. Computers in other domains
    1. Personal computers and PC applications
      1. Computer games

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cover image ACM Computing Surveys

ACM Computing Surveys Volume 54, Issue 11s

January 2022

785 pages

ISSN:0360-0300

EISSN:1557-7341

DOI:10.1145/3551650

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University of Sydney, Australia

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Publication History

Published: 09 September 2022

Online AM: 24 February 2022

Accepted: 01 February 2022

Revised: 01 January 2022

Received: 01 August 2021

Published in CSUR Volume 54, Issue 11s

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2024.107593
Tokey SCannon JDinasarapu SJiang AQamar HClaypool M(2024)Effects of Adaptive Time Delay on Quality of Experience in First Person Shooter GamesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3656993(1-4)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649921.3656993
Tokey SChen ZMettler CTang DBoudaoud BKim JSpjut JClaypool M(2024)The Effects of Network Latency on the Peeker's Advantage in First-person Shooter GamesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3649921.3650002(1-10)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649921.3650002
Vlahovic SSlivar ISilic MSkorin-kapov LSuznjevic M(2024)Exploring the Facets of the Multiplayer VR Gaming ExperienceACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications10.1145/364989720:9(1-24)Online publication date: 16-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1145/3649897
Koniaris BSinclair DMitchell K(2024)DanceMark: An Open Telemetry Framework for Latency-Sensitive Real-Time Networked Immersive Experiences2024 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)10.1109/VRW62533.2024.00091(462-463)Online publication date: 16-Mar-2024
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Walker TGilhuly BSadeghi ADelbosc MSmith S(2024)Predictive Dead Reckoning for Online Peer-to-Peer GamesIEEE Transactions on Games10.1109/TG.2023.323794316:1(173-184)Online publication date: Mar-2024
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Soorya VBhat SShaik SRajagopal SBhaskaran S(2024)Advanced Latency Compensation Techniques for Seamless Online Gaming Experiences2024 IEEE 9th International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT)10.1109/I2CT61223.2024.10543857(1-7)Online publication date: 5-Apr-2024
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Kundu AEg RClaypool M(2024)The Interplay Between Delay and Device in a Moving Target Selection Game2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG)10.1109/CoG60054.2024.10645564(1-8)Online publication date: 5-Aug-2024
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Michaelides CBellalta B(2024)Responsive and Timely Virtual Reality Gaming: Which Frame Rate Should One Choose?2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG)10.1109/CoG60054.2024.10645558(1-4)Online publication date: 5-Aug-2024
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