Frequencies of Synchronization

Strix components synchronize Actors by periodically sending messages to update replicas. A higher frequency can provide smoother actions with smaller lags in exchange for network bandwidth and server load. The default values should be good for many games, but you can adjust the frequencies of such updates to optimize the game performance.

Two components, Strix Replicator and Strix Movement Synchronizer, have properties to control the update frequencies.

Strix Replicator

The Strix Replicator component has a property TicksPerSecond. It is the number of times in a second that the Actor updates replicas.

The default value of TicksPerSecond is 5, meaning a replicator will update its replicas five times every second.

The TicksPerSecond property affects all Strix components attached to the same Actor; that is, updates for Strix Transform Sync and Strix Animation Sync components occur in the same frequency specified by this property, except for Strix Movement Synchronizer.

Strix Movement Synchronizer

The Strix Movement Synchronizer component does not use replicator’s TicksPerSecond, but it automatically adjusts its update frequency depending on the movement of the Actor.

You can control the update frequency of Strix Movement Synchronizer by two properties of it: SyncPeriodMin and SyncPeriodMax. SyncPeriodMin is the minimum interval between updates in milliseconds, and SyncPeriodMax is the maximum. The Strix Movement Synchronizer adjusts its update frequency so that the interval between updates stays in the two designated time period.

The default value of SyncPeriodMin is 100ms and SyncPeriodMax is 500ms, so the Strix Movement Synchronizer updates its replicas in an interval between 100ms and 500ms.

Note

TicksPerSecond property of Strix Replicator represents number of updates in a second, while SyncPeriodMin and SyncPeriodMax of Strix Movement Synchronizer represent periods of time between updates. So, their numbers are inverse. That is, a larger number of TicksPerSecond means a higher frequency, but larger numbers of SyncPeriodMin and SyncPeriodMax mean lower frequencies.

Please consult How to Improve Performance and How to Adjust Movement Synchronizer Parameters for performance tuning.