Realtime multiplayer from what I understand is not feasible at the moment due to the sheer amount of data that needs to be sent. So and idea that crossed my mind was a sort of indirect way to play multiplayer, using parts of the replay function. Basically it would be a way for you to have an active replay while simultaneously being able to drive and in that way race against yourself or your friends, indirectly. Collisions could be dealt with in two ways. First would be to remove collisions between this replay ghost car and all realtime processed cars. The second way would be to throw the replay car out of replay mode and turn it into a simulated car the moment it gets in contact with a simulated car. Maybe turning it into an AI, or just let it roll to a stop. I personally think this would be a great bit of fun. Is it possible? Is it wanted by the rest of the community?
It sound like it could work in theory but there could be some serious latency as the replay builds it self it will also have to simultaneously play it back and link it to a real-time jbeam car, you could be looking at a time difference of up to 30-50 seconds, Also touching it would force it to switch to AI since a replay isn’t designed to be interacted with. The ghost car idea is more feasible, the replay would play real-time as you race against it. it hasn’t been implemented as of yet which leads me to believe they indeed thought of it but have hit some road blocks setting it up
Yea, I didn't mean that the replay car would be simulated. That could indeed be problematic. Only to have collision triangles active and switch the ghost car into a physical car only once a collision occur. I guess it would be difficult to make this a smooth transition though since the car would have to be loaded in with all the beam tensions. I don't know if the replay store these variables or if it's just the node positions. Either way, a non interactive ghost would be cool too. Maybe also an option if you want the ghost to be transparent in classic racing-game fashion or opaque for a realistic look.
