Age of Empires: Turtle, or yellow or red dot next to player name (177952)
The information in this article applies to:
This article was previously published under Q177952 SYMPTOMS
When you play a multiplayer game, you may see a turtle, a yellow
dot, or a red dot next to a player's name in the Scores window.
CAUSE
If the frame rate (the number of frames per second of video images on the
screen) drops below 15 frames per second, a turtle appears next to the name
of the player with the slowest computer. If the network latency (the time
it takes for a packet of data to travel between two computers) is from 300
milliseconds to 1 second, a yellow dot appears next to the name of the
player with the slowest Internet connection. If the network latency is
more than 1 second, a red dot appears next to the name of the player
with the slowest Internet connection.
RESOLUTION
The following information may help you improve the performance of a
multiplayer game.
- The fewer players in the game, the faster the game runs. For
example, game performance is slower in an 8-player game than in a
2-player game.
- The player with the fastest computer must be the host, even if
there are no computer players participating in the game (the host
computer is responsible for running the computer players). The host
computer does the extra work during the game.
- Multiplayer games run only as fast as the slowest computer in the
game. To see which players are experiencing network latency or frame
rate problems, click the S button in the lower-right corner of the
game screen to display the player scores and the following
information:
If a turtle appears next to the name of a player, that player
has the slowest system. The player can try to improve performance
by following the tips provided in this article, or the player can
drop out of the game.
If a red or yellow dot appears next to the name of a player,
indicating network latency problems, the player can reestablish
their Internet connection and restart the game to try to
improve performance.
- If you play a multiplayer game with eight players, game performance
is best when each player's computer meets the Age of Empires minimum
system requirements of a Pentium 90 processor and 24 megabytes (MB)
of RAM. The game host must have the most powerful computer and the
most RAM.
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 8/16/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kbConfig kbnetwork kbprb kbSysSettings kbusage KB177952 |
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