[Feature Request] Support for the FTE or QuakeWorld protocol

[malespiaut]

Hello,

I've recently tried to play Quake 1 Co-op with a friend over the internet, and we experienced lag due to the NetQuake protocol not being optimized for that.

I could simply play using FTE with my friend, but IronWail is my go-to engine, and have nice features that FTE doesn't have (plus, IronWail user interface isn't cluttered and confusing, like FTE).

While I understand that this is no small change I'm asking, I find it unforutnate for IronWail to be stuck to solo or LAN play due to the NetQuake protocol.

Best regards.

[Calinou]

It is possible to implement client-side prediction that's compatible with NetQuake servers, but it's pretty suboptimal in terms of prediction quality. See DarkPlaces and FTEQW for examples of this (this even trickled down to standalone games like Nexuiz/Xonotic).

The QuakeWorld protocol makes it possible to achieve far more reliable prediction. I believe mod compatibility will become a problem though, which is why most QuakeWorld coop is focused on vanilla or mostly-vanilla endeavors. (If you look at the server list in ezQuake, you'll see a coop server running thousands of maps but you won't see mods like Arcane Dimensions there.)