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0 pointsandvari_bekho5mo ago0 comments

Hey gus_massa, thanks a lot for the feedback! Those are some really cool ideas.

For the other players you see in the race, we’re currently picking random players from the database. It would definitely be nice to select a mix of fast, average, and slower cars for a more balanced distribution (that was our original plan), but unfortunately the GameSnacks API doesn’t support that feature yet. Since some hardcore users play a lot, their ghosts tend to show up more often in the pool.

Right now you can already see your own ghost car in the Daily Challenges, but being able to see your “best time ghost” in the standard races is also a really cool idea!

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gus_massa5mo ago

I guess ypu are picking 7 random users. Is it possible to pick 1000 and then automatically cherrypick 7 of them? Does the API save all the races or only the best of each player?

andvari_bekhoOP5mo ago

The API saves all races, now just your best one

Yes, selecting 1000 and then cherry-picking would be a great idea in theory, but ghost data is quite heavy (around 300–400 KB per ghost). We are already compressing it as much as possible: saving only about 10 frames per second and interpolating the rest, reducing decimals to a minimum, and storing rotation only on the Y axis. We also keep only the ghosts of cars that complete a race in under 4 minutes to avoid excessively large files.

Because of this, loading 1000 ghosts and then picking a suitable set of 7 close to your skill level would make the process too slow. Currently, we have a maximum load time of 10 seconds for the ghosts, and we are aiming to ensure the game works smoothly even on slow connections.

gus_massa5mo ago

Have you tried compression?

For example instead of storing, x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, you can store x1, x2-x1, x3-x2, x4-x3, x5-x4 Using few decimals it may compress better with the standard algorithms.

Assuming almost constant speed, you may guess x3 from x2 and x1 and x3=~ 2*x2-x1, so instead of x3, x4, ... you store x3-2\x2+x1, x4-2\x3+x2, and compress it.

For a car, I'd assume constant acceleration and if I didn't make a mistake, x4=~ 3x3-3x2+x1, so you store x4-3x3+x2-x1 and compress the sequence.

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0 pointsandvari_bekho5mo ago0 comments

Hey gus_massa, thanks a lot for the feedback! Those are some really cool ideas.

Right now you can already see your own ghost car in the Daily Challenges, but being able to see your “best time ghost” in the standard races is also a really cool idea!

0 comments

gus_massa5mo ago

I guess ypu are picking 7 random users. Is it possible to pick 1000 and then automatically cherrypick 7 of them? Does the API save all the races or only the best of each player?

andvari_bekhoOP5mo ago

The API saves all races, now just your best one

gus_massa5mo ago

Have you tried compression?

For example instead of storing, x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, you can store x1, x2-x1, x3-x2, x4-x3, x5-x4 Using few decimals it may compress better with the standard algorithms.

Assuming almost constant speed, you may guess x3 from x2 and x1 and x3=~ 2*x2-x1, so instead of x3, x4, ... you store x3-2\x2+x1, x4-2\x3+x2, and compress it.

For a car, I'd assume constant acceleration and if I didn't make a mistake, x4=~ 3x3-3x2+x1, so you store x4-3x3+x2-x1 and compress the sequence.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse