How do instances work?

[RhinoOnAStick]

I'm fascinated to learn how the instances actually work. Does anyone know? (sorry, I just like knowing how stuff works)

I'm guessing you're not paired with 31 other players for the life of your session, locked together as you move independently around the galaxy. I'd have thought they're much more fluid that that, perhaps like some sort of mobile network where you come in range of a mast, and then leave it and handed on to the next - although I'm not sure how continuity would work there. I figured if you drop in to say a nav beacon, you join an instance, if you're the first in, an instance creates just for you, which the next players will join. The 33rd player in gets their own instance, and new people fall into that.

I'd be interested to see if you drop out of SC near a station, but not through a destination lock, and fly to the station, if the world is empty of real players because you're now in an instance of your own. Or, does an instance span a system? Man I wish I knew!

 

[VR Mr Teatime]

The best way of visualising instances is to think of a Venn diagram with the circles centred on every players ship and extending out to a certain range. The circle/bubble/island moves with each ship. The most overlaps between circles (and hence players in a multiplayer instance) is currently 32 even though there could be 1,000's of ships in your vicinity, so you only ever get to see a max of 31 other players.
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The matchmaking code when players come into each other vicinity works out which 32 player instance you should be in dependant on a number of real world networking factors, but essentially boils down to the health of your connection in relation to the other players in the instance you could potentially join. This code from what I see runs in supercruise and normal flight.
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The other aspect to bear in mind is the persistent elements, matchmaking and control of some objects is handled on a client server basis to the AWS servers that FDev run.
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Another myth is that there are "rooms" for each system. There are not in essence as you can supercruise potentially between stars, its just that the assets in the new solar system do not load in until hyperspace is activated (I'm assuming that they could be loaded in without hyperspace in theory, but its a fringe use case so not handled that way).
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Hope that helps.

 

[RhinoOnAStick]

That's interesting... thanks, I can definitely visualise that. One point though, is how does it keep continuity, if you're in a filtered work for 31/1000 players, some of the players leave your bubble, how when you turn 180 are those same players still there, rather than a new bunch of newly matched players? Or is that the secret sauce that FDEV have been working hard at to perfect?

 

[VR Mr Teatime]

Probably that's handled on a weighting system, so you get a priority match with the instance you were in again (provided of course someone with better health doesn't come along and fill the "slot"). I expect that the core networking improvements we have been seeing since alpha have come from refining the matchmaking, instance handling and I doubt work on this will stop for some time, unless everyone suddenly gets fibre to the premises (I wish)

 

[bassman]

I'm fascinated to learn how the instances actually work. Does anyone know? (sorry, I just like knowing how stuff works)

I'm guessing you're not paired with 31 other players for the life of your session, locked together as you move independently around the galaxy.

Whenever you enter normal space e.g. by logging in or exiting supercruise at a location, the matchmaking server tries to connect you to all the players in the same area (not sure how big a region precisely, around 15 - 20km I think). If there is a very large number of players in the same location then multiple instances get formed. Each player only being able to see others in the same instance. Although the theoretical limit for an instance is 32 the practical limit is usually somewhat lower due to network band width and connection quality.

 

[Pyrion]

I don't know where you get that information about the size of the instances kilometer wise. As a programmer i think the following is happening:
1) The "FSD"-Space of a system is one instance. If there are too many players in the same system (not in pocket instances), more instances are created. The matchmaking algorithm is supposed to try to match you with people you care about, like people on your friends list. The size of that instance is practically unlimited, although only resources of one system are loaded into it.
2) Then there are pocket instances. Same rules apply. For example: space around stations, combat areas, extraction sites, uss and so on. Each of those instances is practically unlimited in space, although since you only have normal drives here, it does not have to be very huge.

This is how i would have made it and i found nothing in the game that contradicts that notion.

 

[bassman]

I don't know where you get that information about the size of the instances kilometer wise. As a programmer i think the following is happening:
1) The "FSD"-Space of a system is one instance. If there are too many players in the same system (not in pocket instances), more instances are created. The matchmaking algorithm is supposed to try to match you with people you care about, like people on your friends list. The size of that instance is practically unlimited, although only resources of one system are loaded into it.
2) Then there are pocket instances. Same rules apply. For example: space around stations, combat areas, extraction sites, uss and so on. Each of those instances is practically unlimited in space, although since you only have normal drives here, it does not have to be very huge.

This is how i would have made it and i found nothing in the game that contradicts that notion.

As I understand it each player has a instance "bubble" around them and the bubbles are merged and separated as players move around in normal space. This is apparently one of reasons speed in normal space is limited - to allow time for the instance merging to occur when players who are distant from each other move towards each other. The scheme you describe would be wasteful of bandwidth because youd be instanced with people who are too far away to
see or interact with. I guess it could be tested by a couple of players monitoring their udp traffic.

 

[anikaiful]

1) The "FSD"-Space of a system is one instance. If there are too many players in the same system (not in pocket instances), more instances are created. The matchmaking algorithm is supposed to try to match you with people you care about, like people on your friends list. The size of that instance is practically unlimited, although only resources of one system are loaded into it.

I'm not so sure about the single instance part - I've multiple times gotten separated in same star system from friend(s) into separate instances - even when we're the only players in the whole region (e.g. once at system where the only souls to land on station there were our ships, according to traffic report).

 

[Han Yolo]

I'm not so sure about the single instance part - I've multiple times gotten separated in same star system from friend(s) into separate instances - even when we're the only players in the whole region (e.g. once at system where the only souls to land on station there were our ships, according to traffic report).

happened to me too. The thing is, this instancing is not working properly. It also gives FD to many possibilities to manipulate instances in the background which i really don't like. Overall it's the cheapest and crappiest multiplayer system they could have come up with.