Multiplayer Game Synchronization

Question

I\'ve a server/client architecture implemented, where all state changes are sent to the function, validated and broadcasted to all clients connected. This works rather well, but

Answer 1

The basic approach to this is something called Dead Reckoning and a quite nice article about it can be found here. Basically it is a predication algorithm for where entities positions will be guessed at for the times between server updates.

There are more advanced methodologies that build on this concept, but it is a good starting point.

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Also a description of how this is handled in the source engine (Valve's engine for the first Half Life game) can be found here, the principle is basically the same - until the server tells you otherwise use a prediction algorithm to move the entity along an expected path - but this article handles the effect this has on trying to shoot something in more depth.