Distributed Smooth Node

A more sophisticated DO is the DistributedSmoothNode. This class will handle moved objects like players in a distributed environment. It ensures that the created node will move smoothly from one point to the next when moved on the client.

This DO can be used if the repository has been initialized with the direct.dc added to the dc files list.

To make use of the smoothing functionality and automatic broadcasting of position and rotation changes to other players, a few functions have to be called.

DistributedSmoothNode.activateSmoothing(smoothing, prediction)()

The activateSmoothing method will tell the instance of the SmoothNode to enable or disable smoothing of the movement on other connected clients. They will see the player move rather seamlessly instead of a choppy placement every few frames, dependent on how fast the network connection is. Though, even if they move smoothly, they may lag behind by some amount. Therefore, the prediction flag can be set. If predictive smoothing is on, the nodes will be drawn as nearly as possible in their current position, by extrapolating from old position reports.

DistributedSmoothNode.startSmooth()

After activating the smoothing, it also has to be started. With this call the underlying task that will handle the logic is run. Note though, while the task is running, you won’t be able to lerp the node or directly position it, as it would be overwritten by the update task.

To stop the task that will update the smooth positioning every frame, simply call the following method.

DistributedSmoothNode.stopSmooth()

DistributedSmoothNode.startPosHprBroadcast(period=.2, stagger=0, type=None)()

Finally, having all that set and done, one last call is needed to propagate the location and rotation of the node. While the other methods handle the local smoothing on the other connected clients, the startPosHprBroadcast method will handle the distribution of the transformations from the source node to the connected target clients.