Serious Sam handled massive amounts of enemies on 56k modem connections
Serious Sam’s early-2000s engine is being revisited as a case study in how to support huge waves of enemies and smooth online co‑op over 56k modems using deterministic lockstep networking and custom UDP protocols. Commenters contrast its Doom-style synchronization with Quake’s server-authoritative model, explore trade-offs around latency, cheating, and cross-platform determinism, and draw parallels to titles like Age of Empires, StarCraft, Tribes, and Factorio. Many also note how modern games with far greater resources often feel less efficient, and reflect on Serious Sam’s enduring fun, sound design, and technical reliability.
Overall impressions & nostalgia
- Commenters recall Serious Sam as exceptionally fun, fast, and reliable, especially for LAN play and split‑screen.
- Many emphasize how impressive the large enemy counts were on modest early‑2000s hardware and 56k modems.
- The game is now seen as both a deliberate throwback to Doom/Quake and a classic in its own right.
Networking model & determinism
- The article’s analysis of Serious Sam’s deterministic lockstep netcode resonates strongly; people link it to the classic “1500 archers on a 28.8” Age of Empires paper.
- Several note that this model is still common in RTS and some fighting games, and in modern titles like Factorio.
- One of the original developers briefly describes prototyping the netcode early, inspired by QuakeWorld prediction.
Doom/Quake comparisons
- Serious Sam’s approach is likened to Doom’s (clients simulate the world, send inputs), in contrast to Quake’s server‑driven state updates.
- Some argue Quake’s dedicated server model is “superior”; others counter that each design is fit for different constraints (scene complexity, bandwidth).
Lockstep pros and cons
- Advantages: huge bandwidth savings; suitable for low‑bandwidth era; can prevent some cheat classes if you trust the peers.
- Disadvantages listed:
- Building perfectly deterministic sims is “brutally difficult,” especially across platforms and compilers.
- Everyone is bound by the slowest client.
- Each client has full world state, enabling certain cheats.
- Input delay or pausing is needed to wait for remote inputs; disliked in latency‑sensitive genres.
- Rollback netcode in fighting games is mentioned as an evolution that maintains determinism but hides latency via rewinding/resimulation.
UDP vs TCP
- Custom protocols over UDP are preferred because TCP’s in‑order delivery and retransmission cause freezes on packet loss.
- With UDP, games can render whatever arrives, selectively request resends, and avoid large latency spikes.
Performance, engines, and “bloat”
- Commenters contrast Serious Sam’s efficiency with some modern titles that struggle with far fewer entities despite far greater bandwidth and compute, invoking “software bloat” and Wirth’s law.
- Croteam’s later work (Talos series) is praised; some lament the shift from a custom Vulkan engine to Unreal Engine and criticize temporal anti‑aliasing and performance.
Sound design & atmosphere
- The screaming kamikaze enemies and other audio moments (compared to Half‑Life and Left 4 Dead examples) are cited as iconic, effective, and sometimes nightmare‑inducing, highlighting how strong sound design amplified the gameplay.