With internet based games I wonder if that loading screen/hitch is essentially finding you a server as you move from one zone to another if the server you were on was too crowded.
I also wonder if they are doing the equivalent in modern consoles - pushing the limits with graphics, etc. where you simply can't avoid the hitch.
It would be good to hear someone's perspective on this that works on these types of games.
It shouldn't be, networking should always be in the background and for console games there's no reason why clients should move to another zone - loadbalancers direct new clients to available servers, they don't or shouldn't move existing clients to other servers to make room for new clients.
Chances are they're not doing anywhere near the same thing with modern consoles; maybe in off-the-shelf engine code to get maximum FPS, but the games themselves, not likely. Also because modern video games are millions of lines of code - you don't want to duplicate those tenfold by squeezing every bit of performance out of it. Maybe only in the most frequently accessed codepaths.
Moving from one server to another can be instantaneous. Just use the cellphone model where they do proper handoffs between base stations. As to loading assets, plenty of games used a streaming model where you can explore huge worlds without issue.
PS: Skyrim is an interesting case where there is a player made patch to make city's open world where the original game has a loading screen. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8058
> As to loading assets, plenty of games used a streaming model where you can explore huge worlds without issue.
The streaming model isn't simple though. You need to decide which assets to load, when, and when to discard them. You also have to consider how your level is designed, i.e. if you've got three tiles, and a player travels from tile a to b, and then b to c. When he moves from b to c, you can remove a from memory, but what if zone b + c is too big to fit, whereas a to b is okay.
I agree that it's harder and limits the graphics somewhat. But, a lot of things are hard and we don't give companies a free pass when they mess up pathing.
Also, when you get close there many ways to hide the loading going on so it seems cleaner. Like a player going from planet A to planet B though a more limited space ship. On arrival they see a larger but still limited space port, giving the game time to load the new planet. Or even just boosting the glare when someone steps outside.
However, IMO these things can easily be over done.
I also wonder if they are doing the equivalent in modern consoles - pushing the limits with graphics, etc. where you simply can't avoid the hitch.
It would be good to hear someone's perspective on this that works on these types of games.