Is the lost data spread evenly or does it vanish in big chunks?

Two connections can lose the same share of messages and feel completely different, because a long gap freezes the game while scattered holes go unnoticed. This entry shows how to measure the gap sizes from numbered messages.

Why this works

What a player feels is waiting, and waiting is set by the longest silence, not by the average share of missing messages. Numbering every message lets the receiver see exactly what is missing without trusting any clock, so scattered holes and long gaps become different things.

When not to use it

Not worth it when the game hardly depends on a steady flow, such as turn-based play where a late message is simply sent again. It also cannot see messages lost at the very end unless you know the last number the sender used. Then compare with the sender's own count.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 31 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Is the lost data spread evenly or does it vanish in big chunks?" (read_entry packet-loss-spread-or-in-bursts) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP