Low latency and cheat-proof event ordering for peer-to-peer games

Abstract

We are developing a distributed architecture for massively-multiplayer games. In this paper, we focus on designing a low-latency event ordering protocol, called NEO, for this architecture. Previous event ordering protocols prevent several types of cheats at the expense of operating at the latency of the slowest player. We broaden the definition of cheating to include four common protocol level cheats and demonstrate how NEO prevents these cheats. At the same time, NEO has a playout latency independent of network conditions and adapts to network congestion to optimize performance.