Can a game like Pong split their physics at halfway so each client can simulate their half so it's more realisitc?
I'm working on a game that basically has two sides, one side sends a ball over to the other side and vice versa. Like fast moving volleyball.
Now, currently I have the server doing the physics and the players see what the server tells them too. It works well but sometimes the hit detection is a little poor. My next step is to work on physics interpolation from the server to the client to hopefully fix that but before I do, I got to pondering.
I was thinking about this approach and curious if anyone tried it or thinks it's dumb/sees glaring holes that I am missing,
Basically, you hit the ball and when it crosses the threshold of the middle line (over the net), and enters the opponents half, the server sends all that info to the client (speed of the ball, direction, etc) and the client spawns a ball in with those exact parameters.
Then the client is able to react in real time and send their info back.
So if you hit the ball, the ball hits you, etc. all happen on your side of the court. That info is relayed back to the server and displayed to the other player. But I would think it would allow each half to do what they want with realistic physics and keep the game pretty consistent.
The server continues to render the ball and apply the physics so both sides are seeing what is going on.
The downside is the close plays at the line that might cause an issue. Like a spike over the net would be confusing.
This is mainly for fast paced action as the hits sometimes don't register on the server but with this approach each player would have a "true outcome" and then the server just relays the info.