Online gaming is rapidly growing as an entertainment choice, as it provides players with a high variety in genres, affordability, ubiquity and also real-time online interactions. However, slow networks or congestion can cause perceivable network latency and make players suffer from a degraded gameplay experience. Latency compensation techniques have been developed to combat the negative effects of network latency, but more understanding of latencies affects and latency compensations benefits are still needed. Our project studied the degradation of different game actions with latency and how player prediction - a classic latency compensation technique - affects gameplay in a 2D platformer. We designed and implemented an original 2D platformer with player prediction implemented for player movement actions, then invited players to play our game under different network and latency compensation conditions. Based on the subjective and objective data collected, we found that 2D platformers are sensitive to even modest amounts of network latency. Player prediction helped players have fewer deaths below 200ms of latency, but at 400ms and above its benefits were outweighed by its disadvantages to visual consistency.

Dans des systèmes numériques essentiellement latents, compenser la latence n’est pastrivial, en particulier lorsque les graphes de routage du signal sont complexes commec’est souvent le cas dans une station audionumérique (DAW).Tandis que le problème général est de nature mathématique, des complicationsapparaissent dans la conception de systèmes audio en temps réel à cause des contraintesdu matériel, de l’architecture du système, ou de l’ingénierie.Pour construire un système fournissant une compensation de latence sur l’intégralitédu graphe avec possibilité de connecter n’importe quelle source à n’importe quelledestination, uniquement décrire les mécanismes est insuffisant. Le système completdoit être conçu d’un bloc à l’aide de prototypes pour prendre en compte les limitationsdu monde réel.Cette recherche a été menée en utilisant Ardour, une station audionumériquelibrement disponible sous licence libre GPL. Cette thèse est autant un rapport deconception qu’une documentation de recherche.Une analyse complète des éléments de base et de leurs interactions est présentée.La plupart ont été implémentés au delà de la démonstration de faisabilité, dans lebut de combler l’écart entre les systèmes professionnels de production audio et ladocumentation librement accessible pour la recherche et le développement.Même si elle s’attache ostensiblement à Ardour, cette thèse décrit les conceptgénériques des station audio tels que les Ports, les pistes (Tracks), les bus (Busses)et les processeurs de traitement numériques du signal (Processors) ainsi que lesinteractions opérationnelles entre eux.Les concepts de base communs à toutes les entrées/sorties numériques sont expliquésainsi que les sources de latence. Les graphes de traitement et de latence sont illustréspour présenter une vue d’ensemble.Les problèmes généraux rencontrés lors de l’alignement temporel, tant local que / In inherently latent digital systems it is not trivial to compensate for latency, particularlyin situations of complex signal routing graphs as is the case in a Digital AudioWorkstation.While the general problem is of mathematical nature, design complexities arisein real-time audio systems due to constraints by hardware, system-architecture andengineering.To construct a system providing for full-graph latency compensation with anywhereto-anywhere routing capabilities, it is insufficient to merely describe mechanisms.The complete system has to be designed as one and prototyped to take real-worldlimitations into account.This research was carried out using Ardour, a digital audio workstation, whichis freely available under the GPL free-software licence. This thesis is as much adesign-report as it is research documentation.A complete breakdown of building-blocks and interaction is presented, most of whichhas also been implemented beyond a proof-of-concept with the goal to bridge the gapbetween professional audio production systems and freely accessible documentationfor research and development.While ostensibly focusing on Ardour, this thesis describes generic concepts of AudioWorkstations like Ports, Tracks, Busses, and DSP Processors, as well as operationalinteraction between them.Basic concepts common to all digital I/O processes an,d sources of latency areexplained, and process- and latency graphs are illustrated to provide a completepicture. General issues related to time-alignment, both local, and global, as wellas more DAW specific cases like parameter-automation and parallel-execution arediscussed. Algorithms are modelled with pseudocode where appropriate and applicationprogramming interfaces are presented as examples to concepts throughout the text.