Lag is the single worst thing that can happen besides getting kicked out of a multiplayer game.

Lagging is caused by the excessive time of packets (game data) reaching you and other players in the game. There's always some form of lag, but often it's not a hindrance. When it is, characters move slow, people don't see your messages, and depending with who your playing with…you get dropped like a long junk email.

There are a few things you can do to reduce lag besides buying a faster modem and machine. Keep in mind there's two forms of lag your computer and your Internet connection. The latter you have little control of.

Your Computer creates lag by just running a game. Advanced graphics, music, sound effects, low memory all create an extra burden on the computer. I remember in Warcraft II games, with more than two players, messages would fly about turning music off. It would help a lot. Remember the less your computer has to process, the more opportunities it has for sending and receiving information.

To make sure your using your memory effectively, reboot your machine before you play. Especially if your surfed the web or opened a lot of applications. Sometimes memory is not freed correctly or is fragmented, so rebooting gives your game a clean slate to work with.

You can buy a 2D/3D Accelerator to help your computer process graphics and boost up your frame rate.

As far as your Internet connection goes. The time of day you call has almost everything to do with it. If you call 8 PM on a Friday night expect some lag. Your Internet provider could have poor bandwidth, if it's a serious problem try another provider. Close any active Internet clients and programs that reduce your bandwidth and memory.

Ever think lag as a weapon? Some guy was showing me how to "lag shoot" in Mercenaries a long time ago. Basically, you want to aim ahead of your opponent so when the data reaches him, it hits him dead on. It may not seem like your going to hit him, but you will. The reverse is true, if you think your hitting someone head on and he's not getting damaged, then lag is causing you to miss. That's why good players come at an angle and never head on. I'll post some links on lag shooting in the Gamer section.

In short, we can't fix lag over the Internet, but we can reduce the amount of lag we generate and enjoy gaming. (4/10/99)