Port priority: Difference between revisions
→Concurrent events
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As a general rule, as part of determining what occurs on every [[frame]] of gameplay, the game engine must iterate through all game objects to check and advance their state. This must be done in some order, which is often the earliest-created objects first; in regards to players, this generally means player 1 goes first and player 4 last. As a result, the game will always resolve player 1's actions before player 2's, potentially creating an imbalance if their simultaneous actions interact — unless the game is explicitly designed to account for each specific interaction. | As a general rule, as part of determining what occurs on every [[frame]] of gameplay, the game engine must iterate through all game objects to check and advance their state. This must be done in some order, which is often the earliest-created objects first; in regards to players, this generally means player 1 goes first and player 4 last. As a result, the game will always resolve player 1's actions before player 2's, potentially creating an imbalance if their simultaneous actions interact — unless the game is explicitly designed to account for each specific interaction. | ||
For example, say that player 1 and 2 are using the same character and attack each other with the same attack at the same time. A naïve game might check P1's hitboxes against P2's hurtboxes and resolve P1's attack on P2 before even checking to see if P2 is also attacking P1, resulting in P1 always winning the otherwise-even trade. This specific case does not happen, as all the ''Smash Bros.'' games were designed to anticipate this situation, checking players in | For example, say that player 1 and 2 are using the same character and attack each other with the same attack at the same time. A naïve game might check P1's hitboxes against P2's hurtboxes and resolve P1's attack on P2 before even checking to see if P2 is also attacking P1, resulting in P1 always winning the otherwise-even trade. This specific case does not happen, as all the ''Smash Bros.'' games were designed to anticipate this situation, checking players in multiple passes and using rules of [[priority]] to determine whether the players win, lose, or tie the exchange. However, many other situations have no such designed exceptions, and so port priority dictates which player "wins". | ||
Note that in the following sections, the "lower port" refers to whichever player is closest to port 1, while the "higher port" is closest to the last port (generally 4 [[8-Player Smash|or 8]]). | Note that in the following sections, the "lower port" refers to whichever player is closest to port 1, while the "higher port" is closest to the last port (generally 4 [[8-Player Smash|or 8]]). | ||