Upcoming mech fighting game Override 2: Super Mech League will have rollback netcode to improve its online experience.
This has been revealed to us in an interview with its developer, Modus Studios Brazil. You can read our full interview with general manager Rafael Gatti right here, but here’s the relevant questions and its answer:
Hypertext: In terms of hardcore competitive play what can you tell us about Override 2?
Rafael Gatti: The netcode has been completely revamped to use a custom rollback system inspired by GGPO, dramatically reducing lag in online play. The combat was also reworked to have a greater focus on player skill through a new combo system and other mechanics from fighting games like grabs that allow smarter gameplay and mind games.
GGPO and rollback is a rather big deal, even for those who don’t play fighting games competitively and wouldn’t usually care about things like netcode.
The GGPO Rollback Networking SDK – which has a dedicated site you can check out – aims to reduce lag and other problems naturally experienced when playing games online. How it does this is rather complex, but it involves trying to predict what players are going to do in the near future, and rolling back certain elements of the game when there is a network delay.
We highly recommend this short video from the superb YouTube channel Core-A Gaming, which explains it all in under ten minutes along with handy animations.
GGPO is available under the open source MIT licence. Many established games already use rollback netcode and GGPO specifically, so we’re happy to see that Override 2 will be in good company.
How this will actually work once players are in the game, however, will need to wait for December this year when Override 2: Super Mech League launches. It will be available for PC and just about every console: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
This game is also, famously, crossing over with Ultraman. The original Override from 2016 had a lot of problems – you can read our review for more – so we’re hoping exciting content from Ultraman and behind the scenes work like rollback netcode can make the sequel that much better.
