What is 'lag' - The difference between FPS and Ping (A Steam Community Guide)

A few years ago I wrote up a guide on the difference between FPS and ping/latency with the aim of getting better map feedback.

Basically back in the day I used to use the Steam group I ran to test out versions of my Deathrun maps and get player feedback. However I would notice that a lot of the time I would get players complaining about 'lag' when I could see though the server management tools that they actually had good connections to the server.

When I would later ask them to send me screenshots of the parts they experienced 'lag' on, they would send me potato grade screenshots, making it clear to me that the problem was actually due to their computers being unable to render my maps at a decent frame rate, either to my maps not being properly optimized or their computers simply being potato powered.

The guide was never meant for mappers or to educate people on the advanced technical side of internet connections. It was aimed at normal everyday players to help them give better feedback to mappers. The aim was to help them understand the difference between Ping and FPS so that they did not address both as 'lag', which as a mapper is an unhelpful term when it comes to feedback.

Which is why I'm now sharing a link to my guide here, as I'd appreciate any feedback or comment from other mappers, even though the guide was never written for us.

The guide in quest - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1653900943

As a side note, maybe I should have posted this here before publishing the guide, but whatever. It's not like I can't edit it.

 

In addition to FPS and latency, there is a third thing that people also call lag: packet loss.