TF2 - Sniping hitboxes / avatars, test

Set up my own server in order to do some testing on hitboxes on pure 0ms, with the command sv_showhitboxes or whatever it was. There is a widespread myth on source-engine games that the hitboxes are actually horribly in (depending on your lerp) front of the visible avatar. As you can see on 33.3ms lerp the command "sv_showhitboxes" does actually display the hitbox in front of the avatar, where the avatar is going rather than where he is. BUT, as you can see from my testing in this video, I get the hits when my aim is on the avatar rather than the hitboxes portrayed. My personal conclusion is that the command "sv_showhitboxes" does not correctly display where the hitboxes are in that particular moment, in fact probably where they are going be in 33.3ms (or whatever lerp you're running). Therefore I'd like to dispel some of the misconceptions regarding the hitboxes, and the conclusions other players have drawn based upon this command.

This was recorded live rather than recorded from a demo. Demos distort the lag compensation we feel when playing, a recorded source demo would instead show me headshotting thin air.

This does not mean that source hitboxes are perfect. In fact we've all experienced artifacts. Like those headshots in tf2 that apparently didn't do any damage, even though they clearly registered as a hit on the avatar. Or those hunter skeets in l4d that clearly gave you the animations of bullets hitting and splattering that hunter head apart, yet the hunter still lands on you with full hp. I believe these artifacts instead occur from the netcode trying to(or lack of trying to) cope with the lag due to delay rather than the hitboxes being fundamentally misplaced, how good they actually are is another question (take for example the extremely disproportional spitter hitbox for l4d2, being much bigger than the avatar in question).

Category:

Gaming

[skataboii50]

500 avg fps. I WANT YOUR COMPUTER

[Lortagreb]

@skataboii50 Its actually around 300 average, on a real server with more people though it's usually around 150-200

[juggernaut898]

is it better to have it set to where it automatically zooms in again when you fire for the scope?

[Lortagreb]

@juggernaut898 Not really

[WhoGivesAFckImEmo]

i thought their heads popped off when u got a headshot ?___?

[Lortagreb]

@WhoGivesAFckImEmo Unfortunately it's not UT ^^

[skataboii50]

@Lortagreb Even then, I WANT YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER.

[jiroumochidzuki]

Im pretty sure it showed clientside predicted locations of hitboxes, not actual serverside locations

[Sh4d0wStR1k0r]

oh dj shadow FUCK YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[WhoGivesAFckImEmo]

@highrise30 no, i just got Tf2 like 3 months ago so ive always thought their heads popped

[highrise30]

@WhoGivesAFckImEmo if your talknig abotu gears of war yes. tf2, sadly no

[tomsg1]

Only just noticed the vid, but its absolutely correct, the showing of the hitboxes isnt lag compensated. So indeed its right, the command used to show the avatars isnt showing them correctly. Theres client side prediction, server side prediction, and lag compensation on both client and server, couple this with pings times, and its easy to see why not every single shot is going to be perfect reg.