Fan releases Street Fighter V netcode fix that actually helps with lag

Reddit user Altimor has come to the rescue of PC Street Fighter V: Champion Edition players with the release of a netcode fix. According to initial tests from other players, it seems to have done the trick.

The creator made the announcement and released the patch on Reddit. Installing it will still allow users to play with others that don't have it. However, the fix will only work for those that have it installed while their opponents will experience matches as they always have before.

Altimar’s patch fixes a bug with Street Fighter V net code that arises when a player's opponent experiences lag. In trying to compensate, the game creates  "unnecessarily big rollbacks and artificial lag, while the player that’s behind may even be receiving inputs that appear to be 'in the future' to their game and never experience rollbacks at all."

"This fix ensures your ‘clock’ never gets more than half of your packet round trip time ahead of your opponent’s so that you never experience more rollback than them," he explains. 

Altimar tested the mod primarily on two systems using different configurations of "artificially induced latency/packet loss." Altimar also attempted to cause “clock desync by momentarily speeding up/slowing down the game on one side.”

As its a new mod, it hasn’t gone through extensive testing, and Capcom could also decide to ban its use if it causes inconveniences for others. Some Redditors that tried it for themselves have reported issues that arise when they face opponents playing on PS4. It turns out the PS4 players experience rollback during the matches.

Among those brave enough to try Altimar’s mod is popular esports commentator David “UltraDavid” Graham, who has found it very helpful. Sharing feedback on Twitter, he even posted a video as proof of how well the mod worked for him.

Sadly, PS4 players won’t be getting the same treatment unless Capcom officially fixes the bug. Considering its been almost four years since Street Fighter V was released, that probably won’t be happening. Especially since the next generation of consoles are just over the horizon.