Remote desktop gaming.

slipd · 22 Aug 2010 at 09:31

Hi guys,

Is it possible to 'properly' play games over a remote desktop connection? By properly, I mean exactely as you would play it on the host machine.

Eg. Would I be able to play games on my main machine through my laptop?

smogsy · 22 Aug 2010 at 09:34

i doubt it every time i tried RDP its very slow doing the most basic tasks.

Hellsmk2 · 22 Aug 2010 at 10:05

No it's not.

JIM_BOB7813 · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:02

http://www.onlive.com/

Not sure if it was that exact software but a few years ago I remember playing enemy territory across lan using 2 PCs, there was noticeable lag even on lan.

d_brennen · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:06

Remember the name Onlive. They'll probably go bust in a couple of months but they are trying very hard to change they way we access "videogames"

If they don't succeed, someone will!

toxicredcat · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:09

I remember seeing THIS article ages ago but never tried it. Looks like what your after.

Eclectic · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:10

hehe, I got an email from them (onLive) just the other day, urging me to pre order mafiaII with them.

I dont think that system will come off. Most people dont have the broadband capable of it. Im sure it was atleast 5MBp/s.

I prefer it the normal way. I like building/maintaining my PC's.

Yamahahahahaha · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:15

http://www.streammygame.com/smg/modules.php?name=About

Their website is seriously awful now, but yes, you can play games remotely over your LAN. There's even a video of them streaming Crysis (playing on their main PC) to their netbook.

iviv · 22 Aug 2010 at 11:42

Yamahahahahaha said:
http://www.streammygame.com/smg/modules.php?name=About

Their website is seriously awful now, but yes, you can play games remotely over your LAN. There's even a video of them streaming Crysis (playing on their main PC) to their netbook.

That's what I use, though you need a subscription if you want any decent frame rate or quality, the demo version is pretty much useless.

Also, don't think about trying it with a wireless G network, not enough throughput for it all, wireless n seems to work well enough. But my problem is that even the best qualities leave the game a mess, though this may just be due to 64 bit, which is annoying

alfalavala · 22 Aug 2010 at 12:07

Eve online is a good game to play over RDP or logmein etc.

sja360 · 22 Aug 2010 at 17:08

can someone explain under what conditions you'd want to use remote desktop? i mean if your pc's in your room or a study and you play games there why would you want to use remote desktop to play the game ?

tntcoder · 22 Aug 2010 at 17:15

sja360 said:
can someone explain under what conditions you'd want to use remote desktop? i mean if your pc's in your room or a study and you play games there why would you want to use remote desktop to play the game ?

Maybe you're away from home, and want to game remotely using a cheap Laptop. Or you could dislike the noise/heat produced so hide the pc in a closet and use it remotely. Various plausible reasons

nintenjo · 22 Aug 2010 at 21:18

Eclectic said:
hehe, I got an email from them (onLive) just the other day, urging me to pre order mafiaII with them.

I dont think that system will come off. Most people dont have the broadband capable of it. Im sure it was atleast 5MBp/s.

I prefer it the normal way. I like building/maintaining my PC's.

Online actually claim a 1 MB connection is suitable for a 720p experience.. although they apply a lot of compression to the images if your connection starts to slow.

Works ok for those of you with rubbish PC who must play the latest titles. But the trouble is its a subscription service and the games cost more than RRP!

Makhaira · 22 Aug 2010 at 21:22

Not practical I'm afraid. I know W7 SP1 is bringing some RDP updates specifically aimed at video content, but I would be surprised if it actually makes things "smooth". Then there's the whole difference discussion between obtaining a smooth stream, and having one that doesn't lag significantly.

uk_viper · 22 Aug 2010 at 21:48

RDP typically will disable video content, VNC seems to work though but won't run nicely, best way I used to do it was share the folder and just execute over network

Rroff · 22 Aug 2010 at 21:49

I gave VNC a whirl once with quake 3 for a laugh just to see and there was an approx. 300ms delay on input and it ran at about 5fps even with fairly low res.