Units dancing Polka because lag

[Salesome]

DISCLAIMER: I played a 4v4 online Game. I know this may become laggy.

Basically, the problem was that for most of the late game, units were using a stop-motion technique, where they would move for a moment, then stop for a moment, then move for a moment, then stop for a moment etc. It was frustrating for everybody involved.

There are some peculiarities, however. I could analyse stuff a bit because I was on audio connection with my teammates and we could discuss everything.

• The host (not me) was GPU-limited. Actually, he used software rendering on his 16-core CPU
• The lag didn't stop although three defeated players left the game and two were almost destroyed and did not have a unit worth mentioning
• In the end, it was 2v1 where the one opponent absolutely did not want to give up (no complaints here, he was just denying his imminent defeat )
• My game crashed at some point and I dropped out. For my teammates, it continued and it ended normally (after 10 more minutes)
• Me and my teammates were in the same country in Central Europe, one opponent I know was from Russia (large ping?)
• There was never a notification that a particular player was lagging (which would normally be the case)
• None of my teammates' PCs were CPU-limited (Is pathfinding still the biggest lag problem?)

I would like to discuss if this was "normal" lag or whether there is more to it.

I attached my replay, the crashlog and the "interesting" one.

commands.txt crashlog.txt interestinglog.html

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

I honestly don't understand why anyone would want to play anything larger than a 3v3, given how much lag even a 6 player match has.

[BlowWissler]

Thanks for developingbthat awesome game.

[RudiRüssel]

Well, is it a server thing or more basic, meaning the game design and engine itself. If so, it would be meaningful to question this construct as a whole. If this is the maximum amount of players for a game in order to not turn into the Joker himself.. Not speaking of the hopeless efforts of doing something like "micro" and as a result getting an ancient version of Michael Jacksons Thriller movements. 

[Salesome]

Ok, then maybe, choosing a player number greater than six should output a small warning that performance is expected to be low?

Giant map size already has a warning message in its flavor text.