OpenArena Message Boards

...what are they?

PC clients can connect to PC servers only.
Android clients can decide to which kind of servers to connect.
PC servers are populated by people using physical keyboard and mouse (Q3A was born for them), Android servers by people using a touchscreen
(or OUYA joypad). Hence, Android users may prefer to play where there are other people with their same controls (Android-specific servers).

PC edition is the "official" OA version, while Android one is technically a "fork" which introduces some changes:
Android edition has got various changes to the user interface (such as promoting thirdperson as default view, etc.), and some of them may not work correctly when playing on PC servers. Android clients playing on PC servers is a sort of "extra" feature with no warranty...

From videos on the internet, it seems like the gameplay is slower on android servers, and I'm not just talking about the controls. The movement is slower, the weapons are slower...

I just wanted to know the "changes". I pretty much already knew the rest.

I forgot to mention this:
While in official OA versions "timescale" variable is cheat-protected (it was cheat-protected since Q3A, and probably this has not be changed also because possible effects on client/server optimizations such as rate, maxpackets, timenudge ecc. are not known/tested).
In Android version instead that variable is not cheat-protected, its default value has been lowered (this explains why Android servers run slower), and there is even a slider in the GUI to modify it.

However, only Pelya knows the complete list of changes against the official version. If he wants to create a page on the wiki mentioning them, he would be welcome.  :)

Are such commands client-based or are they controlled by the server? It shouldn't be the case that the android mod supplies a way of cheating to PC servers.

Timescale is a serverside variable, IIRC. Hence, when Android clients do connect to PC servers, I can guess their game speed will be the same as anyone else on PC -timescale 1- (and so, I hope client/server DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Tweak]tweaks (http://([b) should work normally).

About optimization "tweaks", some are serverside variables, others are clientside variables. Give a look to the "DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Tweak]tweak (http://([b)" wiki page for more infos.

so...what is the default timescale on android servers?

Unless Pelya changed it with the latest release, I think it's 0.75.

So playing on android servers messes up your timing (and eventually skill) when you are used to Original OA, QL or Q3. That's just great =/.

Well, comparing touchscreen usage with keyboard+mouse usage is hard.

I'm not sure having unprotected that cvar and having lowered its default has been a great idea... however if you don't want to ruin your skills by playing the Android version, just play the standard version. From PC you cannot join Android servers, so all servers do use timescale 1 (unless a specific server admin used some trick to avoid the lock).

Of course, the Android version isn't something for "pro" players, it's more something for casual players (like pretty much the majority of "mobile" apps).