I wonder if speculative calculation on the clients could be used. For example let's say we're at frame 999 and have 2 players and 10 deterministic NPCs. And ea

I wonder if speculative calculation on the clients could be used. For example let's say we're at frame 999 and have 2 players and 10 deterministic NPCs. And each player has 4 possible moves 2 of which have results depending on a random number being <= X or > X. So each client calculates the next possible frame states knowing its user input (so it only has max 2 options depending on the random generator) * possible inputs from the other player (2 + 2*2 = 6 options), so there's 12 possible game states for frame 1000 from this client POV. NPCs are deterministic so they can react to the player moves in each branch. The other client does the same but has different variables missing and different state tree (with small overlap that only depends on random generator). Then both clients send their player inputs to the server and wait for the missing variables to choose which branch of the state tree they both go. Depending on the game we may not wait just show the most likely branch and if we mispredicted we switch to the right branch after we get missing data. This state tree could be several levels deep if there's enough computing power, and it could also be used by AI to choose best moves assuming what player can do (but then it gets complicated). Advantages: - server needs much less computing power than clients - server can still verify the state - clients don't have information they shouldn't have - network latency is mostly hidden Disadvantages: - more computing power needed on the clients - can get impractical quickly with more possible moves on each turn