ABSTRACT
Computer networks are how computers communicate with each other for multiplayer games. The physical network is built from wires and radio (wireless) transmissions, but more significant is the virtual network of software protocols built on top of the physical network. The primary responsibility of game networking is helping players find each other and then keeping the state of their games synchronized. Unfortunately, it takes time for information to travel through a network, so by the time one machine has communicated its state to the other one, that state is already out of date. When players perceive this delay, they call it lag.
