The original simulated net params did function in online games, and as such were used to exploit the same flaw timescale changes did: servers would stop simulating a player that stops sending packets. On the client end it was restricted to local listen server connections to mitigate this, though it'd be safe enough to allow it in offline mode in general for testing on dedicated lan servers.
At the time I rewrote the packet delivery logic, the simulated net delay settings were being used for routing through part of the original netcode for testing certain behaviour with both protocols speaking to each other. The round-trip timing is tracked differently on the original code, which is why the ping display breaks down with it being routed, and you also consequently currently only have a delay for packets going in one direction.
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The original simulated net params did function in online games, and as such were used to exploit the same flaw timescale changes did: servers would stop simulating a player that stops sending packets. On the client end it was restricted to local listen server connections to mitigate this, though it'd be safe enough to allow it in offline mode in general for testing on dedicated lan servers.
At the time I rewrote the packet delivery logic, the simulated net delay settings were being used for routing through part of the original netcode for testing certain behaviour with both protocols speaking to each other. The round-trip timing is tracked differently on the original code, which is why the ping display breaks down with it being routed, and you also consequently currently only have a delay for packets going in one direction.