Author Topic: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play  (Read 13399 times)

Offline Cinth

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #15 on: December 06, 2013, 11:34:38 am »
I absolutely agree that if the solo experience isn't up to snuff, the MP experience doesn't matter.  For the kinds of games Arcen makes, anyway.  But in my article about co-op (linked way above), I explain why I think that games need co-op (otherwise those who don't have the luxury of much solo gaming time can't play many games, and that includes me).

Read the article and I can agree with a lot of it.  I picked up Castle Crashers just so I could have something that I could pick up and play with my kids.  Now they play Minecraft and LotRO (one I have little interest in and the other I set down long ago).  I don't get alot of time to play RTS games with my dad since the devs keeps tweaking the game to suit the E-Sports crowd (Blizzard killed it for us).  I agree choices are getting slim for a good sit down and play experience.  In the end each of us here end up playing our own games (or pass time how we usually do).
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Offline x4000

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #16 on: December 06, 2013, 11:38:18 am »
Wow, that's an impressive array of animals.
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Offline Draco18s

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #17 on: December 06, 2013, 11:41:48 am »
Wow, that's an impressive array of animals.

It's been larger before.  But time passes and things change.
And the chickens still don't like to be cuddled. :(

Offline x4000

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #18 on: December 06, 2013, 11:50:51 am »
Haha, yeah, that would be a new one on me. :)
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Offline Draco18s

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #19 on: December 06, 2013, 11:58:11 am »
Haha, yeah, that would be a new one on me. :)

Its understandable though, they're prey animals and we're large predators.  So they don't like having my claws on them. :P

They're still adorable and soft though!

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Offline x4000

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #20 on: December 06, 2013, 11:59:04 am »
Especially when you go out as a velociraptor.
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Offline Draco18s

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #21 on: December 06, 2013, 12:17:26 pm »
Especially when you go out as a velociraptor.

I know... ;_;

Offline Wharrrrrrgarbl

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #22 on: December 06, 2013, 12:19:24 pm »
So I was reading your post and it occurred to me that for a game like Bionic Dues, a "alone together" multiplayer mode could do something like expand the objectives of the game - perhaps something like an X-COM style "accomplish these milestones before the enemies get too strong to defeat". The idea there would be that certain missions would just be unbeatable (or super difficult) with certain Exo types/builds, so multiple players would have to coordinate different parties and swap equipment that didn't match their builds so that everyone manages their own tactical scenarios while contributing to a strategic whole. This could be enforced even more strictly by limiting the number of exos a player can have - maybe 2 per player, or something.

When I think about exo-specific missions, I'm thinking things like missions with weak enemies but reactors locked behind hack doors, or others filled with hundreds of mooks that you need good shielding to survive, or others with lots of short range but lethal bots in open rooms with long sight lines. Maybe even throw in missions which give intelligence on the content/layout of missions so you can divvy them up effectively.

For game flow, maybe something like a flag to advance the day which could automatically execute once everyone has completed one mission (which also would allow things like using an Axis player to scout missions for Meg and Rey players, strategically planning who completes which missions on the map to allow other players access to mission-critical ones).

I think there are a lot of cool possibilities for this kind of design, for sure.

Offline Toranth

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #23 on: December 06, 2013, 02:06:09 pm »
I would suggest there is one other type of multiplayer - the anonymous/uncontrolled multiplayer.  Dark Souls would be an example of this.  You cannot control invasions, or who you summon for help.  Nor can you even communicate with them.  Your interaction is short, uncontrolled, and mostly anonymous.

Steam Cards is another variety of this.  Whenever a player creates a badge, some other player, somewhere, gets a booster pack.  A short, uncontrolled, and anonymous 'multiplayer' interaction.

Offline Draco18s

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #24 on: December 06, 2013, 02:07:59 pm »
Whenever a player creates a badge, some other player, somewhere, gets a booster pack.

Wat.

Offline Conir

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #25 on: December 06, 2013, 02:55:08 pm »
wow a lot to read... i am not a native speaker, so maybe i got something wrong. but i would like to make a suggestion regarding TLF MP nevertheless.

you explained that the simulation and combat will be stoppable (aka turn-based) - which makes it difficult for mp since one player has the game paused and thinking and the other one is just ready to do something and cant.

so, why not take away the turns in MP? put two (or more) players in the simulation at the same time. they both have the same goal (to create the federation). neither the simulation nor the combat would be turn based, nobody can stop the game - realtime for both which means non-stop action and decision making for all the players at the same time. you could also prohibit player-fleets to engage directly, which would make it more interesting since you can only beat your oponent via the meta-game.

i am really sorry for my english, i whish i could explain it in german to you :)  hopefully i could get my point across.

Offline Toranth

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #26 on: December 06, 2013, 03:41:05 pm »
Whenever a player creates a badge, some other player, somewhere, gets a booster pack.
Wat.
Yup, that's how it works.

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Once you have received all of your card drops, you become eligible for a booster pack, which is a set of 3 trading cards that may include both basic and foil cards. Booster packs are granted randomly to eligible users as more badges are crafted by members of the community. Make sure you log in to Steam each week to maintain eligibility.

Offline doctorfrog

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #27 on: December 06, 2013, 05:00:21 pm »
I like the idea of introducing a different kind of multi, and it's a thing I feel Arcen should continue to innovate on. The current idea isn't super interesting to me, essentially it sounds like creating a gift exchange, but it's a start in a potentially clever direction.

One way you might word this is that your player character has limited contact with alternative dimensions, and you can reach through to other parallel realities to exchange information and certain kinds of goods or resources. That sort of narrative also leaves room for variances in time.

I have no idea what TLF's gameplay is going to be like, but what if, in a battle, or on the main planning screen, you could siphon off some resources or battle help from someone else?

Or, what if you use some extra resources you have laying around to build a part of a giant space laser that you have no use for, but would be a real help to another dude?

Anyway, the whole "We all tend our gardens and meet at the market place" thing is certainly novel and I'd like to see it branch off further from it being a simple goods exchange.

Maybe even another (fairly simple) gameplay layer, like combining your forces to combat a trans-dimensional warlord that's been dogging both players' progress. That 'war' wouldn't necessarily be something you work together on in real time, but something that hums along in the background. Like, each positive trade results in an increase of entropy counter or something, and after a bit you have to both commit a certain amount of time/skill/resources to beating that down to avoid the effects of entropy on both universes. Those effects might be wormholes, interdimensional pirate attacks, spectral gremlins in the ship workings, etc.

And other horrible ideas.

Offline Oralordos

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #28 on: December 06, 2013, 11:34:14 pm »
I like that balancing idea. Increasing some sort of counter that must be below a certain level for victory and/or causes bad stuff in the solar system with each thing transferred over.

Offline brianc

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Re: Thoughts On "Alone Together" Collaborative/Competitive Networked Play
« Reply #29 on: December 08, 2013, 08:46:00 am »
For some reason it reminds me of those multiplayer Tetris games but backwards.  When you make a good move more blocks hit the other player and such but what if it wasn't always backwards and there was an option to play it exactly like that?  What I mean is instead of co-op I think a competitive mode in this style would be really, really cool since I fall in to the category of: not liking co-op multiplayer due to not having friends who like the same games as myself, but liking competitive multiplayer because competition makes the game more interesting and appealing to me.  A game like League of Legends makes me furious because I'll leave a match with 20 kills and no deaths that still results in a loss because I got matched with a bad team but if I lose a game in Swarm Arena or Total Annihilation or any FPS 1v1 or in a pub setting where my score takes priority over match win/loss count such as CS Source I can laugh it off and say I need more practice, I feel a drive to become better.