Public Commander Keen Forum

pizza2004 · Vortininja Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 266

I need input on multiplayer in Commander Genius.

Should we have it split screen for co-op, or should it force everyone to stay on one screen?

Also, I know that people want battle mode, so I need people to make maps for battle mode.

I need 10 levels each for episodes 1-3. You can make one map that is the same or similar between all three if you want. As far as setup goes, no exit door, and no enemies (this is slightly flexible, but no enemies that can kill you for sure, so Yorps are fine).

I will do my best to get this up and running properly. Co-op and Battle mode are enough for now, but I'd still love to hear suggestions on what other modes you would like to have.

Nospike · Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 13:53 Post subject:

Split-screen, I think. That way, the players can start on totally different parts and the level could be much bigger. However, you could mix it somehow - If one of the players is offscreen, split it. If all players are onscreen, then it should view normally.

I think when I get back to working on my mod, I'll make the levels also playable on multiplayer.
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pizza2004 · Vortininja Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 266

Thinking, I don't think I will have Co-op be more than two player. That way we can just deal with certain issues with the default levels, and not worry about tons of players.

Battle would definitely be splitscreen, although having it merge views if you are adjacent is probably a good idea. The battle levels should have 4 start locations, and have item spawn points. I might implement health for battle mode. Items of course have the chance of respawning, and player would probably have lives in battle mode. We could also have a time mode, where whoever has the most kills at the end of time wins (it wouldn't be based solely on kills, but you get the picture.)

Ceilick · The Dude Joined: 22 Sep 2008 Posts: 1309 Location: Seattle

Definately have co-op be split screen. It sucks when one person falls off a ledge and can't see where they are while the screen stays on the main player who didnt fall.

I wouldn't mine doing some levels for the battle mode, but I'm a bit busy currently. I guess count me as a maybe.
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tulip · Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 21:08 Post subject:

Didn't we have like 2 other threads dealing with this subject?

Anyway I'd like to see a multiplayer similar to New Super Mario Bros WII.
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lemm · Blorb Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 419

if its online multiplayer then I don't think you need any splittage of the screen

If it's online battle mode I definitely don't want any screen splittage

If it's online co-op mode, screen splittage might be okay, but also just an arrow pointing to the direction of your partner(s) would suffice for me
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Keenfan · Vortininja Joined: 22 Aug 2009 Posts: 233

I'd love to have a multiplayer mode with spiltscreen. For me 2 players on one computer are enough.

shikadi · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 13:50 Post subject:

the first i will use cg is when these multiplayers comes out..... online, cause i don't know anyone who can dodge a garg without shooting it, non-online would be useless for me.

and i would rather not have split screen. on online multiplayer, the screen would just be centered around your keen.
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Nospike · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 14:44 Post subject:

Yeah, that's right. But you all are talking about online mode. (Who knows if that will even be.) What about offline mode? If two players play on one computer, they need to see their own Keens. But if one of the players falls off a ledge, should the camera follow him or shouldn't it? Definitely splitscreen on offline.
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shikadi · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 15:00 Post subject:

maybe it could zoom out when they go out of the screen?

http://www.2shared.com/file/5juVkRUY/sheeps_say_baaaaah.html , are these kind of levels u wanted (only 4 keen3 ones)

DHeadshot · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 15:33 Post subject:

I know it's a difficult task, but I'd love a LAN-based multiplayer. TELNET, TCP/IP, UDP - any protocol would be fine, just as long as you can configure it for pure LAN playing. The advantage this has over Internet multiplayer is that a Hardware Firewall won't block it.

An ideal scenario for the internet multiplayer version would be one linked to a website that does rankings etc and with support for clans.

gerstrong · Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:16 Post subject:

SDL_net ?

gerstrong · Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 18:10 Post subject:

Two things I want to point out here:

1.- Split screen is a bit difficult to implement as the engine is, because we need to heavily modify the scrollbuffer. I can do that, but remember, the highest priority are mods and galaxy as you requested for it. I really need to think about how to do it.

2.- I like the style as it as, it is more like Super Mario Bros. Wii.

The only problem is the camera. I really would like to know if we should have a button or command, where we can honor the camera to a player. I think that would make interesting.

Pizza2004 disabled the possibility that all players except the first one can walk on the main map. As it still has bugs, using that mode and I temporarily reenabled it, I want to ask you if you think it is better to have just one player on the map?

If that's the case I will program that the way it will work correctly.

I find it more fun to have all the players on the map, but well, I'm open to other ideas. Btw. CloneKeen in 2 Player-mode also had the players on the map. Everyone of them could access the level and they were both in.

As I see Pizza2004 has been a bit busy lately, being the guy for multiplayer support, so to not get in his way I just want to fix that problems of the multiplayer support as much as possible for the next release.
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pizza2004 · Vortininja Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Posts: 266

Well, I know that multiplayer isn't the most important part of Commander Genius, so I've been doing my best to not impede the progress of the rest of the engine by making major changes for the sake of multiplayer.

I do my best to keep multiplayer working properly, without focusing on development yet. Also, having all players on the map can cause confusion, and while it is 'fun' it can be frustrating when people disagree. The main thing I will emphasize is that with New Super Mario Bros Wii, the game belongs to player 1, and the others are there to help. Only player 1 controls on the map.

At a later point, when we have time to really develop multiplayer, we can implement split screen, and use it to make other modes, like one that allows each player more freedom to roam, maybe making it into a competition to finish first.