General call for ideas ! About COOP


Vinceofpyrenees

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If Devs find here some  interesting ideas...

Maybe the reason Hinterland won't make a coop feature (for the survival mode) is the huge problem to manage the time for each survivor and keep them synchronized. This game doesn't seem to be adapted for it. Imagine your best friend want to sleep 12 hours while you want to cook meat all the night, or walk to another place ! How the time would pass for each one ?

It's why I ask to all the players here (and I know this community is full of ideas), feeling free to imagine a solution :

How would you resolve the problem of the time for a 2 players coop game ?

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The best way I can imagine is this way: Some actions, like sleeping, would require unanimous cooperation (both players go to sleep, guess they are snuggling for warmth?). 
All the "time advancing actions" would either be instant (eating, drinking, etc) or require unanimous participation. Everything goes better in two, right? Might be the crafting times would all be cut to half, to help conpensate for the "two mouths to feed". Cooking is a bit of a challenge - I suppose it would be similar to "fire starting" - it would not advance "time", but cooking something would require sitting by a computer for 30 seconds, just waiting for a slow circle to finish.

The idea is based on the Minecraft server sleeping system - all players must be asleep at the same time to skip the night.

Where the problem comes is struggle modes - what happens then? Second player might need to save the first one, being attacked instead of an actual "struggle" you would normally have. I think that as soon as either of the survivors dies, the game would end as a "failure". 
Climbing would have to be done one-by-one.

First aid, crafting, sleeping, repairs and harvesting (of carcasses and other long-lasting harvesting, like "pulling apart an armchair") would need to be done "together", I imagine one player selects it, the other one comes to them and clicks on them as well. Time and calorie penalties would be halved, to emulate the fact that two hands are working on it, and it would be "less tiring" work in general. Harvesting plants, eating, sharpening, gun maintenance, drinking and looting/prying open things would simply be "instant" (no time advancing) with just the normal pause you have in your inventory, they would not advance the "world clock". The way for example harvesting of carcasses would work - one player selects how long and what to harvest, the other one simply clicks their partner.

Another issue I see is "different zones" - I suppose the game would have to be server sided for Coop, and all "occupied" zones would be loaded at the same time. Looting two different locations still sounds contra-productive since most things in game would require cooperation. Weather would also be server sided, so it would be the same for both players.

Along the "individual" saves the same way they work now in game (each player saves on their own) the game would also perform server-sided saves every 5 minutes.

The real issue with Coop is not "how to do it",(I think) but how much would have to be done develepment-wise to make it happen. Considering it would work somewhat differently to the "single-player", it would be technically another game altogether. I am not proficient in game development but several of my close friends are programmists so I have a general idea. It is possible it might be easier for them to "code" it from a scratch rather then "adjust" the existing game. Maybe some parts would be salvageable, but I think in general it would be too much of a commitment to make it realistically possible for a small studio like Hinterland. Not everyone would be rooting for the multiplayer coop... and a commitment like that might put the actual game "on hold" for the time being. And then all that troubleshooting, etc.

It is a nice thought, I am sure it would make the game twice as interesting to play it with someone else... but I believe it is a bit too much of a commitment to make it realistical.
But heck yea I would back a second Kickstarter to make it happen. Take my money!
 

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1 hour ago, Reahs said:

just look at the game blockheads, they have a solution for this problem

Such as? Always love it when people are rude yet provide no specific answer of their own, as if everything is absolutedly obvious.

Yes, there are ways to do it. There always is a way, actually there are always multiple ways one can solve a problem - that is what "suggestions" are about. 
Provide a suggestion of your own, or dont comment at all if you wont add anything of value to the discussion.

Like I said, I dont think the issue is "how to do it" but more of whether "is it worth it?". Development takes manpower, time and money, resources Hinterland doesnt have an infinite supply of.

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I've been wondering around these lines myself - Personally, I think what will work well is a system similar to what they used in Defcon - Slowest time speed wins. That way, if both of you accelerate time, all good - if only one of you, it ticks on as normal (slow speed) until the other also does..

This would definitely encourage a very high level of cooperative play. You'd also probably want mini-games instead of spinners though, to make time not feel quite so wasted while you're waiting xD

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Simple answer: I doubt there is a good way to make the game 2 player without:

• Ruining Immersion

• Ruining the game's time scheme

• Having people get angry when they die and the other one wants to keep playing.

• A complete engine change

Possible spin off idea:

Two players spawn on different sides of the map with the goal of our surviving the other by surviving longest or by foul means (finding a rifle). Rest is recovered unrealistically fast. Time activities such as cooking are done with the player being able to do things in the mean time.

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