With the recent RoadMap, multiplayer has come up again, and so the Devs have asked for what we think multiplayer should be like. I have some ideas, some of which are more specific than others, but I hope they might one day appear. Who knows, right?
Creating a multiplayer world.
I think the best way to go about the creation of a multiplayer world is to keep it separated from singleplayer. As in, you make a save specifically for multiplayer. You can never load it in singleplayer. (I guess if you load it in multiplayer, just no one else is playing, that’s kinda singleplayer?)
Maybe you can take a singleplayer save, and convert it to a multiplayer save once, but then progress splits.
Kinda Like what destiny did with the new consoles. If you play on your 360, you can push the saved data to your One once, but after that they’re split.
After that, whomever hosts should be able to do the normal, pick difficulty, pick biome. Anyone who joins then should be able to pick whatever race they want (For when there’s more than two [wink wink nudge nudge]), and then go into the people screen and loadout screen as normal.
Then, (different again), the game should give you a choice to “ally yourself immediately” with anyone who’s on the map already. Then you can choose your friend, and be dropped in close by to them. Then your friend gets a little envoy guy. “So-and-So has asked to be your ally! Do you accept? Y/N” The Yes option then allies your towns so your hearthlings can’t fight each other, and all of the fog of war is removed from wherever each ally can see that the other can’t. (Fog of war is merged).
If they hit no, or don’t choose an ally, they either proceed separately, or spawn in a random location on the map, with no idea where anyone else is.
Worth mentioning I think that the fog of war should change slightly. It should become a two ring thing, with the inner circle being as the explored area is now, the first ring allows you to see other’s hearthlings moving and building, and the second (everywhere else) be so you can’t see any changes.
Neutral interactions
If you didn’t ally yourself with anyone at the beginning of the game, the way you should be able to do it later is through a new tab, kinda like a record book. It will keep track of players you’ve discovered, how many hearthlings they have, net worth, enemy/ally status, etc.
Players are “discovered” when a hearthling moves into the explored zone (the normal, not fog-of-war zone). You should get a pop-up stating the name of said player/town, and they should be added to the book.
It can go two ways from here. I think it should be either:
A. A players net worth and population should be known instantly.
B. A player must “send a request” for said things by clicking on the player in the book, then hitting a button to request said info. Then, a hearthling of yours should go find one of the players hearthlings that is near the border. Said player’s hearthling then gets a pop-up. “Give So-and-So net worth? Y/N”
I think you should be able to attack other players even when they’re neutral, but I’m not sure of that.
Ally interactions
Allies should know each others net worth, and pop count all the time. There should then be a check box in the book that lets them share
- Players known
- Jobs had
- Morale
- Food amount
There should also be a button to request a trade, where you can trade items and money, or even a citizen. There should also be a “request help” button, which pings the ally that you need assistance with a military issue. Maybe it’s monsters, maybe it’s another player.
Enemy Interactions
Open Season for military! Your hearthlings shouldn’t automatically attack enemy players, but you should be able to send the attack party.
You should also be able to use the loot tool on the enemies items.
I don’t really know what should happen when you kill all of another players people.
This is where I’m lost, because all I wanna do is be friendly, lol. Could use some help with the enemy portion. Should you be able to destroy buildings? Claim them? What happens to the other player?
Any feedback is appreciated.