Questions about multiplayer in SKHD
Just some simple questions about what is your plan for the multiplayer part of SKHD:
1. Is there gonna be Co-Op only or Co-Op and PvP?
2. Is it gonna be local multiplayer or with a central server ran by Raptisoft?
3. Will mobile SKHD be able to play with PC SKHD player?
4. Do you plan to make any sort of support skills? (group heal, barrier, buff)
5. What happens when you complete Gauntlet Mode in Multiplayer? Does the save get deleted like old Solomon's Keep? Or is there any infinite late game stuff there?
6. Do you expect to add multiplayer after the release or before release?
7. Does monsters scale based on how many players are in the game?
Comments
1a. I hope the modding is extensive enough that modders can go ahead and make this happen with their own balancing.
2. Local. I don't feel qualified to run a central server beyond Hoggy-style level sharing. But if, for example, SKHD made enough money, I would like to hire experts to make a nice lobby system etc, like Battle.net used to be. However, I won't do it like Diablo 3 did, which was essentially an MMO without the "massive."
3. Theoretically yes. When Dark was multiplayer, it had no problem except that the PC was so much faster that as skeletons filled the world, the iOS version would experience lag. But this was back in the days when iPad2 was state of the art. Just from what I from Cubic Castles, iPad3 on up will not have a problem.
4. There will likely be a set of skills that only happens in multiplayer. I don't love this because it means cluttering up the skill tree and injecting less chance of getting something you want in your levelups, but I am working on the problem. It's mostly the mages that have an issue with this-- for instance, most of the paladin's faith-based skills would, in the natural order of the world, heal "good" things while harming "bad" things. Meanwhile, the necromancer should technically be dangerous to play with (for instance, I had planned that summoned demons MUST be kept busy, otherwise they have a chance to turn on other players-- but this will have to be experienced before I can determine if it's viable and fun).
5. I haven't completely decided how to best implement this yet. Presumably you can go ahead and play multiplayer with your single player character, etc... but again, I haven't really given much thought to this yet. The alternative would be that your multiplayer character only exists in the instance of the multiplayer game (whose ID is kept on the host). One of these will make more sense when I start actually testing it a ton.
6. Before. The single player game will actually be a multiplayer game that uses itself as an instantaneous host.
7. SOMETHING would have to change... ideally, there'd be more of them, but that might not be viable. I'll have to see what happens when I test, but something would have to be different.
Bonus Question: SKHD will be the same on all platforms, except where resolution differences for change. For instance, the diablo-style inventory might not be viable on small mobile devices.
material or anti-magic blessing for warriors in the solomon universe? I
feel like there should be something like that.
For warriors of faith only. Anything else would have to be an enchanted item. Faith trumps magic, but on a technical level, with faith you're in the position of only asking a diety for help, whereas magic is completely under the control of your own willpower.
>4. I highly doubt demons will be either useful or risky to team at all.
All choices in magic boil down to "quantity or quality." Solomon chooses quantity. The player necromancer will essentially be forced to choose "quality" because of the scope of the game. Thus, a player necromancer's summoned demons will be tougher than most of the demonic rabble that Solomon populates his keep with in his narcissistic quest to have a whole entourage instead of just a few good assistants.
>7. Having more monster doesn't seem to be ideal because it can cause more lag
I have some ideas. Remember, I'm not one of those gaming companies that goes to GITHUB, downloads a "multi-monster networking package" and just integrates it into their program to save money and hit the deadline. I code things specifically for the game's needs, which gives me a lot of flexibility and lets me get extra performance too.