"fake" multiplayer concept

[Hibbe]

(This was posted to another forum, the game I am refering to is overgrowth)

Hello!
Recently I where looking in to a pretty awesome game that unfortunently, right now does not have LAN or online multiplayer support.

In this game you can add additional players that uses eg. an xbox controller plugged in to the computer.

Now I thought that if you had two computers both with the same game and same map loaded up, if you could send your keystrokes to the other person he could then have them directed to the second player.

You would not play with eachother, but your keystrokes would be controlling the other player on your friends local game and vice versa so that it would somewhat be multiplayer anyways.


It's not the optimal solution im sure, but it's a work around.

Anyone have any ideas on software that you could use for this?

(This might not work at all and I really don't have any need for multiplayer myself but I just thought of it and don't mind putting some time to getting something that might work)

[Zelron]

So basically have a character's movements and actions controlled by a player on another machine?
That's basically how LAN/networked multiplayer works.
I hope I'm not making a fool of my self by taking this seriously. The word "fake" scares me.

[Cheshire_Theyain]

That's not quite true, Zelron. There is a lot of magic involved as well.

[Hibbe]

So basically have a character's movements and actions controlled by a player on another machine?
That's basically how LAN/networked multiplayer works.
I hope I'm not making a fool of my self by taking this seriously. The word "fake" scares me.

Well yes, true.

But when you think of multiplayer games you always think that other players see you and you see other players, it's really the same thing here but with more "it's not actually you"

The idea is when I press W on my keyboard it's sent to the other computer that translate in to the secondary players controlls, instead of alot of complicated code explaining my exact position and ragdoll physics.

Ofcourse this would leave the very big problem with desync from lag, ragdolls behaving differently, performance and probably alot more.

It would never work as a stable multiplayer, but it would be a choice for how ever long it would take for david to code a real one.

[Silverfish]

This would unfortunately not work as a small hitch in the game would get the characters out of sync. Also, there are some random events in the game, like what the AI decides to do.

A good solution for a lan would be to use two monitors on one computer, make the game window span both screens when in split screen and have the border be right between the two screens. You can put the screens back-to-back so you can't see the other players' screen.

This still leaves the issue of sound, but it's the best way to do it currently. And even that way doesn't work very well.

[SteelRaven7]

This would unfortunately not work as a small hitch in the game would get the characters out of sync. Also, there are some random events in the game, like what the AI decides to do.

Silverfish... I'm dissapoint.

Anyway, while this would work, it'd most likely be pretty laggy. I think what you're looking for may be something in the lines of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hufAi4xT_Zs

[Silverfish]

This would unfortunately not work as a small hitch in the game would get the characters out of sync. Also, there are some random events in the game, like what the AI decides to do.

Silverfish... I'm dissapoint.

Why? Is what I said incorrect?

[Lord_of_Sausage]

It -IS- possible through the use of Teamviewer. The host would use a controller and the other the keyboard. Sadly, this doesn't work very well. The host will often get a 1-2fps stream from your computer, and a huge input delay.

If anyone has some software which is made for this, i'd like to know as well.

[SteelRaven7]

Wait, maybe I misunderstood, I thought he meant playing the game on one computer, while the second controller input would be sent via a network or the internet, along with the screen buffer. Kind of like onlive or whatever it's called. I'm not dissapoinT anymore, carry on .

[Hibbe]

Yeah, I know it was a vague idea to begin with and the more I think of it, I realize that the game is to dynamic to get the same results in both instances of the game.

Il try to clear my idea up a bit.

Basically I wanted to use my keyboard as the secondary controller of someone elses game and vice versa.

Thats why I call it "fake" multiplayer, because it would not go trough a server like most other games.

[Karel]

This looks like cloud stream gaming, except more unstable :/