Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

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Chaquator
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Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Chaquator » Sun Jan 19, 2014 5:37 pm

I'd really like to see it be added into Overgrowth, since single player and local multiplayer gets boring after a while. It'd be fun to have a large Colosseum with lots and lots of players all having a rumble.

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AmorphousGamer
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by AmorphousGamer » Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:16 pm

Sigh.
This post again?

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Endoperez
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Endoperez » Sun Jan 19, 2014 11:58 pm

It's unlikely. There's all sorts of technical challenges, lag would be horrible for the gameplay, etc. If it will be considered, I'd think the Devs would finish the single player mode & campaign first.

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Ylvali
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Ylvali » Mon Jan 20, 2014 2:54 pm

I really don't see the need to constantly repeat the mantra that multiplayer is unlikely or hard to do when Wolfire has not said so themselves. The proper answer is we don't have a clue either way.

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Endoperez
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Endoperez » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:34 pm

I think it's safer to say 'unlikely' instead of 'unknown' for just that reason. If Devs haven't mentioned it, that implies it's not something they expect to be a selling point.

If you can present a good argument I'll reconsider, of course.

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Ylvali
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Ylvali » Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:13 am

What has been communicated so far is, in the most explicit case, a UI showcasing for networked multiplayer here: http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/08/multipl ... r-browser/
I recently finished the UI for the server browser in Overgrowth.

This will let you browse all of the multiplayer Overgrowth servers and easily choose the one you want from within the game. Check it out! (Note that the server names and such are just random Quake servers I found for testing.)

...

It's pretty straightforward. When you click on a server, it sort of pops out with an animation (you can see for yourself next week) and you can join the server. I'm thinking of putting some more info in the extra space that pops out, but I'm not sure yet.

We are really flexible with the UI. Are there any cool features in GameSpy, GameRanger, etc. that you'd like to see in Overgrowth?
As you can see, the language in the blogpost does not talk about technical difficulties, nor does it make any caveats or disclaimers about the unreliable or noncommittal status of the feature. Instead, it read as if server-based multiplayer with several game modes (as showcased in the image) is a given feature of the game, and even asks for further feature request from the community.

If there are indeed no plans for networked multiplayer then the above blogpost is at best sloppy marketing, and since it is pretty much the only official information on the topic and what people searching for an answer to the question will inevitably find and interpret as a relatively straightforward promise, it is bound to create a lot of disappointment if it turns out to be mere hyperbole.

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Endoperez
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by Endoperez » Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:41 pm

It doesn't mention any game code at all, and it's made by the guy who does UI, not code. It implies plans and/or interest in creating multiplayer, but it's from August 2009. Multiplayer is mentioned a couple of times in 2009, but rarely afterwards.

First, see here:
http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/02/overgrowth-faq/#q7
Multiplayer is mentioned, focus on co-op is mentioned, but nothing about online multiplayer. Also, notice the date.

Possible explanation:
http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/01/multiplayer-news/
http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/07/wolfire ... questions/
A blog post from a developer who isn't a regular Wolfire team member, who worked on some network code, and who was last mentioned in the blog post in July 2009 where it's mentioned that he is working on network code.

http://blog.wolfire.com/2012/11/Announc ... erate-Gods
David mentions he learned a lot about networking during this game jam game.


It seems to me like they had plans for multiplayer, but David didn't have the skills to implement it himself. They looked into other options, but that didn't work out for some reason (again, pure speculation here). David has done some networking code recently (Low-Light Combat had networking too), but they haven't made any promises after 2009... I assume that whatever plans they had back then are out of the picture now. They might have a new plan, but they haven't mentioned anything about that AFAIK.

renamedperson
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Re: Any chance of multiplayer in Overgrowth?

Post by renamedperson » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:53 pm

People should just read the old multiplayer discussions! There are too many of these.

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