Comments on: Multiplay Or Not (Take 2)

By: Juuso

Juuso — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:09:07 +0000

Tobias: What you mean by dual play? offline multiplayer?

By: Jake Birkett

Jake Birkett — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:22:37 +0000

Not.

By: Tobias Scheuer

Tobias Scheuer — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:38:13 +0000

What about dual play? Someone playing with his/her friend/spouse/whoever? Sounds like fun. As we had playing Lego Star Wars or similar games.

By: Juuso

Juuso — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:49:27 +0000

2 totally different answers. sort of underlines the point in my blog post.. :)

By: Integer Man

Integer Man — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:03:04 +0000

No way. Those games are all about patience and planning and such. I can’t imagine a good multiplayer game that takes advantage of that. Opposing players would ruin it by focusing too much on the players (knowing that they’re actively planning a breakout) and teammates would ruin it by acting too impulsively or making it too easy by serving as sacrificial lambs to distract the guards.

Escape type games are incredibly cerebral. Moving it to a social model detracts from that.

By: MrK

MrK — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:13:26 +0000

If its a prison break, you basically need several persons with various sets of roles or skills – making it a cooperative break-out. Diplomacy (getting goods from the guards), Electronics (disabling alarms), Mechanic (disabling engines), Brawler, etc.

Try to make a playthrough take 30 – 60 mins, and coming up with randomizations each time; what kind of structure the prison has, what kind of tools are available, the prison guard schedule, what alarm system, how many inmates / guards. Make the players draw down plans – you only get one chance :) No room for a Leeeeroy Jenkins.

Maybe have persistent characters in the game (“I’ve broken out of 3 prisons already – damn enemy keep tracking me down again”), although the question is what you earn from actually surviving on the the next game.

You could even try to make it two teams, one for the inmates and one for the guards, although I’m not sure how to handle the last :)