Ideas for Multiplayer | Forums

[Mrxknown_JG]

Whether it's cooperative or competitive, what are your ideas for implementing multiplayer?

One thought is to weigh the options of preventing people who may rent the game from trying out the multiplayer. I think Ubisoft has a Pass program like EA's.

If someone cannot try out the multiplayer when they rent the game, they may still not have all the information they'd like to make a decision.

In terms of Competitive MP:

1) Considering that most open world games in cities are fairly large, Rockstar had used little dots so anyone could see where anyone else is.In a game like Watch Dogs, I feel a map system would be an excellent vehicle for some hacking my players to either hide their location or root out other players.

In addition, the use of traffic cameras in the city to alert you when they's a competing player or maybe just what happens in that camera's field of view (FoV). So the player is alerted that the enemy is coming from one direction vs, another, but then those camers could be hacked as well.

Kinda makes me think of tower defense, but I'm too unfamiliar with that setup to expand on it.

2) I think there would need to be some kind of effort or way the player can work themselves up to the point they could alert the police to go after another player or something. Maybe hacked cameras will alert police to stolen cars (cause all the cars a player's going to get are stolen, right?).

Cooperative

1) The other players who are not the main character do not have to be near player 1's mission. So if player 1 has met the guy at the bar who gave him a gun, the other players will not get warped to player 1's location. (Maybe an option?)

2) If the other players are separate from player one (as it was guessed by the end of the E3 demo), then whatever intel they gather could potentially be used to support or hinder the other player. Maybe give them a choice of sharing data by linking hacked cameras to player 1's system.

3) If player one is trying to hack a system that would normally take a longer period of time, a secondary player could potentially join the hacking attempt to speed it up, or slow it down by fighting off the other player's attempts.


It's going to hard for Montreal to balance how players interact given that hacking is the method of interaction through most of the world. The devs have stated they were going for a more non-traditional multiplayer setup.

[doylen]

I'm thinking it will be more cooperative online play. I'm leaning towards intel to help/hinder, maybe combined hacking power, shared gear, etc. They can do a lot with a game like this, but hopefully not too much b/c it may be ruined.

[Mrxknown_JG]

What makes you think if they do 'too much b/c it may be ruined.". Gameplay is always a balance, but it's a different balancing act when it's cooperative vs. competitive.

[doylen]

Games focus too much on the online play. To me, the addition in Brotherhood and Revelations brought them down. Most games I've played w/ online play have good campaign, but it's not very long b/c the company focuses too much on online play. I just hope they don't overdo it. They probably won't ruin it, but it's always a possibility

[obliviondoll]

The 1 year development cycle hurt ACB and ACR, but also made AC3 possible.

Multiplayer was developed by a separate studio from the core game in both cases.

[Mrxknown_JG]

The 1 year development cycle hurt ACB and ACR, but also made AC3 possible.

Multiplayer was developed by a separate studio from the core game in both cases.

I definitely think it's always better when the multiplayer and single player are not only developed by the same team, but are connected and not separate executables in the application.

Look at Halo: Reach, Campaign, Firefight, Competitive MP, and Theater all are apart of one system. One lobby connects them all.

It's a very well designed interface and system. I think Watch Dogs would benefit from a similar design. To be as seamless as possible.

[doylen]

After reading some of the article in GameInformer this month, I think the multiplayer will work better than I expected but I'm still not sure. I also think that the short cycle of ACB and ACR did hurt them, but it was enough to keep me interested until AC3

[MetalCreed]

-free roam
-multiplayer modes such as first to kill a target/assassination. Kind of like a battle of the wits using your tools
-split-screen co-op as well as online co-op

[MT4K]

I could definitely see Free Roam multiplayer being lots of fun.

[Dymez_510]

Games focus too much on the online play. To me, the addition in Brotherhood and Revelations brought them down. Most games I've played w/ online play have good campaign, but it's not very long b/c the company focuses too much on online play. I just hope they don't overdo it. They probably won't ruin it, but it's always a possibility

I'm thinking it will be more cooperative online play. I'm leaning towards intel to help/hinder, maybe combined hacking power, shared gear, etc. They can do a lot with a game like this, but hopefully not too much b/c it may be ruined.

-free roam
-multiplayer modes such as first to kill a target/assassination. Kind of like a battle of the wits using your tools
-split-screen co-op as well as online co-op

In an amalgamation of what these gentlemen said, I'd like to see them put much focus into the campaign first, then apply effort into an adequate co-op setting. I'd like to see a lengthy, voluminous campaign with a cooperative setting where the 2 players can either: give/take/trade items depending on level of character progression; attempt to hack the other player for some/all they have or combine hacking prowess to lighten the load on difficult quests/missions and breeze through the easy ones; help lure or even impersonate a driver to bring the target to the player's location for an inconspicuous execution or take the target to its preferred destination; or just go about their separate ways and do missions solo within the same world until they feel like working together, that way they aren't forced into missions.

I'm hoping they include a lot of stealth kills. That way, if I'm playing with a friend, and I'm at a bar where people recognize me and want to take me out but no one recognizes my friend, I can lure them into a backroom or the bathroom where my friend is hiding, and once that person I lured walks in, my friend can take that person out quickly and quietly.