Multiplayer Momentum

Find out what we're doing and thinking as we develop WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition and the Tower Fall expansion!

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loboLoco
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Multiplayer Momentum

Post by loboLoco » Thu May 14, 2020 12:49 pm



While Tommi builds out mate and pup AI for Slough Creek, Mikko has been plugging away on multiplayer. We had a team test session a few days ago and today’s devblog video shows some snippets from our 75-minute session. It’s really coming together!

(Hint: In the video, switch on CC/subtitles to track the conversation better!)

We know that you all have lots of questions about multiplayer. Here are answers to some of them:

Q: When will multiplayer be released? Which will be first: multiplayer or Slough Creek?
A: We are not announcing specific release dates — but we are making lots of progress, and at this point, we expect to release multiplayer before Slough Creek. That might change, though!

Q: Will there be a beta for multiplayer?
A: We are planning a public beta in our Steam beta branch once multiplayer is ready for broader testing. (If you purchased the game on itch.io, you get a Steam key with your purchase, here’s how to find it: https://support-classic.wolfquest.org/h ... o-purchase

Q: How many players will be able to join a multiplayer game?
A: We understand that many people want to have a lot more players in a MP game session, but we don’t know yet what will be possible. It partly depends on performance: more players can spawn more animals, which increases the burden on the host’s computer to run the entire simulation.

Q: How does sleeping work with the new, dynamic time system?
A: Player-wolves can sleep whenever they want, but everyone needs to be sleeping simultaneously in order for time to advance rapidly as it does in single-player when sleeping. We are working on exactly how that will be triggered in the game.

Q: Can we fight other players?
A: We plan to add an (optional) PvP mode in the Tower Fall episode, which will follow Slough Creek.

Q: Can we fight the other packs? Can we establish territory in Amethyst Mountain in multiplayer?
A: Yes, you can fight stranger wolves, just as you can in single-player. We are planning a multiplayer mode that includes territorial acquisition in Amethyst, though it may not be available initially.

Q: Will players have to make a new account to play multiplayer?
A: WQ: Anniversary Edition will use new accounts (very similar to old accounts, just a newer version). There will be a simple method for upgrading your existing WQ account.

Q: Will there be changes to the chat system?
A: Text Chat is much improved from the old game: you can resize the chat panel, adjust opacity, and more. We’ll show that in a future devblog.

Q: Can we see the difficulty level of the game we are joining?
A: Yes — as well as which mission it is currently on (if there’s a sequence of missions, as there will be in Slough Creek).

Q: Will there be a way for players to find their friends and know if they are online?
A: This should already work in WQ 2.7, but we know it’s not reliable for everyone. We’ll take another look at that in the new account system.

Q: Can we block certain players from joining our games?
A: We want to have better options for this kind of thing, but no details yet.

Q: Once our multiplayer pack is formed, can we close the game to newcomers so we can role play without interruption?
A: Yes.

Q: Can we play as pups or other animals?
A: Maybe someday!


______________
We have released the first episode of WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition (Amethyst Mountain) for PC/Mac on Steam and itch.io, as Early Access. While in Early Access, we are updating the game frequently with more features, multiplayer, and ultimately the Slough Creek episode with pups. The mobile version will come after the game is completed on PC/Mac platforms. We’ll then resume development of the next episode, Tower Fall (DLC).
Dave/loboLoco
WolfQuest Game Producer

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by kagewan » Thu May 14, 2020 12:58 pm

Multiplayer looks like it's coming along wonderfully so far ! I'm very excited for it to be available to play around on with some of my friends !~

I definitely think having the option to make time move slower would be interesting for multiplayer games ! I would imagine it'd be very useful for people who do longer rps using it ,!

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by elkhunter123456 » Thu May 14, 2020 1:07 pm

That FAQ was really helpful. Nice to see multiplayer's coming along. Will the amount of pack wolves arriving to chase you out of their territory increase to a number above 3 if you have like say, 7 players sleeping in the territory at once? also i think the spamming space bar thing when your being bitten, instead of being able to release you right away, it should instead decreae the damage by 50%, because i can 1v2 wolves on accurate just by spamming space bar when they bite me. Just a thought.

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by DinoDogDude209 » Thu May 14, 2020 2:15 pm

This is another really nice development blog, I'm glad to see how much progress is being made on multiplayer and Slough Creek. At this rate, who knows, we might even get the Slough Creek episode before Christmas! (No pressure though, take as much time as necessary!)

It's so nice to be able to watch the whole multiplayer team playing together and testing out the multiplayer systems, and the funny moments never seem to stop! I thought it was really funny when Dave and Noah were both attacking the elk at the same time and the IK system went crazy, that could go in a WolfQuest blooper reel!

The subtitles definitely help though, because without them it gets quite hard at times to understand what everyone is saying. With so many people talking at once, and some people with more noticeable accents than others, it can be difficult to follow what everyone is saying, and the fact that the team went the extra mile and made sure to include subtitles is very helpful, even though the subtitles can be slightly obtrusive to the video at times when there are multiple lines of them on screen (which admittedly is more of an issue on mobile devices with smaller screens, I can watch the video on my tablet or my laptop with subtitles turned on and it's much less obtrusive to the footage). I guess that's more of an issue with YouTube's subtitles than with the video itself though.

I am glad to see the FAQs in the description though, it helps to answer a lot of the questions that people have been asking in a more convenient way ( and I'm glad to hear that multiplayer is going to have an open beta as well, because the Steam open betas for the game in the past have been pretty helpful with fixing bugs before patches are rolled out, and I'm sure that it will take extensive beta testing of multiplayer for the multiplayer mode to be well-polished.

I am also glad to hear that there is going to be multiple modes in multiplayer, because the two multiplayer modes in the 2.7 version were very simplistic and got boring after a while. Still, I hope that a more freeplay-style mode on all maps without rival pack territories and objectives is included, just to allow players to explore and hunt without any barriers to the fun (and to allow for more relaxed game sessions) like the Pack Life mode in the 2.7 version. And who knows, maybe this could pave the path for more unique and less serious multiplayer modes to be added in future updates, like Hide and Seek, Capture the Flag, or Play as a Pup. That would be a great way to keep players coming back to the game and keep the multiplayer component of the game fresh and interesting in the future.
Last edited by DinoDogDude209 on Fri May 15, 2020 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by Ogk1990 » Fri May 15, 2020 12:01 pm

:D hi it would be nice to play for example with a coyote

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by xc92u3 » Fri May 15, 2020 8:32 pm

Oh my gosh! This is so cool! I love it when Dave posts long videos like these, especially when it revolves around multiplayer! It's so much fun watching them work out bugs and talk to each other and stuff, and get to see all the glitches :lol:
I do have a question, though, that I didn't see in the FAQ anywhere.
When a player is kicked from the game, could you please make it so it says instead of "Player@ has left the game.", but more like "Player@ has been kicked from the game." instead? Sometimes, if either myself or another player gets kicked from a game without much of a reason, the other players get mad at the kicked player because they think that he just left for no reason. It'd be handy if the caption said otherwise. Anyway, just a suggestion :wink:
Thank you Dave for this awesome video!! ;D
Last edited by xc92u3 on Sat May 16, 2020 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by -Wolfdog- » Sat May 16, 2020 11:34 am

You guys are doing an EPIC job with multiplayer. I appreciate the new sleep mechanics and the FAQ. Multiplayer will now allow players to collaborate like a real wolf pack :wolf:. I was wondering though, will we have a winter season in multiplayer? Can we choose which season while creating a game?

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by BlackMetal » Sun May 17, 2020 4:07 am

TimberRaven wrote:
Fri May 15, 2020 8:32 pm
Oh my gosh! This is so cool! I love it when Dave posts long videos like these, especially when it revolves around multiplayer! It's so much fun watching them work out bugs and talk to each other and stuff, and get to see all the glitches :lol:
I do have a question, though, that I didn't see in the FAQ anywhere.
When a player is kicked from the game, could you please make it so it says instead of "Player@ has left the game.", but more like "Player@ has been kicked from the game." instead? Sometimes, if either myself or another player gets kicked from a game without much of a reason, the other players get mad at the kicked player because they think that he just left for no reason. It'd be handy if the caption said otherwise. Anyway, just a suggestion :wink:
Thank you Dave for this awesome video!! ;D
I also think that it would be better to change the message. In the end, many players are thrown out of the game for no reason. That is why this is definitely a good suggestion!

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Re: Multiplayer Momentum

Post by The Tourist » Wed May 20, 2020 6:24 pm

Ooooh...! This is really starting to come along!

And yes please on playing as pups! Perhaps it could be added as part of the Tower Falls DLC. Playing as a pup in multiplayer would be so much fun, and would add such a strange new dynamic to multiplayer play!

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