Local Coop off the table?

[philz]

Hey guys,

I searched the forums and there were some threads from 2014, but thats more then 2 years ago. So I wanted to ask, if local coop is completly off the table?
I really love to hang back with my girlfriend and play on my couch (via Steam Link), and this game seems so perfect for that.

If the concern is still how to implent it interface wise, I would suggest to take a look at Diablo 3's local coop on consoles. It is in my mind a good example of skill and loot based local coop game.

So thanks for your answers

Cheers,
Philz

 

[MrChocodemon]

The Diablo way doesn't work with the way the graphics are rendered in SoG

 

[philz]

The Diablo way doesn't work with the way the graphics are rendered in SoG

I am guessing you are refering to the way the screen splits on Xbox One and PS4 if characters run further away each other?

I was talking more about how people have to take turns to look at inventory and skills and so on (I saw that as a concern in one of the older threads). That's why I wanted to give the example of a game where that works. Maybe I should have been more clear on that point.

I also feel, that the discussions (that would surely take place) about where someone should put there points and so on, arising when one player has to wait, is part of the social experience!

 

[Own]

Would this work for you?

 

[The G-Meister]

You don't need the extra download. You can literally boot up two windows using the .exe file in the directory the tutorial tells you to find, then follow the rest of the steps. This will work as long as you've got steam booted up in the first place, I think.

[Edit]: Just tested this myself, work fine.

 

[philz]

Thanks for the quick answers. I saw that option in one of the old threads about local coop.
As I am playing on a Steam Link I was more looking for a native option. An option that would also give SoG a "Local Co-Op" tag on Steam for example

My main question was, if that is something that is still looked into, or completly off the table (at least till after the release).
I would of course understand that, if you guys think this is a feature not to many people are interested in.

 

[The G-Meister]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the works somewhere

 

[Ardeof]

What is stopping you guys from using LAN, and connecting steam in "Offline Mode"?

I haven't gotten around to trying that, but Steam should be able to find players "Online" from the LAN. If it uses the clients' list as a way to check the status of friends, then Steam should still go through that process and find the players in the LAN as "Online", or "Playing Secrets of Grindea" and so on.

 

[philz]

What is stopping you guys from using LAN, and connecting steam in "Offline Mode"?

I haven't gotten around to trying that, but Steam should be able to find players "Online" from the LAN. If it uses the clients' list as a way to check the status of friends, then Steam should still go through that process and find the players in the LAN as "Online", or "Playing Secrets of Grindea" and so on.

My goal would be to lie on my couch with my girlfriend and play the game with my 2 Steam Controllers and my Steam Link

Two different devices would defeat the purpose of that.

 

[Teddy]

Local co-op would be great for sure, but if we decide to add it, it would be when the game is about 99 % done I think. We don't want to be restricted by the limitations of the mode; it's already a challenge to design and implement with the online multiplayer in mind, and while local co-op is technically easier, you get a lot of new weird situations to consider due to the screen sharing nature. In addition to this, we'd want to add a new GUI (and probably some kind of radial menu) for this mode, which would also take a lot of resources from the continuation of core features!

Thus, we don't want to hamstring development by throwing it in right now. If we can find "smart" ways to reduce incompatible mechanics (such as phase shift) to work in the mode, then local co-op may be added to the full version, or as a post launch update, but I don't want to make any promises!

 

[KoBeWi]

Wouldn't a simple "double-window" mode work? Doubling window's width and rendering game in two separate viewports, would be technically similar to current workaround, but it would take care of sound and control problems at least.

 

[The G-Meister]

It'll be nice and easy for arcade mode, seen as everyone's on the same screen. You'd still have to rework the GUI, such that each character has their own bar in one of the corners.

 

[Ardeof]

Local co-op would be great for sure, but if we decide to add it, it would be when the game is about 99 % done I think.

Oh okay, I thought they meant simply having steam notice what's available based on its "Network". Which as I mentioned, should be somewhat automatic as Steam uses some kind of file to check the "Friend list" and then proceed to evaluate who is doing what currently. Since all of the friends except whoever's in the LAN would be online, it would detect that the friends are in the LAN and SoG should work fine. Steam certainly picks up on information like that, even when it's the same Steam account. My assumption was that Steam already had everything configured to work that way, other than the "double window on same screen" part.

Try DxWnd on Secrets of Grindea. The main setting to change would be in the "DirectX" Tab, changing DirectX version hook to: "DirectX9". Based on what I checked, It is possible to put two windows of equal size on the screen. I didn't do a lot of playing around with the windows, but it allows for SoG to be split evenly across the screen, at the same aspect ratio. This causes a lot of black border, but it's still playable depending on the size of the screen.

The only requirement is that two separate Steam accounts are needed, as SoG seems to intelligently not run two separate clients if it's on the same machine.

 

[The G-Meister]

This causes a lot of black border, but it's still playable depending on the size of the screen.

If it keeps the aspect ratio, it shouldn't be that much of a problem on a television, especially if it's an HD one.

 

[Ardeof]

If it keeps the aspect ratio, it shouldn't be that much of a problem on a television, especially if it's an HD one.

Keeping aspect ratio can be a bit of a problem, if you're trying to stretch it to remove the "black borders". Other than that, keeping aspect ratio is fine.

 

[philz]

Local co-op would be great for sure, but if we decide to add it, it would be when the game is about 99 % done I think. We don't want to be restricted by the limitations of the mode; it's already a challenge to design and implement with the online multiplayer in mind, and while local co-op is technically easier, you get a lot of new weird situations to consider due to the screen sharing nature. In addition to this, we'd want to add a new GUI (and probably some kind of radial menu) for this mode, which would also take a lot of resources from the continuation of core features!

Thus, we don't want to hamstring development by throwing it in right now. If we can find "smart" ways to reduce incompatible mechanics (such as phase shift) to work in the mode, then local co-op may be added to the full version, or as a post launch update, but I don't want to make any promises!

That sounds quite reasonable Thanks for your answer!