Func_Msgboard: Improving LAN Coop

Posted by Baker on 2009/05/20 08:03:22

I like playing LAN coop between my Mac and my PC.

The one map that presents a hurdle is Warpspasm, which the FitzQuake 0.85 SDL doesn't seem to like anything except the first map and Warpspasm is the one mod I'm dying to play LAN coop on.

Big problems:

1. The other playing losing track of me or vice versa. A yell option would be good instead of having to which to ax and start pounding on the floor until other player finds you.
2. Every engine having own protocol makes use of different clients complicated.
3. Really universal broadcast messages like "Player tried to open silver keycard door but failed" or "Player opened silver keycard door" would help clue into what other player is doing or can't do.
4. Some maps don't have 2 player spawns and the telefragging is really annoying.
5. Is there a teamplay 1 or teamplay 2 setting that prevents players from hurting each other because it gets frustrating if other player is careless and kills you several times.
6. And the obvious accidental "the other player accidentally picks up your backpack" problem and now you have no guns problem.
7. Level that wasn't designed much for coop and 2 players run out of ammo all the time.
8. Level with multiple silver/gold keycard doors and in coop the ability for each player to grab keycard ruins level on accident.

Random notes: Having DarkPlaces run protocol 15 usually causes other non-DarkPlaces client to eventually get an invalid server message which sucks.

FitzQuake 0.85 SDL can't seem to host a LAN game, so 2 Macs or maybe 2 Linux machines can't coop with it.

#1 posted by mwh on 2009/05/20 23:41:28

1. Don't find this, but I'm usually speedrunning which implies everyone knows the maps really well.
2. Not really? There are a bunch of clients which all use the boring old netquake protocol, and in any other case you all just use the same client shurely?
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Um, this is what "teamplay 1" does, right? You have to have the same pants colour to be considered on the same team.
6. Again, usually speedrunning, so if someone dies it's a restart.
7. Yeah, has to be fixed in the map though, really?
8. Yep.

#2 posted by Baker on 2009/05/21 23:41:28

#7 "Yeah, has to be fixed in the map though, really?"

There are non-map ways ;)

Like altering the QuakeC so players can walk through only other players for the first few seconds.

You guys don't speedrun mods, but Forwards Compatible has an innovative approach to this that doesn't involve trying to make 16 spawn points for coop.

#3 posted by necros on 2009/05/22 05:59:08

i think eschewing realism in coop can be a good thing. i had a mod where i set other players as .owner to player 1 which allows players to walk through each other. really makes things less annoying in cramped maps.

there was also this thread: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=31035&start=59
that discussed various ways of making coop better.

#4 posted by ijed on 2009/05/25 05:55:54

I did warp coop without much multiplayer playtesting, and only cancelled the DM for laziness.

I did get the comment early on from non-Quakers that skinning the player as the grunt meant that they killed each other alot.

Even if the warp source is still around it wouldn't help much, but this is all stuff to be taken into account.

Possibly a funky keybind could help with point1, but I doubt Quake supports the kind of viewpos multiple script thing I'm thinking of.

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