Multiplayer

[Marak]

What's nonsensical is

leaving this thread open, instead of it being a locked Announcement. This is just going to devolve into people bemoaning the lack of MP, or whining/cajoling/threatening/shouting at Kevin and Co. to add in MP anyway, despite them telling us "sorry all, can't do it, the code the game is written in doesn't support it".

[Toaster Fu]

If we close this thread people will just make new ones. Better to keep it contained.

[SomeBeardedGuy]

Signed up to speak on this Thread honestly.

First off I would like to say that I do indeed enjoy Don't Starve and it's a very quirky experience. The art style is unique and interesting and I really like the small details you went out of your way to play with. In my case however, I don't find it sticks to me long enough to keep me playing for any real amount of time. Though each little update brings me back to look at the patch notes, play for a few more minutes, and move on. There's just that one aspect that is really missing for me. There have been and will be others out there that offer a similar experience (I'm talking survive and thrive games) with the availability (or promise) of multiplayer, but since you have already ruled this out officially than there's not much anyone can say towards it. Maybe if the game generates enough of a following and the culling for multiplayer becomes much higher than previously anticipated maybe then, but again you've already ruled it out entirely. It would be nice to keep something as multiplayer in mind even if you don't believe it will happen. The game would be much more enjoyable in my opinion with the advantage of having a friend tag along.

Thanks for the game, having fun with it.

[LandLord]

I pretty much accept ur decision BUT I would be very very very happy that my guys will comeout when I explode from happiness if u considered what Xaris's suggestion which is to make an expantion or add it in further updates!!!

[iplaygames10]

The only thing i want is co-op, you could have so much fun with it, co-op with 2players that is. No multiplayer is just sad, pure lazyness from the company. I love the game and i have many great ideas on how multiplayer could work, don't see how you can lack the interest of making an awesome co-op side of the game. Dissapointed

[Khrayfish]

Haha, yeah, some people will always want any open-world game to be Minecraft.

You can, and it does. It's a marketing thing, giving away extra copies to encourage people to talk about the game.

I don't understand why some people think "buy one get one free" means "multiplayer", it's nonsensical!

Because it is marketing feature that multiplayer games use. I would go for 8/10 games that do have a buy 1 get 1 free offer are multiplayer and/or co-op.

You have disapppointed me Klei...

[Trollgaard]

I'm more dissapointed over all the dissapointed people. Then go play a multiplayer game instead with your faulty imaginations.

[Khrayfish]

The point for an Open Beta is to suggest things for the final version of the game. If they didn't want our opinion on things they shouldn't have an Open beta - Simple as that.

[Trollgaard]

Yes, but the devs have clearly stated, and reasoned, why there won't be a multiplayer option. If they'd told you there would be a multiplayer and THEN gone away from it, you'd have your reason for being disapointed. As it is now, you have no reason for being disappointed on Klei. You can be disapointed because there is no mp, but you can't be disapointed in Klei. Catch my drift? I can't decide wich way to spell dissapointed/disappointed/dissappointed.....gah

[buttercup]

not every game needs to be multiplayer

NOT EVERY GAME NEEDS TO BE MULTIPLAYER

Seriously I'm kinda disappointed in how badly people are taking this. Did you really buy the game just because you thought it would be multiplayer someday? There is a time and a place for co-op in games, and this is not it. Now just focus on how awesome the singleplayer is gonna be, and let the devs do their stuff.

[A Bad Feeling]

What's nonsensical is relying exclusively on that fact to assume there's multiplayer and then be upset when there isn't. THATS nonsensical, at least by MY standards.

There's absolutely no word about multiplayer neither on the official webpage of the game, nor on Steam, which by the way has a special section that tells you whether the game is singleplayer, multiplayer, or both in radioactive green text, nor on any Youtube's "Let's Play" of the hundreds that currently are.

When I buy 2 cereal boxes for the price of 1 on the supermarket I don't immediately assume I'll have to invite someone over for breakfast the day after.

Dear Excess,

I LOEV U.

Sincerely,

ABF.

[Syd]

This:

Yes, but the devs have clearly stated, and reasoned, why there won't be a multiplayer option. If they'd told you there would be a multiplayer and THEN gone away from it, you'd have your reason for being disapointed. As it is now, you have no reason for being disappointed on Klei. You can be disapointed because there is no mp, but you can't be disapointed in Klei. Catch my drift? I can't decide wich way to spell dissapointed/disappointed/dissappointed.....gah

and this:

not every game needs to be multiplayer

NOT EVERY GAME NEEDS TO BE MULTIPLAYER

Seriously I'm kinda disappointed in how badly people are taking this. Did you really buy the game just because you thought it would be multiplayer someday? There is a time and a place for co-op in games, and this is not it. Now just focus on how awesome the singleplayer is gonna be, and let the devs do their stuff.

Anyone complaining because they thought it'd have multiplayer in the future have no one to blame but themselves for not doing research and buying a game over an assumption. It's clearly marked as single player on Steam and the devs NEVER promised ANYTHING about multiplayer; in fact, they had already made their stance clear well before this thread existed.

Game development is not magic. They cannot put in a functioning multiplayer mode by waving a wand. You have to understand the sheer amount of resources, time, and money something like that requires, especially when it would involve virtually every gameplay mechanic having to be rebalanced for multiplayer and much of the game code having to be completely rewritten.

[Marak]

I'm just curious why so many people think this game would benefit from multiplayer. What would you hope to gain that would be worth destroying the immersion of the single player experience? How would chatting in-game work, for those players who don't/can't use VoIP? Can you imagine how stupid-easy the game would be with 2 players (assuming co-op here) stun-locking enemies with dual Spears or Tentacle Spikes? Being able to confuse the AI by standing on either side of it, potentially allowing for exploitative gameplay where you can easily corner and kill Gobblers and Krampus when you wouldn't be able to do that normally?

I don't think any of you are really thinking this through. Your thought process doesn't seem to get beyond "Somehow, this would be cool to play co-op with my friends" to the actual work involved. Do you really want them to cease most (or all) new content in order to...

Add in a chat system?

Add in a matchmaking system, complete with a Friend's List and menus for creating and joining games?

Add in netcode? (note: this is a stupid-massive project that would push the game's release back to late 2013... at best)

Add in new text for every character combination? (Wendy examining Wilson. Wilson examining Wolfgang. Wickerbottom examining Willow. Now increase this number exponentially for every new character added. Easy!)

Add in AI routines to deal with 2 Player Characters?

Add in balance changes to handle 2 Player Characters?

Add in combat changes to handle 2 Player Characters?

Rewrite the entire game's code from the ground up in order to support all the previous changes?

You guys have no idea what you're actually asking for. Try to keep that in mind when you make entitled, "I can't be arsed to read Kevin's arguments" posts like this little gem:

The only thing i want is co-op, you could have so much fun with it, co-op with 2players that is. No multiplayer is just sad, pure lazyness from the company. I love the game and i have many great ideas on how multiplayer could work, don't see how you can lack the interest of making an awesome co-op side of the game. Dissapointed

Do you want Don't Starve in March of 2013 at $15, or do you want Don't Starve with Multiplayer in March of 2014 at $35? Because that's the reality of the situation.

Personally, I'll take when Kevin has promised: an amazing, lonely, engaging, creepy single player experience with an amazing aesthetic and compelling, varied (single player) gameplay.

[Khrayfish]

Add in a chat system? Why? Local Co-op, same house.

Add in a matchmaking system, complete with a Friend's List and menus for creating and joining games?

Add in netcode? (note: this is a stupid-massive project that would push the game's release back to late 2013... at best) That's fair enough.

Add in new text for every character combination? (Wendy examining Wilson. Wilson examining Wolfgang. Wickerbottom examining Willow. Now increase this number exponentially for every new character added. Easy!) Do we really care?

Add in AI routines to deal with 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Add in balance changes to handle 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Add in combat changes to handle 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Rewrite the entire game's code from the ground up in order to support all the previous changes?

I don't care if there will be balance issues, I don't if it makes it easier, I would like to have the choice to play with a friend.

Whatever, they have spoken and they have disappointed some of us.

That is all.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Khrayfish

[Marak]

Whatever, they have spoken and they have disappointed us.

That is all.

Translation: "I don't have a leg to stand on, time to turn on Dismissive Mode."

[Guest Dandytard]

Marak, Act civilized! Behave! *slaps with a newspaper from the 80's, whilst readjusting his monocle.*

-Adam the Peacebringer

[Marak]

I had to get my snark on, sorry.

[501105]

Kudos for you detailed post Marak, kudos. Adding multiplayer is a very large undertaking, even more so when the team has no experience with creating a multiplayer experience in the first place. There would need to be so many changes that making a new game from scratch would probably be far easier.

Also, about being dissapointed in Klei, why? It was never mentioned as a feature or possiblity in the slightest, the game was advertised from the start as a lone survival experience. The extra copy you get if you buy the game is a thank you for supporting the game in an early start, which is more than most developers give.

[Guest Dandytard]

Although Klei won't release multiplayer, Perhaps when the game is released, Someone with experience at modding will attempt to make a multiplayer version that can be downloaded separately. I honestly can't remember the name, But I believe with certainly it was done to a game before.

[Khrayfish]

Kudos for you detailed post Marak, kudos. Adding multiplayer is a very large undertaking, even more so when the team has no experience with creating a multiplayer experience in the first place.

Doesn't Shank 1/2 mean anything to anyone here?

[Syd]

Doesn't Shank 1/2 mean anything to anyone here?

The team not the entire developer. Only 4 people are working full-time on Don't Starve, and only two of those are programmers. Of those two programmers, none of them have experience making multiplayer games. I believe the rest of Klei is busy working on another project alongside Don't Starve.

[Guest Dandytard]

Add in a chat system? Why? Local Co-op, same house.

Add in a matchmaking system, complete with a Friend's List and menus for creating and joining games?

Add in netcode? (note: this is a stupid-massive project that would push the game's release back to late 2013... at best) That's fair enough.

Add in new text for every character combination? (Wendy examining Wilson. Wilson examining Wolfgang. Wickerbottom examining Willow. Now increase this number exponentially for every new character added. Easy!) Do we really care?

Add in AI routines to deal with 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Add in balance changes to handle 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Add in combat changes to handle 2 Player Characters? Does it really matter?

Rewrite the entire game's code from the ground up in order to support all the previous changes?

I don't care if there will be balance issues, I don't if it makes it easier, I would like to have the choice to play with a friend.

Whatever, they have spoken and they have disappointed some of us.

That is all.

Local coop- Means you can play via Hamachi. And unless you have two computer devices that both own the game, You can't exactly play with a friend, That's for sure. (In the same household, That is)

I don't think the players should be able to examine the other character, mainly because it's a coop, The players name could be placed above the character. I think most of the codes consisting of player interaction with the wild are set, But however, As I read, Certain exploits may occur from it. Unless you want a glitchy-bugged-unplayable coop version, I'd at least wait until the game is out. Although the dev's did state they won't add multiplayer.

[Khrayfish]

Local coop- Means you can play via Hamachi. And unless you have two computer devices that both own the game, You can't exactly play with a friend, That's for sure. (In the same household, That is)

The steam version comes with 2 copies, me and my friends use Skype. Enough said.

I don't think the players should be able to examine the other character, mainly because it's a coop, The players name could be placed above the character.

2 player co-op, I think we should know who we are playing with anyway - Less work.

I think most of the codes consisting of player interaction with the wild are set, But however, As I read, Certain exploits may occur from it. Unless you want a glitchy-bugged-unplayable coop version.

Yes please.

[Marak]

Just because you, personally, don't feel like the devs would need to add specific things for co-op play (in-game chat, balancing, character interactions, co-op menus and interface), does not mean that the devs would not need to spend time developing and coding and making art for such features in order to make it seem as polished as the rest of the game. Imagine the negative press if they released a buggy co-op mode that was missing "standard features" common to co-op games and buggy net code?

But no, continue not taking these sorts of real-life developmental challenges and feature-creep issues into consideration and being blindly "disappointed in Klei".

[Khrayfish]

Just because you, personally, don't feel like the devs would need to add specific things for co-op play (in-game chat, balancing, character interactions, co-op menus and interface), does not mean that the devs would not need to spend time developing and coding and making art for such features in order to make it seem as polished as the rest of the game. Imagine the negative press if they released a buggy co-op mode that was missing "standard features" common to co-op games and buggy net code?

I never said that they wouldn't have to work on the net code etc, I also never said that they would have to do it right now.

Also, they wouldn't get negative press, because as they quoted themselves, "It's a single player game".

They can always say "We never wanted nor intended to make a multi-player game but the choice is there for those who want it".