Illwinter, are you keeping it multiplayer?

[Tyrant]

I'm pretty much with Argitoth on this one. Computer RP doesn't float my boat. I like short or action type SP games a bit - shooter, RTS, video games etc, but strategy games are my real love and for strategy games there is no substitute for a human mind. (I'm going to give War Plan Pacific a try as soon as i can afford it.)

[Trumanator]

I happily played only SP until I got BF 1942, then I discovered the awesomeness that is FPS multiplayer. As for strategy games, I didn't play MP until about 6 months after I got Company of Heroes.

[JimMorrison]

I nearly passed out from adrenaline rush the first time I did Starcraft in MP.

To this day, the excitement is mostly in MP gaming. The obvious exceptions are really beautiful settings/stories like Bioshock, Fallout1/2/3, Dreamfall, etc. I still do tons of SP gaming, but I find it more relaxing, more meditative. I like being able to take my time sometimes. Get up and get food or otherwise tend to the body, without worrying about inconveniencing someone else, that sort of thing.

I guess my point is, both are important to your diet. It's like MP is meat and SP is vegetables, most people require some of both to survive, with a relative balance based on personal tastes.


Oh and that said, I was also under the impression that the new IW project had a heavier SP emphasis. But that could be totally off-base. In actuality, maybe it will end up something like Warlords as far as gameplay goes, though maybe with extra depth in your "heroes", however that all works. Either way, I'm excited for it, because despite what Dominions lacks from having such a small team, what it has are some of the most important things to my gaming enjoyment.

[Argitoth]

I like this discussion. I don't have time to respond in depth... will do soon.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by licker

The SP problem is much deeper than that Gandalf.

Well we all know that I dont tend to agree with much of that.
And I would of course appear to be a huge minority since so few soloers login here so its hard to know any hard numbers for agreement or not.

[Zeldor]

I would completely agree with licker on SP. Well said.

[Dectilon]

Originally Posted by Kristoffer O

I have difficulties playing SP games for long. JK is even worse I do like adventure games, but more in idea than in actual game play. I guess I'm more of a adventure maker than an adventure player. I prefer game-mastering to playing in most cases. I liked torment a lot, but didn't even get half through the story. Watched my brother play a bit and thought that it looked awesome. Same with fallout. I think I'm more into the mood and setting than into the stories themselves.

I do like coop-play. Especially coop vs coop games. Starcraft was most fun when you were 2vs2. GAmes are generally more fun when they have a social aspect. Together or against.

Hey, Fallout 1 is actually very short, so even an impatient person can finish that

For me it seems like a game profits from being geared towards either singleplayer or multiplayer for it to be fun. Most strategy games don't shine until they are played in multiplayer, but role-playing games are better enjoyed as SP games, I feel (computer rpgs that is).

It's too bad Dom3 doesn't have a campaign though. Few game worlds encompass such a rich mythology as this one.

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Well we all know that I dont tend to agree with much of that.
And I would of course appear to be a huge minority since so few soloers login here so its hard to know any hard numbers for agreement or not.

I don't think soloers are so few here, unless you mean "people who *only* ever play SP games," which would disqualify even you, Gandalf. I feel like it's maybe 50/50 on these boards, although of course in "balance" threads the multiplayer gamers are more vocal.

-Max

[Argitoth]

This is a big post. I'm going to bold what the casual reader should see. CASUAL READERS, read the bold, skim the rest. Gandalf Parker, read everything!

Originally Posted by Kristoffer O

Games are generally more fun when they have a social aspect. Together or against.

Well said! But don't forget, singleplayer games can have a social aspect, too. Totally forget what game I did this with, but I used to play a singleplayer game at the same time that my friend was playing the same game. We would stay on the phone and communicate while we played. I know I'm being counter-argumentative with that statement, but I would rather have just played co-op instead of being on the phone and pretending. But I know there are other examples of situations where a singleplayer game would have a social aspect.

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

I wouldnt say that Illwinter is NOT going to create a solo game (as someone did) because they have. Has everyone forgotten that Conquest of Ellysium came before Dominions?

I would love to make a blanket statement and say any singleplayer game would be more fun with co-op, but I can't say that because each singleplayer game would have their own problems and would need some redesign for co-op to be a realistic idea. But,for example: I played Oblivion IV for a short time. I got bored. I think it should have co-op. I think Half-Life 2 should have co-op.

Here's a good example of Singleplayer VS Co-op. I used to download free fantasy games off the internet, games that had horrible graphics, some text-based graphics too. Anyone know of OpenGlad?: A lot of you gave examples of great singleplayer games like Half-Life 2, Fallout, etc. Those games have amazing graphics and amazing physics. But in my opinion, an old game with crappy graphics and no physics could make a horrible singleplayer game OR a fun-tastic co-op game. [b]Anyone ever played OpenGlad? http://snowstorm.sourceforge.net/cgi...?page=openglad This game was near perfect for its time in my opinion. I'm going to tell you what my perfect Illwinter game would be...

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

If I HAD to choose one or the other then Id prefer solo over a game that only supports MP.

Explain yourself. Why is singleplayer more fun than co-op? The argument that you'd like to play whenever you want is not a valid argument. Explain why it would be more *fun*, not more *convenient.*

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Do you consider it a natural progression that it goes Solo, Solo/MP, MP? If I were to consider such a programming stereotype I MIGHT consider it to be Solo, Solo/MP, Online World.

No, so let's start coming up with ideas for the perfect Illwinter game (remember, in realistic, doable terms). To answer my question "why singleplayer?" I would suggest you come up with an idea for an Illwinter game.

[Illuminated One]

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

I nearly passed out from adrenaline rush the first time I did Starcraft in MP.

To this day, the excitement is mostly in MP gaming. The obvious exceptions are really beautiful settings/stories like Bioshock, Fallout1/2/3, Dreamfall, etc. I still do tons of SP gaming, but I find it more relaxing, more meditative. I like being able to take my time sometimes. Get up and get food or otherwise tend to the body, without worrying about inconveniencing someone else, that sort of thing.

Hmm, I loved to play the Marine in Alien vs. Predator SP. You know you're just a human guy running through dark and filthy corridors trying to survive the aliens (from the Alien movies) who hid in corners or were only visible on your motion tracker until they were extremely close. I wasn't very good at it so my ammo was always low and I had no idea where to go, just went onwards barely surviving every encounter. One night I played it in complete darkness for some hours. I reached some stairs and thought they are up there waiting for me so I used the flamethrower on the stairs.
When I looked down again a small facehugger that I hadn't noticed before jumped at me. Instead of dodging (in game) I jumped backwards and tried to cover my face with my left arm (in real life). Of course the chair got a bit in the way and hitting the floor at full speed got me out of it.
Point is painful is not meditative.

I don't think SP and MP should be compared at all just like movies and board games. The "movie" (or for some games tinkering) part of a game is better done in SP while the competition part is better in MP.