Idea for cooperative multiplayer campaign mode

[vadim]

Troberg brought this idea in another thread: http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=2270.0. The obvious problem was how to handle the flow of time. So here's my idea:

In geoscape mode, any players that have permission to do so may change the flow of time, unless anybody is in battlescape mode. Permissions are given by the server's owner.

While anybody is in the battlescape, time still flows, but is fixed at the slowest rate.

When entering battlescape mode there's an additional option: Wait. This would wait until another player's craft is in position.

If the map supports it, multiple players can cooperate for the same mission. If it doesn't, the game gives some excuse (terrain too rough, only N craft can land), and the players decide who does it. In cooperative missions, players land in different areas of the map. Loot is split equally among all participants.

Players can simultaneously work on different battlescape missions. The "wait" option would allow everybody to get their craft into position.

In order to keep players from getting bored in geoscape when somebody is taking ages in battlescape, offer a "simulator" option that allows to play a simulated game against the computer that can be aborted at any time.

This is as far as basic mechanics goes. Something that would be nice is having cooperation be optional. Having two organizations compete and even fight each other could be very interesting.

[Robbos]

Alot of this sounds like a coding nightmare. But it would definatly be a last thing the people making this would put in. but it would be certainly awesome.

your ideas are pretty good

[Drayd]

I think it sounds like a good idea, but currently in game i am fine at covering the planet on my own, so maybe making it so that radars have a lot less range and fuel consumption is a lot higher so that you don't have quite as much stretch so that you need to use other players in order to cover the Earth?

[DuKe2112]

Well obviously in such a setup each player would naturally get less resources, although the overall ressources must be higher, but not necessarily doubled.
Also the alien forces would be greater, so that you wouldn't be able to cope with them alone.

You could make it so that each Player has an UN madate but works mainly for one or some of the governments only and has only limited access to areas controlled by the other player. (eg he gets the radar data and can fly over but can't build bases there or something.)

Since governments have different budgets, they could also send different amounts of soldiers and scientists or could have different prices to build bases and facilities.