multiplayer

Multiplayer Games: 

Multiplayer Games Chris VanderKnyff November 14, 2006

First, a Disclaimer: 

First, a Disclaimer Most of this lecture will focus on issues relating to first-person shooter (FPS), real-time strategy (RTS), and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games as released on the PC within the last 15 years.

The Shape of Things to Come: 

The Shape of Things to Come Why multiplayer? Degrees of multiplayer History of networked multiplayer Classical multiplayer modes Metagame issues Important multiplayer games

Why Multiplayer?: 

Why Multiplayer? Adds a social dimension to the game Humans are (generally) better opponents than bots Can prolong sales life Much content can be recycled Still a hot buzzword for publishers

Why Not Multiplayer?: 

Why Not Multiplayer? It’s really, really expensive. Can require a separate game engine! Much more testing is required. Singleplayer maps generally suck in deathmatch modes, requiring more content. Developer resources are finite. These costs do not end after ship date. If done badly, your player base will revolt. You might not even get a player base.

Why Not Multiplayer?: 

Why Not Multiplayer? It’s really, really expensive. These costs do not end after ship date. Metaservers and authentication servers Patches to stop cheating (MMOs only) GMs and support personnel to handle player complaints Breakdown on hardware costs (NESFW) If done badly, your player base will revolt. You might not even get a player base.

Why Not Multiplayer?: 

Why Not Multiplayer? It’s really, really expensive. These costs do not end after ship date. If done badly, your player base will revolt. Three words: Star Wars Galaxies. More examples: Deus Ex, Arcanum, Tribes 2 You might not even get a player base.

Why Not Multiplayer?: 

Why Not Multiplayer? It’s really, really expensive. These costs do not end after ship date. If done badly, your player base will revolt. You might not even get a player base. Arcanum Deus Ex The Ship C&C: Sole Survivor Civilization (any game in series)

So Why Bother?: 

So Why Bother? Counter-Strike (indep., now Valve) Released 1999 63,000 active players on Steam 42,000 active CS:Source players World of Warcraft (Blizzard) Released 2004 6.5∙106 active subscribers in June, each paying $15 a month

Degrees of Multiplayer: 

MMOs Quake series Half-Life Planetside Worms series Scorched Earth Degrees of Multiplayer Number of machines supported (1, 2-8, 9-64, lots) Number of players per machine supported (1, 2-8, more) GoldenEye 007 (N64) MindRover Age of Wonders Civilization/SMAC YDKJ Wolfenstein 3D TES: Oblivion Darwinia Halo series XEvil Doom series StarCraft Diablo series Defcon Age of Wonders Civilization/SMAC Serious Sam

Local Multiplayer: 

Local Multiplayer Multiple people at one machine Hotseat: Everyone takes turns using dedicated controls Worms/Scorched Earth a good example Split-Screen: Everyone plays at once Traditional on consoles (GoldenEye, Halo) Not common on PCs due to inconvenience

Remote Multiplayer: 

Remote Multiplayer Play over a network! (Or modem/serial link.) Two main topologies: Client/server (incl. XBox Live, all FPSes) Peer-to-peer (incl. Doom 1, many RTSes) Further details are available in Kiran’s talk.

The Dark Ages: 

The Dark Ages Players would compete via comparing high scores or through shared-screen duels. Ex: Worms, arcades, Star Control, PBM games, SpaceWar, early console games

The Renaissance: 

The Renaissance Specialist network games allowed for some multi-user capability, but limited hardware availability reduced their market. Ex: BBS “door” games, MUDs, Netrek

The Industrial Revolution: 

The Industrial Revolution Modems became widespread and fast (14.4 kbps and higher), and LANs became accessible to ordinary workers. IPX. Kali. Ex: Doom, C&C, most pre-Quake FPSes

The Atomic Age: 

The Atomic Age Internet play became widespread, and 56kbps modems started to lose ground to cable, DSL, and other speedier links. Birth of the primarily-multiplayer titles Birth of the Internet matchmaking services Ex: Quake 1-3, Diablo

Age of the Interwebs: 

Age of the Interwebs Cable/DSL so widespread that modem users are widely derided. Out-of-game experience is considered crucial. MMOs now on the ascendant. Ex: UT2004, WoW, Half-Life, Guild Wars

Common Game Modes: 

Common Game Modes Cooperative Free-for-all Deathmatch Team Deathmatch Last Man Standing Capture the Flag Capture-and-Hold Persistent World

Cooperative: 

Cooperative Players work together to play through the game’s main campaign. Some games allow secondary campaigns for multiplayer (Arcanum, NWN, RA2). Not very popular with developers because level scripting tends to break in 2-player. Notable examples: Halo series, Doom, Serious Sam series, Neverwinter Nights, Unreal Tournament 2003/2004

Free-for-All Deathmatch: 

Free-for-All Deathmatch Every player tries to kill every other player as much as humanly possible before the level ends (usually via frag or time limits). The canonical multiplayer mode. Most bot development is for this mode. Strategy games can be considered to fall into this category with very few exceptions. Notable examples: Too many to list.

Team Deathmatch: 

Team Deathmatch Like deathmatch, but with players divided into 2-4 teams. Friendly fire is traditionally turned on; teamkills (TKs) cost the killer points. Made popular by Quake 1. Notable examples: Quake series, Unreal Tournament series, Half-Life, Descent, ROTT

Last Man Standing: 

Last Man Standing Variant of FFA/team deathmatch modes in which each player has limited lives. After dying too many times, a player is set to spectator mode for the remainder of the round and cannot interfere with gameplay. Notable example: Counter-Strike.

Capture the Flag: 

Capture the Flag Two teams duke it out as per team DM, but also try to steal each other’s flag and bring it back to the friendly base. Modern form originated in ThreeWave CTF, a modification for Quake 1. Ridiculously popular, even in RTS and RPG genres. Notable examples: C&C, Quake series, Tribes, TeamFortress Classic, most modern FPSes

Capture-and-Hold: 

Capture-and-Hold Teams dispute ownership of 3-7 “control points” located strategically on a map. A player must eliminate all opposition near a control point and stay near it for about 5 seconds to take control of the area. Originated in TeamFortress for Quake 1 Slowly displacing CTF as the most common team gameplay mode in FPSes. Notable examples: Battlefield 1942, TFC, Unreal Tournament 2004

Persistent World: 

Persistent World Less focus on player interaction and more on environment interaction and character building. Players traditionally level up by killing rats, boars, giant mosquitoes, orcs, and other inoffensive CPU woodland creatures, then switch to high-level content, usually involving beating the daylights out of other players. Strongly dependent on guild formation/grouping Notable examples: Diablo II (sort of), EverQuest, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars

Metagame Issues: 

Metagame Issues Matchmaking services Communication facilities Guilds/clans Social issues

Matchmaking Services: 

Matchmaking Services Players need to know what games are already running on the network Awful: Make the players do it themselves Bad: “Friend Codes” Average: In-game server browsers, GameSpy Arcade, MSN Gaming Zone Good: Good in-game server browsers, discriminating auto-matching algorithms Best: Everyone on a single server

Communications: 

Communications Text chat considered the bare minimum Team channels required when applicable Historical anecdote: RemoteRidicule Some people use TeamSpeak, Roger Wilco, and similar voice comm utilities Newer games integrate VOIP functionality Remember voice has a bandwidth cost!

Guilds/Clans: 

Guilds/Clans “Guilds” in RPG land, “Clans” usually used for strategy games and FPSes Self-selected stable associations of like-minded players Guildies tend to hang out on the same server, game at compatible times, and group with each other when practical Usually run TeamSpeak on a private server Either wide open to recruits or completely private; there are few in-betweens Usually indicated like [CW] Tycho

Social Issues: 

Social Issues Multiplayer aficionados tend to be a very vocal subset of the customer base Everything is “unbalanced” and must be “nerfed,” according to at least someone In-jokes have become a new dialect: pwn4ge, omgwtfbbq, l33t, aybabtu Anecdote: The One Time I Tried VOIP JeFf K!!!!!!!!!111ONE11

Anomalies: StarCraft: 

Anomalies: StarCraft Released April 1998 The most popular RTS on the planet Caused 800% jump in Battle.net activity Insanely popular in South Korea (500K players online a night) Daisy-chained serial cable support

Anomalies: ROTT: 

Anomalies: ROTT Rise of the Triad: December 1994 11-player client/server network model “Live RemoteRidicule” Implemented many multiplayer modes before most other games did

Anomalies: GoldenEye: 

Anomalies: GoldenEye Released August 1997 First major multiplayer FPS on a console No networked play, but supported 4 players at once on a split screen Highly configurable The king of console multiplayer until Halo

Anomalies: Quake III: 

Anomalies: Quake III Released Dec. 1999 First FPS without a real singleplayer component Still actually playable on a 56K modem Dreamcast version brought Internet gameplay to the console world PunkBuster anti-cheating code debut

Anomalies: Halo: 

Anomalies: Halo Basically made the XBox a viable system Halo 2 designed for XBox Live, and vice versa Split-screen and networked simultaneously (on console)

Anomalies: Serious Sam: 

Anomalies: Serious Sam Released March 2001 Cooperative network gameplay otherwise all but extinct on PCs Split-screen on PC, which is unheard of Best title ever: “Serious Sam II: Serious Sam Goes to Sirius”

Discussion: 

Discussion Flame on!