Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

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yimbee
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Re:

Postby yimbee » Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:26 pm

xander wrote:
Profit wrote:If I had a dollar for every thread like this...

You would have about twelve bucks right now. :P

xander


No need to be rude is there
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby yimbee » Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:28 pm

This game does not need multilayer . I loved the share thing though look at others and run them .

Or get layout ideas how they did a task etc
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Pruvan
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Pruvan » Sun Jul 06, 2014 1:27 am

Dajmin wrote:The only multiplayer experience I think might work is asynchronous, like a high score table. With the Grading system, it would be possible to work out a rating that takes into account stuff like prisoner type and count, time played, reoffending rates, prison value, etc and let you upload your score to see how you compare with the rest of the world. That's it.


I'm reminded of Theme Hospital.

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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Collic001 » Sun Jul 06, 2014 1:21 pm

Any kind of simultaneous multiplayer seems like an obvious no.

But hotseat multiplayer? I don't see why that's at odds with PA at all. You can already do that of course with just save file sharing, but it could easily be incorporated as a real feature. Have each player take a fixed tenure at which point the game signals a stop and allows for the next player to have a crack at running the prison.
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Robert_Sea » Mon Jul 07, 2014 12:02 pm

Dajmin wrote:And on top of that - what multiplayer features would you want anyway?

Creating with friends? So all of your prisoners escape when one of you makes the group run out of cash while building a wall? It could be funny for a couple of hours (and YouTube bait) but that's it.

Multiple prison neighbourhoods? Firstly, how many times do you get a bunch of prisons in the same local area? And why would prisoners transfer between them anyway? You could argue one person could take maxsec, the other minsec, etc. But that's boring and would result in a huge cash imbalance. The ability to communicate while you play what's essentially a single player experience? Use Skype or Steam or Xfire or something.

The only multiplayer experience I think might work is asynchronous, like a high score table. With the Grading system, it would be possible to work out a rating that takes into account stuff like prisoner type and count, time played, reoffending rates, prison value, etc and let you upload your score to see how you compare with the rest of the world. That's it.


I can think of at least one... With the failure conditions in place, how about people actually playing as guard or prisoner. Or everyone a prisoner and try to riot your way out. So many possibilities. There will always be people that are against multiplayer.

I think it is too soon to start talking about the possibility to have multiplayer. We should conclude the Alpha stage first and move on to a actual official release.
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Dajmin
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Dajmin » Wed Jul 09, 2014 12:20 pm

Let's flesh out both of those multiplayer scenarios then.

Playing as a guard
You're assigned to an area by (presumably) another player. You can obey that rule and tie yourself to a small area or you can ignore it and do what you like. You choose to follow your patrol route and open doors for prisoners. Not a lot of fun IMO. Maybe when someone gets unruly you get to click on them to beat them into submission. Once every couple of game days.

Or you ignore the player assignment. You can walk around anywhere in the prison but there's still not anything to actually DO. You're still opening doors and dealing with people stepping out of line - if that happens. It's basically a clicking simulator. But you're also frustrating the player running the overall prison because if you're off doing your own thing you're leaving an area unguarded.

Playing as an inmate
Marginally more interesting, but still not a long-term game mode. You follow the regime or you're locked down the second a guard notices you're out of line. So maybe you decide to break out, which is probably the whole purpose of these requests. You need to steal a spoon and then evade metal detectors back to your cell, you then dig through the toilet the same way the AI inmates do. The problem is, if you get caught by the metal detector (which is pretty likely in the type of prisons I run) and the policy is (for example) 6 hours in solitary, that's not fun. You're there literally watching time ticking by with no ability to do anything.

Or maybe you decide to be the model prisoner and you follow the rules. You follow the regime to the letter. You spend a couple of real-life hours walking from one room to another, clicking on random bits to go to the toilet or make licence plates. Very much in the vein of being a guard, this then becomes a clicking simulator. There's no risk, there's no reward. It's a gimmick and it's going to get boring very quickly.

The example you gave (which sounds like an MMO scenario) is only fun until you either escape or get locked down. Once you escape (which could be done in about 5 minutes with the current AI) your game is over. Once you get locked down, you're back to one of my previous options.

The only interesting multiplayer option for player prisoners vs player guards would require a massive amount of netcoding and a huge switch in game focus. PA is a strategy and management game, not an action title. If you want the cops & robbers thing you'd be better off playing Payday or waiting for Battlefield Hardline. Or maybe I'm missing something.
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Nutso18 » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:23 am

I think it would be an interesting idea to use the whole sell your prison thing. Like if you want you could bits or all of your prison to other players if they were interested in your prison and if they wanted they could regulate that bit of the prison they bought of just give you money for it. Not sure how implementation would be but the thought crossed my mind as I discovered the option to sell the prison.
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Igor_Ryzhkov » Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:45 pm

Would be epic with multiplayer. So you could make a prison with your friends :D like uhm i will take Heavy secured prisoners and your friend can take medium for example would be awesome. And if people dont like the multiplayer part then just dont play it.. Simplee xD
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby kingpin12345 » Sun Aug 03, 2014 1:48 am

You know, but instead of multiple people building, one player builds whilst the other players are prisoners or staff. But in order for that to happen the architect would have to have bought that staff member. (This feature will probably be implemented around the beta / 1.0 (full game release) which I'd say would be about 2018-2020 due to the development speed of the game)
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Kunovega » Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:57 am

Igor_Ryzhkov wrote:Would be epic with multiplayer. So you could make a prison with your friends :D like uhm i will take Heavy secured prisoners and your friend can take medium for example would be awesome. And if people dont like the multiplayer part then just dont play it.. Simplee xD


Isn't this already achieved by simply sharing your save file and comparing prisons?

What you are asking for is childishly myopic. If you just want to talk to friends online, use a chat service. You can than compare your progress with each other and share save files any time you wish.

The game can easily have a community of players who talk to each other and share save files and even create mods for each other without ever being a multiplayer game.

Being a multiplayer game implies there are features in place to regulate behavior, which would not only take development time away from the single player game (and lets face it, this is one of the smallest companies in the world that develops good games, they dont really have unlimited manpower to assign extra features); but it also implies there something to be gained by doing the multiplayer aspect

Nothing you have suggested goes beyond "I'd like to share my game and talk to people" which all can be done simply by having online friends and participating in an online community, none of it requires in-game multiplayer support. You can skype and file share all day long while building prisons.
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby nilay696 » Sun Jun 28, 2015 4:39 pm

i would say yes becaus i love to play and build with friends and this is a super cool game to do it togheter with
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby Xenophic » Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:50 pm

People say it would be hard to implement a multiplayer system due to the creation aspect of the game, but it has been done for creative style games designed for a single player at a time. one example would be the moderately successful OpenRCT2.
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Re: Prison architect - MULTIPLAYER!

Postby xander » Wed Jan 11, 2017 7:17 pm

Xenophic wrote:People say it would be hard to implement a multiplayer system due to the creation aspect of the game, but it has been done for creative style games designed for a single player at a time. one example would be the moderately successful OpenRCT2.

I think that the issue is less one of a "creative" game-style being hard to make multiplayer, and more that the game was not designed with multiplayer in mind from the start. It is often difficult to add such capability as an afterthought (Multiwinia, for example).

xander

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