Online Co-op In Future?

[Jebus H Cripes]

So, is there any chance of online co-op for this game? It absolutely screams for it! But without it, I kind of feel like I'd be done with the game in 30 minutes. Just because I'd love to play with friends, but I generally find myself bored of games like this single player rather quickly.

The FAQ/Q&A seemed to suggest the possibility, but neither said yes or no, so I'm hoping it MIGHT come to the game at some point?

PLEASE?! :D

Jebus

[niconico]

Hi Jebus,

sorry but due to the reason this studio consists of 2 developers they made the decision to leave out netplay quite early. They aimed to create a rather full expercience towards their players instead.
Basically a design decision that made me as a user rather happy since I have spent about three lifetimes in some kind of queue due to ♥♥♥♥♥♥ netcode, thx a lot blizzard!

I get your point I think AAC could have been a great online multiplayer, no doubt about that. Still, you need to keep in mind that without that early decision against netplay this very game you like and play today would certainly not be the same.

Maybe you consider 2 or more player local co-op instead or take a peek into the leaderboards, also there's Bossrush, Daily Drive, Infinity Drive, not to forget the X-options considered a mid/late game extra, still I bet I forgot something.

Anyways, I am ok to say that AAC clearly has become the experience the developers have aimed for. I have been here for most of the early access and really enjoyed the amount of devotion and experience that was put into this title. Being a fan of shmups since the Atari ST this was some genuine fun!

I hope you continue to enjoy this circle of twinstick goodness a little longer.

Regards,
NicoNico

[Cheeseness]

There's another thread where this has been delved into a lot. It's clear that a lot of people are passionate about online play, but it's beyond what the developers are comfortable retrofitting into the game. This post and this post are probably good for getting a sense of the current situation/plans.

Networked multiplayer can be a challenge in itself when it's been planned for from the beginning. Often developers make decisions based on what does and what doesn't work within acceptable bounds of latency.

Cactus has been created as a single player offline experience (with local co-op added on for fun), and a lot of what defines the character and feel of the game would be very difficult to carry across into an online environment without changes that would make it into something other than the game we know and love.

Even though I'd totally play a networked co-op version if one existed, I completely understand and respect the developers' decision to focus primarily on a solid single player experience and not compromise development time or game quality to chase after a networked version of the game that at the end of the day might not be as compelling.

[xaxazak]

No, it's pretty much been ruled out due to it being immensely difficult and time consuming when there's only 3 developers.

If you want to know more you're best off reading these threads:
We want online co-op mode :)

IMHO we need this thread or one of those threads stickied - perhaps with a modified title.

EDIT: Removed that link (ty Cheeseness), wasn't the one I thought it was. Also, steam needs a way to tell you who else is writing a comment to preserve the dwindling supply of keypresses.

[Cheeseness]

I dunno if that first thread offers anything useful TBH. The "We want online co-op mode :)" one is where all the interesting discussion and relevant dev comments are.

[SMishra]

I just clarified the comment in the Q&A thread just now to be explicitly clear that online co-op is outside our capabilities, apologies if that wasn't clear with the earlier wording.

Sorry Jebus, if it's any consolation we really do build Cactus as an engaging single player experience and add co-op as a bonus, but I understand if that's not the game you're after.

[Cheeseness]

Originally posted by xaxazak:

Also, steam needs a way to tell you who else is writing a comment to preserve the dwindling supply of keypresses.

Ha ha, it totally does! I even left it a while thinking "I don't want to risk dogpiling the thread with the same comments as everyone else." >_<

I'm glad to hear the FAQ is updated. I hope it helps give people the right impression going in :)

[Sapphidia]

THREE developers only?

Even without the netcode capability for multiplayer, this title has the polish and near-AAA look I'd expect from a huge studio. Color me impressed.

[t34time]

You can actually try to play it online using NVIDIA GeForce Experience Share.

[Jebus H Cripes]

Jebus has sadface :(

Oh well, thanks for the info SMishra. I absolutely love the design and polish of the game, I just hope your next game will be similar with online co-op! :D

[Cheeseness]

Originally posted by Sapphidia:

THREE developers only?

Even without the netcode capability for multiplayer, this title has the polish and near-AAA look I'd expect from a huge studio. Color me impressed.

To break it down a little farther, one of the developers (Jeff or Nozehed here on the forums) focused solely on music and audio, another (Sanatana or SMishra) focused on game design and creating marketing materials and stuff, and the last one (Tim or Sycle) did all the programming and art.

Even though all three have had experience at "AAA" studios in the past (there's a little more info on the About page[www.assaultandroidcactus.com] on the Cactus website), I suspect they've all learned things and grown skills throughout Cactus' development.

No matter which way you frame it, it's still a massively impressive amount of work for three people to do on a shoestring budget without the (arguable?) support of a larger studio.

[Sycle]

Originally posted by Sapphidia:

THREE developers only?

Even without the netcode capability for multiplayer, this title has the polish and near-AAA look I'd expect from a huge studio. Color me impressed.

Thanks :) The workload has been gruelling but the game has been a labour of love and I've been trying to hold my work to a high standard.

This is why some of these major feature requests sometimes get a bit of a "... you want even more!?" response, since there's no team working on these things, it's mostly just me, doing my best XD

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by Sycle:

This is why some of these major feature requests sometimes get a bit of a "... you want even more!?"

Isn't that the highest compliment? Its the equivalent of a standing ovation for a musician and a request for an encore.
It's a great game. I can't help but compare it to Magicka, another game I love. If magicka has changing backgrounds and floors in their arenas it would have been so much cooler. Maybe your next game can be a magic-themed one where you combine elements for different effects.

[Cheeseness]

Originally posted by Kitsune:

Originally posted by Sycle:

This is why some of these major feature requests sometimes get a bit of a "... you want even more!?"

Isn't that the highest compliment? Its the equivalent of a standing ovation for a musician and a request for an encore.

It might feel that way from the side of the person asking for more, but from the other side it's completely different. It's the equivalent of asking a musician who's just spent years composing a symphony when their next one will be.

Unintentionally, it can imply that the work that's just been finished isn't enough, that the effort put in isn't appreciated and can be pretty damaging to morale...

If anything, these three hard working developers deserve a holiday. They won't get one because they're trying to make sure they don't lose momentum with the console releases and because they care about the game enough to continue working on fixes and polish.

[LonerGamerAlex]

Originally posted by t34time:

You can actually try to play it online using NVIDIA GeForce Experience Share.

I can confirm that this game works with the GameShare Co-op feature of Nvidia Experience. The second player controller doesn't work (yet) however so my friend had to use kb & m.

[xaxazak]

Originally posted by AlexWorth:

I can confirm that this game works with the GameShare Co-op feature of Nvidia Experience.

Nice. What's the quality like (fps, image quality, latency etc)?

(Edit: added quote)