How does multiplayer work?

[The One Demon ;)]

Just wondering how multiplayer works? I'm wanting to play a co-op game with one other and wondering what we can do and how we can/can't interact with one another?

Also I've seen on the steam forum last year that subsidiaries wasn't implemented in multiplayer, is that still the case? And are there other features that aren't implemented in multiplayer?

Thanks!

[TitanKämpfer]

My last multiplayer session was some months ago.

But first of all, you're both leading your own company. So you're competitors in some way. You can try to sabotage each other (giving another player bad reviews on their current game, hacking and stuff like that), but this also gives you a huge debuff if you get called out on it. (That one is RNG). When you want to cooperate with each other, you can send each other money, gift licenses, technologies and things like that.

Other than that you're releasing games and consoles on the same market. You also share the same pool of people on the job market. I'm not sure about subsidiaries anymore, but I think I would have been able to buy one.

[The One Demon ;)]

Alright cool, thanks mate!

[Waschbaer]

How deep is the market simulation? Can it really make huge differences when competing with each other or can both companies just strive even though they release equal products?

[TitanKämpfer]

When it came to games, I didn't really feel a lot of difference from the normal competitors. So good games were still selling extremely good and so on. You're both influencing the market's saturation, which doesn't really have a lot of an effect in singleplayer as well.
One thing that could happen that influences each other is trendsetting. So if Player A's game becomes a trendsetter, the trend is obviously applying to everyone and therefore a game that was previously working well for another one, can suddenly become the anti-trend game.

Consoles seemed to be influenced a bit more. My friend I was playing with had a lower tier console than me, as I've dropped the most technological advanced platform possible for the time. When mine drop, his console sales seemed to drop a bit. Probably because a better rated and better tiered one was released to the market. (Both our consoles didn't have games on for a while).
You could technically boost the sales for one other's console by releasing games on it. Probably even more now that this whole thing was rebalanced in one of the latest patches.

Awards are also a thing where you compete. Only one of your studios can get the game, best graphics, best sound, best developer, best publisher or worst game of the year awards each. This can make some difference at the time you're still trying to build up a stable fanbase.

What really makes a difference is just, who makes more money and can hire all the good employees first or buys subsidiaries first and the whole sabotage thing. These can add a bonus challenge to the beginning, when all players are in search for their first researchers, programmers, etc. and the sabotage acts can be pretty fatal, when you haven't gotten to the point where you're printing money.


So in short: Both companies can still strive, like you can easily become successful even though you're releasing the same genre/topic combinations like the preset ones for NPC companies.

[[HdF] Almut Grete]

Got it with 3 ppl maybe a forth will join. Fun so far, all need to learn the ropes to tell more :)

[Panda]

Originally posted by TitanKämpfer:

When it came to games, I didn't really feel a lot of difference from the normal competitors. So good games were still selling extremely good and so on. You're both influencing the market's saturation, which doesn't really have a lot of an effect in singleplayer as well.
One thing that could happen that influences each other is trendsetting. So if Player A's game becomes a trendsetter, the trend is obviously applying to everyone and therefore a game that was previously working well for another one, can suddenly become the anti-trend game.

Consoles seemed to be influenced a bit more. My friend I was playing with had a lower tier console than me, as I've dropped the most technological advanced platform possible for the time. When mine drop, his console sales seemed to drop a bit. Probably because a better rated and better tiered one was released to the market. (Both our consoles didn't have games on for a while).
You could technically boost the sales for one other's console by releasing games on it. Probably even more now that this whole thing was rebalanced in one of the latest patches.

.

After this post, the update with the competition setting was released. So you should be able to see more impactful results from competing games if you set it to 'tough'.