What's the newest dev statement about multiplayer?

[sightseeer]

The FAQ does not state the word "multiplayer" and the latest thread is a year old. What is the latest news about that?

With best regards,
sightseeer

[Coops]

I believe they have always stated that its a single player game.

[dhitch89]

To my knowledge, they haven't made any recent statements.

Plus what Coops said; to this date, they haven't expressed any interest in adding multiplayer. Thus far, that's just how it is.

[Jahaga]

There's been little to no consideration for multiplayer for the game. It's simply meant to be a single player game.

A way that I've found to play with friends is to play the same seed and compare strategies with tackling certain obstacles you encounter -- like what's the best planet to expand to outside of your starting solar system.

[josmith7]

I believe the latest was in their December 9, 2023 update "Rise of the Dark Fog FAQ"
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1366540/announcements/detail/3906373040043459605?snr=2___

Q: Will the game support multiplayer in the future?

A: When Dyson Sphere Program was developed initially, the idea of multiplayer was not considered. This game will always focuse on providing more single-player content, and there are no plans to support multiplayer in the future.

[Steve O]

Why can't we get a co-op mode? Like why would that not be a thing

[Steve O]

I've heard there are mods to make it multiplayer

[josmith7]

Originally posted by Steve O:

Why can't we get a co-op mode? Like why would that not be a thing

Originally posted by Steve O:

I've heard there are mods to make it multiplayer

There is one, the Nebula Multiplayer Mod
https://thunderstore.io/c/dyson-sphere-program/p/nebula/NebulaMultiplayerMod/

Mind you, the dev team on that is reported to be over 10 times the size of the dev team on the base game, and the game design choices in the base game reportedly make the mod a bit less smooth and reliable than you'd accept from a first party multiplayer. (Which kind of answers why the 5 person dev team of the game isn't chasing multiplayer)

Still, if you want to check out multiplayer co-op the mod does exist and some of the folks here have been using it

[dhitch89]

Originally posted by Steve O:

I've heard there are mods to make it multiplayer

There is, and it's maintained by a group of 30-40 people IIRC. Meanwhile, DSP's dev team is 5 people strong, since they're a small company.

And even beyond that, unless a game is built from the start to be co-op (which DSP wasn't), adding it later is a massive undertaking that requires rewriting a lot of stuff. Much like how AAA game expansions require making sure all the old stuff works in the new areas, new stuff doesn't break the old stuff, etc etc.

[Decafeiner]

Originally posted by dhitch89:

And even beyond that, unless a game is built from the start to be co-op (which DSP wasn't), adding it later is a massive undertaking that requires rewriting a lot of stuff.

I mean, the Early Access FAQ states, and I quote:
Q: Does the game have online features?
A: For now, it is a single-player game.

Note the very specific "For now", which more than hints that multiplayer has been in the pipe, or at least on their mind, since before the release.

[dhitch89]

Originally posted by Decafeiner:

Perhaps, if you look at it loosely. But given how little interest they've shown since that FAQ, I doubt it's been "in the pipe" in any serious capacity.

[Konscience]

Originally posted by Decafeiner:

Note the very specific "For now", which more than hints that multiplayer has been in the pipe, or at least on their mind, since before the release.

That's subjective.
As a developer who have to interact with clients that often want new features (not in the game industry tho), i see this sentence as a very neutral language to say "no", and not as a hint in any shape or form.
At best i understand it as "it's not planned, but we cannot guaranty at 100% it will never be a thing".
(my point of vue anyway)