DLC & Multiplayer

[aur-lien]

How will work dlc with multiplayer ? Host sharing ..?

[TriumphJordi]

The content available in a MP Game will be determined by the content owned by the Host. This means that not everybody in the game needs to own the DLC, only the person creating it. It also means you can get a taste of the DLC if you have a friend that owns it.

[Novaliz]

Is there some kind of asynchronous MP or do we still have to wait when other players are doing a battle?

[TriumphJordi]

Whether you're playing Classic Turns or Simultaneous Turns the entire MP system is asynchronous, allowing you to drop in and out whenever. What you're asking about is asynchronous Combat, which is not available. As we've explained in the past, in order to make that work a lot of the foundational engine code needs to be overhauled which you can imagine is a huge undertaking.

[Furnace Of Hell]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

The content available in a MP Game will be determined by the content owned by the Host. This means that not everybody in the game needs to own the DLC, only the person creating it. It also means you can get a taste of the DLC if you have a friend that owns it.

That means i can use a diffrent factions from dls if my pal have dlc as host?

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Whether you're playing Classic Turns or Simultaneous Turns the entire MP system is asynchronous, allowing you to drop in and out whenever. What you're asking about is asynchronous Combat, which is not available. As we've explained in the past, in order to make that work a lot of the foundational engine code needs to be overhauled which you can imagine is a huge undertaking.

so that means that once a player starts combat all the other players can't do anything like in the previous games?

i mean if it would be at least possible to do stuff on the overworld map without starting a fight or in the town. but being locked out completely is kinda a bummer.

[TriumphJordi]

Originally posted by Furnace Of Hell:

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

The content available in a MP Game will be determined by the content owned by the Host. This means that not everybody in the game needs to own the DLC, only the person creating it. It also means you can get a taste of the DLC if you have a friend that owns it.

That means i can use a diffrent factions from dls if my pal have dlc as host?

Correct, if your friend has the DLC you'd be able to create a Faction using the DLC Content.

Originally posted by Xerberus86:

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Whether you're playing Classic Turns or Simultaneous Turns the entire MP system is asynchronous, allowing you to drop in and out whenever. What you're asking about is asynchronous Combat, which is not available. As we've explained in the past, in order to make that work a lot of the foundational engine code needs to be overhauled which you can imagine is a huge undertaking.

so that means that once a player starts combat all the other players can't do anything like in the previous games?

i mean if it would be at least possible to do stuff on the overworld map without starting a fight or in the town. but being locked out completely is kinda a bummer.

You can inspect/view but you are unable to give any actions yes. Everything you do is a sequential action, even when playing simultaneous turns. Until the combat action is completed the sequence is stopped/on pause. Changing the way those actions get handled is changing how the very core of the engine functions, even if we'd only partially lock the world.

[Szeron]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Whether you're playing Classic Turns or Simultaneous Turns the entire MP system is asynchronous, allowing you to drop in and out whenever. What you're asking about is asynchronous Combat, which is not available. As we've explained in the past, in order to make that work a lot of the foundational engine code needs to be overhauled which you can imagine is a huge undertaking.

This is a bit more of a nuanced/loaded question, but how is the independent faction handled during simultaneous turns in AoW4? Is it the same as previous games? (Meaning it will constantly interrupt/back-queue player inputs with random marauder move orders.)

The main reason I'm asking is: I've been introducing a friend to the series, and they've expressed a lot of confusion and frustration at the "lag"/"unresponsiveness" of multiplayer while I've been trying to explain things to them.

Any chance we might get an _option_ down the road to give the Independents their own 'turn' AFTER all players have moved? It might help alleviate some of the confusion of the input-queue(and prevent some of the scouting/movement cheese you can get away with during simul turns).

[TriumphJordi]

Originally posted by Szeron:

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Whether you're playing Classic Turns or Simultaneous Turns the entire MP system is asynchronous, allowing you to drop in and out whenever. What you're asking about is asynchronous Combat, which is not available. As we've explained in the past, in order to make that work a lot of the foundational engine code needs to be overhauled which you can imagine is a huge undertaking.

This is a bit more of a nuanced/loaded question, but how is the independent faction handled during simultaneous turns in AoW4? Is it the same as previous games? (Meaning it will constantly interrupt/back-queue player inputs with random marauder move orders.)

The main reason I'm asking is: I've been introducing a friend to the series, and they've expressed a lot of confusion and frustration at the "lag"/"unresponsiveness" of multiplayer while I've been trying to explain things to them.

Any chance we might get an _option_ down the road to give the Independents their own 'turn' AFTER all players have moved? It might help alleviate some of the confusion of the input-queue(and prevent some of the scouting/movement cheese you can get away with during simul turns).

When playing in Simultaneous turns all Rulers go at the same time, whether that's Player Rulers or AI Rulers. After all the Rulers have done their turn, the Independents (Free Cities & Infestations) have their turn. That's the same as we've had it in Planetfall.

The sense of Lag/Unresponsiveness won't completely disappear though as AI Ruler Actions will still cause a delay but if you're only playing with Humans then interruptions are less likely to be experienced.

[Szeron]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

When playing in Simultaneous turns all Rulers go at the same time, whether that's Player Rulers or AI Rulers. After all the Rulers have done their turn, the Independents (Free Cities & Infestations) have their turn. That's the same as we've had it in Planetfall.

The sense of Lag/Unresponsiveness won't completely disappear though as AI Ruler Actions will still cause a delay but if you're only playing with Humans then interruptions are less likely to be experienced.

Excellent; thanks for the reply and the clarifications.

I thought it worked that way in Planetfall, but it's been a hot minute since I've run simul turns in that game and wasn't certain. (My friend and I are still chewing on AoW3 first because it's easier to digest from a tabletop starting point for him.)

[Xerberus86]

thanks for the clarifications. so i guess it will be more feastable to use the asynchronous multiplayer mode if you want to experience the full game with friends or stick to mainly quick combat during a live game. ok :-)

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by Szeron:

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

When playing in Simultaneous turns all Rulers go at the same time, whether that's Player Rulers or AI Rulers. After all the Rulers have done their turn, the Independents (Free Cities & Infestations) have their turn. That's the same as we've had it in Planetfall.

The sense of Lag/Unresponsiveness won't completely disappear though as AI Ruler Actions will still cause a delay but if you're only playing with Humans then interruptions are less likely to be experienced.

Excellent; thanks for the reply and the clarifications.

I thought it worked that way in Planetfall, but it's been a hot minute since I've run simul turns in that game and wasn't certain. (My friend and I are still chewing on AoW3 first because it's easier to digest from a tabletop starting point for him.)

the lag you are feeling is all the actions of other AI's being processed, so if you decrease the amount of AI's it should be better. I also think in planetfall it was better because it was - in my opinion - better optimized in that regard.

in AoW3 i sometimes switched to classic turns because of the lag but ultimately switched back tu simul turns but waited the first 3 seconds of a round till all the AI were kinda processed (was looking at stuff and such . you only feel some lag when moving armies).

[Furnace Of Hell]

Originally posted by TriumphJordi:

Originally posted by Furnace Of Hell:

That means i can use a diffrent factions from dls if my pal have dlc as host?

Correct, if your friend has the DLC you'd be able to create a Faction using the DLC Content.

Great / now my days will be better

[Szeron]

Originally posted by Xerberus86:

Originally posted by Szeron:

Excellent; thanks for the reply and the clarifications.

I thought it worked that way in Planetfall, but it's been a hot minute since I've run simul turns in that game and wasn't certain. (My friend and I are still chewing on AoW3 first because it's easier to digest from a tabletop starting point for him.)

the lag you are feeling is all the actions of other AI's being processed, so if you decrease the amount of AI's it should be better. I also think in planetfall it was better because it was - in my opinion - better optimized in that regard.

in AoW3 i sometimes switched to classic turns because of the lag but ultimately switched back tu simul turns but waited the first 3 seconds of a round till all the AI were kinda processed (was looking at stuff and such . you only feel some lag when moving armies).

Oh yeah, I get it. It was just an issue I noticed as we were playing together. The compounding problem is all the marauders and free cities that we added to the games to help him explore the fun of the RPG side of the game(doing quests, clearing out monster lairs, leveling up, and getting cool loot).

It probably doesn't help that I'm really old school/set in my ways and have generally always preferred to play AoW on Classic turns. Simultaneous Turns are definitely the way to go for multiplayer with modern internet connections though.


Edit(tangent): Starting without a city or settler is probably one of the coolest starting options available in AoW3. it really creates a rags-to-riches story where you start out as nameless band of warriors who have to find a nearby city to befriend/conquer and then start a whole empire from scratch. You can theoretically even play a whole game without ever actually owning a city and depend entirely on vassals to supply your units and resources.

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by Szeron:

Originally posted by Xerberus86:

the lag you are feeling is all the actions of other AI's being processed, so if you decrease the amount of AI's it should be better. I also think in planetfall it was better because it was - in my opinion - better optimized in that regard.

in AoW3 i sometimes switched to classic turns because of the lag but ultimately switched back tu simul turns but waited the first 3 seconds of a round till all the AI were kinda processed (was looking at stuff and such . you only feel some lag when moving armies).

Oh yeah, I get it. It was just an issue I noticed as we were playing together. The compounding problem is all the marauders and free cities that we added to the games to help him explore the fun of the RPG side of the game(doing quests, clearing out monster lairs, leveling up, and getting cool loot).

It probably doesn't help that I'm really old school/set in my ways and have generally always preferred to play AoW on Classic turns. Simultaneous Turns are definitely the way to go for multiplayer with modern internet connections though.

i also liked the question aspect of AoW:SM more ... the ones of AoW3 were ok but kinda lighthearted. if you look at one of the dev diaries of AoW4 with narrative events it seems that quests are much more indepth / elaborate and more interesting with high production value animated windows and such. i think playing the rpg part might be the strongest in the new entry.

for me fantasy 4x games are also the coupling of classical 4x games with rpg's in a fantasy setting. so having more rpg elements in it is good in my book.

[aur-lien]

Ho no, battle blocking all player is a RED FLAG; Sorry don't care about you "core code"; imagine playing a game with 3/4 players each wanted to have their own battle in the same turn ..? (and no auto-battle is not a solution when the main gameplay of a game is.... battle)