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For the Steam version, you can:
I guess I'll have to dust off my steambox.
I'm guessing that there will be online multiplayer not just couch co-op. If those friends and family don't have a PC connected to their TV but want to play, any solutions in the works for them so that they don't have to drag their desktop PC into the living room or awkwardly balance their laptop someone near the TV?
If by online you mean stream the game over discord or steams remote play options, yes. If you mean multiple people buy the game and connect, no.
It has similiar structure as jack box games. Only one person will ever need to buy the game.
Yes, there will be online co-op! For Steam, we recommend using their Remote Play Together feature, it's seamless and easy to use!
Since only 1 copy of the game is needed for everyone to play, that should alleviate a lot of PC dragging! Though it does remind me of the 90s LAN days :)
I love the idea of going back to the 90s LAN days but I'm an old man now. And while I may have a house full of computers and consoles, that's not really true for many of the people that I could convince to play the game with me. Like with any board game night... nobody wants to wait around while you read them the rules... I mean remotely help them set up their desktop/laptop to play a "couch coop game" together.
I know that network multiplayer isn't the easiest project for a small team but... opportunity missed?
sigh...
It's not that hard, its mean to be a couch coop game and that is a very specific term. If you don't want to have the screen on a TV and friends/family over that is fine.
How my friends and I did the beta was the friend that owns the game streamed it via Discord and we all watched his screen and scanned the QR code there. Using Discord there was 0 delay on moving the characters and using abilities and it was surprisingly smooth.
The ONLY difference is not everyone needs to buy the game. I THINK steam has a built-in method to watch friends play a game but cant say how smooth it is and if there is a delay. if there is not have a friend allow you to watch their game and then you all play together.
The barrier to entry on watching a stream of a friends game in the last decade has never been easier and it saves the other 3 people X amount of money as they dont have to buy the game and ANY DLC that would come out later on. One person has to buy it and then everyone just needs a phone that they probably already have.
Edit: Most TVs and/or smart TV items such as apple TV...etc have the Steam Link app. Can use that to stream your PC to the TV and boom, you are playing with power.
You don't need a house full of computers, you need one computer and a phone, that's it.
Ultimately, its clear that this game is specifically designed with the assumption that players are going to either being in the same room, which, let me tell you, doesn't really happen as you get older or are a very specific demographic of young people who are culturally adapted to using something like Discord to interact with their friends online. There are many more people who are outside of those two scenarios that this game doesn't seemingly account for.
I'd love to have more couch coop opportunities but that's just not the reality of life. The reality is that this might happen once per year, if that. It's going to be incredibly difficult to get people interested in a game like that, especially if they already have a buy in with other activities when they are in person.
Uhhh, thats the point. We are not missing the point....you are. Did you read about the game before commenting?
On their store page "Inspired by gathering around a table with friends, it is built with a couch co-op experience in mind" you came to a game selling itself as a couch coop game and then complained that it's trying to be and selling itself as a couch coop game.
Sorry, the game is not for you much like literally all other couch coop games but this one has a method of play that allows for remote play that you and your friends are unable or unwilling to do. Go play Gloomhaven or other games that are not selling themself as couch coop games.
Not trying to be rude or start anything but your current situation would be like going to a strictly single player game selling itself as a single player game and then telling the devs "but I have friends that want to play coop".
The "buy-in" is fairly simple. Either meet in person (yes it's hard nowadays for some) or load up discord with friends and share your screen. As mentioned above as well, Steam has a built-in method of watching friends play a game. Needs to be tested with this on any delay but I suspect it's acceptable.....so if your friends are unable/unwilling to load into Discord (dont even need to make an account) you all already clearly have Steam and you can use the built-in tools within Steam to play. With all this I am unable to really tell what the complaint is other than the devs are saving you all from having to buy the game over and over again.
I mean you can screen share with discord and it would be the exact same.
You could steam to twitch/youtube.
You could Steam-share.
You have tons of options.
I did read it. I actually enjoy couch coop games. So much so that as an indie developer I’ve made a few of my own. So I know what the genre is intimately. Trust me, I’d love nothin* more than to hang out in the living room to play some games with people but there was a very small window in my long life where that was a regular happening. And I’m not alone.
And the truth is that even when I do get together IRL with friends and family, sitting in front of the TV is probably not going to be the first choice for an RPG experience. Instead we are just going to play D&D or some other TTRPG, or board games.
What would have made more sense was to release a game client with an online mode that everyone could have logged into for that shared experience. It could have included voice chat from the phone app controller. That way I could engage in the couch coop experience with friends outside of that rare occasion when people ventured out into the world. Once invested THEN it would be an easier sell for a in person experience.
“Go play Gloomhaven…” indeed. Don’t you think that’s what most people are going to say when they are asked to jump through the hoops to play Sunderfolk?
You are actively avoiding the methods to play the game that are no more hoops than anything else. If you're a game dev by any means then you clearly are missing design intent of a game. I really find it hard to believe this is a well meaning complaint.
As for the Gloomhaven part, not in the least. People will still talk to eachother via Steam or Discord and this game works perfectly with those two methods as well. So only people that cant seem to figure it out would pass on the game. Granted I also pass on a lot of couch coop designed games as they are not for me on the method of play...much like this one is clearly not suited for your current life...and that's okay.
Anyways, cya
I am perfectly capable and willing to: 1. Play the game via the PC I have connected to my living room TV, 2. Play the game while streaming it via my nitro plan Discord account at Source level quality.
The dozen or so people that I could interest in playing this game: 1. Don’t all live within an easy drive to sit in my living room, 2. Dont use Discord, 3. Aren’t going to set up a computer running Steam to their living room TV, 4. Would rather play a traditional TTRPG if they are going to truck the 1+ hour to my place.
How much clearer would you like me to try and make it?
I’m just very surprised that nobody thought this through that far and just assumed that the market can bare the strict requirements that seem to base been laid out.