Co-op nuts and bolts

[Spacebar Jazz]

I just tried co-op mode out on my own just to get a sense of how it works, and I might play some for real with a friend tomorrow. Here's what I've noticed so far of how it currently works:

Player 2 can press Start at any time to play once Player 1 has loaded into their save file and turned co-op on in settings. A shadowy clone of the drifter splits off, draining one pip of health from Player 1. If Player 1 has only one hit point, Player 2 cannot spawn. Player 2 can also press Start to despawn at any time, but this won't return health to Player 1. If Player 1 dies, it's game over for both.

Player 2 cannot interact with objects, or pick things up. Instead of pulling up a HUD for Player 2, pressing the interact button will quickly teleport them to Player 1's position (animating the shadow as a diamond-shaped magenta bullet with an energy trail). This is useful if both players have gotten too far away from each other, because the camera will tend to either follow Player 1 if Player 1 runs off screen, or it'll stop moving if both Players run in opposite directions.

Player 2 has all of the same abilities, weapons, and equipment bonuses as Player 1, but the two don't share resources. Player 2 always starts with no ammo each time they spawn, and has to generate it on their own the same way by slashing enemies and objects, or using the absorb shield. Since Player 2 can't pick up health packs, they can't heal except by dying and respawning (telepads still regenerate health and ammo). If Player 1 has grenades, Player 2 gets their own separate pool, but as with ammo, Player 2's grenade counts start off at zero each time Player 2 spawns, and their grenades regenerate at the same rate as Player 1's.

Generally the AI seems to go after whichever player is closest and within line of sight. There's also a glitch involving elevators where Player 2 disappears after arriving in a new room by elevator, and can't reappear without despawning until Player 1 walks into another room.

There's NO friendly fire, but there is collision (of a sort). Players will gently push each other if they walk into each other, though you'll move slower while pushing another player than you would normally. So while you can't shoot each other, you can accidentally nudge each other into hazards if you're not careful (or if you're just being an ♥♥♥).

Edit: It's "co-op" mode, not "cop-out"

[nu1mlock]

I'm hoping this is only the start. I would prefer a proper co-op mode where the second player has its own upgrades and HP, instead of taking HP from player 1 á la Binding of Isaac style.

The difficulty could be retained by simply giving enemies more HP and higher damage, just like in Dark Souls for example.

The two players should keep their own saves, either seperate or on the same slot. That's why I have seperate saves in Dark Souls - one for myself and one for when I'm playing with a friend.

I know this is just the first beta, but I'm hoping it won't just be that player 2 only gets 1 HP (did I get that right, or will player 2 have the same amount of HP as player 1, but drains 1 HP when spawning?) and is exactly like Player 1. Although worst case scenario, I'll live with it and discuss whatever upgrades should be taken first with my friend, just like we did when playing XCOM 2 "co-op" (although this will obviously fit a bit better, XCOM 2 was incredibly fun with two players).

[Spacebar Jazz]

Originally posted by nu1mlock:

I know this is just the first beta, but I'm hoping it won't just be that player 2 only gets 1 HP (did I get that right, or will player 2 have the same amount of HP as player 1, but drains 1 HP when spawning?)

Sorry, Player 2 gets a full set of 5 hit points every time they spawn.

[nu1mlock]

Originally posted by Devil Spin Kick:

Sorry, Player 2 gets a full set of 5 hit points every time they spawn.

Ah, that's good! How does it work if I start a new game - when I purchase an upgrade, will player 2 automatically get that same upgrade or will it have to drop back in to the game before it's upgraded?

[nu1mlock]

I can't get it to work though. I've tried with both Xbox One and Xbox 360 controller but none works. I can play alone just fine, but the game doesn't let me use any controller in co-op. Keyboard doesn't work in co-op either.

Pressing start does nothing. The controller settings only says "Gamepad1" for Player 2.

[Spacebar Jazz]

Sorry, I'm not sure how to fix that one. You probably already did this, but you still have to switch the co-op setting on after you've loaded your save and are in the game world, not just the main menu that shows up when you launch the game. You actually have to do this every time you load a save; there's no permanent toggle.

[nu1mlock]

Originally posted by Devil Spin Kick:

Sorry, I'm not sure how to fix that one. You probably already did this, but you still have to switch the co-op setting on after you've loaded your save and are in the game world, not just the main menu that shows up when you launch the game. You actually have to do this every time you load a save; there's no permanent toggle.

Yeah, I did that. However, the game simply doesn't recognize the second player, no matter what we do. Like I said, enabling co-op only adds Player 2 in controller settings, which shows as "Gamepad1" but that says nothing. Neither a 360 or One controller works for me.