max player count

[gameflorist]

i cant seem to find any info: what's the maximum player count for this game?

[Conan, Cimmerian]

4 divers 2 sharks

[gameflorist]

thank you!

@devs: it seems a little low. are you planning on increasing this?

[Doh!man]

It's not low, it's perfect for a game like this.

[GrimreaperNLD]

6 is good enough i hate to big teams it gets to nasty then.
this game realy looks awsome didnt bought it yet but after seeing al the good reviews this will be the next game im getting cant wait to play as Jaws and rip divers into pieces :D

[Vahnkiljoy]

It ONLY seems low because you haven't played the game, when ingame it is fine.

[gameflorist]

i'm not doubting 4v2 is working good for this game, that it may be the best "sweet-spot" for teams. but why not give players more freedom and flexibility? or maybe create bigger maps with a higher recommended player-count.

i'm asking, because me and my friends would primarily buy the game for LAN-parties with definitely more than 6 participants. this game would be great for that, but the player-count is a bit of a deal-breaker now for us.

[Vahnkiljoy]

Well extra players can spectate until the next round and then you could just swap out, and it's 4v2 because any more and things would either get too hectic or too hard/easy for the teams. The maps are actually pretty large, they just SEEM small because the divers are lead to their destinations, and any deviation is a gamble for GOOD gold or a swift and painful lonely death.

[Gekko]

4 vs 2 is perfect :) I know it doesn't sound like much but compare it to titan fall. (Not great example or game but still)

10 vs 10 or anything like that would just be total mayhem...

[GrimreaperNLD]

i love 6 player combat like you alrdy said more ppl is just total mayham and its not teambased play anymore if u have to many ppl in small area's its just no fun anymore u get the same as cod then kill kill kill with no thinking just brainless schooting then the game is no fun anymore.
if u ask me the maps are made for 6 players max

[jf3000]

Actually its not 4 the default has been set to 8

MaxPlayers=8

And can be changed when running your own web server for the game.

Some other factors that can be changed:

[Engine.GameInfo]
DefaultGame=DepthGame.DPGameInfoFrontEnd
DefaultServerGame=DepthGame.DPGameInfoFrontEnd
bAdminCanPause=false
MaxPlayers=8
GameDifficulty=+1.0
MoveSpeedFactor=1.0
JumpSpeedFactor=1.0
bChangeLevels=True
MaxSpectators=2
MaxIdleTime=+0.0
MaxTimeMargin=+0.0
TimeMarginSlack=+1.35
MinTimeMargin=-1.0
TotalNetBandwidth=32000
MaxDynamicBandwidth=7000
MinDynamicBandwidth=4000
DefaultGameType=DepthGame.DPGameInfoFrontEnd

[Snake [日本あアｱＡ]]

The MaxPlayers setting has more to do with how many people can join the server than what we intended it for.

Basically, we experimented a whole tonne to figure out the optimal number of players. Adding more players doesn't necessarily always make a game better. In the case for Depth, we found that 6 players was a good number for a number of reasons:

1) The maps were better suited for 6 players. It allowed us to build maps very specifically for that size rather than try to over reach and make maps that were capable of 6 - 12. We were also able to do a bunch of things such as ensuring that spawns were in the right place (to the best of our capability) etc.
2) It's easier to find a few friends and get "enough" players for a game. From a social perspective, and my past running LAN events, it's always really hard to get a huge number of people playing a game. With Depth, you can get a few friends, fill in the slots with bots and have a quick game.
3) The maps could be constrained to a certain size. This meant that loading times would be shorter and meant we could devote more resources in other places.

There are more reasons, but those are the top ones.

[gameflorist]

thanks for the infos everyone!

Originally posted by Snake:

The MaxPlayers setting has more to do with how many people can join the server than what we intended it for.

but it is still working and thus allows e.g. 5 vs 3 matches?

i'm sure your reasoning for the best number of players is absolutely valid, as this is the setup of players, you think the game plays best. but i still belive, that empowering players with the possibility to play with more players wouldn't hurt (if no technical barriers - e.g. netcode - exist) - on the contrary. if groups of 8 to 10 players regularily get together to play games online or on a LAN, multiplayer-games supporting less players are generally ruled out. it's no fun, if 2 players have to be watching from the outside. now - as i said this is a kind of dealbreaker for me, even if the game really looks awesome!

i can remember a lot of frustrating situations in past LANs, when there was 1 or 2 "surplus" players, and we could not all fit into a certain game - just because some single variable inside the gamecode.

i think, in the old days game-developers were a bit more tolerant. games like AVP2 e.g. had small maps recommended for 4-8 players. but you could still play them with 16 players none the less. this surely was "total mayhem", as some of you also described as what Depth would be with more players. but for us it was tremendous fun - and most importantly - everyone could join the fun. tastes and situations are different and with those games the developers left it up to the players, what kind of multiplayer-experience they would like to have, or what suited the situation best.

i do understand, that this topic is especially problematic with asynchronous multiplayer-games, where balance is a topmost priority. just please keep an open mind for players looking for multiplayer-games supporting a bit more players (e.g. 8), or wanting more flexibility in this regard. maybe you can find a way for a balanced 5 vs 3 map or something.

[Snake [日本あアｱＡ]]

Could always give it a try and see what happens.

[steelzepplin]

4 v 2 is perfect, plus that means less time waiting for a game. This game is perfect! My game of the year.

[Riston]

I came to the community hub for this exact question. May I suggest putting the 4v2 in the game description somewhere.