local co-op, 4 player?

[IImayneII]

I assume local co-op is 4 players too? Just asking to be sure because these days I see a lot of games with 4 player online mp but only 2 player modes for local co-op.

[BlackjackGT]

I'm pretty sure from the store listing:

Up to 4 player local and online co-op multiplayer on STEAM.

, that that includes 4 players locally.

I remember with the PC-only Gauntlet release (same BitSquid/Stingray game engine), they had a lot of folks playing via controllers at gaming shows and stuff. I think that's why they forgot to include text chat initially -- they were having so much fun playing local co-op, the idea of including text chat probably didn't occur to them. :)

I guess that's assuming you have either 4 controllers and enough USB ports, or maybe 3 controllers and one person playing keyboard/mouse?

[Darkness]

It has local and online coop for 4 players, and you're able to mix it in any way you see fit (3 local players on a machine with 1 player online, for example), with drop-in/drop-out support.

Much like Gauntlet, the screen limits all players together, and you see the HUD info on all players, no matter they're local or online. Additional local players are labelled YOURNICK #1, YOURNICK #2 and so on.

Regarding chat, it has both text chat and voice chat support.

Couldn't be happier about it, very complete indeed.

[IImayneII]

Originally posted by BlackjackGT:

I guess that's assuming you have either 4 controllers and enough USB ports, or maybe 3 controllers and one person playing keyboard/mouse?

Yup. 3 out of the 4 are slowly dying but shouldn't be a problem for a game like this

Originally posted by Darkness:

It has local and online coop for 4 players, and you're able to mix it in any way you see fit (3 local players on a machine with 1 player online, for example), with drop-in/drop-out support.

Much like Gauntlet, the screen limits all players together, and you see the HUD info on all players, no matter they're local or online. Additional local players are labelled YOURNICK #1, YOURNICK #2 and so on.

Nice to hear there is even a local+online possibility. And I'm pretty happy it's everybody on one screen to be honest, I find from 3-4 players local splitscreen can be annoying after a while so I'm more than happy everyone is on one screen compared to most people who seem to dislike that. I remember people being annoyed by one screen in gauntlet for some weird reason.

[Darkness]

Originally posted by IImayneII:

And I'm pretty happy it's everybody on one screen to be honest.

It's a design that people usually don't like for online games, specially when playing with random people. If the group can't manage to decide where to go, you usually lose time by not moving anywhere, so it slows things down for many groups, specially if there's a newbie there that can't keep up.

Also, people would like to be able to split and make objectives at the same time, would speed up the game. Or someone could be collecting samples alone, etc...

But I understand the design choice. Giving advantage to online groups over local groups wouldn't be fair. Still, it's hard because it limits the view too much, and well, you'll be using ranged combat all the time.

I guess it wouldn't hurt if the camera could zoom out a little, allowing the group to have some better view.

When it doesn't happen, it looks like the camera is another enemy to the group, as it limits your vision, hence your reaction time as well.

There're enemies here with great range, than can shot you from outside your screen (but you can dodge easily, still, you can't find them and kill them before they shoot in a large group and defending something).

For local players, I'd never complain about it, as at least the comunication is much better and present.

[IImayneII]

Originally posted by Darkness:

I guess it wouldn't hurt if the camera could zoom out a little, allowing the group to have some better view.

Yeah from seeing some beta gameplay I can agree with this. Felt like the camera was a bit too close most of the time. So a slight zoom option might make it better.

I think it's

[LumberJacques]

Originally posted by IImayneII:

Originally posted by Darkness:

I guess it wouldn't hurt if the camera could zoom out a little, allowing the group to have some better view.

Yeah from seeing some beta gameplay I can agree with this. Felt like the camera was a bit too close most of the time. So a slight zoom option might make it better.

I think it's

The height of the camera will likely not change. It was the same on playstation. It is a conscious choice for a more claustrophobic feel.

[Ripheus]

Originally posted by LumberJacques:

. It is a conscious choice for a more claustrophobic feel.

Yup. Bugs leaping out from the edge of the screen is scary, and it ratchets up the tension. Yes, it makes you feel uncomfortable and you wish you could see more. This is by design :D

[BlackjackGT]

On camera views, definitely keep in mind that sometimes alien monsters spawn out from beneath the ground, or teleport next to you from out of nowhere or rain down from the sky, or they charge at you so fast or leap at you from so far, you barely have time to react. That's what gets Helldivers the "hardcore" label in my book. :)

Especially on later difficulty planet missions, you're not safe, no matter how far a camera view lets you see.

As a Vita player, I've certainly got the tiniest, shortest camera view range of any Helldivers platforms. A couple times last night I basically got cramped into a screen corner (with a player on the far side not willing to move back a bit so I could get a better view).

Might be something to add to that Etiquette 101 thread - it's a "screen locked" game (as was their Gauntlet take) so it helps if people are willing to either speed up, slow down, or pull back a little bit so everyone has a proper view of the action and their character, so to speak, and doesn't get stuck on something in the environment. Perhaps that's less of a problem on big TVs (PS3/4) and big PC monitors.

[BlackjackGT]

Originally posted by IImayneII:

I assume local co-op is 4 players too? Just asking to be sure because these days I see a lot of games with 4 player online mp but only 2 player modes for local co-op.

Hey man, was checking the Helldivers Twitter page, and Arrowhead confirmed local co-op for 4 on one PC -- I assume that's provided you have enough USB ports and controllers.

https://twitter.com/HelldiversGame/status/672051055434297344

Helldivers
‏@HelldiversGame

.... Could pick it up on PC if you guys have PCs - or even go round to one house. It supports up to 4 players locally :)
5:53 AM - 2 Dec 2015

Thought of this thread when I read it.

[Trainwreck]

i heard in local co-op only one account is in use, and only one player can level his char, the ones who's account is in use, making the other chars a copy of the main player (who's account is used in LOCAL)

is that true?

[IImayneII]

Originally posted by Tranewreck:

i heard in local co-op only one account is in use, and only one player can level his char, the ones who's account is in use, making the other chars a copy of the main player (who's account is used in LOCAL)

is that true?

yes everything is tied to the main character. Coop characters can just tag along to play but besides that there is no seperate progression at all for them

[winterplantkill]

Originally posted by Tranewreck:

i heard in local co-op only one account is in use, and only one player can level his char, the ones who's account is in use, making the other chars a copy of the main player (who's account is used in LOCAL)

is that true?

'Fraid so. It's pretty annoying not being able to use seperate profiles on one machine.

[Radiius]

Originally posted by BlackjackGT:

I guess that's assuming you have either 4 controllers and enough USB ports, or maybe 3 controllers and one person playing keyboard/mouse?

If you have a USB > wireless Xbox remote receiver, it should be able to support 4 controllers on 1 USB port =)