Suggestion: Parsec integration for online multiplayer

[⎝⧹Quirken⧸⎠]

I see that online is currently invite-only, and you can only invite one person. You can't play online with two local players. There's no way to join a stranger's game - so the only option is to friend randos and invite them to a match. This seems... bad. Especially with no bots. The new CTF mode sounds awesome... but I can pretty much guarantee I'll never get to try it because of the above limitations.

My suggestion: the game supports 4p local multiplayer. Just integrate with the Parsec SDK. It would let you not worry about the netcode. https://parsecgaming.com/sdk/

That way, I actually have a chance of someday trying this game with 4 players. I can all but guarantee it will NEVER happen locally. My in-town friends just aren't into this kind of game.

[HereBeBeards]

Hey there,

let me address these topics one by one:

1) No matchmaking
You're correct, right now online play is friends-only. We're currently working on matchmaking services for Can't Drive This, and you *will* be able to play random games in a future update.

2) No native 4P-Online
Of course we want everybody to be able to play all of Can't Drive. Limiting online play to 2 players was one of the toughest decisions we made. We looked at tons of different solutions, but unfortunately, we were unable to get it working properly on our limited budget.
I'll still bring Parsec up in the next meeting, maybe this is the miracle we've been looking for.

3) You can't play Capture the Egg
We successfully tested Capture the Egg online using Steam Remote Play Together. Just invite three people with controllers, and have them join your Can't Drive This crew, as if they were sitting in your couch (pressing OPTIONS or MENU).

Hope that helps!

[⎝⧹Quirken⧸⎠]

Parsec is very similar to Steam Remote Play Together. I've yet to actually play a game that integrated with the SDK I linked (usually, people connect to my computer before we launch a game), but I'm a real believer in Parsec. It's worth noting that Parsec also has some degree of server browser/party functionality, but I haven't used that much. (I have ~100 local multiplayer Steam games. Parsec has been *fantastic* for getting people to try niche indie games that have no online playerbase and/or functionality.)

For example: My gaming machine is in Oregon. I was visiting my dad in Washington. I hosted a gaming session while with two people in WA and one in Chicago. So, three people receiving broadcasts from ~300-1500miles, and nobody had any latency complaints. It's pretty incredibly efficient; about 2/3 of my Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order playtime was via Parsec 300 miles from home; in that case, I could feed a little bit of lag, but not enough that I felt like it had increased the difficulty. (I believe this is due to my computer barely meeting Fallen Order's recommended requirements)

The only time it's ever bogged down for me is when I tried to stream games with a lot of post-processing effects. Those require more CPU time to compress, so I've noticed framerate drops from things like film-grain effect.

As a corrolary: in these same environments, Steam's remote streaming solutions produced much lower visual quality (compression artifacts from fast moving content) and noticable input lag. My host machine is a ~5 year old high end workstation, not a gaming machine, per se, so it's *possible* that's a factor, but I doubt that alone could explain how dramatically better Parsec is.

I'm a little bummed Valve didn't just license Parsec's technology. It would have been *huge* for both Valve and Parsec. The only problem with Parsec is it's a tough sell getting people to download a program and make an account... but I believe the SDK I linked doesn't require that.

[Antiga]

Originally posted by The Captain:

Hey there,

let me address these topics one by one:

1) No matchmaking
You're correct, right now online play is friends-only. We're currently working on matchmaking services for Can't Drive This, and you *will* be able to play random games in a future update.

2) No native 4P-Online
Of course we want everybody to be able to play all of Can't Drive. Limiting online play to 2 players was one of the toughest decisions we made. We looked at tons of different solutions, but unfortunately, we were unable to get it working properly on our limited budget.
I'll still bring Parsec up in the next meeting, maybe this is the miracle we've been looking for.

3) You can't play Capture the Egg
We successfully tested Capture the Egg online using Steam Remote Play Together. Just invite three people with controllers, and have them join your Can't Drive This crew, as if they were sitting in your couch (pressing OPTIONS or MENU).

Hope that helps!

I may look into this again once online multiplayer with randoms is possible. Thanks for the concise reply to the OP.

[⎝⧹Quirken⧸⎠]

Any change in your decision about Parsec?