How do you play local co-op?

[Mimpii]

Hey there! I'm technically still new here to steam (so forgive me for being such a noob lol) and I was wondering how you can play a co-op game with one computer and two controllers. I want to play some games with my siblings but I can't seem to figure this out.

Do my siblings need to make their own accounts? Or is this impossible to do and I'll need another computer? Thanks!

[$2 Hero]

Depends on the game if it has splitscreen or not or "local coop". Do both controllers work? One of you might have to use the keyboard. Most coop games these days are designed for online coop.

Which games have you tried?

Also Steam does have a coop feature they implemented for games that lack coop like those old Sega games etc.

[Kargor]

Yes, "local coop" is a general term for a game feature that allows multiple players to participate in the same game. This can be done in different ways -- racing games tend to have splitscreen (so they are showing smaller versions of the screens for several players on the same monitor), while something like "Trine" has a "shared screen" where everyone has to be in the same area.

If a game doesn't offer something like this, then "local coop" isn't possible.

And no, Steam doesn't have "secondary logins" or whatever you want to call it; as far as Steam is concerned, "local coop" doesn't exist at all; it's just the one player that's actually running the game that's visible to Steam. This also means the other players aren't getting achievements, or progress on their own games (because their saves aren't used in any way).

[ReBoot]

Depends on the game. In some, the secondary player can pick up a gamepad, press Start and get right into action. For some games, there's a lobby screen in which local players can join. I've also seen games where you have to explicitly start a local multiplayer game instead of a singleplayer game.
Of course, the game has to support local multiplayer in the first place, many don't.

[Mimpii]

Thanks for all your responses! Both of my controllers (ps4) work while playing.

I wanted to test out split-screen co-op specifically in the Balan Wonderworld demo, since I see on the game's page that it supports it. However, nothing happens when I have two controllers connected to my computer. And there are no instructions in-game or on the steam overlay. Since I've never done this before I'm just a little confused lol

[ReBoot]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Mimpii:

Thanks for all your responses! Both of my controllers (ps4) work while playing.

I wanted to test out split-screen co-op specifically in the Balan Wonderworld demo, since I see on the game's page that it supports it. However, nothing happens when I have two controllers connected to my computer. And there are no instructions in-game or on the steam overlay. Since I've never done this before I'm just a little confused lol

... and there will be no instructions on the Steam overlay because Steam doesn't handle such things. The game does. As for instructions in-game, ask on the game forum.

Or just pick another game. It's not like there were no local-multiplayer-games out there. From the top of my head, I think of the DeathSpank series, Trine series and Lovers in a dangerous spacetim. I've played all of those (and more, but I'm too lazy ATM to compile a list of all local MP games I have) and I know for a fact that they work with several gamepads. Deathspank with 2, (after switching player 1 from default keyboard to gamepad), for Trine, you may have to explicitly start a local multiplayer game and for Lovers, there's a lobby screen pre-game so all 4 players can join.

Edit: came to think of a few other games. Octodad is FANTASTIC local MP fun! Then there's the Lego games all of which support 2 local players. Sacred Citadel meanwhile evokes that Golden Axe-nostalgia, it's not the most fluent game out there, but still worth checking out.

Edit: If you so desire, I'll grab my ass and compile a list of all local multiplayer games I've played and season it with a list of games I know have local MP but I've not played (yet).

[Mimpii]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Mimpii:

Thanks for all your responses! Both of my controllers (ps4) work while playing.

I wanted to test out split-screen co-op specifically in the Balan Wonderworld demo, since I see on the game's page that it supports it. However, nothing happens when I have two controllers connected to my computer. And there are no instructions in-game or on the steam overlay. Since I've never done this before I'm just a little confused lol

... and there will be no instructions on the Steam overlay because Steam doesn't handle such things. The game does. As for instructions in-game, ask on the game forum.

Or just pick another game. It's not like there were no local-multiplayer-games out there. From the top of my head, I think of the DeathSpank series, Trine series and Lovers in a dangerous spacetim. I've played all of those (and more, but I'm too lazy ATM to compile a list of all local MP games I have) and I know for a fact that they work with several gamepads. Deathspank with 2, (after switching player 1 from default keyboard to gamepad), for Trine, you may have to explicitly start a local multiplayer game and for Lovers, there's a lobby screen pre-game so all 4 players can join.

Edit: came to think of a few other games. Octodad is FANTASTIC local MP fun! Then there's the Lego games all of which support 2 local players. Sacred Citadel meanwhile evokes that Golden Axe-nostalgia, it's not the most fluent game out there, but still worth checking out.

Edit: If you so desire, I'll grab my ass and compile a list of all local multiplayer games I've played and season it with a list of games I know have local MP but I've not played (yet).

Aahhh I see! So it completely depends on which game I'm playing. It's clicking for me now haha.

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions! I'll be sure to check some of those games out.

I think I'm good, I should be able to find these games on my own. However, I really appreciate the offer, thanks for taking your time to help me out!