Designing Multiplayer Console Games

I started each discussion by introducing myself and the topic. I explained that we wanted to focus on console-specific issues rather than PC issues. I gave a short list of topics that I thought people would be interested in, distilled from the list in the full description of the roundtable. I made it clear that this list was just a starting place and we would discuss what they thought was important.

I asked each participant to introduce themselves, tell who they were working for, and give us a topic they were interested in. For people without a specific topic, I asked them to name a specific multi-player console game they liked or disliked so we could discuss the good/bad points and apply ideas from it to other games.

I made notes of the topics they were interested in and tried to guide the conversation from each topic to a related one.

These discussions are summarized as general statements on each subject. These are not my opinions - they are the comments of the participants. The topics also came from the participants.

Wednesday, May 6

3 people showed up. They decided to hit some other sessions and come back the next day when there would be more people.


Thursday, May 7

17 people showed up on Thursday.

The following topics were discussed:

How popular is the console world? How well is multi-player console play advancing?

Consoles are big in the UK. People there are more likely to play console games than PC games, due to the cost of PC systems.

Nintendo made a great decision with the 4 ports on the N64. After an evening at the pub, it's expected that a group of friends will go home for a group game on the N64 or PSX.

When do we include multi-player elements in a console game design?

Tacked-on multi-player worked for goldeneye N64. But too many console games just tack on a multi-player mode without thinking about details or originality.
Include multi-player elements at the start, when the product is first being designed for the console. Work out how it's going to work as a console multi-player game as early as possible.

Some people work out the single-player element and decide that adding multi-player will be too incongruous with single player and don't add it. On the other hand, multi-player elements can degrade a single-player game design and shouldn't be added in this case.

So what kind of games don't work well as a multi-player console game?

Adventure games or RPGs - the story is too personal for multiple players. Strategy games? There was some small argument on this. Several people were interested in trying to find a solution, but generally it was agreed that the lack of private information on a single screen precludes effective multi-player strategy play. Link-cables or other methods of viewing on separate screens are another matter. See link cable section. - Sports games are generally agreed to be easy to make multi-player, particularly as a conversion from PC.

Is it worth supporting Link Cables?

There are around 100K PSX link cables sold. It was generally agreed that it's too much of a pain to carry around an extra system, TV, and copy of the game. It's not worth supporting, despite the advantages.

But, it would be a good idea for link-cable supporting developers to include a free link-only copy of the game to make it easier to play linked.

It was agreed that multi-tap is much better for avoiding these problems and easier to use.

What works better is carrying around a memory card with your personal stats (for a car or character or whatever) and competing against another player on a single console. This type of multi-player play was enthusiastically encouraged by several people in the discussion.

Saturn NetLink and other system-linking hardware was not discussed.

Is the limitation on the number of computer players in a multi-player console game a result of performance limitations or design decisions?

Some argument on this. In the case of Goldeneye, yes, it's a performance limitation. In other games, it may be a design issue.

Which is better on a console, cooperative or competitive?

There's a "trash talk" factor - you're with your friends and the greatest element of multi-player console games is to trash talk with your friends and show them up. It's great when you can make someone throw down the controller in disgust.

This is an advantage of consoles since communication is unrestricted and immediate. Also, because you know the people, competition is more intense and personal.

But, because of this instant, easy communication, cooperative modes are also more enjoyable than on PC multi-player games. You can arrange team strategies just by talking to the person sitting next to you.

How do we support multiple players without a multi-tap?

Put two people on one controller, like with Micromachines PSX. Let people share controllers in turn.

Should we explicitly support in the game taking turns with controllers? Yes! Tournaments among friends and co-workers are common and we should build in tournament ranking support in console games, particularly in games like fighting games. Keep scores, support tournament modes, encourage 16 people to play with two controllers.


Friday, May 8

14 people showed up this day.

How well are modem systems working for consoles?

In the UK, they're not too big. Using up the phone line is a problem with parents. Newer systems (Katana) are more likely to have modems built in.

When should multi-player elements be added to a console design?

At the beginning. No arguments.

How easy is it to port multi-player PC games to the console?

Hard! Usually needs rework to be effective. The console multi-player experience is too different to just translate across.

Which is better for console, competition or cooperation?

It depends on the game. Both should be included if it doesn't detract from other game play.

Good console games with cooperative elements:

How many players are too many?

From a designer of Micromachines: 8 may have been too many. Again, depends on the game.

What types of games work best for multi-player console play?

Build in a hierarchy play-off system for multi-play?

Yeah.

How can we show multiple players on a single screen?

4-way split screen is frustrating and makes it hard to see anything. HDTV? This will help, with new systems. HDTV has a higher resolution, and doesn't refresh with frames like normal TV, so quality is even higher. But is HDTV a standard? Yes, it's standardized.

Control the camera to include the players and limit movement. This was done by Gauntlet and others. "Loaded" zoomed out a bit and then limited movement to keep players together. This can be a problem when you have some players who move faster than others. Some people didn't consider it a problem, just part of the game play. This approach works well for some games and not well for others.

Dynamically split the screen as necessary? Toe Jam and Earl did this. Don't do it. Too complex, too jarring! There was some argument about this issue. It was not clear that this approach would solve more problems than it would cause.


POSTMORTEM

Overall, these were active discussions convering a good range of topics. Generally, five or six people contributed to most of the conversation, with several people commenting infrequently and several people not saying a word. I tried to bring them into the discussion by comparing the current topic to the interest they had mentioned or to a connection to their company, but there were a few lurkers who didn't want to comment.

In general, I didn't get many people naming a specific game in the introduction. This is unfortunate, since our most animated discussions seemed to center around specific games. What might work better is asking everyone to name a favorite multi-player game whether they have a general topic or not. I believe this will help personalize the discussion and draw in people who would otherwise remain silent.

What worked better than I expected was the separation of console and PC development ideas. Once people had the console vision in their heads, we rarely strayed into PC-specific or even generic issues, and when we did it was easy to bring the discussion back to consoles by addressing specific console games or console problems relating to the current topic.

In these two sessions, we had representation from companies as diverse as Disney, Microsoft, and Psygnosis. I talked to several attendees who lamented the fact that this was the only console-specific event at the conference. In addition, I talked to three individuals (from Nintendo, Devil's Thumb, and VM Labs) who had wanted to attend this session but missed it for various reasons.

Given the obvious interest in console systems and the lack of other console-specific sessions, it might work better to change the topic to something like "Maximizing the Console Advantage" which is likely to attract more people and better serve the console community.

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