Multiplayer Alpha Test Now Public
Been working on networking for the past few weeks. I believe it is finally ready for public testing and I'm excited to have everyone try it.
New Multiplayer Menu
A new menu button has been added to the lobby main menu for Multiplayer. This will open the multiplayer menu that will list available games in the center, host game options on the left, and multiplayer fleets on the right.
You can create fleets specifically for multiplayer before a match or during the lobby of a joined game. Each fleet will be weighed based on the resources spent on it.
Hosting A Game
When hosting a game, the creator will need to choose if they wish to limit the fleet sizes each player can field. The options are: Unlimited, Armada (1000000), Fleet (500000), Large (250000), Medium (100000), Small (50000) - These are subject to change. Other options will be available at a later update. All games are hosted from the hosters machine, so if they disconnect, so will everyone else. Just like the good old days of multiplayer.
Multiplayer Lobby
Once a game is created it will be publically listed in the main list for others to see. No private games yet, that will be added next. Once joined you will enter the multiplayer lobby to set up your fleet:
Currently max 4 player slots. Please note this has only been tested 1v1 so there will probably be bugs with more than two players.
Multiplayer Fleet Creation
The fleet creation interface is the same as the campaign except all purchases are tallied against the total. There is no resource gain or persistence in multiplayer. All equipment that has been unlocked in the campaign will be available in multiplayer. When a player is ready, on the right-hand menu will be the "Ready" button. Selecting this will highlight the player's area green for go.
Starting The Match
Once all players are readied, the game will automatically countdown to start. After the host machine creates the game, all other players will connect and drop out of warp on the sides of the map. There is currently only one mode: pvp free for all currently, other modes will be added later.
Things that are currently networked:
- Ship position and orientation
- Ship health and shield stats, current subsystem priorities and targeting
- Weapon fire events for lasers, cannons and missiles
- Special ability events for active abilities (self-cast, targeted, and area)
- Fighter squadron spawns
Things To Come
Things that are planned but not implemented yet:
- private/password games
- in-game astroids
- team settings for 2v2, 3v1, etc
- AI opponents
- different scenarios like defend or escort
- co-op multiplayer campaign drop-in feature
Hope you enjoy, please report any bugs you run across in the discord: https://discord.gg/4aCZ56W
This is fresh out of the oven so you should expect bugs.