I have made a prototype of a game that you can find here (dont click that link yet!): http://foretagshemsidan.se/robin/tillsammans/tillsammans.html

It is a two player game, one player uses the arrow keys, the other "WASD". The upper (light-grey)screen is for the blue player, and the lower (dark-grey)screen is for the orange player. It is a non-competetive co-op game. Right now, it is a prototype, and it has only one "proof of concept" (wich i am not sure prooves anything) level.

The (right now arbitrary) objective of the game is for both the players to reach the blinking thing to the right. Move over the red button to switch the passable tiles for the un-passable. (All this kinda stuff would be made clear earlier in the game, if it wasn't just a prototype)

The basic idea of the game is that two players could occupy the same space, while seing completely diffrent things. Now go try the game

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So, I tried to do a few things:

-two players having unique points of view on same space, while still not making other players actions seem nonsesencecal.

-making blue think he is helping them both (by pressing button), and making orange (hopfully) think that blue is being a dick.

The ideal play, if two people were to sit down and play at seperate screens so they cant se what the other player sees, (and magically understand all the fundamental mechanics such as buttons, finish-point, etc.) would be: orange starting to move towards finish; blue pressing button thus opening door and unknowingly trapping orange; orange thinking that blue had done so for some unknown spite.

One of the goals of this design would be to create some drama that you normally would not find in a co-op game.

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So, do you have any comments? The discussion I want to have is more about the concept that about this prototype. Can you find all the design/level-choices that are purposly put in to accentuate/disaccenuate actions of the other player?

If you read this post in its entirety, you are my hero.

When I get them both to the sparkly thing, it says "ni something" and nothing happens.

I read the post in its entirety!

I don't know whether it is a bug, but I saw four PC on four screens.
Two PC are orange, two are blue. The PCs seemed to be using a different collision map than what is shown solely on their screens.

Perhaps you could show a few screenshots of how the game would work.

As far as I understand, you want to do these:

o Two players, playing side by side.
o Player 1 controls an orange square.
o P1's goal is to get the orange square to the white dot.
o Player 2 controls a blue square.
o P2's goal is to get the blue square to the white dot.
o On P1's screen, P1 sees the orange square, the blue square, the white dot, walls, and buttons that toggle some of the walls
o On P2's screen, P2 sees the orange square, the blue square, the white dot, walls, and buttons that toggle some of the walls
o Walkable tiles of P1 and P2 differ.


Perhaps your game could look like this:

o The map has an interlacing paths in orange and blue.
o Blue square can only travel along the blue paths,
o Orange square can only travel along the orange paths.
o Both PC are trying to get to the white dot
o But walls obstructed the paths to the white dot
o To remove toggle the walls, the PC need to step on buttons
o However, each button always open a wall on the PC's path and closes a wall on the other PC's path.
o Unknown to the players, the game is not a competition but co-operation




This reminds me of Gussun Oyoyo [Img]. It is a 2-player co-op action puzzle game. In that game, there are many ways that one PC could kill the other PC (e.g. dropping bombs, crush them with blocks, trap and drown), but the point of the game is for them to cooperate. Because you could win if just one PC gets to the exit, it is ambiguous whether the 2 players need to cooperate. But if they aren't cooperating, the game is almost unplayable because it is so easy to screw up the other player.

You are supposed to see two screens. Take a look at this infogram:

and since there is two screens, there is four players. One player is only supposed to see one screen. with a total of two players on it.

I have no doubt there is puzzles to be made here, but I think that has been done before.

So I am thinking: can there emerge any 2p dynamics, that you don't get in a strictly cooperative environment, or in a strictly competetive. I'm trying to trick the players to act in certain ways agains the other player, without realizing it.

Re: RawBeen

Quote:

can there emerge any 2p dynamics, that you don't get in a strictly cooperative environment, or in a strictly competetive. I'm trying to trick the players to act in certain ways against the other player, without realizing it.

Yes you can.

According to your screenshots, the top screen is visible to player 1 only, and the bottom screen is visible to player 2 only. In Player 1's perspective, he must touch the button to free both himself and Player 2. Player 1 thinks that he is helping Player 2.

In Player 2's perspective, Player 1 went to push the button and spawned a lot of obstacles. Player 2 thinks that Player 1 screwed up.

It might be better if there is no obstacle for Player 1 other than the 3 blocks blocking the exit. That way, Orange would think that Blue is being a total jerk for putting up the obstacles because the obstacles would only delay Orange, but not Blue.

Quote:

Original post by Wai Re: RawBeen Quote: can there emerge any 2p dynamics, that you don't get in a strictly cooperative environment, or in a strictly competetive. I'm trying to trick the players to act in certain ways against the other player, without realizing it. Yes you can. According to your screenshots, the top screen is visible to player 1 only, and the bottom screen is visible to player 2 only. In Player 1's perspective, he must touch the button to free both himself and Player 2. Player 1 thinks that he is helping Player 2. In Player 2's perspective, Player 1 went to push the button and spawned a lot of obstacles. Player 2 thinks that Player 1 screwed up. It might be better if there is no obstacle for Player 1 other than the 3 blocks blocking the exit. That way, Orange would think that Blue is being a total jerk for putting up the obstacles because the obstacles would only delay Orange, but not Blue.

Yes. That is exactly how you would describe this game. That you can actually play if you follow the link in the first post. :)

It it important to note that here; the world actually functions in the way you see it, not in a middleground that effects both players. And yes, this:

Quote:

Original post by Wai It might be better if there is no obstacle for Player 1 other than the 3 blocks blocking the exit. That way, Orange would think that Blue is being a total jerk for putting up the obstacles because the obstacles would only delay Orange, but not Blue.

This was my original idea, I just forgot :p