Multiplayer vs time compression. Why not?!

[msyblade]

Okay, Let's say 25 or 30 of us are on a KSP server, playing a multiplayer, persistent world. . .and a couple of you guys have put up nice, habitable stations around kerbin. So, stay with me here, 3 guys are on a station docking/refuelling etc. . .I am on the pad about to launch to said base. What's to say those guys couldn't just play at 1.0 compression, while i jump 4.0 to expedite my journey. Would it have any adverse effects, really? Okay, you couldn't time a rendezvous with another player correctly if one of them time compresses and another doesn't. But places and such should be easy to meet at. . ."Hey phil, meet me at Jool in 20 minutes!"it wouldn't be "realistic", but it would be accessible. You guys got any thoughts or obvious holes in this concept??

[Clamps]

Not this again.

Everyone likes to say that time warp makes MP impossible while ignoring possible alternatives. It's best to not have the discussion.

[SleepyWacKo]

Not this again.

Everyone likes to say that time warp makes MP impossible while ignoring possible alternatives. It's best to not have the discussion.

besides that, it has already been stated multiplayer is not planned to be added

[OdinYggd]

Have you seen the headlines recently about somebody's supercarrier in EVE online being destroyed?

If KSP was multiplayer we'd have the same thing happening on short order.

Squad has already made it clear that there will not be multiplayer anytime soon, if they ever do get around to making that they'd probably release it as a DLC.

However the modding folks have been working on it for a long time now, with page upon page of procedural notes and general process flow laid out and ready for use. Issues like handling warping and delegating control of docked ships are already solved in theory, it now comes down to convincing the game to correctly control more than one vessel at a time and then hammering out the incredible amount of code required to make it all work correctly.

And IF that happens, you still will probably not want more than 2-5 players to the server. It will almost certainly require a powerful server to do it, with things lagging severely if you put more than a couple of good friends on it.

To date the closest that exists to a working multiplayer is the mod known as KLF. It allows you to chat with people in realtime and see markers on the map where they are, but has no support for interaction- you can't actually see their ships.

[LaydeeDem]

I don't see why people ask for multiplayer when it already exists. Two or more users can pass save files around, each sending something up on each turn. Macey Dean's "Battle for Laythe" is a good example of this. Really the only thing needed for KSP multiplayer is some friends.

Plus if you there was real time multiplayer the forums would be clogged with crap like: "this guy sed a bad wurd wen i wus playing multiplayer plz ban him"

[Whackjob]

I'd enjoy multiplayer. And to excuse the differing time flow for each vessel, why not some sort of Kerbal-equivalent time-dialating flux-capacitor? We already have graviolis. Why not chronotots?

[The Destroyer]

I don't see why people ask for multiplayer when it already exists. Two or more users can pass save files around, each sending something up on each turn. Macey Dean's "Battle for Laythe" is a good example of this. Really the only thing needed for KSP multiplayer is some friends.

Plus if you there was real time multiplayer the forums would be clogged with crap like: "this guy sed a bad wurd wen i wus playing multiplayer plz ban him"

But,

the REAL reason people want it...

is to fly little space fighters in space and shooting at eachother.

Or, who knows. Maybe flying a pad 1km off the munar surface, and then someone lands on it?

[Whackjob]

Or maybe do a tandem run to Duna. You land the habitation module, I land the rover and the synthehol still.

[Themohawkninja]

I don't see why people ask for multiplayer when it already exists. Two or more users can pass save files around, each sending something up on each turn. Macey Dean's "Battle for Laythe" is a good example of this. Really the only thing needed for KSP multiplayer is some friends.

That's TBS-style multi-player. Most people want real-time multi-player.

Plus if you there was real time multiplayer the forums would be clogged with crap like: "this guy sed a bad wurd wen i wus playing multiplayer plz ban him"

Doubtful, all game companies specifically state that they are not responsible for online interactions. That's why the ESRB doesn't rate the online parts of games.

[leax256]

why not forget the concept of logic, every ship can exist in multiple time streams at the same time, i.e. everyone can timewarp freely but only a ships position is sent to the server therefor no matter what the date for each player is, they can see all ships.

[Themohawkninja]

why not forget the concept of logic, every ship can exist in multiple time streams at the same time, i.e. everyone can timewarp freely but only a ships position is sent to the server therefor no matter what the date for each player is, they can see all ships.

So, if I understand you correctly, when a player A timewarps for a few days, that players' position won't change on anyone else's screen until player B gets to that date?

[stupid_chris]

That idea would cause a crapload of problems.

If we set allow ships to warp while others don't, you could have ships going by you at 100000x at any second. And what happens when a player is orbiting a planet, but in your time lapse, the planet is at the other side of the system? You see him orbiting nothing? Sounds like a bad idea.

And if you allow players to warp individually, and instead of having people warping next to you, you see what they did, well that forces the game to record every action of every people because someone might need it at all time, and what happens if you are standing in front of a ship of someone who was there but then warped to go somewhere else, and then he wanted to do a transfer burn, but it happens you are in the path of that burn? He rams into you? That causes a big gap in communications.

[frizzank]

I would like KLF to just show each other in space when I get to within 2.5km. that would be enough for me

[tygoo7]

What about something like where you cant physically interact with them. It would be just like klf but you would only see them when you get to within 2.5km like the comment up there. Then you would just go through them I think that would be the closest ksp multiplayer will get but that would still be pretty cool.

[stupid_chris]

What about something like where you cant physically interact with them. It would be just like klf but you would only see them when you get to within 2.5km like the comment up there. Then you would just go through them I think that would be the closest ksp multiplayer will get but that would still be pretty cool.

I think what most people want with multiplayer is the ability to do missions together, dock their ships, etc.

[Syhrus]

What I've always wondered is why couldn't it just have a request for time-warp system? Something to the effect of "Player X wishes to time warp x50 for 10 seconds" would come up, and then people could either vote yes if they didn't mind, or vote no if they were about to land or something. Put in a universal detection for anyone approaching an altitude limit and there shouldn't be any problems... Given the average launch takes about 10-15 minutes, rendezvous and docking takes 30-60 minutes, I'm sure a reasonable compromise could be reached between players to keep it fun for everyone.

[Xaiier]

What I've always wondered is why couldn't it just have a request for time-warp system? Something to the effect of "Player X wishes to time warp x50 for 10 seconds" would come up, and then people could either vote yes if they didn't mind, or vote no if they were about to land or something. Put in a universal detection for anyone approaching an altitude limit and there shouldn't be any problems... Given the average launch takes about 10-15 minutes, rendezvous and docking takes 30-60 minutes, I'm sure a reasonable compromise could be reached between players to keep it fun for everyone.

This works between a few friends, but rapidly loses viability on a larger scale.

Not to mention the fact that players of different skill levels would never play together because one guy would be "docking" for an hour while everyone else wants to do stuff.

[Deadweasel]

Two words: space griefers.

The end.

[Flixxbeatz]

Multiplayer....

OKAY CAN SOMEONE IMMEDIATELY CLOSE THIS PLEASE THANK YOU

*sigh*

(NOTE: No intentions of backseat moderation here, and I know most of us are already fed up of the same thing being discussed over and over and over and over again, right?)

Edited July 13, 2013 by Flixxbeatz

[tygoo7]

I think what most people want with multiplayer is the ability to do missions together, dock their ships, etc.

But thats not really possible to get that to work

[Themohawkninja]

But thats not really possible to get that to work

How so? Most multiplayer KSP will (if you ask me) be between a couple or a few friends who will agree on what to do 99% of the time, with the other 1% being "hold on a sec while I correct my orbit" kinds of things.

[tntristan12]

Some games just aren't meant to be multiplayer. Sorry. KSP is one of those games. Let it die, guys.

[Flixxbeatz]

Some games just aren't meant to be multiplayer. Sorry. KSP is one of those games. Let it die, guys.

Permission to shoot down thread, sir.

[stupid_chris]

(NOTE: No intentions of backseat moderation here, and I know most of us are already fed up of the same thing being discussed over and over and over and over again, right?)

That still is backseat moderation though. As fed up as I am too, the best you can do is report this thread to a mod to ask if it is legitimate to close it, not get the big chars out and say "close this plz".

Considering a moderator replied early in this thread, it seems like this one is okay. Probably because it's not in the development section of the forum and this is meant to discuss a possibility of implementing multiplayer, not asking to add it in the game and suggesting how.

[littlebattler]

What if, in a large scale multiplayer, each celestial body is its own instance and the game only loads crafts that orbit a certain body once you are in orbit around that body? Kerbol is excepted, only your crafts will be loaded while on its orbit since kerbol orbit usually means long distance travel.

This means we can have localized multiplayer with 2-5 people on each planet/moon, where the time warp will be agreed upon. And when you leave the sphere of influence of a body, you are free to timewarp to get to other places as the other players won't be connected. This also means that the state of the whole kerbol system does not necessarily have to be the same for each player, as the only interaction between players happen in the sphere of influence of a single body only. So, as long as player A and B are orbiting Laythe, it does not matter where Laythe is on their system, what matters is only their position relative to Laythe.

You know what, I'll come back here later when I can explain this more eloquently.