#Couch Co-Op

[thattowntertainment]

Day 23! A single player Dead by Daylight experience?! Yup! The Casting of Frank Stone!

https://youtu.be/LzdvZy_sxYk?si=noebynOw-egWAXzH

[fogaminghub]

https://www.fogaminghub.com/post/star-wars-episode-i-jedi-power-battles-returns-on-ps5-ps4

✨ Get ready to enter the Jedi realm once again! ✨ 

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles launches on January 23, 2025, for PS4 and PS5! Return to your favorite characters and iconic locations with enhanced features like lightsaber toggles, unlocked characters, and classic couch co-op gameplay. 

This cherished game from 2000 is back with a fresh twist, and we can't wait to battle alongside you in the galaxy! 🌌 

Pre-order now!

[askagamedev]

What if any technical reasons are there that more PS5 and Series X games do not support offline co-op and multiplayer modes? It seems that while yes, current gen games are more demanding, current gen hardware is exponentially more capable than past generations. Why not just add a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th viewport into the world and let people game together? Any relevant answer would be appreciated. If none, I'll just assume my suspicions are correct and you are under some NDA about this. The breaking of which would result in being blacklisted and hunted down by John Wick himself. Thank you.

Let's assume that we have no technical limitations - infinite memory, infinite CPU and GPU cycles. We can run as many viewports as we could possibly want. What else could be holding us back? Here are a few game design considerations that make split screen a non-trivial task, even in a scenario where technical limitations don't exist.

Aspect Ratio

When we are designing a game, screen visibility and aspect ratio are important. Look at this screenshot from God of War Ragnarok:

The framing of the cinematic is absolutely focused on showing the characters and their difference in size on screen, with the point of focus being Mjolnir in the very center. You can see at a glance how much bigger Thor is than Kratos. That's completely intentional. Now let's see it in split screen. First, let's split the screen vertically:

I tried to retain the "gist" of the original shot. We're still centered on Kratos vs Thor with Mjolnir in the center of the frame. I tried to keep as of both characters in frame as I could. Clearly, this shot doesn't have anywhere near the visual impact of the original. You just can't see much of either character. We retain the struggle in the center of the screen for Mjolnir, but we lose the visual representation of the characters' sizes. Now let's try splitting the screen horizontally instead:

Once again, I tried to fit as much into the frame as I could. Now we can't see enough of either body, it's so squashed down. We can't see the relative size of Mjolnir either. We can't even see how tall Thor is because his head is getting cut out of the frame.

It's pretty obvious that this shot is meant to be viewed at a specific aspect ratio. Halving either dimension simply won't work, significant rework must be done in order to do this. But what if we retain the original aspect ratio by dividing into fourths?

It's better - we can at least see all of relative sizes of each other. But the characters themselves are much smaller, especially because we don't sit close enough to the television in order to get the same effect. But let's move on. There are other issues.

User Interface and Screen Size

Things get worse when we have to put UI on the screen too, because we can't shrink our UI or text to 1/4 of its original size in order to maintain the screen aspect ratio. Here's another screenshot from God of War Ragnarok, this time with combat UI:

Let's try splitting this screen vertically:

I've done a quick and dirty copy/paste job for the UI elements and maintained their relative size on screen. We're already losing out on a lot of peripheral vision in combat. Since we can't scale the UI, observe how it is taking up significantly more screen space too. We have to show two of every UI element, not one... and they can't really be scaled down or they'll be too small to see. Now let's see it in horizontal split screen:

Now we have the peripheral vision... kind of... but the UI is still eating a lot of that screen space and we're losing significant amounts of vertical screen space. This might be ok in a game where enemies show up to the left and right, but not if there are often enemies coming from above or below. The UI screen space problem gets significantly worse when we run it in four viewports while maintaining UI screen size:

Everything feels so much more squished and tiny, even when running at the same aspect ratio as the original. It's a fundamentally different experience, because you're seeing so much less of the world in the various split screen modes. God forbid we try to have any kind of subtitle display in four-way split screen.

These are two specific constraints with splitting the screen. There are more problems I haven't gotten into, like directional audio no longer working because we've got multiple simultaneous player locations or handling menu navigation gracefully in split screen. This is not to say that it is impossible to make split screen work - it is absolutely not impossible. What I am saying is that it is not trivial to make it work - we can't just turn on two/three/four viewports and call it a day, not without inadvertently causing a significantly worse player experience in many regards. These kind of challenges must be identified, designed for, and fit into the development budget.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[todays-fixation-is-bigbywolf]

I don't usually drop YT content I like here, but it words well what I struggle with myself to get across to others-why- I critique the Jedi Order at all, in Old Republic, High Republic, and CW-GCW eras. I see a lot of backlash against that viewpoint because it's perceived like everyone who has anything negative to say about the Jedi Order gets looped into one big group of "Jedi Haters" (as if the narrative of the movies themselves don't critique the Jedi Order...lol) instead of taking time to address -some- critique is valid and earned.

I don't want to spoil how the video itself ends, so please just give it a chance, and in turn, maybe also fans who express the critique that -both- sides can kinda suck sometimes? (Sith more than anyone cause their whole -thing- is being assholes, but y'know). Thank you.

CW: War Related Trauma (and overcoming it) -Some- Spoilers for Knights of the Old Republic games

[wastedarkcell]

Welcome to 2023. We’ve made 1,000 videos since 2013.

[groovymorgan]

Me everytime

[dmdarius]

Let's Play Dark Alliance II/w Melody |33| The Onyx Tower | FINALE

Mordoc is the vampiric little coward we knew he was, running away at the sign of defeat in a form of mist. And with the pressure of a couple of greedy mortal, he decides to bring the war on Baldur's Gate on a little quicker. NOW it's time to finish him, once and for all!

#darkalliance2 #Dnd #playstation2 #retro

[thefreecheese]

The Free Cheese Episode 577: Halo: Combat Evolved | Part III

This week on The Free Cheese, Spartans who play together… We play through the campaign together on the couch and come together for one final episode on Halo: Combat Evolved before we rank it later this year. We share the highs and lows of playing together and how successful our speedrun tactics were.

[squareblind]

‘It WAS a nice little coffee shop’ – Rogue-like multiplayer spills in PlateUp

PLateUp tries to build a Rogue-like party game out of the brutal experience of living and surviving a service industry job together. Somehow it makes it work!

PlateUp, released on Nintendo Switch in 2024, published by Yogscast & Overcooked 2, Released on Nintendo Switch in 2018, developed by Ghost Town Games By Neil Merrett Why might anyone with years of real-life experience choose to relive the day-to-day struggles of the service industry? In gaming – as in life – the answer might just lie in the people you are stuck going through the ordeal…

[linuxgamenews]

Saving the City One Bag at a Time - Garbage Crew!

Garbage Crew! launches the action couch co-op game with roguelike elements on Linux, Steam Deck, and Windows PC. A testament to the inventive talent of xeetsh, the developers behind this thrilling adventure. Available on Steam with a discount. Garbage Crew! is a newly launched action couch co-op packed game that offers a unique and exciting experience, especially when playing with friends. This game, created by a solo developer from Germany under the studio name xeetsh. But also stands out due to its humorous and chaotic nature for Linux and Steam Deck. The core idea of Garbage Crew! is simple: the launches you into a team responsible for keeping a city clean. Your main job? Picking up and disposing of trash. But here's the twist: your boss, who seems to have a very creative mind, decides to make your job even more challenging. He gives you extra tasks, like fighting fires and working in the forest. The problem? There are never enough hands on deck, and the driver of your garbage truck is impatient. So he won't wait for you, not even if you're in the middle of putting out a huge fire. Things get even more wild when a gadget your boss was tinkering with sends you back in time to the medieval era. There, you have to deal with garbage collection in a town that's under siege!

Garbage Crew! Gameplay Trailer TV-Size Launch Trailer

Garbage Crew! is great for playing with friends right next to you on the couch, but you can also launch into teams online. It's a design that tests how well you can work together while juggling multiple tasks. The game changes every time you play, with levels that are generated randomly. This means you'll always have a new challenge waiting for you. You'll find yourself in two very different worlds in this game. Each with its own set of rules and challenges. As you play, you'll also face unexpected situations that will require quick thinking and adaptability. And there's a fun aspect of earning in-game money with each run. This money can be used to get power-ups, making your next attempt at the game even more interesting. One of the unique things about Garbage Crew! is the variety of roles you can launch into. You might be a Waste Collector one minute and a Firefighter the next. You could even find yourself playing as a Knight! This variety keeps the gameplay fresh and exciting. The game also offers a lot of customization options. There are over 50 different skins to choose from, so you can really make your character your own. Plus, you can play levels with a specific set of challenges (called a "seed") or adjust the difficulty to suit your skill level. Garbage Crew! launches you into the action couch coop, which is an engaging game that's great for playing with friends. It's full of surprises, challenges, and chances to test your multitasking skills. Whether you're battling fires, collecting trash, or exploring medieval times, there's always something new to discover and enjoy. Available on Steam, priced at $16.14 USD / £12.31 / 13,59€ with the 15% discount. Along with support for Linux, Steam Deck, and Windows PC.

[orphancookie69]

Nintendo Switch: Sweet Bakery Tycoon Co-Op Edition

If you read any of my previous posts, you would be shocked to see this post. After I made my complaining post about the Breakfast Tycoon game, my sister gave the game another shot. So did I, once I adjusted my expectations and tried again-I got it enough to enjoy it. It is not the best, but it is not bad. So you know my sweet tooth had to get the bakery next! 

Start your baking career and prepare some delicious cakes for your clients, using a whole set of creams, fruits, and decorations. More info here: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/sweet-bakery-tycoon-co-op-edition-switch/

My Thoughts On The Game: 

Price is solid at $2 on sale right now. Full price is $7, and for how long it will take you to get through all the games and possible in game upgrades, it is not bad for value at $7. Controls are still very rough to learn, me and my sister did the co-op version first, so I would suggest playing solo to learn the ropes-and go in with the mindset of the worst part of this game is going to be the control learning curve. Once you have the hang of it, it is fun with two people and slightly challenging as a solo player. 

I still would love to see Cake Mania brought to switch, but in the mean time-for a good sale price I would try any of the Baltoro games. I pick ones that match my likings and mood, because it is really easy to get hungry when playing any of the games. But keep on the lookout for more tycoon posts! 

[thattowntertainment]

It’s here! It’s here!

Listen now! Tell your loved ones!

https://talesofthattown.libsyn.com/seven-year-thank-you

[nintendokids]

Couch co-op mode is coming to this Switch version of the game! Yes!!!

[bandi-fundi]

had been playing cotl with my gf lately <3

[megahorous]

PaRappa and Poison playin' some STREET FIGHTER

[wastedarkcell]

25 hours and three minutes from now, a new YouTube video is going up. If you like Tales of THATTOWN or THATTOWN Entertainment, keep watch on our YouTube channel.