Whither Multi-Multiplayer?

[Migo441]

All due apologies if a new topic was unnecessary, but I really wanted to focus narrowly on the development of Multi-Multiplayer. (Possibly there is an older topic that fits the bill.)

This feature has been discussed, dissected, and salivated over for many moons. (Has it really been TEN years since CMBO release?!) Supporting multiple human players per side would generate unique camaraderie, increase realism by reducing unit coordination, and (depending on the number of units per player and the deployment footprint) strike an additional severe blow against Borg Spotting.

It seems natural that anyone interested in playing against other humans would be interested and, indeed, I think the consensus is that this would be very cool. Also, as Elmar stated in the R.U.S.E. thread:

In the past I'd gotten the impression it was something BFC were very interested in.

So I’m curious about the ultimate prospects for this feature. Because it seems that such a feature is still many years away (I’d love to be wrong.), what are the key factors holding it back?

- Significant technical / programmatic challenges?

- A huge list of other features deemed more critical?

- A conscious decision to de-prioritize such a feature because most buyers play solo against the AI?

Can anyone make any informed comments about the technical challenges? It’s easy to believe that each program / game would be unique and possibly take different approaches to the same challenge, but are there examples of other games which have successfully implemented such a feature? Is there anything to be learned from their example either from a technical or player experience perspective?

I guess everyone has their own opinion on what feature would be THE COOLEST THING EVER. I would place Multi-multiplayer near the top of my list. I think playing 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 3 in the same battle would be a huge leap for the gaming experience. But possibly I overestimate its coolness/importance. I dunno.

What do people think? Is it a small minority that this is important to?

[costard]

Perhaps the people who organise tournaments and things like The Onion Wars could give you an idea of the difficulties involved with multi-multiplayer, Migo441. It's not something that really floats my boat, but I can see the attraction.

[hoolaman]

I don't think there is any deliberate de-prioritising. But this is a large and technically complex bolt on feature that can be put off forever and there wouldn't be too many complaints, compared to say implementing game content like snow or SS Armored divisions or ostfront. For this reason I'd guess it probably will be put off forever.

[Migo441]

hoolaman, what do you mean by "bolt on" feature?

I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly) that multi-multiplayer was at least in consideration from the early days of CMx2 development. Not built-in or prioritized (obviously), but at least design decisions and development in other areas would not inhibit the possibility of multi-multiplayer.

But yes, I can see (sadly) where other development efforts may always carry higher priority.

[jeffsmith]

This was posted by Schrullenhaft

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?p=1184757#post1184757

[hoolaman]

hoolaman, what do you mean by "bolt on" feature?

By bolt-on, I just mean by the time this gets implemented, the game will very likely be considered "finished" as far as the basic simulation and and it will be something that is attached as an extra. This is all guess work btw.

CMx2 was designed to allow for this multi-multi, we have friendly spotting and C&C simulations that don't have a huge amount of utility unless you look at them in terms of same-side multiplay.