Idea for Multiplayer

[Wizzerzak]

Personally I would have no idea where to start with this but I think the concept I've developed is pretty neat.

This multiplayer version would pitch players against each other in effectively a game of preparation for a final showdown (much like the original FTL).

Players start opposite end of the map and play in much the same way as you'd normally play FTL. (The only difference being that player 2 is travelling left, not right). Everything else is the same, including pausing, upgrading etc.

You then progress further through the sectors, searching for (or delaying meeting) the other player. When you finally arrive in the same sector, instead of FTL Jumps being real-time (you can jump whenever you want) the game changes so that you can only jump to another beacon when the other player has also finished their 'turn' and has picked a jump point. When you meet on the same beacon (probably after some cat and mouse) the final battle is played like any other battle, including the ability to jump away. The winner is the victor of this battle, scores (although recorded) do not determine the winner.

It's hard to explain all the rules in just 1 paragraph so you've probably got some questions; below I have outlined some additional changes that would be required.

• The final sector can be anywhere on the map, it''s just wherever you happen to meet your opponent. This can lead to some interesting strategy such as speed-running through and surprising your opponent. Or both of you grinding leading to an epic final battle.
• Once you are in the final sector neither player can Jump out of it, however you can move within the sector as normal.
• Although both of you can pause battles (obviously apart from the final battle), there is an advantage not to in that you can visit more areas and collect more scrap.
• There is no Rebel Fleet chasing you.
• I have 2 ideas as to how the map could be structured, however both maps would be double the standard length to allow more setup time:
  1. 1. A normal map. You can 'accidentally' go past your opponent on a different branch, thus moving back and forth between sectors will be necessary. Could get quite boring / tedious though.
     2. A straight line. Would mean you meet your opponent easily and allows for interesting speed-runs.

Thanks for reading and your feedback would be great. Yes I know this would be a LOT of work, and no I can't do it - this is just an idea I'm wondering what you would think of it if it were possible (not saying it isn't ). Any questions just ask.

[Alblaka]

Sorry to shoot you down, but the devs stated in the early beta phase that FTL would remain single-player only.

That is, unless somebody managed to decompile FTL's source code and start reworking it :3

[Wizzerzak]

Yeah I realised, it's just an idea and I was wondering how many other people would love to see something like this.

[Gorlom]

You then progress further through the sectors, searching for (or delaying meeting) the other player. When you finally arrive in the same sector, instead of FTL Jumps being real-time (you can jump whenever you want) the game changes so that you can only jump to another beacon when the other player has also finished their 'turn' and has picked a jump point. When you meet on the same beacon (probably after some cat and mouse) the final battle is played like any other battle, including the ability to jump away. The winner is the victor of this battle, scores (although recorded) do not determine the winner.

what happens when one player meets an enemy and the other finds an empty node with nothing remarkable in it?
should he be able to use the wait function (as when you are out of fuel) or how do you prevent the game from being very boring to one player while he waits for up to several minutes for the othr player to finish defeating his opponent?

I would suggest that instead of a single line you have a double line where both the next sectors can be reached from either of the parallel sectors you could currently be in.

[Wizzerzak]

You then progress further through the sectors, searching for (or delaying meeting) the other player. When you finally arrive in the same sector, instead of FTL Jumps being real-time (you can jump whenever you want) the game changes so that you can only jump to another beacon when the other player has also finished their 'turn' and has picked a jump point. When you meet on the same beacon (probably after some cat and mouse) the final battle is played like any other battle, including the ability to jump away. The winner is the victor of this battle, scores (although recorded) do not determine the winner.

what happens when one player meets an enemy and the other finds an empty node with nothing remarkable in it?
should he be able to use the wait function (as when you are out of fuel) or how do you prevent the game from being very boring to one player while he waits for up to several minutes for the othr player to finish defeating his opponent?

I would suggest that instead of a single line you have a double line where both the next sectors can be reached from either of the parallel sectors you could currently be in.

This is something I considered but wasn't entirely sure on. I thought of having a time limit, so once one player has finished their 'turn' and clicked jump this will activate a timer (say 1 minute, adjustable) in which the other has to complete their 'turn'. If they are still fighting a battle the enemy ship will jump away, regardless of whether their engines have failed or not. (Maybe a virus infected the crew or the ship crashed if you want a 'realistic' story.)

As for the map, I've thought of multiple map designs, so it could possibly be changed each game. However, the only map that could work without allowing backtracking is a straight line.

[Gorlom]

wouldn't a double line do the same thing while still offering a choice in which sector to go to?

[Wizzerzak]

wouldn't a double line do the same thing while still offering a choice in which sector to go to?

If I understood you correctly this is kinda what the map would look like. (Sorry bad paint skills)
Imagine player 1 went the top the whole way and player 2 the bottom the whole way. Or if both players go up then down then up then down...

[Gorlom]

wouldn't a double line do the same thing while still offering a choice in which sector to go to?

If I understood you correctly this is kinda what the map would look like. (Sorry bad paint skills)
Imagine player 1 went the top the whole way and player 2 the bottom the whole way. Or if both players go up then down then up then down...

Yep, that's the way I meant.
just force the option when they are about to meet. lock out the sector the other player cant reach.

[Wizzerzak]

That's a good idea, could get slightly complicated though when the players are moving through sectors at vastly different speeds.

[Wizzerzak]

Just out of interest, if the source was released would this be do-able?