Cooperative Mode - One or more carriers?

[Intezar 10]

A thread devoted to the eventual cooperative mode in Gaea Mission. Players vs. enemy AI.

(Poll will follow shortly)

Would you like to work together with friends on the same carrier, or would you rather prefer that each of you had your own carrier? It'll be a bit on the side of what the single-player story portrays, but both ways do sound very appealing.

Could it be handled in a different way than above?

A reason for selecting one option over the other would naturally be because it is time consuming to develop these modes, and rather than spreading too thin, focusing on one option could mean that the mode would receive more attention and better testing in the time before release.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Intezar

[GepardenK 0]

Both would be a very bad idea. We would just end up with a messy game compromised of several buggy MP modes.

I say play it like a normal strategy game: each player gets his own base (in this case carrier). Then teammates could sail around in formation like a flottila, sounds fun to me

[EricM 0]

Arma 2 Warfare style is a nice blend of coop and adversarial mode :

2 to 3 or 4 sides max with high-commanders, all the rest is AI and human subordinates of one of those commanders.

[GepardenK 0]

True EricM, but the difference is that in CarrierCommand everything is controlled from the carrier. Even the new infantry is just droids with a limited lifespan (they die when their battery goes out). So you wouldnt be able to run around controlling a squad and buying units from different bases like you did in Warefare.

Edited February 12, 2010 by GepardenK

[Intezar 10]

Shouldn't the cooperative mode be about human players vs the AI carrier(s)? I'm not sure how I feel about involving more aspects to the mode. Warfare is interesting though. At least that's how I like my cooperative games.

I'm guessing that they will also include something that resembles team adversarial/PvP type modes. By all means those are great modes to have also, as long as they are kept separate.

It depends on how the game is set up with regards to making use of the carrier and its features. If multiple players can operate out of the same bridge, I think the feel of togetherness, as well as cohesion with the single-player plot will be better. At the core, it's about one lesser carrier (player) vs the more technically advanced one.

If they let players command a carrier each, they'd have to bolster the enemy AI side as well, either with more carriers or a much tougher one, which I'm sure they'll balance according to the amount of players in the game.

Both ways definitely has a huge appeal to me personally. As long as the game requires players to work together in order to succeed! Not just joining the game, manning their own carrier and driving to their own corner of the map and that's the end of the team experience. It would have to be a fleet organization thing, at least to the extent of players having the means to delegate responsibilities and tasks of building and capturing - as logistics and holding strategic islands will be important. We know there'll be many ways to upgrade our carriers, perhaps that's a way of almost "choosing a class" in terms of specialization. "Aircraft Carrier"/"Droid Control Carrier" etc.

For a co-op game, it'll be important not to have too many players involved, I can see the 4 players being appropriate. The world has to feel vast, filled with opportunities and possibilities to use different strategies, and not crowded by high-tech carriers everywhere. :)

[GepardenK 0]

The world has to feel vast, filled with opportunities and possibilities to use different strategies

No worries there, thats BIS`s speciality. No other company does it better