Prophecy Multiplayer Project Tests Out Team Play (March 21, 2006)

ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Testing continues on HCl's Prophecy Multiplayer Upgrade. The newest feature is the implementation of teams in combat. Utilizing leftover code from Prophecy's original multiplayer modes, HCl has been able to assign separate wings to duel it out online. Free-for-all is fun, but the team element adds more strategy and tactics to the mix. In one round, a bomber wing with a Shrike and Devastator held up surprisingly well against Vampire and Panther attackers. The extra shields and turrets allowed the less nimble craft to hold their ground until one of their adversaries was finished. With the odds improved to 2:1, the bombers were able to work together to deal out the hurt. Improvements are being made each and every week, although difficult coding and bug mitigation still remains to clean things up.







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Original update published on March 21, 2006
 
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I cant wait to get my hands on this.

Is it possible to implement "objective" missions? I'd love to have the option of a bunch of CIC people teaming up against Nightmare AI to take down a Neph carrier or something.
 
Is it possible to play multiplayer with SO installed only, or does one need the original 2cd version of WC: Prophecy installed? (I loaned out my game over 2 years ago and havent seen it since :(
 
Unregistered said:
Is it possible to play multiplayer with SO installed only, or does one need the original 2cd version of WC: Prophecy installed? (I loaned out my game over 2 years ago and havent seen it since :(
Click to expand...


3cds.....

To start with it will just be prophecy. A secret ops MP patch might be available at a later date.
 
Glad to know you're excited about this :)

Several scenarios are planned and will be implemented in time (convoy attack / defense involving two teams is high on my priority list, for example), although for the first release only deathmatch and team deathmatch will be available. Some 90% of what i'm doing right now is to handle bug fixes and stability issues (spent last night fixing a subtle bug on the code that collects player statistics), as well as net code optimizations and improvements.

This is the core of the patch, which is why it's important to get this as stable as possible before adding more functionality. This is very complex, since i'm hooking the game EXE on some 40 different locations to get the thing to work... However, steady progress is being made, so it shouldn't take much longer to get the first version out.

In the meantime, in preparation for the release you may want to take the opportunity to configure your router / firewall to allow incoming and outgoing connections on port 5555, TCP/IP. Also, you'll want to have some kind of connection with at least 128kbit, both upload and download. Modem users may be limited in the kind of matches they're able to participate (ultimately it will depend on how much i'm able to optimize things, but based on the info gathered some weeks ago, probably not more than 3 player matches).
 
This is a dream come true! Seriously, I've dreamed about multiplayer since I started playing WC3 10yrs. or so ago. I'm surprised you guys find time to update this site and HCI finds time to update the code since I'd be tempted to play this all day long. You have quite a gift HCI!
 
I realise this is waaaay down the line, but I would like to put forward this idea now anyway :)

I suggest a new multiplayer game mode named "dumbfire arena"

- Two players + spectators
- Both players have the same ship type
- Both players have quarter afterburner fuel, no gun energy and no gun recharge
- Enable torpedo lock against fighter class ships
- (optional) replace all players missiles with dumbfires

The "mission" would be inside a dense asteroid field with a navpoint in the middle. The player ships' starting positions will be within 1000m of the navpoint, facing away from each other, at catapult speed.

The additional logic within the game loop would be something like this:

Code: 
if (no active missiles in playing field) {
     for (all players; x++) {
          if (player[x].missilesleft==0) {
               player[x].lost=true;
               mission.end();
          };
     };
};

for (all players; x++) {
     if (player[x].alive==false) {
          player[x].lost=true;
     };
};

At the end of the match the player that does not have the lose flag set will win it. This will probably need some auxilliary code for match-making (including chat) and score-keeping between matches.

The missiles' damage ratings might need tweaking as well (possible x1.5) with Prophecy/SO ships. I would imagine it would be just fine with Standoff though...
 
I always thought that Prophecy/SO ships with their thick shields and armour are very resilient against missiles. To me some ships might not carry enough ammo to finish a match.

I'm trying to capture the gladiatorial feel of Rocket Arena (the Quake mod) but with fighters and comparatively little ammo.
 
A standard Dumbfire in Prophecy/SO deals 800 units of damage. Only the Black Devastator has enough shields, armor, and hit points to survive two hits to the same quadrant. Three Dumbfires will kill ANY fighter or bomber in the game, even if they hit different armor quadrants. The Piranha, Skate, Stingray, Moray, Dralthi, and Tigershark will all die with a single Dumbfire hit.
 
yeah.. if you have ever turned on your wingmen in prophecy (not that I would do such a thing *cough* O_O) you know full well that the ships you fly in are just as breakable if not moreso than the Nephil craft who oppose you.

I was surprised how easy a pirahna can burn.. I mean, would.. would be err.. if I had tried such a thing *snark*
 
This is true, you will find out that confed ships can be pretty fragile as well, especially against other confed ships, which tend to be better equipped than the alien ships in the game.

It may be tempting at first to use the most powerful ships like the Vampire and Wasp, but i am willing to bet that people will learn to value the other supposedly weaker ships. As Chris said, the Devastator can hold its own pretty well, in virtue of it's turrets and shields. Bombers also have mines, and the Tigershark has the Charging Mass Driver, both of which can catch an enemy player off guard.

Also a tactic that PopsiclePete and I discussed some time back involves using the Piranha to counter the Wasp. If there is enough distance between both ships, you can try autosliding away from the Wasp, turn back, and use a rapid-firing gun (laser or stormfire) to shoot down the swarmers before they reach you.
 
The autoslide might make the Piranha a formidable opponent. I guess we'll finally learn how good those Confed ships are. After all, once thing is to kill waves of alien bugs ran by AI, another is to face other humans. And considering the high numbers of missiles and decoys on WCP, this should be a missile-fest.
 
Delance said:
And considering the high numbers of missiles and decoys on WCP, this should be a missile-fest.
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It already is, in our tests, but it plays very differently than against AI ships; in our MP matches I have found missiles especially usefull to keep your enemy busy more than it's usefull for the occasional hit. But if you do hit it turns the advantage to you because then you can face your oppenent not fearing his guns because you know he'll die before you :D

Anyway, I permanently keep a finger on the "e" key when playing an MP match :p
 
PopsiclePete said:
Anyway, I permanently keep a finger on the "e" key when playing an MP match :p
Click to expand...

Yes, it should be a pretty missile intensive-experience. Once you run out of decoys or AB, you're dead meat.
 
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