Hello and welcome to part 2 of the series where we reveal the contents of the soon-to-be released multiplayer gamemode.
- Multiplayer part 1: an introduction
A look at what the multiplayer campaign is and what a turn of playing looks like. - Multiplayer part 2: a match in action ← You are here
- Multiplayer part 3: game history and end-of-game
- Multiplayer part 4: customization and matchmaking
- Multiplayer part 5: questions & answers
An overview of community questions that were answered previously. Make sure to put your questions in the comments!
Keeping tabs on the competition
Last time you saw what it will be like to play a round of the multiplayer campaign. While playing your own levels is fine and dandy, you also need to know what your opponents are up to. How else are you going to decide how much to bid on the auctions?
Enter the round recap, which happens once each turn. The round recap contains three phases, showing you how much money they earned in their previous level, the distribution of land, and the winner of the stock auction.
The level recap
Example of a level recap - well done t4!
The first thing you get to see is the level recap. It reveals important information about your opponents, like the amount of money they earned and which upgrades they purchased. You can also view a replay of their level if you’re curious. Watching three replays every round is a bit much, so there are stamps to help highlight all kinds of interesting events that might transpire in a level.
Note that this is a real screenshot of an internal version of the game. We could record a GIF showing the animations but we don’t want to spoil everything!
The land auction recap
Example of a land auction recap after it has ended
Continuing to the next phase we arrive at the land auction recap. Just like in single-player mode, the player with the lowest money balance at the start of the round gets to make the first bid. The players will keep bidding automatically according to their previously assigned priorities, until everyone has a plot of land.
A notable observation here is that the first area has only one plot of land for each player. These first area plots are free of charge and will always contain the same amount of oil in a given game. Similar to single-player, the amount of oil per plot is based on the plots close to it. A juicy plot indicates that anything close will likely also be good, even if the plots are separated by an area border!
These two recaps are both for the same in-game turn, but they have a different year indicated at the top. What gives? Each turn, you play a level on the plot that you bought in the previous turn. This means that the level recap is for the previous year, and you’re viewing the land auction for the plot of land that you get to play in the current year. Don’t worry if this confuses you, it’s not that important to understand the exact chronology when playing.
The stock auction recap
An animation of the stock auction recap
Now for the final phase, the stock auction. There’s not much to say here! This recap reveals everyone’s offer, like someone offering $50,000 too much for what could have been a cheap share. The winner takes all, and all other players get a refund. In multiplayer, the stock auctions start right away after having played the first level. You might only have enough money for either upgrades or stocks, so choose wisely.
After getting up to speed with the competition, the game is on. Everyone gets to dig into their new plot of land, and the bidding starts anew. Don’t forget to buy upgrades!
Closing words
As usual, discuss below, we love to read your reactions. Would you like to know more? You can catch up on part 1 here, or come back for a new post in a week’s time. See you then!