Hey everyone!
Today we wanted to give you an update on what's been going on with multiplayer and what we still have left to do. We are closer than ever to getting the multiplayer update finished and we are so excited. Recently we've been doing some internal testing and it really adds a new feel to the game. There's just something fun about exploring islands and taking on pirates with your friends.
At any rate, let's dive in! Here's a look at what's been done so far.
Core Multiplayer Engine
One of the biggest tasks was getting the core multiplayer engine working correctly. We needed systems to be able to sync and handle everything in the game for multiple players, handle saving, etc. With a game like Salt, there are a lot of items and things in the game that has to be taken into account. So it was very important we got a nice system in for handling these sorts of things. And not just getting the system in, but getting it working in the most efficient way possible.
Syncing the World
While there are still some things left to sync up, we've got most everything working. At this point, the majority of enemies, boats, resources, animations, day/night cycle, loot, and armor visuals sync up. Getting this done was a huge step forward as we wanted to make sure players could see the same things in the world. This means if you see a rock in a certain place, then it needed to be there for the other player as well. This also goes for enemies.
And speaking of enemies, we've also got enemy aggro working, though we are still making some tweaks to it. As it is currently, an enemy will change their target if they are taking enough damage from someone else.
Joining Friends and Text Based Chat
Another system we've got in and working is the ability to join your friends on Steam. So when you are in the game, your friends will show up as an icon on the screen and you will be able to click that and join their game. We've also added in a text based chat box so that you can chat with other people in the world!
Player Inspection and Trading
Another major feature we just wrapped up is the ability to inspect and trade with other players. Now, you'll be able to interact with another player and see what gear they have on. In addition to that, you'll be able to initiate a trade with them and trade various items. This can be a particularly useful way to speed up progression when playing together or help encourage different playstyles. So if you're going for a more stealth based light armor character and you come across a big piece of heavy armor, you might want to consider giving them to your friend to help them out!
What's Left To Do?
While we've got the vast majority of major features in and implemented, we've still got some other areas we need to finish up. Here's a list of some things we still need to do:
- Full support for three or more players. (We've got this basically in and working but it needs to be ironed out and expanded)
- Enemy power scaling (We will be adjusting enemy stats based on how many players are in the proximity)
- Syncing boss battles
- Syncing player-placed ship content
- Syncing handheld item visuals
- Server options (enable/disable pvp, etc.)
- Wave and point emotes
- Final testing and bug fixes
Overall, multiplayer is coming along great! We are getting very close and can't wait for the community to be able to play together. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback and thanks for reading!