I am pleased to announce that Local Cooperative Multiplayer has been added to Cosmic Destroyer!

Device Mapping

When choosing a game mode from the Main Menu, players can now select Co-Op and will be given the opportunity to choose which devices each player would like to control their ship. This functionality provides flexibility to support multiple devices for users that want to use non-standard setups like bearclaw. During development some very unique setups were tested including one with 2 gamepads, two keyboards and a mouse all working at the same time on one player - and another gamepad on the 2nd player.
Each player can select their favorite ship and ready-up to jump into the game. Both players can select the same ship if they would like, there are no limitations.

Multiplayer Gameplay

Players have their own store of three lives and three continues, and all stats and scores are separate. When a player has consumed all of their lives they can continue by simply pressing the Action button, provided they have continues left to spend. If both players happen to game over at the same time, the standard Game Over screen will be shown to prompt the last player to continue. This screen is also shown if all lives and continues have been exhausted for both players. Flair on the ships for each player is colored to match the Player Flag - Player 1 is Red and Player 2 is Blue. This color is also used in the UI HUD indicators in the upper left and upper right, respectively. The boss health indicator has been moved to be positioned at the top of the screen between both HUD elements and should be out of the way.

Device Disconnections

If a device which is currently mapped to a player is disconnected during play, the game will automatically pause. A notification message such as "Playstation Controller has been disconnected" will be displayed on the screen when this occurs. Generally whenever a player uses the pause functionality only that player can unpause or exit gameplay, but in cases of input device disconnection control may switch to the other player to prevent players from getting stuck having to force-quit due to input device issues.

Other notes and limitations

This mode currently does not allow for any High-Scores to be earned and is purely for having fun with your friends locally or using Steam's "Play with Friends" feature, provided a good network connection. Local leaderboards for co-op may be added in the future if there is interest. Do note that split keyboard setups using one device across multiple players is not currently supported, mostly due to an engine limitation.

New Story Intro and Tutorial Dialogue

Captain Gerson now announces the mission's situation report to you with a virtual briefing before the game starts. The whole team is caught off guard by the initial attack, still the insight and information he provides offers context as to the situation around the Grid 38 Mining Facility and the attack on Shipyard 7. Sable, the ace pilot run the new pilot orientation tutorial, and you'll no doubt see more of her throughout the game. This also includes an ominous new backing track and new dialogue audio effects that really capture that retro feel. As development continues and we get closer to release there will be more information to share and new characters to meet. Although I want to be careful not to spoil anything by revealing too much before the final game release, either!

[ 2025-06-03 23:47:10 CET ] [ Original post ]