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[jprosk]

The tricky thing with coop is the screen - as we don't have scrolling, we can't even do the old hack "camera hovers at the point between the players, so you better stay somewhat close" ~ instead we have the screen-by-screen thing, which if you think about it is really difficult to get to work with two players. Actual split screen would be the only Real Solution, and I've been experimenting with that, but that in turn creates a bunch of difficulties with the shaders. So idk ~ we definitely want co-op, it seems like it could be really awesome, but it takes some serious thinking to come up with a good solution! We'll start with the one-screen arenas, those are a bunch of fun in themselves

I have an idea that sounds idiotic and probably is, but bare with me...
What if... What if you physically tie coop players with a rope? Like a weird umbilical cord siamese twins. If they physically can't stay far apart, you don't need to focus on two different places and it explains why they have to be in the same room and can share one hunger meter. And you get not just two slugcats, but slugcats that have a unique interaction method between them -  one can garb onto something up high, while the other swings around; if one falls down a pit, the other can pull him out; etc.
It also solves a common coop problem of one player dying and no longer having a game to play, while other keeps going and having fun. If players are tied - then they either both survive or both don't.
It needs a lot of playtesting on the physical properties of the cord - length, stretchiness, springiness... Maybe length should be controlled by the players like in Push Me Pull You. And platforming in some sections could become way harder (would it even be possible to use grappling hook worms?), so some aspects of slugcats themselves would need to be rebalanced.

That sounds like a great mechanic and really interesting and fun, but I doubt it would fit the game very well

[kizmarh]

Re: coop and multiple screen rooms:

1. Proper split screen would be perfect (but maybe only when te branching happens, as if both players are currently on one screen, split screen is not needed obviously), but it is sad that its hard to implement due to shaders.

2. Is it possible to “zoom out” when players go on different screens, so you'll see both players all the time? Or zooming would be even harder than split screen?

3. The easiest (probably) to implement, but hardest for the players: make it so there is always one “active” player, and if another one goes off-bounds, put a marker on the screen's edge for them. Then, add a key for switching the focus between the players, so in that case if the gone player couldn't return fast into the active screen, the player in the active screen could go into a somewhat safe position and then switch the focus to the screen of the other player (and then there would be of course the marker showing to the first player). I think this should be enough for enabling coop game and then later, if you could work out the shaders, add split screen?


BTW, is it decided how the room switching would work? I think the best would be to switch rooms (not screens) only when all the players went to the same room exit. If only one player went into an exit, they should return after a second or so (I think I saw some fake shortcuts that worked like that — you went into nothing and after a second or so went back), so only when both players went into a shortcut in an interval of a two-three seconds, the room would switch.


Re: exploits. What would be perfect — is to somehow incorporate the biggest (like the flashbang one) by accepting them into lore — you could minimally change the ending or some other aspects of the game in case players would use them, so it would be more like “genocide/pacifist routes” in undertale than just using one of the two available paths with one being just shorter. It would mean more work, but I think it would be fun

[Deity Link]

So the top speedrunner gave his opinion about the possibility of removing the Guardian exploit.

I don't see much of a point of doing so, honestly. The chances of what players that reach that area and think of using them is pretty slim to begin with. My own experience started with Samus001's question on your speedrun video:

. I spent hours throwing everything under the sun at them before I noticed that their reaction time was slightly delayed to blue mushrooms (flash orbs or w/e they're called. I need the official name on these actually). One thing led to another and then... Also, with really good speed play, the game could possibly be beaten without the use of it in an hour. My fastest current time without using it is 1:18:26 and that run could be improved; which is why I haven't posted it yet. Lastly, that'd be a shame because even this run isn't unbeatable, but it would be if they did so.

[Pineapple]

You dont go telling Bethesda "Hey, We dont like these mechanics for skyrim. I want you to do this instead because Im the customer."

Isn't that what mods are for, doesn't practically everyone use mods to change Skyrim's mechanics to some extent

[JLJac]

Thanks for the input! It looks like it's leaning "exploits stay" 

Update 536

I knew I said this wasn't going to be a content update, but I've not entirely been able to stick to that premise. Here's some kind of WIP lamprey-squito:

[jprosk]

NOODLEFLY

[Wolvered]

Still amazed at all the ideas you keep having for eerie creatures!

Noodlefly has to be the official name though!

[presidenthobbes]

Noodlefly has to be the official name though!

I second this motion!

[jprosk]

In other news, here's Rain World's lore in a nutshell:

[SkullPixel]

In other news, here's Rain World's lore in a nutshell:

YES. It fits with "slugcat", as they are both bizarre names. At the very least, since nothing in game is really named... I'm calling it a noodlefly.

[io3 creations]

Noodlefly has to be the official name though!

I second this motion!

I'll vote for the gif's filename: GregariousFlickeringIndianpangolin 

[Doliprane]

Come on, Sony, come on   

[Deity Link]

So someone has done a Pilgrimage speedrun in barely over an hour. That's pretty damn amazing.

[jamesprimate]

yeah the speedruns are getting reeeeeeeally amazing 

[Sustrato]

Ugh I gotta stay out of this thread, the spoilers...

I support exploits staying in, it's a big part of 99% of speedrunning communities. Like others have observed, you can always go 'pure'.

[Deity Link]

Actually since the map isn't reset when you clear your save, he used a Passage toward a shelter that he hadn't visited beforehand in that run, which is pretty unfair to me, so I've added that to the rules. He'll have to redo it.

[Sein]

Id actually like to see how a snake would work in Rain world. That would be so cool. As part of new creature content.

[JLJac]

Update 537

Noodlefly joust!

[jprosk]

Uh oh. They look dangerous...

[JLJac]

They're very dangerous but very unaggressive, is the idea. You really have to wrong them badly for them to extrude their creepy narwhal tooth, but once they do they're brutal. Also I think they'll hate each other, because it's a lot of fun watching them joust  

I'm trying to push harder on the "creatures that can be used to your advantage if you know what you're doing" concept, and these will have a role in that, although the details are still to be chiseled out. Because compiling has started to take a million years I've created a slim version of rain world in which I make the creatures, then I move them over to the main engine and integrate them with the ecosystem ~ these are still in step #1 there, so the exact interactions aren't set yet - but I have the basic idea!