Multiplayer Game Design

Online gaming has given players a whole new way to match up with other human
players, and as the narrative in the preceding section illustrates, these encounters
can be fun or a wake-up call to the deftness of other players.

When dealing with multiplayer games, a little extra design effort must go into the
mix. With single-player gaming, the player takes control of the game’s hero and so
takes it upon himself to save the world. Multiplayer gaming can have thousands of
other players, each wanting to be the one true hero, which is obviously impossible.

When you move from single-player to multiplayer gaming, the goals begin to
change. Consider a game like Origin’s Ultima Online, for example. If you’ve played
the game, you realize it has no real goal. There are no supreme bosses to defeat, no
lead-you-by-the-hand story, and no sense that a single person can change the world.

So why would anybody want to play Ultima Online? For one thing—it’s fun. No
longer can you expect to be the most powerful being in the universe, because you
are now joined by thousands of other gamers with the same thoughts of glory.
Ultima Online gives people the ability to join forces to combat endless hordes of evil,
to conquer small quests, or even to lay in ambush against each other.

With the human intellect and the power of the Ultima Online gaming engine,
gamers can accomplish whatever they can imagine, making the experience truer to
real life. Although Ultima Online does not provide a storyline (nor the ability to
beat the game), it still remains an online gaming juggernaut.

On the other hand, take a look at a game such as Sega’s Phantasy Star Online, which
forces players to join forces against the ultimate evil of a supreme being. Phantasy
Star Online also has the benefit of a storyline (although it’s rather vague and seems
almost thrown in). The other great thing about Phantasy Star Online is that you can
beat it. That’s right, with each new game session, the story begins anew, waiting for
your characters to slash through thousands of monsters on their way to killing the
supreme bad guy.

The differences between Ultima Online and Phantasy Star Online are significant, yet
they both draw gamers by the thousands. What is it that players enjoy the most, and
what features do they demand of their online games? Those are tough questions,
but look at what each game has to offer and consider which features you want to
incorporate into you own game project:

■ Character building. Why waste time playing a game if your accomplishments
can’t be reflected? The reason you go out into the world slaying hordes of
beasts is that your character is going to get “bigger and badder” and will go
on to even more achievements.

■ An evolving world. A world that never changes is bland; once explored, it
stays the same no matter what. Popular games allow changes in the world,
with new levels to explore or new quests to undergo.

■ Cooperative and opposing players. Humans need to interact with other
humans; it’s a part of life. With the Internet at your disposal, joining players
for multiplayer action is just what you need, even if those players are at war
with one another.

■ New, secret, and cool items to discover. What good is consistently exploring
the world unless you can pick up a couple of things along the way—stronger
weapons, wicked armor, and maybe a super-secret magical item that will
really turn the tide in combat.

■ An actual storyline. Whether the storyline runs throughout the entire play of
the game or only in quests within the game, a good storyline gives games
that extra little pizzazz.

■ Ability to win. Games like Phantasy Star Online and Diablo give players the ability
to actually beat the game. Of course, a typical game can run for hours, but
it is still possible to defeat the last big boss and save the world.

Just remember that whatever features you have in your game, you want to make the
game fun and worth playing again and again. Take a look at games currently on
the market to see what they have going for them and try to make your project as
entertaining.

To help you create your multiplayer games, I wrote a demonstration game, appropriately
named Network Game. In the upcoming section, you find out how I
designed the game, and throughout the rest of this chapter, you find the specifics
on programming the game.