Cooperative puzzle games

Anything to do with games at all.
User avatar
Mockmaster
Moderator
Joined in 2008
Location: Cybertron

PostRe: Cooperative puzzle games
by Mockmaster » Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:38 pm

PsychicSykes wrote:
Mockmaster wrote:
My Human Gets Me Blues wrote:All players have the same base ninja abilities and nothing more - since N+ is about precision and timing, not special abilities.


Aha. Hmm, yes, I have been toying with this. Give the players all the same abilities to keep it extremely simple and straightforward? Or give them unique abilities. I've been veering towards the latter. Each team member would have unique skills that you would need to exploit differently in different situations, sometimes combining these skills. Think Team Fortress, but a puzzle game and no combat, and also 2D. So, only like Team Fortress in that it has very well defined character classes that can do different things. Hopefully players would become attached to certain classes


Like a modern Lost Vikings, but with multiplayer?



Nice. You've kind of hit the nail on the head with Lost Vikings, at least, to a degree.

The goal is to guide all Vikings safely through each level. The game's originality is due to the fact that the player controls three different characters (although only one at any given time), and must make use of their individual abilities and their combinations to solve puzzles and progress.


The only difference being that each puzzle area would be confined to one single room rather than a large scrolling area. And so within that room you'd need to work out the steps to progress from the entrance to the exit. And there would be hundreds of these rooms. So as to offer a huge variety of different types of puzzles, some logic centred, others physics based. And it would probably be trial and error. If you made a mistake you could roll back or reset.

This game would offer single and multiplayer.


The Alchemist Penguin wrote:THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: FOUR SWORDS ADVENTURES!

I'm such an eejit, that is the perfect example of the kind of game you're talking about!


I have always regretted not playing it. It sounds like it has scenarios that could inspire and inform me though. Particularly the combining abilities. For example, coincidentally, one of the team members would be a 'strong' dude who would have the ability to do things like throw one of the other guys across a gap, so similar to your Zelda example, or put them on his shoulders so they could reach higher areas. Even the counter op stuff will be informative. I'm not going for a competitive element although having said that, I'm open to it, even if it's a small facet of the game related to Achievements/Trophies.

Sadly Love Film don't have it. I might try and see if anyone would be willing to lend me it on here.

As regards to the Trauma Centre games, thanks for the offer, but that I can indeed rent that from Love Film. I'll add it to my list on high priority. I'm eager to see how these change in scenario segments work. The example you spoilered is actually quite intriguing, I've thought about using light/dark in some of the puzzles. It is appropriate for the game I have in mind. As well as possibly sound.


Thanks guys, this is all really helpful, getting the cogs in my brain turning.

User avatar
The Alchemist Penguin
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Cooperative puzzle games
by The Alchemist Penguin » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:06 pm

The counter-op bit of the game is very slight, on first glance, which is what makes it so special. The game basically says "You have to work together to finish the level" and then slyly adds "but the person who ends the level with the most force gems (Four Swords version of rupees) wins a trophy, and bragging rights."

Then when you complete a puzzle (not all puzzles, just some, so you never know when it'll happen) a huge amount of force gems fall from the sky, so it turns into a squabble to grab the most.

Taking your example, it could be that after each puzzle room there is a room full of coins, or something similar, so the first person through the door would be the person most likely to gain the coins. It seems like a very small thing, but suddenly you've got players wanting to be first through the door, which means they might start fighting over who gets to push the final switch, etc...

It's such a small thing, on paper, but it plants a seed of deception in the mind of the players and that is really what sets everything off. For instance, in Four Swords, if you run out of hearts you have to spend some force gems to get revived and a good portion of your force gems fall onto the ground for other players to collect. Suddenly, you have players "accidentally" misreading gaps and throwing players down holes, or catching another player with an arrow while they were firing at an enemy. Everything changes, and Nintendo haven't really done anything at all. :P

I'm probably telling you stuff you've already thought of, but it never hurts to explain it all. :D

User avatar
TheTurnipKing
Member
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Cooperative puzzle games
by TheTurnipKing » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:16 pm

The Alchemist Penguin wrote:Then when you complete a puzzle (not all puzzles, just some, so you never know when it'll happen) a huge amount of force gems fall from the sky, so it turns into a squabble to grab the most.

On one memorable occasion while playing FSA, MrBrown and I, fed up with the squabbling and bickering of the other two players, simply picked them both up and forcibly carried them into the next screen. :lol:

Genius design, the way all the classic Zelda interactive elements are applied to ALL the objects in the world.

User avatar
Lotus
Member
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Cooperative puzzle games
by Lotus » Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:02 pm

Net Yaroze had some interesting co-op games. Psychon was a top-down shooter, quite fast and frantic if I remember, but a great game to play with a mate.

There was also a Pac-Man style puzzle game that was essentially you both running around collecting shapes and such while being chased by zombies. All with nice classical music going in the background. Good game, that.

A co-op RPG was in there as well, that was an interesting one. Mainly the co-op was used for puzzle solving, basic things like switches that need two people, pushing blocks and such.

User avatar
Mockmaster
Moderator
Joined in 2008
Location: Cybertron

PostRe: Cooperative puzzle games
by Mockmaster » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:53 pm

The Alchemist Penguin wrote:The counter-op bit of the game is very slight, on first glance, which is what makes it so special.


The Alchemist Penguin wrote:It's such a small thing, on paper, but it plants a seed of deception in the mind of the players and that is really what sets everything off.


Yep, good points. Any counter-op stuff would need to be very subtle, like the examples you cite. Because the main backbone of the game is about team co-operation, that's what I'll be shoving down the player's throat. But I'm definitely looking into adding a competitive element just to spice it up a bit, and, frankly, to give it that extra element of fun.

Lotus wrote:Net Yaroze had some interesting co-op games.


Cheers, I'll youtube some Yaroze stuff, although I think a work colleague might actually have one. I'll investigate.


Return to “Games”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Billbones84, Cumberdanes, Garth, Kriken, Memento Mori, Ploiper, Poser, SEP, shy guy 64, Trelliz and 340 guests