Multiplayer Improvement Suggestions

[Kristoffer O]

Originally posted by Unwise:
Please take these for what they are: suggestions to slightly improve the game rather than whining.

Background: My buddies and I have been enjoying playing via TCP/IP on weekend evening. As always, there are those that take twenty minutes to decide what to do and those that whip their turns out in ninety seconds. Usually I am watching TV or reading a book while waiting for the others to get done, though I am not always the first.

Suggestion #1: A tone that sounds on the client when the server is processing the turn. A "bing!" or a "bleep!" or a scream of agony, whatever. Obviously this should be on a toggle.

Suggestion #2: A chat window on the "network" screen while you are waiting for others to finish their turn or for the server to process. This would allow the players to swap taunts, whine about their misfortune or (most importantly) to declare that they will shut the server down at 3:30AM whether everyone else is done with their turn or not, dammit!

Suggestion #3: Similarly, an ability for the server to send out a broadcast message to those connected would go a long way. A "message of the day" that the server sends with each turn would be a decent compromise.

Johan O is a fervent adherent of suggestion 1. He has come up with an even better (?) idea. Allow LAN players to 'bing' each other, so that you can annoy your unfinished friends (or let them know that you are ready).

[Unwise]

The chat thing alot of people do with stuff like IRC or Instant Messenger.

We do a chat thing too, occasionally. We also do phones, and might try VoIP. During LAN parties the throwing of "cheese-its" is also a widely accepted communication mechanism. Still, you know everyone is going to be looking at the connectivity screen, and you know everyone is going to be connected to it.

A live chat would entail a lot more code than a end-turn "bing", and for a two-person team, perhaps it wouldn't be worth the trouble to implement. It's nice to know that the devs have heard my cry in the wilderness, however - maybe they'll get bored one day, or maybe it'll find its way into Dom3. Great game, you've destroyed my sleep patterns.