Dear players,
The past Winter Sale was very successful and I would like to welcome all new players to Galactic Crew! As I wrote in the previous patch notes, I started developing the co-op multiplayer for Galactic Crew this week of 2018 and I promised to keep you updated. Today, I want to present you the progress of the first week. Please note, all features and changes listed below will be part of a single massive content update in February.
Multiplayer
User interface
The very first step was to create a new view to configure a multiplayer game session. I slightly adjusted the existing game creation view by adding a new button to start a multiplayer game and by adding input boxes for IP address and port number. These information are only required for multiplayer sessions and can be left empty when creating a singleplayer game.
The article's image shows the current state of the multiplayer session view. Its design might change until the release of the multiplayer patch! On the left side, you see all players and a list of crew members. You can assign each crew member to any player. On the right side, you can see the ship you will be using on your space adventure. Players can join your game by using a new function Join Game in the main menu or you invite them by using Steam's game overlay. The displayed player name and their avatar are equal to the ones used in your Steam profile.
TCP/IP Layer
The TCP/IP network layer which is used for data transfer is almost done. You can already join another player's lobby, exchange game information with him, etc. I will finalize this layer next week.
Other features
The main focus is on co-op multiplayer, but I am also working on other features!
Multiple savegames
So far, there is only a singleplayer mode in Galactic Crew and you can only have a single savegame. With the co-op multiplayer patch in February comes the option to use up to ten different savegames. This way, you can host multiple multiplayer games or test features in different singleplayer games without overwriting or discarding your old game!
What's next?
My goal for the next week is that hosts can start multiplayer games and all players share the same game information (ship, equipment, rooms, galaxy, money, ...). I also want to adjust the user interface so that players can see who controls which crew member and players should be able to vote for space events.
