BTW co-op mode?

[Gilberreke]

Has anyone figured out how to co-op play in groups with BTW? I've heard on IRC that LPers are turning HCS off, because in a co-op LP, having to spend hours to get back to each other ruins the video.

We were discussing having a rule-set where a teleport is allowed under certain circumstances, but that feels so "gamey". Killing yourself to spawn next to the co-op person works too, but in that case, any death becomes TKO and full loss of inventory.

How do you guys handle this, without the obvious "don't die" answer?

[Sarudak]

I turned off HCS on out co-op server.

[Gilberreke]

I turned off HCS on out co-op server.

Yeah, just seems like such a waste of a good feature, but I really can't think of a good way to incorporate HCS within co-op, even if you were able to make some code changes to HCS.

Maybe co-op and HCS just aren't compatible and just turning it off is the right option.

[Kaitocain]

Same as above. However this can lead to you dying 2 feet from your spawn and you getting right back up and getting your stuff back rather quickly, destroying a key balance that HCS creates.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, I would tend to agree with turning it off being the way to go in co-op, which is one of the reasons I've left it optional, despite despising optional features and the tendency of new players to just turn them off by default, ruining a part of their own experience in the process.

Same thing with HC Buckets really. I hate having it optional, but I don't feel it fare to punish players of older worlds by imposing it on them under those circumstances.

It's kinda like DRM in some ways for me: the point at which you start punishing legit players for the sake of stopping the non-legit, is where I tend to draw the line.

[Gilberreke]

Yeah, I would tend to agree with turning it off being the way to go in co-op, which is one of the reasons I've left it optional, despite despising optional features and the tendency of new players to just turn them off by default, ruining a part of their own experience in the process.

Same thing with HC Buckets really. I hate having it optional, but I don't feel it fare to punish players of older worlds by imposing it on them under those circumstances.

I almost made this a suggestion thread, but I kinda figured that there's simply no easy way to fix this issue (and would invariably involve an extra "option" or even "game-mode". It's a shame because of what Kaitochain said, but anything that I could come up with was even worse.

Playing co-op, having one player randomly moved out a few hundred blocks simply isn't fun. Anything that allows you to teleport to that player with inventory just removes the usefulness of HCS too and makes it an annoyance.

The main problem might be that respawning and co-op play are simply not a good match anyway. You just don't feel it in vanilla, because travelling back is not an issue. I remember that we used to abuse the hell out of the teleport command on vanilla servers, because it was so pointless to make that journey.

[ThatOneDude]

I do have HCS turned on on my co-op server. I personally love HCS, as it prevents a lot of things like suiciding and being reckless when it comes to fighting mobs. I do have some players that have complained about it, but I've just told them to suck it up and make a compass when they die :P
And yes, it does get annoying when you die and spend five hours trying to get back to your base, but I'll usually get back eventually ^.^

[BobSlingblade679]

I always have the surviving player dump their inventory in a chest before teleporting. I think its the best option. You keep the fear of death induced by HCS without wrecking the balance of your buddy coming in with an iron pick off the bat, and you still get to play with your friends.

[FlowerChild]

I always have the surviving player dump their inventory in a chest before teleporting. I think its the best option. You keep the fear of death induced by HCS without wrecking the balance of your buddy coming in with an iron pick off the bat, and you still get to play with your friends.

Hmmm...that's interesting. Maybe some kind of co-op link option where if one person dies, you all have the option of joining them. Might be as simple as some way to link a number of people together, so that if they die within a certain amount of time of each other, they respawn at the same place.

In other words, if buddy dies: hurl yourself off a cliff if you want to join him :)

I'll ponder it. There might be something to the above.

EDIT: Might lead to some interesting situations too, like playing co-op with a group of people, and having one that keeps screwing up and dying. Only a matter of time before the others say "screw you buddy...we're not starting over with you" :)

[Ethinolicbob]

What's funny was that I actually started to look into making a hardcore coop mode to play with my friend, until the last lot of releases happened :)
It was essentially the above.
A mechanic where players could link to each other. One dies, the other would become afflicted with loneliness and start to die with perhaps enough time to put their stuff in a chest, then die and join the friend.
I got as far as grabbing MCP and investigating how hardcore spawn works before 4.72 hit, haha.

[magikeh]

I may just be blowing hot air out of my rear end, but something to think about other than a TP to the dead guy is a revive mechanic. What if instead of making the living join the dead, allow the living a chance to resurrect the dead?

[DaveYanakov]

A global hardcore respawn that sent everybody to a certain spot on every cycle would also make anarchy play far more interesting. Multiple people die within ten minutes of the first, instant Most Dangerous Game time where the players attempt to increase their food stores any way possible.

[Gilberreke]

In other words, if buddy dies: hurl yourself off a cliff if you want to join him :)

Haha, "yo bro, I died to a creeper for the seventh time, time to say goodbye to your armor and join me in exile".

I may just be blowing hot air out of my rear end, but something to think about other than a TP to the dead guy is a revive mechanic. What if instead of making the living join the dead, allow the living a chance to resurrect the dead?

We debated this on IRC, but the idea doesn't have merit, because that would make deaths even less than vanilla in 90% of the cases. In co-op, you will probably have friend close to you when you bite it, so the resurrection is always easy. Picking up your items becomes trivial too.

I do have HCS turned on on my co-op server.
And yes, it does get annoying when you die and spend five hours trying to get back to your base, but I'll usually get back eventually ^.^

Sounds like that's not a co-op server, just a friendly server. The distinction is that in co-op, everyone shares a base and usually goes out doing everything together.

[Mason11987]

Shared health bar!

Being able to see at any time the damage your co-op friends are taking would make it obvious they are about to die and you with him.

Imagine you standing at the bottom of a hill with most of your team almost dead and your friend comes running up to the top of the hill to see you woozy because his health bar is almost gone and he takes a quick 4 block drop. Boom, mass death. Thanks Bob!

[eternal8phoenix]

A global hardcore respawn that sent everybody to a certain spot on every cycle would also make anarchy play far more interesting. Multiple people die within ten minutes of the first, instant Most Dangerous Game time where the players attempt to increase their food stores any way possible.

Sounds kinda Hunger games-y. Could be fun, although wouldn't it lead to the problem with people suiciding to try and explore new terrain? I know that was the reason FC made it so that HCS only changes spawn every X time, I forget the exact rule.

[CycloneSP]

Yeah, I'll agree, if there were a way to tie hcs to co-op, that would be great. Cuz multiple times I entertained the thought of co-oping with friends and family, but either didn't or had to turn hcs off simply because having them die and get sent overyonder to never return just kinda ruins the experience of trying to 'tough it out' together. Especially now with hc strat and the inability to get a compass within the first 10-15 minutes. Heck, sometimes, if we had a rocky start with hcs on, I would opt to just restarting the world so that we could be together again.

[Gilberreke]

Someone mentioned on IRC (quite brilliantly) that SFS beacons become way more important in co-op play and actually a huge achievement to strife for.

I also noticed that if you get to jump off a cliff when your partner dies, you could first take the time to grab his inventory, put in a chest with yours and go retrieve your stuff after you both come back, which I think is more than enough to compensate for dying for a friend.

So yeah, depending on how HCS already works, that might be the answer to my original post. I heard someone say that dying together within a minute or so spawns you at the same point. Is that true or nonsense?

[Ozziie]

So yeah, depending on how HCS already works, that might be the answer to my original post. I heard someone say that dying together within a minute or so spawns you at the same point. Is that true or nonsense?

From my experience in the last few days this is not true. A friend and I have died together a couple of times in the early game and we're just using /tp to either location and starting from there.

[Gilberreke]

From my experience in the last few days this is not true. A friend and I have died together a couple of times in the early game and we're just using /tp to either location and starting from there.

I guess that's the best option for now then. /tp is allowed, but only if you clear your inventory first. Makes for a rather good co-op rule-set I'd say. Combined with the fact that this allows you to set up death chests if one person survives and the existence of SFS beacons of course.