"It didn't occur to us". That seems to be an altogether straightforward explanation, and from some of my readings in forums and developer’s journals, it seems to be a fairly good explanation.
Let us go deeper into the human motivations and try to dig explanations for the phenomena:
Developers are not really familiar with the concept of cooperation. Given my experience on working close to software developers and engineers in general, I have a feeling that their training includes focusing on 1 problem at a time, and strictly avoiding social contact on all occasions (flame mail for this opinion will be warmly received). Programming, the way we do it these days anyway, seems to be a very lonely affair. I have not seen big companies do their programming, but I suspect that the pattern holds true: every programmer is king of his hill/island, and no-one can take that away from him. The result of this approach is Sid Meir’s example to the gaming industry a great game-maker that is totally incapable of thinking of multiple users.
Speaking of Sid Meirs, let me recall one of my frustrated cooperative experiences: When Alpha Centauri came out, I was visiting my father in-law. A programmer himself, he had greatly enjoyed Civ. I am not to hot on abstract strategy myself, but I thought it was a good way to link up and do stuff together. So, when I got the information about Alpha Centauri being a multiplayer game, I rushed and went for that game, set up the network between a couple of PII (I think) and convinced him to play. Of course, it was turn based, and you know that is. Anyway, we advanced more and more into the game, until it was time to start launching our armies and crush the rest of the factions of the planet (the bad guys). Because I am such an advocate for cooperative games, my father in law and me coordinated our attacks as much as we could, and sure enough we were crushing all those that dared to be on our way. Until the game started misbehaving… Soon enough we couldn’t get back into the game… I was confused, and could not understand what was going on, so I started searching for information, till I tripped on the mine that was waiting for me: Critics were saying that everyone had problems with the multiplayer at advanced stages of the game. CRAP!
The point is: Some programmers can’t think multiplayer. They can think of 1 person playing versus hordes of computer animated enemies and that’s about that.
On the other hand, we have programmers that certainly can: See Quake Arena, or Unreal Tournament made specifically for multiplayer mayhem. Those are the good game developers. And they do realize that too often the players for a 16-32 gamers match just aren’t there. What to do then? GET THE BOTS IN THERE IDIOTS!
Just today playing Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre, I am stuck in several spots in the game thinking: Imagine this bit played cooperatively, it would be greatness! But as I mentioned elsewhere in this blog: Novalogic just can’t get enough AI in its games.
Let me tell you though: muscle can sometime do the job of intelligence, even if it is not as rewarding: successive waves of enemies can do the trick for basic cooperation. Facing enemies coming from all sides does take coordination and gives a very good reason for tight cooperation. And it’s so movie like!
In synthesis, part of the problem or reasons for not including cooperative gameplay into the actual games seems to be that the developers themselves don’t think about it. It doesn’t cross their minds, because programmers have an exclusive relationship with their computers that prevents them from looking at the socializing that can be favored with the software they create.
February 18, 2004
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