Trials Garage #9: Party Mode
Welcome back, Riders! In this issue of Trials Garage, we’re going to focus in on the addition of Party Modes to the Trials series.
Party modes refer to multiplayer modes that can be played locally by players who are together in the same room playing on the same console. These modes are a fairly new addition to the overall series. Trials Evolution was the first game to feature a local multiplayer mode and with it brought a new way people could play Trials. Evo’s local multiplayer, called Supercross, brought the ability for up to 4 players to be able to simultaneously play Trials on tracks with 4 separate lanes, throwing back to older video games where players could enjoy a game together in the same room and sharing the same screen. Something that isn’t as common in modern games. In Evo the local and online multiplayer modes were more or less the same - though more options were on the way.
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When Trials Fusion was released, it featured a local mode basically the same as Evo’s. The biggest difference were the tracks, which could use more physics, animations and use of logic tools due to the power of the new hardware. This allowed Trials Fusion’s Supercross tracks to be a bit more exciting and dynamic. Fusion’s online multiplayer was developed separately and released later to allow us time to overhaul the online mode and tune it specifically for online play. This allowed both online and local modes to be better suited to their audience which isn’t necessarily the same.
The single player career modes (Trials mode and the Skill games) are the favored modes in Trials Fusion but local multiplayer is right behind them as the 3rd most popular mode in the game. Depending on the time of the week, Supercross is played 1.5 to 2x more than online multiplayer. We can clearly see when looking at game stats that Trials is a game that many players enjoy playing with friends. The simple gameplay mechanics and quick match times make it a game that is easy to boot up and enjoy while hanging out with friends or family on a Saturday afternoon.
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Those local multiplayers also tend to play a bit differently when it comes to bike choices. The Panda (quad) and the Unicorn are the two most popular “bikes” chosen in local multiplayer – making up 50% of all bikes chosen (Panda 32%, Unicorn 18%). This suggests that hardcore Trials competition isn’t the main focus for local multiplayers. Fun and humor have always been a part of Trials but it is rarely the main focus. Since local multiplayers appreciate this element of Trials a bit more, party modes create a good opportunity for us to let our crazy side show and try out new and fun ideas.
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Incorporating the party modes has opened great ways for players to enjoy gaming together but we’ve really only scratched the surface with Evo & Fusion’s Supercross mode. We want to continue to find more ways for players who are together in the same room to enjoy Trials. When we think of new ways we could approach local play, it’s ideal to come up with ideas that can use the existing tracks so there will be an ample amount of content to keep players engaged and active. Just as we discussed last time with bikes, being able to reuse tracks ensures we have enough content to support new modes while not taking anything away from the core game.
We’ve discussed where we’ve been and where we’d like to go but, as always in the Trials Garage, we want to hear from you. What are your thoughts on the multiplayer modes? Do you play multiplayer modes? What do you like about them and is there something you think could make them better?
Thanks for swinging by for Party Mode in the Trials Garage! The Garage will be taking a month off in May but we’ll be back in June with more from the Trials Garage. Until then, we’ll see you on the leaderboards.
Trials Garage #9: Party Mode
As mentioned, many of the salient points were covered way back in Trials Garage #2 when multiplayer was discussed and some of us commented on multiplayer more generally. I have played quite a bit of 'Party Mode' as we now seem to be calling it, with friends' kids.
So I'll say a couple of things then quote directly from my previous comments.
Firstly it doesn't surprise nor worry me when you say that Local MP Party is the most popular multiplayer mode, nor that the Panda and Unicorn are most popular choices, because in my experience I see this predominantly as a 'family mode'. After all, you're talking about a mode in which a bunch of folks all gather together round a single PlayStation. These are not the hardcore. They are the non-gamers and the younger children. The Panda and the Unicorn are the easiest vehicles to complete most 'Party' tracks with (and as a bonus the unicorn is easily the most comiical) and it's this that influences their choice more than anything - they make the party more inclusive. As long as Redlynx understands the stats they have pulled from the servers in this context, I don't see an issue there.
I like the idea of co-op and could see a 2 vs 2 multiplayer variant being a lot of fun, though nothing as simplistic as one player on gas, one on lean, as any course that is difficult enough to require finesse on the accelerator and brake will likely prove extremely difficult unless both players are experts. And if no finesse is required on the accelerator, controlling it is not going to be much fun to anyone over the age of 4. The minecart / double-driver mode might be great. Racing tandems anyone?
My number one most-wanted feature for Party mode would be for it to work across the net, on multiple systems. As I say, most of my experience is playing it with my friends' kids and they would propbably play it a lot more if I could play it with them without having to go round to their house. Three on their console, me on mine - that's how it should be.
Something to make the rotation of the bikes look a little clearer when they're quite small on the screen would be nice. Party mode has the camera pulling out further than in other modes and against busy backgrounds it's sometimes harder to land a jump. Maybe some highlights on the wheels would be sufficient.
Dear gods, please let us tinker with the gameplay settings like we can in online (private) multiplayer. Lower gravity, reverse controls, boost for stunts, invisible bikes... All would be brilliant additions to this mode when people are playing for a good laugh.
If online, add tracks direct from Track Central rather than having to go online earlier and add them to favourites. Thinking of Track Central, there's a bit of a flaw with its rating system in that I imagine most Supercross and XSC tracks are being rated up or down by people playing them in single-player mode. Good, fun SC and XSC tracks don't necessarily make great single-player tracks. Rate them separately?
Bike options: optionally force everyone to use the same bike selected by whoever's running the event; force everyone to use the same bike selected at random from a list of those capable of finishing the track (with the option to disable some like the Donkey if they're too much for the little ones); force everyone to use a randomly selected bike from such a list, all players maybe getting different ones. Maybe come up with some clever pre-match sequence in which players battle for choice of bike somehow, with handicaps being given to the players with more points, or perhaps the player in last place can pick the bike to be used by the player in first place...
The ability to create a playlist of tracks in advance so that when you come to play you don't have to spend a minute faffing around selecting tracks from unordered lists. Especially if you add tinkered gameplay settings (gravity, power, etc) to a track when you save it to a playlist.
(Edit: OK, that was a few more than a couple of things....:p)
Now, to go back and cut-and-paste relevant sections from my previous MP comments, possibly with some additional thoughts/edits...
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If you're in a tight race and you crash between the final checkpoint and the finish-line, you automatically DNF with zero points. This is horribly unfair. It also happens very frequently, especially when someone forgets to turn on bailout finishes.:mad:
So if the checkpoint is still on screen, why not put the bike back there? If not, why not rank players by % of checkpoints reached instead of giving them zero?
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Oh and there's one built-in track, Rooftop Runners, where you fall through a vertical finish line and it doesn't always register the player finishing. Very frustrating when you cross the line first but the game gives you a DNF instead.
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There seem to be too many occasions where one player goes out in front, usually on a Panda, and has gone several metres at speed past a checkpoint before the other players are reset to that checkpoint at a standstill. You can easily get into a vicious cycle of one player barrelling through multiple checkpoints knocking out all opponents over and again.
How about pushing the camera viewpoint further back so that the leader is closer to the right-hand edge of the screen; that way they would start to be handicapped, requiring greater reliance on their memory of what comes up next in a level.
And for more of my great insights generally, some of which apply to party mode, I'd point you back to my earlier comment on Garage Update #2.