multiplayer mod?

[RawCode]

doesn't want to get sued so hes keeping it under wraps.

networking is complicated, if someone able to add multiplayer for RimWorld in reasonable time without source - he probably own corporation similar to microsoft or teach students in MIT.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

Anyway, on topic again,

Multiplayer can be done. Factorio is an indie game (great one at that) that has successfully implemented MP. Although they are still working on it, they made blog posts about the process. One thing why I've spent a lot of time in Factorio is the multiplayer component. When i'm on Skype with friend(s) the chances are >90% that i'm going MP.

See a few here:
http://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-55
http://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-76

As you can read there, that system could very well work with Rimworld! 

As my friend loves these types of games (dwarven fortress etc) we would live to play together in it.
I would implement it like Age of Empires. Co-op within the same team, with a color highlight (just an idea) around the character one of the players has selected. That character is then locked to the player controlling him, until the char is de-selected.

Two colonies within the same 250x250 map could work as well, but I like co-op in the same team. 

If you've actually read the factorio blogs, you'll know they had a really hard time getting rid of de-sync bugs, and had to create specific debugging tools trace them down. Factorio MP was done by their full development team, and took them a couple of months of full-time work. Now that team isn't large, but still.

Now imagine you have no debugger but the actual game. If it doesn't work, at best you get a series of vague errors, at worst you get a CTD or nothing at all. You don't have access to the real low-level code, because you're not the developer - you're just building a mod layer on top.

There's so many issues - communication between clients, dealing with de-syncs, making sure the game is completely deterministic (what happens if the RNG on one client thinks your pawn got hit by a bullet, but the RNG on the other client says he didn't?), and I'm sure many others. Some of these you could add on, some of these you can't, and would require modifying the core.

Sure, it CAN be done. Everything can be done. We could also build a space shuttle and fly to the moon. But it will be HARD. It will probably require an extensive recode of the core, in which case you're likely to get into legal trouble.

Bottom line; the idea has been suggested - there've been modders who said that for various reasons they don't want to do it. Stop harassing them by saying it can be done, as if somehow they're lazy for not attempting it. They know it's theoretically possible, it's just not feasible without being part of Ludeon studios.

If you want this to happen, you should probably lobby with Tynan for MP in the core game. Or, better yet, learn C#, apply for a job/internship at Ludeon, and do it yourself.

[Triblade]

Sorry for posting.... 

If I wanted to harass anyone, I would create another thread. Also, if you don't like the subject, stay away!
You're welcome to positively contribute through, so please do 

Anyway, the thing about the Factorio blogs, I wouldn't post them if I didn't read them. And a shame that you made accusations before asking!
The thing why I posted it is twofold:
1) It IS possible/doable;
2) Because those lessons learned it can be done faster.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

You're missing the point. Factorio's MP was implemented by their development team, and took a significant amount of their resources to do so.

Modding multiplayer without having full access to all the source code and tools used by Ludeon Studios is going to be a fiendishly complex task.

As for harassing, you're probably right, and I'll just stay away. If you want this to go anywhere though, I'll re-emphasize what I said earlier - ask Tynan!

[Hardstyler]

Well, and the Multiplayer for Kerbal-Space-Program was done without rewriting the whole game, it only uses an external Server-Software and a Mod (yes, just something you put into the "Mod-Folder" for Interface-Control/Ingame chat etc.).
And yes, KSP was never designed having Multiplayer back in the day the mod came out first.

I am actually in touch with Darki (creator of the DMP-Mod for KSP) to learn, sadly he has actually very limited time by now (he stopped working on DMP) but the full source is out and i learned quite a bit so far. Since i still have to call myself a "noob", i won't be able to put something out in the near future, but after talking to him and seeing his code I am positiv that a Multiplayer-Mod is very doable, without ever getting into the "legal issues" some guys keep talking about.

Thats the reason i pushed this thread in the first place.

Edit:
Just in befor everybody is stating the obvious ; I am aware that Rimworld and KSP are different games and they do handle thinks differntly.
Nontheless i do believe it's possible to create a very basic multiplayer using external software.
Just like a "server" is handling the save-files (the world with all it's attributes/items etc.) and distributing them to the clients if something get's changed at a set tick-rate (a tile, value of an item-stack, position of a colonist etc.).
Currently the issue is that Rimworld is handling save-files in a simple , yet very ineffective way, since it always saves everything even if nothing has changed at all. Resulting in very big files -> long save/load times rendering it impossible to do Multiplayer that way (currently).
Since changing the way save-games are handled in Rimworld is a thing i am unable to do, that idea won't work currently, but maybe someone got an idea or Tynan might consider it.

Edit 2 : I'd also like to point out that the way DMP works surely does not work with Rimworld, i just like to use it as a point of reference.

[killer117]

Would it be possible (and im just speculating here) but could u hook two laptops/ desktops via lan to a mobile  processor and use that like a server, and with it being a lan connection, u would have no de-sync issues, or at least very few. And the processor could process the multiplayer and sort it between the two computers, sending the same information to both computers. This would remove the mistakes an individual computer might make.

I dunno if this'd work, im just guessing here. But i think its an idea at least

[BranHerz]

Depends what you mean by possible.
Currently there are no multiplayer mods, no plans for multiplayer mods that I know about.

As for is it is possible, never say never, but it would be very hard.

It would not be too difficult to make a multiplayer trading mod, (using something similar to my Stargate mod) so you could send resources / colonists to another colony and when they arrived they were controlled by the player who owns the colony or the AI, but that is a far cry from realtime interaction on their map.

I was actually thinking something like this. I know we have a save game file, which contains all of our resources/colonists/animals etc... but if I could build a small program that did nothing (at least at the beginning) but send these save data files to a server at my house, it would definitely be possible (in my opinion) to get a trading/market mechanism using your stargate mod (which I love BTW).

reply to this thread or PM me if you are interested and maybe we can talk ideas? I don't know how feasible this is (in my mind it is), but it seems a lot more simple than actual multiplayer. Being able to trade resources and set your price would be awesome in my opinion, then you can choose how much you sell your cloth for, and if nobody buys at that rate then you don't profit. We could make a ship/satellite that you send into space (after you research all the space ship stuff) and then with your orbital trade beacon and a new communication hub (or use the vanilla one) you can send your resources to your ship. Once your ship is "in space", anyone else with the mod can communicate with the server (which now has all the "sell-able goods" stored there), and can see the who is offering what goods at what price. That means you can then find a few good reasonable people to trade with, and negotiate prices via PM on the forums or such...

IDK just some thoughts, anyone have any thoughts on modding a MP like this, and not a "true share-the-same-map-and-screen MP"?