Well, its been a while since I've come here, but I still love the game! :D And I got a new tablet for Christmas, so now I can update PD! Woooo!
I know there was some thought on this, a looong time ago, but I'd like to bring up a thought I had recently, of a way to prehaps make multiplayer possible in PD. I've always wanted to be able to play with my siblings, or a friend, or even just with a random person online.
I guess this is pretty simple overall. While PD is a VERY turn based game, to make it multiplayer, parts of the game need to be relaxed on that front.
So each player would be able to move freely, without regard for how many moves the other had gone. This makes it a little more fast paced, and action based. You can still spend five minutes in your inventory, but it wouldn't be very polite for your partner, or it could be dangerous to let everything go to your enemy.
There are Three Gamemodes: Co-op, VS, and Arena. For Co-op and VS, you can play with a friend or with a stranger.
In Co-op, The players are placed on the first floor. Since two players is pretty powerful, there are more rooms per floor, and Monsters have extra HP. They give an equal amount of experience for each player that hit it at least once. Extra items, more weapons and armor, ect. (There would probably only be two players, but wouldn’t it be fun to have more than two? :D All it would really need is some scaling up)
Travel Mode is the base way of moving. The players can move at any time. Monsters will only move when one of the players is moving.
The part where it becomes turn based again is when an enemy comes into view. I think I might have talked about this long ago, but this version is better
When you spot an enemy, you shift from Travel mode to Battle mode. Every monster in your FOV is switched to Battle Mode as well. Now everything is turn based, just like normal PD.
Monsters and Players are switched into Battle Mode two different ways: When they see an enemy, and when they come within the FOV of an ally that is already in Battle Mode.
So, if you are wandering around, and you encounter a rat, the game becomes turn based for you and that rat, and any other mob or ally that walks into view. It is NOT turn based for your teammate, if he is out of sight. (In fact, if he spots another rat somewhere else, he would have his own seperate turn based battle.) You could attack it, or you could wait for your friend to get back to help you with it. Or you could run. That works too. Its really meant so you can be a team and take down enemies, so monsters will be much harder to defeat on your own.
There is a Chat option, as well, so you can talk to your teammate. Maybe in Immersive mode, when you chat, if you are in each others FOV, it works like normal, but if you are out of their FOV, it switches random letters with “…”, like you are only hearing parts of what they say because they are so far away :D
There is a dew vial for each person.
And that’s kinda it, for Co-op. I’m sure I missed some aspects of this, though. Ask questions and give ideas so we can hash out any details!
There are two Co-op options: Quick Play and Full Game. The Full game is where you start from the beginning and simply play through a game of Pixel Dungeon with a friend.
Quick Play makes each layer have one normal level, filled with loot and monsters, and then the boss level. Much faster and more intense.
VS acts exactly like normal PD. You enter the dungeon, and fight your way down on your own. But somewhere on the first level spawns a special rock, that shimmers and shines. You can Activate this stone to be transported to… a dungeon that looks exactly like yours. You can watch your rival as he walks through the dungeon, fighting monsters and stuff. You appear as a spectral being, that can walk through walls and on air. You are not part of your rivals turn based movement. (So like Travel Mode in Co-op.)
The Spectral transport only lasts for a set number of moves, and then you are sent back to your body. You can also be returned if the other Player walks through you.
The Spectral Stones only work once per floor.
The Stones do not work if your rival is not on the same floor as you.
While In your spectral state, you can’t attack or throw projectiles, but you CAN read scrolls. Some scrolls wont have the same effect (like the Scroll of Psionic Blast. While for you the light from it is as bright as ever, for everything else it seems just as spectral as you are, so it doesn’t do much damage. Mirror Image is pretty useless, as your copies are just as spectral as you are. One of the better scrolls is a Scroll of Rage. Where before, these scrolls were fairly useless or even dangerous if used improperly, you can now use them against your enemy!
When on a Boss floor, the Stone will not work until after you have beaten the boss. Then you can enter the skeletal gate, and instead of moving down a floor, you will find yourself in a new room, with what appears to be a clear wall in the middle, with another skeletal gate on the other end. There are two staircases here, on each side of the room. You cannot travel down the staircase yet, but the Spectral Stone can be used with no limit.
When your rival walks through his own gate, you both Enter Battle mode, the wall disappears, and youfight. The fight lasts until one of you has 1HP, and then neither of you can do any more damage to the other. They run away, and every time you hit them they drop a portion of their gold. (So sort of like the Crazy Thief)
On the next floor, there is always one health potion right near the entrance.
This goes until the final floor, and when you have both beaten Yog. You then both walk through into the Amulet Room… but there are two of you, and only one amulet!
So you fight… to the death!!!!
While Co-op would be harder, VS would have easier enemies, so the players would get to fight more often, instead of dying by monster.
But if you opponent dies, you win. You can continue onward, if you want to, though its not VS anymore.
I feel like a good story could be gained from that, I’m just not sure what to do. Two adventurers, the same goal, alternate universes. Yeah.
The Arena is where you choose on of your heroes from your adventures, and you use it to fight other heroes! You can play Quick Play, Teams, FFA, and Tournament.
Those are pretty self explanatory, hopefully :D For each, you have your chosen hero and the supplies he used to fight (Probably preferably right BEFORE he started to fight the final boss) and you get to use them against other players! A quick match, teams of players working together, everyone fighting to be the last one standing, and an organized match to find a winner.
I imagine that to really get the full use out of different characters and co-op and winnings, you could give yourself a Username, to show who you are to others, and for a leaderboards. Something to tell us all apart :D
Thanks for reading! If you have a question or see something that could be abused or a glitch, mention it! Thats the best way to get this suggestion more refined and organized.