PC multiplayer

[Ruptga]

See summary. I know I'd need multiple inputs (gamepads or kb/ms) but what I'm curious about is if I can basically turn my computer into a gaming console. Most of games' fun for me comes from being right next to the other guys so you can laugh when you kill them, or just so you can do something cooperative without resorting to mics and all that.

I realize this probably varies from game to game, if it's possible at all, but in general, can it be done?

edit: specifically for Battlefront II

 

[Thyme]

Sure just depends on the game. Most sports games console ports let you plug in a few gamepads. Emulators usually let you have multiple players, too.

Your best bet for gamepads are console gamepads with converters if needed.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: Thyme
Your best bet for gamepads are console gamepads with converters if needed.

Yeah I'd counted on that. I was actually thinking more along the lines of Battlefront II or maybe a flight sim, I've never cared for sports games. I don't know if Battlefront was PC or console first, I'll have to check

 

[KAZANI]

This works in a football game because the camera is always focused on the ball, in an FPS however, how will the computer know what point of view to display? Even consoles split the screen for multiplayer (racing games for example). For the type of games you want to play, each player has to have his own perspective.

 

[SaltBoy]

I bought two of these for my wife and I to play Lego Star Wars I/II. I personally think they're fantastic. I'm now using them with an N64 emulator and couldn't be happier.

Also, we have my computer hooked up to our HDTV. Widescreen gaming goodness. :thumbsup:

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: KAZANI
This works in a football game because the camera is always focused on the ball, in an FPS however, how will the computer know what point of view to display? Even consoles split the screen for multiplayer (racing games for example). For the type of games you want to play, each player has to have his own perspective.

Exactly, I want to know if games (or some third party something) supports splitscreens. And yeah, I'm asking because I already have a computer, and all monitors are HD, so it's worth looking into for me.

I'm hoping for split screen, but could I run two monitors off one box, one per player? I know my folks have an old CRT or two, one that's never even been taken out of the box, and I've wanted to try dual monitors for a while now.

 

[gorcorps]

To my knowledge there are absolutely no splitscreen PC games.

 

[I4AT]

I'm pretty sure Serious Sam has offline co-op on one PC. I never actually tried it though, so I'm not sure if it's split screen or locked. I know X-Men Legends II and Marvel Ultimate Alliance have offline co-op, that's a locked screen though where all players have to stick together.

The PC is the perfect platform for multiple display and co-op etc. games, it's just that no developers are taking advantage of it.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
To my knowledge there are absolutely no splitscreen PC games.

This is the issue. Otherwise, it just depends if a single instance of the game being run on the PC is coded to accept multiple inputs. Most games are coded to just accept one mouse and one keyboard though.

 

[Farmer]

There are plenty of older PC games that are split screen capable.

I remember the last split screen Need for Speed, for instance, was Need for Speed 4, with all the earlier ones (save NFS1, maybe) having the same capability. One individual would use controls centered around WASD, the other the direction keys.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: Farmer
There are plenty of older PC games that are split screen capable.

I remember the last split screen Need for Speed, for instance, was Need for Speed 4, with all the earlier ones (save NFS1, maybe) having the same capability. One individual would use controls centered around WASD, the other the direction keys.

Yeah I remember doing that back in the day on what was probably a PII

Looks like that settles it then, we'll probably be getting a PS2 within the next several months

 

[CP5670]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
To my knowledge there are absolutely no splitscreen PC games.

I have seen a couple over the years (the Rollcage and Jazz Jackrabbit games), but they're very rare. The Rollcage games are actually a lot of fun to play like this and have many interesting game modes, but they take some work to get running properly on a modern system. I've only gotten them to work right on ATI cards. They seem to run way too fast on Nvidia ones.

 

[KAZANI]

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Originally posted by: KAZANI
This works in a football game because the camera is always focused on the ball, in an FPS however, how will the computer know what point of view to display? Even consoles split the screen for multiplayer (racing games for example). For the type of games you want to play, each player has to have his own perspective.

Exactly, I want to know if games (or some third party something) supports splitscreens. And yeah, I'm asking because I already have a computer, and all monitors are HD, so it's worth looking into for me.

I'm hoping for split screen, but could I run two monitors off one box, one per player? I know my folks have an old CRT or two, one that's never even been taken out of the box, and I've wanted to try dual monitors for a while now.

Ah, I see now. Well, I don't know of any game that supports multiplayer-multimonitor mode. I have tried 2player splitscreen mode on my PC with Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 though. I didn't like I had to concede half of my display area and I found harder to concentrate on my driving, but the sharing of the gaming experience cranked up the fun-o-meter.