What works for single player often doesn't in multi player

[Bob Hanson]

I was going to put this under Future Games but it's really just a general discussion topic for any game so I'm posting here... When playing sim games, my preference is 100% for multi-player. AI just can't match a human owner and I just prefer the interaction with other human players. When designing a game that supports both single and multi player, design considerations must be taken that reflect the differences between the two styles. IMO, a single player game that simply adds the ability for additional human players to participate does not work. Specifically, when dealing with simulation sports games, features that are required to make the game competitive and/or realistic when playing the AI, often get in the way of making the game playable and (most importantly) enjoyable for multiplayer. For example, a game that simulates "Owners" who put constraints on you as a Manager/Coach, works fine in single player as it adds another level of difficulty for you to overcome and simulates what happens in a real league. But in multiplayer, an owner just interferes with providing a level playing field for all participants. In general, I believe that players who join a multiplayer league desire an even playing field where their decisions as a Manager and/or GM are the primary (if not only) factors that effect the success of their team. If one GM has an owner who only gives them 50% of the money compared to another team's GM, the first GM is going to become frustrated and cry "No fair!". Using TPF as a specific example I believe the following features, which work well for a single player simulation, don't work as well in multiplayer: - Multiple owner types - Hiring coaches - City size impacting financial success In my multiplayer TPF league, I set all owners to be the same for all teams. I set the population of all cities to be the same for all teams. I let players "edit" their coaches to match their preferences by submitting their coaching preferences and then manually editing the coaches in game. So, in a nutshell, while single player should primarily focus on simulating reality, multiplayer should primarily focus on providing a level playing field. Thus, if you plan to design a game that supports both single and multi player, make sure that any feature that can conceivably give an unfair advantage to one team compared to another is either made optional or provides an easy mechanism to equalize it across all teams ("set all coaches to good", "set all scouts to average", "set all owner ratings to be equal", etc.).

[Danny]

I agree. OOTP does a great job of this.