Any day is a TTLG coop day! (was: TTLG coop Saturdays)

[Thirith]

Jeshibu's also mentioned Arma 3, which I'd also be up for; I have more missions for A2/Operation Arrowhead, but there are a bunch of things that A3 does better, not least the integration of mods. It's currently 50% off on Steam, so if anyone thinks they'd be up for it, now might be a good time.

Jesh's also mentioned SWAT 4, which with the expansion allows for 8-player coop. I've not played a lot of it, but what I played was great. Again, might be one to check out, though I'm not sure it's legally available. (He's also mentioned some other options at the Steam discussion linked above.)

[Thirith]

Jeshibu's also mentioned Arma 3, which I'd also be up for; I have more missions for A2/Operation Arrowhead, but there are a bunch of things that A3 does better, not least the integration of mods. It's currently 50% off on Steam, so if anyone thinks they'd be up for it, now might be a good time.

Jesh's also mentioned SWAT 4, which with the expansion allows for 8-player coop. I've not played a lot of it, but what I played was great. Again, might be one to check out, though I'm not sure it's legally available. (He's also mentioned some other options at the Steam discussion linked above.)

[PigLick]

I would be up for some Arma 3, providing it plays ok with my ping.

[faetal]

I own Arma3, but fear that my inability to be out of action for more than 30 - 45 minutes without being able to pause may restrict me.

[Thirith]

Quick questions to the TTLG coop crew (and anyone who'd be interested in joining): Which ones of you have SWAT 4 (and possibly the expansion, The Stetchkov Syndicate) and would be interested in adding that to the coop roster? (Sadly, the game seems to be pretty much abandonware at this point and isn't available as a legal digital download.)

Playing it would require something like Tunngle, which I've never used, but apparently it works quite well. I'm not thinking of replacing one of the other games with SWAT 4, but I think it might complement them well.

[henke]

Ok, LISTEN UP! TTLG Coop Saturdays is under NEW MANAGEMENT! That's right baby, I'm running the show now.

Get outta here, Thirith! (I wanted a smiley that shows you to take a hike, but this is the closest we have so bear with me here)

There's gonna be some CHANGES around here.

Oh yes.

This Saturday, we are playing...

DOOM

Date: Saturday, 7 January
Time: 4-6pm UK time

Maybe some deathmatch, maybe some Snapmap co-op maps. And if that turns out to be crap we'll retreat to GTA V.

[Thirith]

*slinks away in defeat*
*plans for henke's overthrow*
*pencils in Saturday's Doomy session of DOOM*

[Malf]

I don't have SWAT 4, but I do have Doom, so I'm well up for some shooty-bang-bang.

[Thirith]

SWAT 4 is well worth getting, for coop as much as for singleplayer, though if I'm not mistaken it's almost impossible to get legally, which sucks.

Anyway, pretty fun session yesterday - thanks for organising it, henke! It ended up being GTA rather than DOOM, for Reasons, but there's still a lot of fun to be had in Los Santos... when it works. I'm still amazed at how some of GTA Online is brilliant while other aspects are mindboggling in their stupidity and incompetence.

Next week it's my turn to look after the kids, so to speak, which means:

Date: Saturday, 14 January 2017
Time: 4-6pm UK time
Game: Arma 2/Operation Arrowhead

Things to note:

• Bring a headset! We are using Teamspeak 3 to communicate in the game.
• While we're not using any compulsory mods, client-side quality-of-life mods like sthud are allowed.
• Anyone's welcome to join, absolute beginners as well as old hands. Since Arma is a bit fickle, perhaps check out the instructions on the Steam group first or send me a PM.

I'll be online a bit before 4pm to set up the server and check who's on Steam. Hoping to see you there![/QUOTE]

I'm hoping that I'll find some missions that are reasonably well balanced, so that we actually stand a chance of winning them!

[Thirith]

Thanks to the gang - henke, Malf, Jeshibu - for a fun session: first an Arma mission, shooting out the terrorist lightbulbs of Feruz Abad, then some DOOM deathmatch (fun, though I suck) and snapmap coop. Not entirely sold on the latter yet, but that may have been down to the lag and the particular maps we played.

[henke]

Here's me, Thirith, Malf (Mungrul), and Jeshibu(iwem.xo) DUKIN' IT OUT



Yes, I just so happened to catch a recording of the one deathmatch that I won. No recordings from the other ones, SORRY! ¬_¬

[Malf]

Right, push off Thirith! Get to the back of the line henke!
It's my turn to steer this jalopy!



This weekend, we shall mostly be playing...

SATELLITE REIGN
Saturday the 21st of January
16:00 to 18:00 UK time

Now, if that turns out to be too longform or boring or laggy or broken for our standard session, I'm also toying with getting original Quake set up for co-op on a Raspberry Pi, probably using custom co-op map packs. That could be awful, but apparently the Pi can cope quite nicely with up to 4 players.

For Quake, I suggest using the Quakespasm client.

I'm also keen to try original Doom with youse lot. For that, I recommend installing zDaemon. It's pretty damn east to set up. Just download and install the client, then drop copies of the Doom I & II WADs into the proper zDaemon folder (I'll clarify this when I'm at home on my PC and not on a Mac at work). There's loads of co-op servers on zDaemon, and it'll download custom WADs as you play, so there's no extraneous downloading from numerous dodgy websites.

If you haven't got Quake or Doom? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Wait, wot?

I would like to provisionally request the use of Thirith's Teamspeak server. I can probably get a Pi up and running a Mumble server, but if the experiment fails, it'd be nice to fall back on. You can get the Mumble client here. Just in case, like.

Games wot I would like to play co-op, but not everyone else has, so let's consider them for the future:
Shadow Warrior 2 for multiwang. I have it on GOG. Apparently I can play with people who have it on Steam, but it's a bit of a pain. If you're on the fence about where to get it, I shall now shamelessly and selfishly tell you to get it on GOG. NO DRM.

Diablo 3. Have I mentioned Diablo 3? It's really quite fun now. Honest. G'wan. DIABLO 3. ALWAYS ONLINE DRM. I'm such a hypocrite.

Saints Row 4. Again, not sure if everyone has this, but I hear it's a hoot in co-op.

Far Cry 3. Because I don't have Far Cry 4. Also, does it even do 4-player co-op?

Now I'm off to try and figure out how to break the Steam group.

[Sulphur]

I'm up for some good ol' co-op this weekend. Satellite Reign, eh? Why not, though I'm pretty sure I've forgotten just about all the controls, mechanics, and whether there's friendly fire (this would probably be bad).

[Sulphur]

By the way, I suckered Jesh into getting Diablo 3 since it was cheap and is, despite everything, ridiculously cathartic. So there's something, though I don't know if cross-platform play is possible for the folks who own it on the consoles.

[henke]

Yes, definitely up for Satellite Reign. DIBS ON THE INFILTRATOR

And I've got zDaemon installed.

As for the rest, don't have SW2 or Diablo 3. Would certainly be up for SR4 co-op. Do have FC3 as well, though I've already played the co-op and it's not that great. FC4 has cool co-op but, alas, it's only 2-player.

[Tony_Tarantula]

Yes, definitely up for Satellite Reign. DIBS ON THE INFILTRATOR

And I've got zDaemon installed.

As for the rest, don't have SW2 or Diablo 3. Would certainly be up for SR4 co-op. Do have FC3 as well, though I've already played the co-op and it's not that great. FC4 has cool co-op but, alas, it's only 2-player.

Magicka has a good 4 player co-op.

A fun 4 player co-op is Magic

[Malf]

Yeah, I've mentioned Magicka before when we've been playing. Those accidental deaths are awesome.

As for dibs on the Infiltrator, go for it
I'm partial to any of the classes myself; I love the Support's slomo, healing and ammo powers, the Hacker of course gets to control a small army through the persuadotron (and drones), and the Soldier gets grenades and BIG guns.

I take it we'd prefer to play from the beginning?

And Jesh has D3?!
JESH! GIMME YER ID!
I've just hit and passed Paragon 600, so I might be a little overpowered, but on the flip side, it means I can level people incredibly quickly.

I don't do the seasonal thing any more though. Got bored levelling from 0 every time.

[Malf]

Okay, some ZDaemon clarification if needed:

Once you've downloaded and installed it, you'll be asked to create an account on login. Don't worry, this doesn't require a complicated registration procedure, just enter your desired name and password and that's it. But I would advise against using a password you use elsewhere.

Once you're in the main interface, you'll see there a menu bar along the top. Go to Settings > General > WAD Directories
This window lets you pick where you want ZDaemon to look for WAD files (and helps you determine where to shove them in the future).
For example, I installed ZDaemon to the root of my C drive, so the default ZDaemon WAD directory is C:\ZDaemon\wads\
You can either add the directory your current Doom I & II WADs are in (ie. E:\Steam\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\base), or copy the WADs from their current locations to the WADs folder in the ZDaemon install location.
As most Doom WADs are comparatively tiny compared to modern game files, I copied mine to the ZDaemon WADs folder, so mine has DOOM.WAD, DOOM2.WAD, PLUTONIA.WAD & TNT.WAD in it.

And that's it! You're ready to rip & tear!

[Thirith]

While I probably won't be around on Saturday, I'd be up for most games, including ones I haven't got yet, provided they're not too expensive. On the whole I prefer the slower, more systematic coop shooters, though; while the DOOM level we played on Saturday probably wasn't the best example to begin with, I think that the sheer speed of the game doesn't lend itself to great coop, or at least it doesn't deliver what I like best in coop. It also doesn't allow for the sheer fooling around you have in open-world coop such as GTA. Still, happy to give almost anything a try.

[henke]

while the DOOM level we played on Saturday probably wasn't the best example to begin with, I think that the sheer speed of the game doesn't lend itself to great coop

It's not so much the speed as just the fact that no cooperation is required to play it, which inevitably leads to everyone is just running around doing their own thing.

[Malf]

I was thinking about that actually. Have any of you lot got the original Guild Wars?
While the second game is basically just an MMO, the first game is a completely co-op experience, requiring players perform dedicated roles in order to succeed.
Might be nice to go back and play through the original campaign with some new characters. AND NO AI HEROES. Heroes, while convenient, completely killed the co-op spirit of the game. They performed their roles so well, you could happily play the entire game without help from another human player.

[Thirith]

That's exactly it, though I think that it's linked to speed (though I don't know whether the one is a cause or a result of the other). When we played that coop snapmap, there was zero need or benefit to cooperating. Our best laid plans in GTA often go hilariously wrong, but we're still playing - and dying - together, and that's what I enjoy best: experiences where playing in coop feels significantly different from playing alone, where it actually makes sense to say that the two of us watch this entrance while the two of you get to higher ground so you can snipe bad guys. I can say without hyperbole that some of the GTA heist missions were among my favourite multiplayer moments, and possibly even favourite gaming moments altogether, exactly because they require some degree of cooperation. (I've not played much Left 4 Dead with actual real people, but I expect those to benefit from actual coop, regardless of the game's relatively high pace.)

[Malf]

Yeah, that's another game that's been mysteriously absent from our sessions. I loved the first game, but was kind of burned out on it when the second came out, so never played much of that. While I don't think I've got the patience for the highest difficulty level any more, I'd happily play on normal with you lot.

And the clutsiness of GTA V? I think that's why Magicka would be a great game to play in these sessions. You're constantly relying on each other, but the magic system is just complicated enough to mean that there'll be the occasional mishap when someone shields you just as you're casting a fireball.

[Thirith]

I'd definitely also be up for L4D (both the first and the second game); will check for the next session I'm in charge of (if you guys'll still let me ) if that's an option. After an hour of Arma, killing some zombies that don't shoot you in the head at a distance of 1km through thick foliage might actually be quite nice.

[henke]

Oh yes, I'd be up for some L4D1 or 2 as well.