Ideas for Improvements of the Multiplayer Engine

[Molon Labe]

This is something I've been mulling over for months, if not years, by now. And no, I don't really expect SCS to do any of this, at least not anytime soon, but maybe this can be a helpful little nudge in the right direction for SCS or other developers of modern naval sims.

I'm breaking my suggestions up into 3 cumulative levels, with the lower levels requiring the least amount of changes and the higher levels being more ambitious.

Level One

• Save/Load
  • Allow the Host to save an MP mission in progress,
  • Allow Host to load saved missions for MP. This would differ from the current loading of in progress missions in that DW will not immediately load the 3D world, but will instead load the mission into the MP lobby so players can select their platforms.
  • Create an autosave function with the Host controlling the intervals at which the MP mission is automatically saved.
• Connection
  • Allow players to connect to the host and join the mission while it is in progress (Upon logging on, they would select from a list of available platforms that are not occupied or that have unassigned stations).
• Security
  • Prevent the creation of replay and debrief files unless the mission is ended by the host
  • Allow the mission to be "exited" by the host without being "ended" (for purposes of creating the replay and debrief)

This is the "quick fix" level. The main focus of these changes is on addressing the consequences of MP instability. Disconnected players can come back. CTDed missions can be restarted from the last autosave. Preventing the replay from being formed prevents a player from faking a disconnect in order to reveal the location of the enemy. The secondary focus of these changes is to create a very basic version of a persistent combat environment in MP that can be saved at the end of a session and resumed at a later time.

Level Two

• Simulation enhancements
  • Time Compression available; time scale used will be that of the lowest
  • Side Chat only available for platforms which are on the Link (subs must be using their antenna/wire)
  • Exiting the simulation returns a player to the lobby rather than to Debreif/replay; with the simulation still running unless it has actually been Ended by the Host.
  • Multistation: Stations can be reassigned on the fly.
• New Multiplayer Lobby System
  • The simulation will be loaded while players are in the Lobby instead of loading when the host clicks Start.
    • The simulation can be started, paused, or have the time scale adjusted from the lobby the same as can be done inside the 3D world
    • Once the simulation is started for the first time, loadouts may no longer be selected by the players
  • Upon entering the MP lobby, players will be given the option to select a Side rather than select a Platform. Once a side is selected, the player will have the option to choose a playable platform and load the 3D world.
  • Upon selecting a Side, a player will have access to information unique to that Side.
    • 2D map indicating the location of all linked entities
    • Side briefing
    • Friendly platform information
      • Identity and location
      • Current Loadout
      • Damage
      • Platform's Briefing (the briefing as it exists in DW currently)
      • orders (either entered by players in the Lobby as a saved text field or generated by the engine, e.g., the assigned tactic being displayed)
    • Event/Radio Log
  • The Lobby would include separate Side Chat and All Chat windows
  • Platforms can be assigned new Tactics and Formations (existing in the mission editor now) and Ship Stations (will need to be added), and can be ordered to launch aircraft (which can then be assigned tactics as well)
• Security
  • Side selection can only be done logging onto the server; once a player has picked a Side s/he cannot switch to another. (Unless those sides are designated as part of the same alliance in the mission editor?)
  • Password protected Side lobbies restrict access to players logging on after a disconnect.

The enhancements on this level focus on the creation of a persistent battlefield--they create a multiplayer campaign engine. The conflict would take place over the course of several game sessions, starting with the players leaving port and ending when they return displaying the Jolly Roger.

Such a campaign could look like this:
Six players decide to start a new campaign. They choose a mission, designed as a single/MP mission with the existing mission editor, based upon Red Storm Rising. The US side has a certain amount of time in which it must successfully move X number of transports from the US East coast to Europe. X is greater than the number of transports in the Order of Battle at the start, but more transports are spawned at US ports every so often.

They load the scenario and split up into two teams of three. Each side agrees on a password for their Side lobbies and set it. They read their Side briefings and examine the assets that they have to complete the mission. Using side chat, they discuss a strategy. They select the loadouts of the playable platforms based upon that strategy. When they are both ready, start the clock and the simulation begins.

The US side orders their merchants to a French port by assigning them to an FFG's formation and assigning the formation the PIM waypoints tactic with the final waypoint being at the port. They also order their P-3s in Iceland to sonobuoy search the GUIK Gap, order a CSG and its 688I escort into the area. Meanwhile, the Russians are ordering their Northern Fleet assets to deploy and are searching for the US CSG with their Bears (too bad they're not playable)

Having set their tactics, both sides select time compression and advance the clock. When an Akula nears Iceland, Russia exits time compression. Two players enter the Akula and split up the stations, while one remains in the lobby, watching to see if the Bears report any contacts on the 2D map. The Akula launches a LAM strike against the US airbase on Iceland. The destruction of the airbase fires a trigger that sends a radio message to the US playables, and a message noting the destruction of the base appears automatically in the log in the US Side lobby. The US players thus learn about the attack and jump into one or more P-3s that are in the area. They make a guess about where they attack came from and begin dropping buoys. Maybe they find the Akula, maybe they don't.... (OMFG the P-3 is in a scenario and it doesn't automatically pwnz0r everyone because the op area isn't artificially small!!!!111!!!).

The next day, the group gets together for another session and they log back into their respective sides. They adjust any tactics as necessary to account for the developments from the last session. The Russian Bears have located the US CSG, so the Russians order two Akulas to intercept it and steer their surface fleet in that direction. Russian players jump into the Akulas and decide to attack the CSG, targeting the AEGIS escorts. Meanwhile, US players are manning various subs or FFGs in the area (no P-3s this time because the base nearest to the front lines is no longer operational). Both sides set time compression as they watch their sensors for a contact. As the Akulas close with the CSG, a US player in the 688I detects them and sets 1x time. The Russians now know something is about to happen because of that, and they probably guess that it means their subs have been detected (or maybe the Americans are about to launch an attack of their own somewhere else), but neither side complains because they know how much it would have sucked if they had to watch their sonar screens for hours. The other US players jump into an FFG in the formation and an MH-60, and they fight for an hour or two....

The next session begins with SOSUS reporting that Russian subs have slipped through the Gap (approach trigger set up in mission design), and US players now move to control ASW assets in the North Atlantic to defend those convoys.... The balance here largely depends on the results of the previous battles. How many Akulas do the Russians have left to attack with? Is the US CSG still afloat, sending F/A-18s on CAP to keep the Bears from finding the convoys?

And so on, until enough convoys arrive in France or until time runs out.


Level Three

• Multiplayer lobbies are replaced by a command-level simulation interface
• All AI platforms and playables not under direct player control are fully commandable from the command level interface.
• A player at the command-level interface may enter a playable platform at any time.
• Integrated voice communication software

You might call this the Grand Unified Naval Simulator. This is essentially no longer DW. It is Fleet Command II, but with DW as a modular component of it. The concept would be to continuously plug in new playable platforms until the simulation essentially "does everything."