Forums > MobyGames > Question about Same/Split-Screen Multiplayer
Roedie (5239) on 3/1/2006 9:32 PM · Permalink · Report
The description for the Same/Split-Screen Multiplayer attribute goes like this:
<tt>Miscellaneous Attributes : Same/Split-Screen Multiplayer
Support for multiple players sitting down at the same computer to play a non-turn-based multi-player game. This only applies to "real-time" games, such as action or arcade games.
Same/Split-Screen Multiplayer is part of the Miscellaneous Attributes category.</tt>
My question is, is this attribute only appropriate for games where both players are active at the same time (for example Double Dragon, NBA Live, Mortal Kombat etc), or also for action games in which player two starts playing after player one has died / completed a level? I thought it only applied to the first group of games but I'm not sure, so is the tech-info for Xenon 2 (Amiga & Atari ST versions) correct or incorrect (in Xenon 2 player 2 only starts playing when player 1 has been killed)?
D Michael (222) on 3/1/2006 11:46 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Well in games such as double dragon you don't need a split screen as both players work together against the same foes. Most cooperative games shouldn't require it. Competitive games do (with the exceptions of most sports games), and the drawback to competition is that your opponent can see what you're doing. I cannot stand split screen competitive games.
I think that "same screen" and "split screen" should be entirely different categories.
Roedie (5239) on 3/2/2006 11:17 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start D Michael wrote--]Well in games such as double dragon you don't need a split screen as both players work together against the same foes. Most cooperative games shouldn't require it. Competitive games do (with the exceptions of most sports games), and the drawback to competition is that your opponent can see what you're doing. I cannot stand split screen competitive games.
I think that "same screen" and "split screen" should be entirely different categories. [/Q --end D Michael wrote--]
Your information is correct, but not really an answer to my question. I didn't ask whether or not developers should implement a same-screen or split-screen multiplayer mode for their game based on whether the multiplayer is cooperative or competitive, but wanted to known how to document games with a certain type of multiplayer gameplay in the database. This type of gameplay, where player 2 takes the controls after player 1 has lost a life / completed a level, is sometimes called hotseat multiplayer (for instance California Games' multiplayer mode supported this kind of gameplay ).
Xenon 2 was another game with a hotseat multiplayer mode. The tech-info for the Amiga & Atari ST versions (see link in my previous post) says that the game has same/split-screen multiplayer support. I assumed that this info was incorrect as the two players are not actively playing the game at the same time (even though they use the same monitor to play the game). Can anyone of the approvers tell me if my assumption is correct?
