Dear Dev team,



I am a big fan of all your work so far, in particular of Endless Space. It's easily one of the best 4x turn based strategy game I've ever played. The only major drawback for me, is that there is no hotseat. I love being able to play a turn-based strategy game with friends and/or my wife just sitting on one computer and passing it around. It's a very social way of gaming and although it's maybe not for everybody, I think it's a lost opportunity to not even consider implementing it for ES2.



I am aware that there were previous discussions on the subject (e.g. https://www.games2gether.com/endless-legend/forum/14-multiplayers/thread/5443-best-game-ever-but-unplayable-due-to-no-hotseat , stating e.g. that the first player would have an unfair advantage, but that's for competitive gaming, not if you just want to have fun with friends or family. I also see that if combat works similiar to Endless Space, it's not straight forward to implement for hotseat, but I'm sure this can be overcome with some innovation (e.g. the order in which players can pick strategies are random and a strategy selected is hidden until it is executed).



My view is that by implementing hotseat for ES2, you would open up the game to a wider audience of gamers who like to play with their family and friends and I would be very happy if you would at least consider it.

As much as I'd love options for hotseat or even just traditional turns, I don't have hope for it happening.

I wish I could make the case for hotseat with quantitative data, if the hotseat option influences the purchasing decision. Definetly does for me, many games in my steam library are there exactly because they allow hotseat. And I know that that's the case for many of my friends. Might be interesting to run a survey?

The engine is built for simultaneous turns which (IMO) is necessary to have a 4X that you can actually play in multiplayer....

Probuddha, I agree that simultaneous turns are better for LAN and Internet Multiplayer - but as I said in my first post, I think hotseat would cater to a different group of gamers, who like to play with their families and friends on the same computer. The industry shows that this is not an either or decision: Age of Wonders 3, Heroes of Might and Magic VII and Civilization: Beyond Earth all have both modes, allowing to switch between classical turns (e.g. for hotseat) and simultaneous turns.

But these games, well Civ anyway, dunno about the others, don't have any systems that are built upon simultaneous turns. Because of the way combat, and to a lesser degree trading, works in ES you can't just have traditional turns, since both factions in a fight have to actively choose stuff(Cards, and to a lesser degree formations and targeting).

Sinnaj63, I'm aware, that's why I wrote:

DKachelriess wrote:
if combat works similar to Endless Space, it's not straight forward to implement for hotseat, but I'm sure this can be overcome with some innovation (e.g. the order in which players can pick strategies are random and a strategy selected is hidden until it is executed).

There even used to be split-screen games, where one player uses WASD and the other the Num-Block. Not saying that that's a solution, but I am sure the innovative game designers that can come up with great products like Endless Space and Endless Legends could find a great way to implement hotseat and make it fun (without impacting other multiplayer modes).



I'm only making the argument: it might be worthwhile to think about it.

Simply changing the engine to alternating turns would definitely not work, especially not with instantiated combat. However, given that the GDD describes combat decisions as being made before the battle, a "separate turns, simultaneous execution" system could work, similar to Dominions.



But as much as I'd like an option to play hotseat, and as often as I've "raged" at moments where being a little too fast or slow meant having an important system blockaded or losing a battle, I realize that actually simultaneous turns are the best way of minimizing player downtime.