Let us imagine for a moment that development budgets did not exist, engine limitations were non-existent, and anything you could dream of was possible. One addition that I would like to see in future Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim games would be multiplayer co-op missions. It comes as no surprise to me that the number of games supporting co-op campaigns and game modes is on the rise. While I get a thrill from playing against other people in multiplayer, often I can be found enjoying a few co-op games with my friends.
Depending on the type of game and genre, co-op does not have to be a specially crafted game mode. In Relic Entertainment’s real-time strategy game Company of Heroes co-op is as simple as starting a multiplayer game, getting your friends to join in, and filling up the slots for opposing players with the AI. While relatively simple, the above method has seen many an enjoyable 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4 game played. After all, why play alone when playing with friends can be much more fun.
While Majesty can be entertaining in Player versus Player (PvP), the lack of any co-op Player versus Enviroment (PvE) missions, or AI controlled Kingdoms in multiplayer, makes it harder to convince friends to buy the Majesty 2. Despite my love for the Majesty series you have to admit that competitive PvP is not it’s strong point compared to other alternative games, such as Starcraft 2 and Dawn of War 2.
While designed to offer a strong competitive PvP scene, Dawn of War 2 is just as much about enticing ‘casual’ players into competitive PvP. These so called ‘casual’ players often do not touch competitive PvP, instead they might play the single-player portion of the game and\or with friends. Much of this often has to do with the time a particular person can dedicate to playing games, you are less likely to dedicate yourself to competitive PvP if you do not have the time to commit yourself.
Ever wondered why people play online against the AI in RTS games? To reiterate what I said earlier, it can be as simple as starting a multiplayer game, getting your friends to join in, and filling up the slots for opposing players with the AI. Not only do you not have to wait for random players to join your game to fill up empty slots but you can customise the AI to suit your ability level. Not to mention, you do not have to feel as guilty about needing to leave halfway through a game if real life comes a calling and there is no save option.
Which leads us on to the topic at heart, what kind of co-op functionality could future Majesty games have? One obvious solution would be to have PvE missions designed for two or more players, something which could easily be done by the host in the original Majesty. Another solution is to have AI controlled kingdoms in PvP multiplayer, allowing players the option to do what is commonly known as ‘Comp Stomping’. A combination of the two would be even better, but realistically one has to keep in mind engine limitations and any other limitations.
Personally I feel that the Majesty series has great potential to provide challenging, fun, and sometimes even ground breaking, co-op PvE missions. Level designers could even attempt to blur the line between PvE and PvP, with missions starting out with co-operation between players and ending in one mad dash to claim victory. An example of how such a mission could work is the original Majesty’s ‘Quest for the Magic Ring’. The player started the mission allied with an AI kingdom until they found and destroyed the ring site, where they then had to bring the ring back to their town while fighting off the previously allied kingdom. The possibilities are endless, restricted only by our creativity and technological limitations.
The Malkael Project 