Big post-jam changes: Online multiplayer! (very alpha)

TLDR: Online multiplayer! Currently no lobby system and very alpha, so you’ll need to know how to open a server port and also expect confusing bugs

The original ‘couch co-op’ Shape Fighter was made in 5 hours for Low Effort Jam 7. Surprisingly, it turns out it’s actually kind of fun! The Rock-paper-scissors mechanic requiring you to think on your toes and possibly switch quickly is kinda neat, and even though the controls are based on some rather silly physics, the motion is pretty fluid (at least to me!)

So, after making and submitting the whole jam version on Monday night, I spent Tuesday/Wednesday evenings rebuilding much of the input and movement system to work as a client/server setup. I also optimized the packet sending to reduce the amount of packets sent from client to server by ~40-85% depending on the player’s input. I then went from needing a dedicated instance to run the server to a host/join system where you can play and host from the same instance. Finally, I added a color selector because it’s cool!

Let me know what you think of this! It came kind of out of nowhere, so I’d like to know if there is interest in me developing it more. Near-future ideas would include:

* Lobby system (possibly using Discord integration?)

* Single player AI experiments

* Experimentation with health instead of insta-death

* Some type of rounds/score system

* Better/more informative errors.

Thanks for playing!