Empyrean comes with split screen? Squad link is friends only?

[EmberStar]

I just read an article on MassivelyOP.com which mentioned that the Railjack automatically switches to a split screen mode.  I really hope this is an option, and can be disabled.  The article also mentioned that the Squad Link can only select from Friends, Clan, and Alliance.  This would be a problem for me if I was actually interested in using it, because there's only one person on my Friends list who has played the game within the last year or so.  My Clan is just me, and I'm not in an Alliance.  (I'm honestly not really interested in using it, but that doesn't mean it might not be an issue for someone else.)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the article, and the feature isn't live yet anyway.  But between needing a clan to upgrade the ship, and apparently requiring a full team to operate it... maybe they should just avoid confusion and frustration and simply lock solo players out of the system entirely.  Personally, I'd rather it was like the Trials and had a big sign on it saying "Groups only, solo players not welcome" than be frustrated by something that is technically possible to launch solo but only barely functional.

[IntheCoconut]

DE said it would be possible to play solo, just more challenging. If I remember correctly, you'll use the NPC crewmen to fill in where real teammates would have been. As for the Squad Link, if you are playing solo and have no friends/clanmates, then it is likely that you'll just have to complete the mission without the extra help. They said that you'd still be able to complete the mission even if the support squad fails or doesn't answer.

[Gabbynaru]

...Why would it go split screen? It's not multiple people playing on the same device, it's multiple people playing on multiple devices, each having their own screens. It would be a total waste of screen estate.

Also, pretty sure DE said you can do it solo. Even during the Empyrean showcase, Steve said you could still penetrate the ship by yourself if you don't use Squad Link, it would just be harder. I doubt DE will be insane enough to lock out solo players.

[MacKerris]

Sounds like they're locking out a very large percentage of the population. Odd to say the least.

[Genitive]

The article does mention split screen, but I think it is in the context of how players can work together to operate the ship, rather than an actual split screen.

[so_many_watermelons]

4 minutes ago, Gabbynaru said:

...Why would it go split screen? It's not multiple people playing on the same device, it's multiple people playing on multiple devices, each having their own screens. It would be a total waste of screen estate.

Probably something more akin to Portal 2's mechanic where you can view your partner's screen to see what they're up to?

[Aldrr]

I have a feeling they just saw footage of tennocon and were like "yep, split-screen is also part of it!"

Plot twist: that was just tennocon shenanigans to better showcase the demo from multiple points of view.

But if DE did / will confirm split-screen, I'll tip my hat and concede.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Aldrr

[Gabbynaru]

5 minutes ago, so_many_watermelons said:

Probably something more akin to Portal 2's mechanic where you can view your partner's screen to see what they're up to?

I've not played or watched Portal 2 co-op, so I can't tell how that is like, but it still sounds like a waste of screen space, that I'd personally want to turn off. Not to mention that would also be a performance hit, and DE isn't quite fond of letting people with rotting potatoes suffer.

[so_many_watermelons]

Just now, Gabbynaru said:

I've not played or watched Portal 2 co-op, so I can't tell how that is like, but it still sounds like a waste of screen space, that I'd personally want to turn off. Not to mention that would also be a performance hit, and DE isn't quite fond of letting people with rotting potatoes suffer.

You press tab, you get a small view of your partner's view in the corner of your screen, you can toggle it on and off. Doesn't necessarily have to be a performance sink, since we all know DE's a stickler for trying to optimize as best as they can. Loot and HUD elements don't have to draw.

Considering they want to encourage splitting up to perform multiple objectives simultaneously in Empyrean, I don't see why this wouldn't be a welcomed addition, though considering how they want to simplify even PC controls for the sake of controllers, I wonder how that would be bound.

There definitely were at least different camera angles, since in the stream, Reb regularly shifted her view to the port side wing.

[Kylo.]

It's not gonna be split screen. They showed it in split screen at tennocon for us to be able to see all angles.

[(PSN)Elvenbane]

33 minutes ago, EmberStar said:

The article also mentioned that the Squad Link can only select from Friends, Clan, and Alliance.

What Steve actually says is that friends, clan, and alliance members are on a prioritized list...he did not specifically say only these folks can be linked; I'd imagine if no friends/clannies have a beacon out it will choose anyone else that does. Need a lot more information on this, right now I don't see how it's anything to be excited about...

About 29 minutes in...

 

[(XBOX)GearsMatrix301]

Omfg, did MassivelyOP really think that that display thing where they highlighted all the other players different perspectives was a split screen mode? That’s hilarious!

Edited July 10, 2019 by (XB1)GearsMatrix301

[Umquaptovis]

The article had a misunderstanding, squad link prioitises filriends>clan>alliance >public.

There is no split screen as none of the players screens were but the presentation shows all players actions at the same time showing that while they jumped from ship to ship they could act on their own and that's quite a feet as far as I am concerned. 

[EmberStar]

52 minutes ago, so_many_watermelons said:

Considering they want to encourage splitting up to perform multiple objectives simultaneously in Empyrean, I don't see why this wouldn't be a welcomed addition, though considering how they want to simplify even PC controls for the sake of controllers, I wonder how that would be bound.

I'm sure for some people it will be a welcome addition.  For me, it's a massive waste of screen real estate and a huge distraction I neither want, need, or have any use for.

15 minutes ago, Umquaptovis said:

The article had a misunderstanding, squad link prioitises filriends>clan>alliance >public.

From the comments section of the article:

Quote

MJ Guthrie

No, when I spoke with devs in interviews they both specifically said it was now only for friends and clanmates. And alliance =D. I think I did miss that — will add!

Which is why I'm not convinced the author was mistaken about the split screen aspect.  They were present at Tennocon and had much closer access to the devs.  (No clue if there was an individual interview or just one big group session with the Game Journalists.)

[BloodKitten]

42 minutes ago, (XB1)GearsMatrix301 said:

Omfg, did MassivelyOP really think that that display thing where they highlighted all the other players different perspectives was a split screen mode? That’s hilarious!

urinalists at thier finest, i dont trust any "gaming news site" cause all of them are full with SJW or just find dumb reasons a game is offensive or that a game is not taking a political stand.

Edited July 10, 2019 by BloodKitten

[Mr.ToastForPresident]

nice of you to actually link the article to let us know what youre talking about.

for everyone else: https://massivelyop.com/2019/07/10/tennocon-2019-a-longer-look-at-space-ships-and-squads-in-empyrean-warframes-not-an-expansion/

quotes form the article: " During the adventure, your screen actually splits, letting you see the actions of the other players in your squad, be they at a ship station, flying out in space, or on the other ship. Those on the away mission can also get special support from the railjack pilot, including massive strikes. When boarding a working enemy ship, one of the squad can take over control of the ship and use it to fight other enemies alongside you! Be sure to self-destruct it before you leave though. And remember — if you can board them, they can board you! If the railjack is destroyed, the mission fails and players are transported back to drydock to try again or move on to other things. "

and

"One note: I loved the split-screen ability that allows players to be a part of the different aspects of the mission, but even more I appreciated how the devs found a way to prevent the turning and flipping of the ship from affecting the views of the other players. Squadmates will stay upright in their stations and not get space sick from spinning all about. "

These are the quotes most aligned  to what OP is saying. I think the article is just poorly worded, as splitscreen implies you seeing allies screen, but in this case, its the screen showing the map or something along the lines of that. Or the article writer thinks that we the player can actually see whats happening on whats going on with other players screen, which in that case, the writer is actually dumb. No, you wont be able to see whats happening on other players screen, its just a demo. PLus, i dont think anyone's computer can handle what is essentially 3 games running at once.

[Marvelous_A]

I surely hope this squad link thing is viable with random too. 

[Orblit]

Article seems click bait like most articles are.

[(PSN)Lollybomb]

Friends/clanmates/alliance only with no option for public squadlink would be a terrible idea.  I have friends, yes, I have a clan, yes, however there is 100% overlap in those groups, and there's only enough of us to fill one squad.  I don't even know what the point of alliances is since the solar rail system has been shelved.  I understand being able to ignore squadlink and just power through yourself, but that shouldn't be forced just because I don't want to join my clan to an alliance that will probably dictate how we conduct ourselves.  This isn't like "just go to recruit if you want people for [activity that doesn't have matchmaking] if you don't want to do it solo."

[Methanoid]

Splitscreen was just their way to showcase the full team at play at the same time so you know they are actually in the same mission and not just 3 separate rolling demos.  Native splitscreen is not a thing, it can be done by running more than 1 warframe instance at the same time but unlike games like borderlands2 which can handle multi instance processes running with full control via external help, warframe cannot.

When running more than 1 warframe you can only control the in focus window, the rest cannot be controlled so you cannot play with someone else, you can force keyboard control to an inactive window via AutoHotkey but the kick in the face issue is that controller support cannot be directed to that inactive window, this means you can run several warframes but can only control 1 at a time and cycle between them, handy if you are bored and run a low MR challenge account.

The only other option available for 2 or more people to use 1 powerful PC to play multiuser is to use multiseat software such as BeTwin or ASTER which requires more work to work properly.

[EmberStar]

36 minutes ago, Methanoid said:

Splitscreen was just their way to showcase the full team at play at the same time so you know they are actually in the same mission and not just 3 separate rolling demos.  Native splitscreen is not a thing, it can be done by running more than 1 warframe instance at the same time but unlike games like borderlands2 which can handle multi instance processes running with full control via external help, warframe cannot.

*clip*

The only other option available for 2 or more people to use 1 powerful PC to play multiuser is to use multiseat software such as BeTwin or ASTER which requires more work to work properly.

I think there might be a misunderstanding of my possible misunderstanding of how this works?  I didn't see anything in the article to say that it was multiple users playing on the same PC at the same time.  But that it displayed like they did for the show, with you getting a splitscreen view of what the other players in your team were doing on *their* computers.  And they see what you're seeing.

Hopefully I'm just misunderstanding the article, or the author misunderstood that aspect of the demo.

As for why I didn't include a link to the article:  A)  I'm not sure it's allowed, and B) people are accusing the article of clickbaiting without my help "driving traffic" to it.  In other words, I'm doing it wrong either way.  If I don't include a link, I should have included a link.  If I do include a link, I'm shilling for a website that *someone* will think is the worst thing since cannibal Nazi zombies.

[Methanoid]

16 hours ago, EmberStar said:

I think there might be a misunderstanding of my possible misunderstanding of how this works?  I didn't see anything in the article to say that it was multiple users playing on the same PC at the same time.  But that it displayed like they did for the show, with you getting a splitscreen view of what the other players in your team were doing on *their* computers.  And they see what you're seeing.

Hopefully I'm just misunderstanding the article, or the author misunderstood that aspect of the demo.

As for why I didn't include a link to the article:  A)  I'm not sure it's allowed, and B) people are accusing the article of clickbaiting without my help "driving traffic" to it.  In other words, I'm doing it wrong either way.  If I don't include a link, I should have included a link.  If I do include a link, I'm shilling for a website that *someone* will think is the worst thing since cannibal Nazi zombies.

Yeah, i assumed the original poster was after said feature and simply lid out all the possibilities and setbacks involved, i did start off with the fact DE just showcased all the views via their broadcasted splitscreen, probably worded it wrong or not fully accurate but thats what i meant, then simply threw out the other alternatives had the OP actually wanted that kind of thing.