Because of their story-driven nature, most games based on comic-book characters center on single-player games, taking your heroes through an epic quest. In Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich, Irrational Games is looking to expand that story-driven nature into the multiplayer areas of the game, as well. In this developer diary, co-designer, Alexx Kay, explains the why and how.



Ever wanted to make your own playable comic books? Don't have any modding skills? Then the new story-based multiplayer mode in Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich might be just the thing for you. It's designed to address the lack of context that is found in many other multiplayer games.

In most multiplayer games, you're fighting against the other player … just "because"; there's no real reason for the conflict. It's the Amazon woman versus the Navy Seal vs. the guy with the chicken head. Story-based multiplayer provides a fictional wrapper for the match -- a reason why these characters are fighting and why the outcome matters to them. You can even create a series of missions that tell a larger story. Anything a comic-book fanboi can create, they can bring to life in story-based multiplayer.

Additionally, story-based multiplayer is a way of presenting interesting, pre-packaged match-ups, which might be better than the fairly random results that come from a more traditional, "each player picks the best possible team they can think of." It's our hope that the Freedom Force community will create and play many different kinds of story-based multiplayer games, and that the best ones will rise to the top. We're shipping a few examples with the game to get people started. In addition, this brief tutorial will explain the process of creating a story-based multiplayer mission, so you can start thinking up ideas today!




Step One: Think of a Good Story

Anything can be the basis for a story. You want to use Freedom Force characters? Got your own creations you want to bring to life? It's up to you. In this case, I was inspired by a pinup by Todd Nauck showing off some of the girls of Freedom Force. Why not make a mission that has one all-female team fighting another?





Step Two: The Game Tab

Here, we type in a name for our game ("Girls' Night Out"), and (optionally) a password. We then select the game mode, which in this case will be standard deathmatch and a map. "Park" is a Patriot City map with a nice piece of parkland in the center that should make an appropriate setting. We then set the game length (for deathmatch, we might as well leave it at the default of 10 minutes) and the number of players.


If we chose one of the game modes that involved teams, we would also type in the names of the teams on this screen. If we chose destruction mode, we could also choose what the target object to destroy (or defend) would be (like the Freedom Fortress or a national monument)