Coop - what to expect?

In today’s devlog, I’d like to share more details about the cooperative gameplay in both the early access version of Survival Machine and the later stages of development. Many of you have been asking about co-op on our Discord (if you haven’t joined yet, we encourage you to do so—there’s a link at the bottom of the page).

I thought this would be a great opportunity to give you a dedicated space to ask questions and leave suggestions. Your feedback has been invaluable during the closed alpha and demo phases, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts on co-op as well.

[h3]The Basics: How Will It Work?[/h3]

In Survival Machine, you can enjoy the game solo, but for those who love playing with friends, we’re designing a cooperative mode for up to four players.

To keep things simple and player-driven, we’re using a peer-to-peer system instead of external servers. This means the host’s computer will manage the session.

Key Detail: At this time, we’re not planning to allow random matchmaking with strangers. You won’t be able to search for games with open slots and join them. Instead, we believe Survival Machine works best with an invite system, where players can choose who they want to play with.

To start a co-op session, you’ll invite your friends via our lobby—easy! The host generates a unique code in the game and shares it with their friends to join.

[h3]Saving the Game[/h3]

Each player in a session can save progress using the book located on the Machine. However, the save file is only stored on the host’s Machine. This means that if you wrap up a session and want to return later, only the host can load the saved world.

[h3]What Makes you stand out?[/h3]
Personalization! When joining a game, players can select one of several pre-designed characters, available in both male and female options. We’re working hard to offer a wide variety of distinctive designs so everyone can feel at home in their survival avatar.

[h3]Task Sharing[/h3]

In Survival Machine, players share one overarching goal: to reach the last bastion of humanity in a world overrun by zombies. But how you accomplish that is entirely up to you.

While completing story quests is a central part of the game, you’ll also need to manage tasks like maintaining the Machine, exploring, crafting, and gathering resources.


We’re leaving these decisions in your hands. You can choose to split tasks among your team or tackle everything together. For example, if one player loves crafting and another prefers tackling challenges at points of interest, that’s fine—there’s something for everyone!


[h3]Balancing the Game[/h3]
Balancing has been one of our main challenges. We want you to feel appropriately challenged, whether playing solo or with up to three friends. Based on your feedback from the demo, we know solo play can feel a bit overwhelming. Here’s how we’re addressing it:

Solo Play Adjustments:

• Fewer zombies to fight.
  
• Nighttime attacks will be less intense.
  
• Operating the Machine will require less fuel to move and power workstations.

Co-op Adjustments:

• The game will adapt to the combined levels of all players rather than matching the highest-level player.

[h3]Inventory[/h3]
Each player will have their own personal inventory for items like melee weapons, shields, resources, tools, and powerful black powder firearms.

On the Machine, you’ll have shared storage. If you run out of space, you can build additional barrels or shelves to expand storage capacity. The shared inventory ensures everyone in the team has access to resources. Pretty neat, right?


That's all for today! We hope you have an amazing time with our co-op mode! If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section here on Steam. For those interested, join us on Discord! See you there! 👋
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