Co OPERATION: MultiTurn News

We did an initial test of the Co OPERATION demo and got some great feedback for how we can improve the game. We’ve been working away to fix those issues and are now gearing up towards a second demo play test! 🎉

What did we find?

The main issues we found were with players connecting and disconnecting to the game - we need to work on a way for players to rejoin a game easily if they drop out for any reason.

There were lots of fun bugs 🐛! There were a few patients spawning where they are not supposed to 😅 And at one stage, one player threw medicine to another, who threw a patient to them and the patient then disappeared! 💨

We also realised that nowhere have we included the backstory, so Josh has been working on that and come up with this!



Josh’s progression from sketch to finished comic strip


New action buttons
We found that some of the action buttons that players use to programme their moves were a little confusing so Josh gave them a makeover! Even though Josh usually sticks to 2D art, we all thought the 3D effect on the arrow looked cosier and squidgier so we went with that. We want our game to be cosy and squidgy so it fits 🧸

Here’s an example of some of the spruced-up button art.



Action buttons for throw and moving in one direction


Modding
Our modding tools are really coming along ⚒️ with lots of exciting new features from co-founder and programmer Rupert that make it easier to write and test your custom Lua scripts. This includes the ability to control players and run scripts in our level viewer! Joe (fellow programmer) added some new UI that visualises & lets you change the current game phase 💫

As you can see in this video, the Lua scripts in our Co OPERATION game package mean that changing the phase can cause new patients to spawn and health to reduce ❣️ But change a few lines of mod code and something entirely different could happen . . .

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Clipboards
How do you know what medicine to give your patients? We now have some handy clipboards which show you 😊



Design a poster
Last month we ran a poster design event. We asked our Discord community for ideas for posters that could feature on the walls of our in-game hospital world. We had some great ideas and Josh has turned them into these!



The first idea came from James and the second from JFarceur (apparently this angry parrot is a thing in Canada) - thanks to both of them!


Then Shaz added them into the game world and they turned out looking like this! 👇




Universities
We’ve been working with three different universities 🎓 to help test the modding abilities of the platform we’ve developed called MultiTurn!

We have students from Plymouth Uni who are working on a new mod of the game as we speak. Shaz has been working with students from Norwich who are also testing the modding code. And a researcher from Basel wants her students to evaluate Co OPERATION from the point of view of self-determination theory, or what really motivates people to play a game 🥕

We are really looking forward to seeing what these students come up with. Shaz (game/level designer) is especially excited to play a mod so he can play new content internally with the team (that he didn’t design!)

If you want to also be an early stage modder and/or play the next demo (due to be out in Dec some time?) then you can join our Discord.







An amazing co-operative throw-chain!


See you soon,
Shaz, Julia and the MFG team

The demo of Co OPERATION: MultiTurn will be playable in the next few days!! Eeep! 😲

Join our Discord to be part of the first live playtest of the demo!



The Mind Feast Games team of Shaz, Rupert, Josh, Kaitlin, Joe and Julia have been busy over the last month getting the game ready to be tested!

There’s too much loneliness in the world and we want to bring people together with this game 🫂 It’s multiplayer in a similar way to Jackbox and uses your phone as the controller 📲 to make it more accessible. Only one person needs to have the game installed and they can then stream it to others who’ll get a room code.

Think Jackbox BUT crossed with Overcooked and with little sprinkle of turn-based strategy too. Co OPERATION is a game where the fun comes from collaborating and winning together 🤜🏾🤛🏻

Also…

⚒️ Modding! Yes, you can also mod the game! You wanna put cats everywhere? You can! Joe and Rupert have added Lua code that you can change. Also, we use the same level editing system that you will (if you make levels).

So, what can you expect from the playtest? 👀

🤸 Amazing animations. Josh has been adding carry and bump animations to all the characters.


Tamira the athlete bumping into something - notice how her expression changes too!



Juggler Ethan with his wobbly nose!


We want the patients to look sick but not too sick, so Josh animated one of them like this ⬇️


Patient Grace with her intermittent cough 🗣️


Having the 2D animated players in a level really makes the game come alive, they are so nice and bouncy 🦘


Players waiting for their actions 🤸


✨ Incredible UI. How are you going to know when a patient is nearly a goner? Joe’s added some handy hearts to show you.


Hearts will go down after each turn - can you figure out how to cure each patient before they go down to zero ❤️?



Patients are usually super happy once they’ve been cured! Here’s patient Ed Banger rocking-out after being cured by the team! 🤘


🗺️ Lovely levels. Shaz has been pulling everything together to create 9 levels for 2, 3 and 4 players.


How Level 6 is looking in 4 player mode


Like the look of all this and want to be one of the first to play the demo? Join our Discord*!

(*We also have regular events on our Discord! Live games, chats with other indies, longer drop in, drop out games and creative events such as design-a-poster for the in-game world!)

See you soon,
Shaz, Julia and the MFG team

What’s the story behind the game? Well, running hospitals is expensive. A clever bean in central government decided that tearing up requirements for medical qualifications would help. So… volunteers are now welcome in hospitals! 🤷 You decide to enrol and help your local hospital. You can be one of four characters whose specialist skills are throwing and catching; Jason the American footballer 🏈, Prisha the pizza chef 👩‍🍳, Ethan the juggler 🤹 or Tamira the javelin athlete 🏃‍♀️

Josh and Kaitlin, our two artists, have been working hard on these 2D characters and the 3D objects that you’ll have to navigate in the game.



This is Prisha the chef 👩‍🍳 getting a patient to a bed in the fastest way possible!



And a water cooler that is looking a bit the worse for wear . . . is that a fish inside it?! 😳

Josh even managed to teach himself animation so the characters can do this now:



Ethan the juggler idling, running and throwing 🤹

Shaz has been weaving together the 2D characters, 3D objects and hospital world to create some fun levels - here’s how level one in two-player mode is shaping up:



Tamira the athlete and Jason the American footballer waiting to be given their actions! 💪


Joe and Rupert have been doing stirling work on the code, and the characters are now able to do 4 moves in a row without breaking the game engine 🎉 Joe has also revealed a hidden talent for UI (user interface) design and has created lovely selection screens for levels and characters:

[previewyoutube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsovWtBRq7s [/previewyoutube]


Our Discord has been steadily growing and we have been playing games such as Build-a-body, Emoji Movies and Story Hive 🐝.

Here’s a collage of each mini-chapter we made for “Book 1” of Story Hive. One of our community members created it so we could remember the laughs we had writing it - thanks James!



We also play live games like JackBox once a week which Bronte has been streaming on our Discord so we can all play together.


✨The even more exciting news is that the demo is very nearly ready!! ✨
You can wishlist it on Steam now!


Of course, you can also get in touch with any questions, queries or comments - we’d love to hear from you!

See you soon,
Shaz, Julia and the MFG team

Hello Steam!

We flipped the switch! The page for our game Co OPERATION: MultiTurn is now set to public 🥳



The experience is pure co-op. There's no competition between players, you’re all on the same side trying to heal the patients ❤️‍🩹 There are enough competitive games out there. We want to focus on games that provide a nice sense of togetherness. We feel there’s too much loneliness in the world and gaming can help alleviate some of that, especially if a game is designed for people to feel good while playing together.

Conveniently, only one person needs to have the game installed. Similar to Jackbox, the game controls are on phones 📲 which means you can play and enjoy a game session with your gaming friends and with people who don’t typically play video games. Have a video call with them and screen-share if you want to play remotely.



We’re making this game to help people feel connected socially and emotionally. Here’s how you can get involved with the early demo or the more polished version which will come later:

Wishlist the game on Steam! That way you’ll be the first to know when it's available to purchase and play with your friends and family.

Want to get involved before the demo is out? Join our Discord community! You can chat with the team and the other community members and play games together (we have a weekly live games session as well as longer, asynchronous games that run over several days).

The experience is all about teamwork, communication and fun. We want our development process to reflect that so we’re being very open. The Discord is also where we’ll be sharing our progress and concepts so you can see the game as it develops. We get the community involved in creative decisions for the game and company too - lots to get stuck into!

Want to be one of the first people to play the demo once it's ready? Join our mailing list!

Have any questions? Start a discussion with us on Steam!

If you care about co-op games and like the idea of an inviting and accessible game that you can play with friends, family and partners while still having a gaming experience that feels like it has some depth… get involved 😊 Join us on Discord and/or the Steam forum and be part of turning this thing from a good idea into a great game.



Cheers,
Shaz and the Mind Feast Games team