TLDR: I am unsure about which of the options would be more fitting for a top-down roguelike shooter.
I am attempting to do something around the likes of Enter the Gungeon, with a few modifications to focus on the multiplayer possibilities. I have been doing some good progress, too. This would fit some sort of party system allowing the players to do a run either with randoms or in private groups. Do note there will be a few other gameplay options but nothing with as much dimension as this.
This is a basically untouched genre on Roblox, and thus I am still trying to figure out the ideal ways to go about some aspects. The one that has been bugging me out the most is the decision between a Menu and a Lobby. It is nice to point out that, for starters, we want to have such stuff as a news tab, in-game shop and build customization.
Now, most games within Roblox usually host a lobby. Any dungeon crawlers within the platform that you may think of usually do. In regards to this option, there are two factors that worry me. Firstly, my game is entirely top-down. Due to the way I set my camera up, I believe it may be hard to create any sort of socialization within the game as chat bubbles are not visible. Adding to this, I dont know how I would fit all the customization & shop and such stuff I want in a fitting manner.
The other option would be the menu. Today, I was told about the game RB World 4, which has a really awesome menu. As much as I love it, it makes me wonder… This is very uncommon to see in the platform. This being said, I am worried about the possible impact it has on the game’s community. What should I expect from doing something like this?
I would like to know your thoughts in this matter. Thanks for reading!
Since the game is top-down, I feel like the this menu/lobby should be as well. (where the camera is in this menu) Honestly, I feel like Arsenal’s menu style would work for your game:
Also, the game looks great so far, the gameplay especially. UI could be worked on, and well, the menu. lol.
The RB World 4 menu style could also work. The UI is both good and bad imo. Mostly good, but icons are overused here:
I’d utilize these more:
A lobby could work, but I’d go with a menu. Maybe trying out both to see what you like? I haven’t made many multiplayer games, but that loss of community interaction is probably on-point. If you have a lobby, people gotta have something to do in it. And, most modern games, like League of Legends, have a main menu.
Visually or structure-wise? I usually perceive good menus as those you have something else to do / see overall, just as in this example, where it is actually showing what is going on on the map. If you don’t mean visually, I do not see how I could have this approach on a top-down style? Would love hearing your suggestions on the matter.
Thank you! As you may guess it is a placeholder. It is being worked on!
One approach I liked about RB World is having the menu servers be big, even if they seemingly are only used for single player aspects. While a global chat would probably be unrealistic on a long term (supposing I get any success), perhaps some chat system to interact with the current server would work? Also likely trying to fit some resting points in the game loop could work in its favour… I am not much sold on the chat bubbles given the game is top-down, though. Any ideas?
There is little to it, but there are some things that I think I could fit on the lobby, mainly some NPCs if I would like to include some “lore” aspect. The players would also be able to mess with their build in the lobby, but so could they in the menu… I don’t see many more possibilities in what I could make, though.
I’m also making a shooter game, and you literally use an admin command plugin to reserve a server that friends can join into.
The game currently has a menu to deploy and such.
So, to put it simply, just use admin commands.
In all seriousness, you should include both. I personally find it annoying when having to walk to a certain place in the lobby or finding menus too confusing. I’d like the option to switch between the two.
I have a few ideas for a menu:
Include a tutorial on how to use it.
Don’t use it by default.
I have a few ideas for a lobby:
Allow the player to click to move. Navigation would be way easier.
Allow some sort of chat system.
I have a few ideas for a combination of a lobby and a menu:
When a user clicks on a button in the menu, bring them to that spot in the lobby.
Allow players to disable the feature to have this combination (it might get annoying at times).
As I’ve commonly seen throughout the platform, a menu is more used by power users who already know the community. A lobby is used liked more by those thousands of other people who play Pet Simulator X 10 hours a day on their mom’s iPad.
