Playstation 5 splitscreen Co-op

[Daystar26]

I'm sure I'm not the only person begging that the new console version has split screen Co-op. My wife and I have 1000s of hrs combined playing on the PS4 version and are praying that it will also come the the PS5. Please, please, please add splitscreen. I don't care if the graphics have to be lowered a bit to achieve it. But seriously can we get splitscreen co-op? I want to game with my wife and kids again on the new version. We can't be the only people out here that desperately need this feature.

[SylenThunder]

With the focus on making the next console version cross-platform play compatible, I get the feeling that this won't happen. It will basically need to match the PC versions 1:1.

 

I do hope that it does happen though, as this was basically the only way I played on my PS4. 

[Daystar26]

Yeah. Us too. We don't have very good internet where we live and it was a great couch co-op. One of the only games my wife would play with me. She loved the farming/harvesting part (would get up @3am just to do that). But also had a blast exploring with me and being my pack mule.

[Jugginator]

I have fond memories of doing splitscreen with my friend quite a bit back, when it wasn't crashing lol. Not saying it is or isn't on the table, but will say it would be near impossible because the hardware on the ps5 and xbox is just barely enough to run the game as is. Graphics aren't too much of an issue, mostly it's the CPU/RAM that are lacking there.

[skybexerr]

I'm praying they had split screen, the amount of hours me and my partner drank beers and played this till stupid o'clock will never leave me. Some of the best gaming times of my life. I'm very doubtful it will happen.. but one can dream 

[alanjd93]

I'm anxiously awaiting the answer to this as well... Been playing split screen on PS4 with my wife on and off for years. Recently got back into it heavy when she went in for surgery and was laid up on the couch for a whole weekend... ended up playing until 7AM one night. I haven't been sucked in to a video game like that in a long time, felt like I was a damn teenager again! Even at alpha 15 the game still holds up, it's just the knowledge of all the cool post-console updates and polish that leaves me wanting more.

It's been disappointing to hear most people say that it won't happen because of cross-platform compatibility. Games like Minecraft have been doing it for years. I'm sure 7 Days is more complex, but especially if it's going to be on the current gen consoles I would imagine it would be very doable (I will admit I am not a game dev and know nothing about the field). I honestly play this game exclusively split screen so maybe I'm in the minority, but I would buy a PS5 or Series X in a heartbeat to play the updated version of this game. I'd have to pass if it came down to having to buy two different consoles and games in order for my wife and I to play. Online play is great, cross-platform is even better, but there's something magical about couch co-op that seems to have gone by the wayside... Please Fun Pimps, You have the ability to prove that it's still alive and well!

[meganoth]

21 hours ago, alanjd93 said:

Games like Minecraft have been doing it for years. I'm sure 7 Days is more complex, but especially if it's going to be on the current gen consoles I would imagine it would be very doable

 

This is like saying "A Cesna fit into this hangar for years. I'm sure a Boing 737 is bigger, but especially with us unhinging the doors to make more space I would imagine it would fit." 😉

 

I am highly exaggerating here. But my point is you can't really get such information from this comparison. If you found a similar game to 7D2D that is bigger instead of smaller then you could draw conclusions or make estimations about what features should be possible in 7D2D.

 

 

Edited February 26 by meganoth (see edit history)

[retrogamingdev]

I don't want to be a nay-sayer, but my guess is if the PC build doesn't support it - it is unlikely that the console version would. I could be wrong and I hope I am wrong. 

[Daystar26]

@retrogamingdev I think it would be almost impossible to do split-screen co-op on a Pc anyway 🤔  unless you have a 2 keyboards and mice setup? Is that even possible? Could also use 2 controllers but again a Pc screen (in most cases) isnt a 60in TV screen. We will just have to wait and see. It may not come with that feature when it releases but it could be something they add later.

[retrogamingdev]

48 minutes ago, Daystar26 said:

@retrogamingdev I think it would be almost impossible to do split-screen co-op on a Pc anyway 🤔  unless you have a 2 keyboards and mice setup? Is that even possible? Could also use 2 controllers but again a Pc screen (in most cases) isnt a 60in TV screen. We will just have to wait and see. It may not come with that feature when it releases but it could be something they add later.

 

There isn't any reason it couldn't function the same - player 2 just uses a controller, same as a console player would. And yeah - TV screens typically bigger, but I could see it on my PC with a 32" monitor. I sit close to it since it is a desk. 

[alanjd93]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:36 AM, meganoth said:

This is like saying "A Cesna fit into this hangar for years. I'm sure a Boing 737 is bigger, but especially with us unhinging the doors to make more space I would imagine it would fit." 😉

 

I am highly exaggerating here. But my point is you can't really get such information from this comparison. If you found a similar game to 7D2D that is bigger instead of smaller then you could draw conclusions or make estimations about what features should be possible in 7D2D.

Fair enough... in hindsight Minecraft probably wasn't the best comparison on my part, and I will say once again, I am not a game developer by any means😅 Even if exaggerated, the example was a good one and you have a solid point.

 

Here's a counterpoint though...

 

Yes, a Boeing 737 is bigger than a Cesna, and would require a much bigger hangar. I understand the game has come a long way since the initial console release, but I would imagine so have the consoles themselves. So unless the differences between the PS5/Xbox X and the previous generation consoles are strictly aesthetic, the "hangars" HAVE gotten bigger. 

 

I won't pretend to know more than I do about game development, it's well out of my wheelhouse. I would also never want to downplay or minimize anyone's hard work on any game. I've played many that are absolute works of art and I'm sure a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone in to making them. With that said, I just have a hard time believing that the only reason game developers have gone away from couch co-op is because it would be too difficult, or too taxing on the console. I think the more likely reason is why sell one game and console when you can sell two?

[meganoth]

11 hours ago, alanjd93 said:

Fair enough... in hindsight Minecraft probably wasn't the best comparison on my part, and I will say once again, I am not a game developer by any means😅 Even if exaggerated, the example was a good one and you have a solid point.

 

Here's a counterpoint though...

 

Yes, a Boeing 737 is bigger than a Cesna, and would require a much bigger hangar. I understand the game has come a long way since the initial console release, but I would imagine so have the consoles themselves. So unless the differences between the PS5/Xbox X and the previous generation consoles are strictly aesthetic, the "hangars" HAVE gotten bigger. 

 

I won't pretend to know more than I do about game development, it's well out of my wheelhouse. I would also never want to downplay or minimize anyone's hard work on any game. I've played many that are absolute works of art and I'm sure a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone in to making them. With that said, I just have a hard time believing that the only reason game developers have gone away from couch co-op is because it would be too difficult, or too taxing on the console. I think the more likely reason is why sell one game and console when you can sell two?

 

I wasn't disputing your main point, just arguing that the comparison doesn't allow for any conclusion about the feasability. Minecraft is a smaller game, the old 7days is a smaller game than the current alpha, so even though the platform did grow so did the game. It is easily imaginable that the games demands grew more than the platform.  I had to buy a new PC in the time of A17 to play the game. Or just compare the graphics of the old console game with the current alpha to get a small indication of its growth. The Boing 737 has become a 747 😉

 

I don't have any inside information, but Jugginator above is in QA and he has. And he says that RAM and CPU are the main problems porting the game to console. Now remember that in consoles the memory is shared between CPU and GPU, just like in many laptops. That means a sizable part of main memory is not available to the CPU.

 

Now adding a split screen mode would surely increase memory usage as the second player would need his state and the world data of the surrounding area in memory as well. So if they hardly can fit the game into consoles at the moment then how likely is it that they would add a major feature that eats more memory this late in development?

 

I am not saying your theory is necessarily wrong. I am only saying that the reasons they gave seem plausible to someone with knowledge of PC hardware.

 

Edited March 26 by meganoth (see edit history)

[SylenThunder]

Roland confirmed in the same thread over on the Steam forum that split screen would not be coming to the new version for consoles.

 

Quote

Just so everyone is aware, the new console edition will not have split-screen. The PC and console versions will be identical. They assessed the performance demands for doing split screen and there is no way the console edition could be equivalent to the PC version AND run split screen. It was just way beyond the capabilities of the PS5 and XBOX machines. It wasn't by a small margin that if they did a bit more optimization it could work.

And since they do want the the console and PC versions to be compatible and equivalent there won't be split screen for PC either.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/0/4288062841585311783/#c4288063042473855010

[crazywildfire]

On 3/26/2024 at 7:13 AM, SylenThunder said:

Roland confirmed in the same thread over on the Steam forum that split screen would not be coming to the new version for consoles.

 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/0/4288062841585311783/#c4288063042473855010

 

Yeah... they confirmed awhile back it wouldn't be as well. I would have to remember where they said it as it was a few ago. But either way you have the link where Roland said it. 

[Jugginator]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:13 PM, alanjd93 said:

Fair enough... in hindsight Minecraft probably wasn't the best comparison on my part, and I will say once again, I am not a game developer by any means😅 Even if exaggerated, the example was a good one and you have a solid point.

 

Here's a counterpoint though...

 

Yes, a Boeing 737 is bigger than a Cesna, and would require a much bigger hangar. I understand the game has come a long way since the initial console release, but I would imagine so have the consoles themselves. So unless the differences between the PS5/Xbox X and the previous generation consoles are strictly aesthetic, the "hangars" HAVE gotten bigger. 

 

I won't pretend to know more than I do about game development, it's well out of my wheelhouse. I would also never want to downplay or minimize anyone's hard work on any game. I've played many that are absolute works of art and I'm sure a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone in to making them. With that said, I just have a hard time believing that the only reason game developers have gone away from couch co-op is because it would be too difficult, or too taxing on the console. I think the more likely reason is why sell one game and console when you can sell two?

 

It's pretty unfortunate. The Xbox X/S and Ps5 are really about equivalent to a budget-mid-range gaming PC. CPU speeds are a little above minimal requirements for 7 days, but the main killer is memory. With only 16gb, splitscreen wouldn't be able to fit on that, and all 3 consoles use that 16gb for GPU memory and of course the operating systems themselves... so you're not left with much. 16gb sounds like an ample supply of memory, but 32gb is becoming the new 16gb pretty quickly. 

 

Just realized Meganoth went over this lol. But yeah, that's a big reason why splitscreen in general is fading out now a days, not the only one, but a big part. 

[faatal]

Split screen is a memory issue and a performance issue.

 

A typical gaming PC will have 16+8 GB RAM.

Xbox series X has 16 GB of total RAM, but only around 13.5 GB available for the game. PS5 is similar. That is not great.

Series S has 10 GB total RAM, so even worse. We use half res textures and medium quality settings on S, which manages to fit into RAM while allowing for some memory growth as you play the game for hours. This was only achieved with a lot of memory optimizations to the point we have basically run out of big things to optimize. We can squeeze a bit more, here and there, but diminishing returns.

 

Performance wise, you have to have a render a different part of the world, which uses a lot more CPU and GPU.

[alanjd93]

That's unfortunate to hear... but on the bright side it's at least somewhat refreshing to hear that it's due to performance issues and not just a money grab. Thanks for all the detailed explanations and inside info. Maybe one day in the distant future I'll pick up some old, obsolete PS5s on the cheap from a resale shop and then I'll be able to link them up LAN style like the good ol' days... if that's still even possible? 🤣

Until then, as much as I love 7D2D I don't think I'll be able to swing two new gaming setups just to play it with the wife.