Defilade multiplayer and co-op

What the Steam page lists

That is an unusually broad set for a solo-developed RTS. It means the game is designed to be playable alone, with a friend, or in a versus match.

Single-player

The single-player experience is built around the AI commander:

• it scouts;
• it gathers its army and attacks together;
• it pulls back when losing and attacks from another side;
• it counters your army and remembers where it lost men;
• it fights for capture points and builds closer to the front;
• it guards its supply trucks and raids yours;
• it gives up when beaten;
• late in a match it can build its own nuke.

The developer’s pitch is that the AI plays by the same rules as the player. That is the main reason to play solo before jumping into co-op.

Co-op

The Steam page confirms online and LAN co-op, but not the player count. The confirmed systems that fit co-op:

• shared capture points and supply lines;
• FOBs and base building;
• squads and orders;
• medics and prisoner interrogation.

If the demo includes co-op, the obvious division of labour is one player on the front and one on the base/supply road. We will confirm the player count and mode list on December 1.

PvP

Online and LAN PvP are listed. The game’s base-building, supply-line and FOB systems are the kind of mechanics that make a versus match about map control rather than a rush. The player count is not announced.

Cross-platform

Cross-platform multiplayer is listed. The game is on Windows and macOS, so the cross-platform pool is likely those two. There is no console version announced.

What we still need

• player count for co-op and PvP;
• dedicated servers vs peer-to-peer;
• matchmaking;
• whether the demo includes multiplayer;
• whether co-op shares a base or each player builds their own.

We will update this page after the December 1 demo.