u/Dev_Kacper

Here’s a brief story about split-screen mode and the challenges I faced while implementing it

Hi! I’ve been making games with Unity for a few years now. And for some time now, I’ve been working as a solo indie developer :)

Earlier this year, I released version 1.0 of my game, DunHero, on Steam. Even back then, the game supported co-op with Steam friends, but only online. But I’ve always wanted to add a split-screen mode for up to 4 players. I wanted to do my part in this area because I’ll never forget how my brothers and I used to play various games on older consoles in split-screen mode, and now it’s a niche feature that developers don’t want to include and only few games have this mode. My mission is to create games that players will really enjoy. And I know I’m not the only one who misses this feature in most games

Let’s all remember that games are meant to be fun for players. And by offering these features, we’re helping more people build stronger bonds and memories with their families and friends.

So I decided to give it a try, and honestly? It was easier than I expected, and the split-screen version made it into the 1.1 patch on Steam. I hope that with the launch of the Steam console, players will have even better options for playing this way.

The biggest challenge I faced was reworking the entire UI and all references to the local player, because in many places (mainly in the UI). I had assumed there was only one player for the sake of convenience. I also had to ensure that each player could interact with the UI only on their own “screen.” But generally, the whole rework boiled down to making sure to add the player as a parameter to most systems so that it would be clear for which player to display, show, or apply a change. The “New Input System” makes it very easy to manage devices and connect new ones so there wasn't really problems with getting other players to have their own input

The system isn’t perfect, but it lets you enjoy the game with friends. I worked on the patch 1.1 for about 2.5 months after 1.0, but I also added a lot of other features besides split screen. So, time-wise, it went very smoothly. I managed to get a playable version ready in just a few days. The rest was just fixing bugs and figuring out what else could work better

My game isn't complicated, but honestly, I'm surprised and little sad that more studios and developers don't include this option, even in a limited form.

So overall, it wasn't as difficult as I initially thought, but it just required patience because I had to go through quite a large portion of the code

I’d be happy to answer any questions in the comments

Thanks for reading, and good luck with your games! :)