Multiplayer is a set of game modes in SRB2 that allow play for more than one person. Multiplayer games are either played splitscreen on one computer, or over a network using several computers, with one of them being the host.
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Splitscreen games are games held on one computer, with the two player screens being split horizontally or vertically. A combination of keyboard controls for both players or gamepads are used for control. Splitscreen games include all the same game types that network games use.
See main article: Netgame
These are the gametypes officially implemented into SRB2. The gametypes listed here are all legal play on the Master Server.
Co-Op, short for Cooperative, is a gametype where multiple people help each other through the Single Player game—basically, it's a multiplayer version of the regular game. It can be especially helpful in particularly hard levels, where one person alone would have trouble completing the stage.
The level ends when one player reaches the end, although it's possible to make it so that all players have to finish by inputting the console command PLAYERSFOREXIT ALL. This command can also be used from the game's menu.
Match games consist of players shooting rings and weapons at each other. This gametype is extremely fast-paced; Match mode in SRB2 would take some getting used to for a player proficient with Deathmatch games in dedicated first-person shooters like Doom or Quake. By default, the third-person chasecam is off in this mode, meaning the camera view will be in first-person. The option does exist to enable the third-person view, however, by typing CHASECAM 1 into the console.
Team Match is basically Match mode, except the players play on teams against each other. Players choose team Red or Blue. The player's and teammate's points are added together at the end of a round if time limit is on. The team with the most points at the end of the round wins. If there is no timelimit the team who gets to the pointlimit first wins. Emeralds can be tossed to teammates in this mode by pressing the Toss Flag key.
There are two modes of Race: regular and classic. normal Race is a straight race to the finish; the player with the shortest time wins. This is similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 3's multiplayer. classic race has the same objective as Sonic the Hedgehog 2's multiplayer race zones: the person who wins the most of the five measured categories wins. The five categories in classic are Time, Score, Ring, Total Ring, and Item Box.
Some levels may be set up in a circuit. Such levels are a race with laps, where the players complete a course to increment the lap counter, and when they finish the final lap, the stage ends. You can play circuit maps in both standard and classic modes.
In Tag, one player is "IT", the goal of the gametype is to have everyone be "IT" at the end of the round. For every second a player is not "IT" they get points based on the number of players in the game. For every person a tagger gets they receive 100 points. If anyone is not it at the end of the round, their points are doubled. If a player dies or gets shot by someone who is IT, that player becomes IT.
In Tag, Sector Type 8192 functions as a "NO TAG ZONE" , where non-IT players can retreat to in order to escape being tagged. If the player remains in the sector for too long, the effect is depleted, and the player can become tagged. Also, after leaving the sector, the player cannot be protected by it for a certain amount of time. There are no official SRB2 multiplayer maps that use it.
In Capture the Flag, also known as CTF, the goal is to capture the enemy team's flag, and bring it back to the home base to score a point. However, the team cannot score if their own flag is in possession of the other team.
When a player is carrying a flag, they cannot perform their special abilities, e.g., thok, fly, climb.
When a player carrying a flag gets damaged, regardless of any shields they might have, they will drop the flag. The flag cannot be picked up while a player is still invincible after being damaged. The flag will warp back to its base if it lands in a death pit, is not picked up again for a period of time, or is picked up by its team.
If a player goes Super they can not pick up the flag, so they should defend. People on the same team can also toss their emeralds to their teammates by pressing the Toss Flag button.
Hide & Seek in SRB2 is just like Hide & Seek in real life. One player is IT, and they are spawned and are frozen for a default time of 30 seconds. while those other players hide. The player must then find must find all of the players. Hide and Seek can be played in virtually any level. It was officially added into the game in version 2.0. The method of getting points is the same as Tag. If a player dies after the seeking begins, regardless of how, they are automatically found.
Chaos is a defunct game mode in which enemies of all kinds would spawn in a level. These enemies would have to be killed for the highest possible score. Due to a lack of interest, various bugs, and poor gameplay, the mode was removed when v1.09 was released.
Often, players invent gametypes that aren't actually officially implemented as part of the game, but are made using elements of existing gametypes.
Diver is a game mode that, while not officially supported in SRB2, is allowed on the Master Server. It is used in conjunction with Match because it involves players throwing rings at another player.
Diver is played by having a player stand on a platform, and other people shoot at the player as he/she jumps/spins/runs off the platform, to a long fall down. If the player is hit on his/her way down, the player who hit the designated jumper then goes into the water, and becomes the new designated jumper. If the designated jumper is not hit, he/she jumps again. Normally, the designated jumping player is still considered "Fair Game" until he/she is actually in the water (as a player can land somewhere on the ground, instead of in the water), but that is optional.
Diver maps have a pool of water at the bottom that takes the player through a current of that same water back up to the top of the platform. Diver maps tend to include Rail Rings, to make aiming for the character designated to jump easier. Automatic Rings and Explosion Rings are not used because they unfairly change how the game is played.
King of the Hill is a game mode that, while not officially supported in SRB2, is allowed on the Master Server. It is used in conjunction with Match because it involves players throwing rings at another player. A King of the Hill map or KOTH would be made by making a map featuring a hill on it that has a point sector on it. Players would fire rings at the person on the hill to knock them off. Typically players would add a point limit to the game if playing on the level. It is possible to script players being knocked back farther when getting hit on these maps.
