Online co-op

In online co-op you fly together, each at your own computer. Both of you see the same world at the same time. It works in Arcade and Orbit.

Opening and joining a room

1. Main menu → Online co-op (ONLINE-KOOP).
2. The host clicks Open room and gets a four-character code to pass on to the other player.
3. The guest enters the code under Join.
4. In the lobby the guest picks their weapon, jump and defense — from what they have unlocked themselves — and marks themselves ready.
5. The host chooses Orbit or Arcade and the difficulty as usual. The guest appears as player 2 in the host’s loadout screen. The flight starts once both are ready.

The host can already pick mode and difficulty while waiting for the guest. After a flight the connection stays up — the next flight needs no new code.

Your own ship, your own progress

• The guest brings their own hangar, paths, talents and ship level. Ship 2 uses their values, not the host’s.
• Rewards for the guest: the flight’s ions go into their own depot, the ship XP into their own ship level. If the host aborts the flight, the guest only gets the ions — ship XP is only paid at the end of a flight.
• The run itself is shared, just like in couch co-op: wave, boons and skill points belong to both of you.

Choosing boons

• Both players see the same offer with all cards.
• Shared boons are chosen in turns: first the host, then the guest. Whoever isn’t up sees the cards greyed out, with a note at the top saying who is choosing.
• The guest picks as usual: click, keys 1–3, 4 or Escape to decline — or with a controller (D-pad, A, B).
• Everyone picks the upgrade path for their own ship. The path for ship 2 belongs to the guest.
• If the guest doesn’t respond for 20 seconds, the host can choose for them so the flight doesn’t stall. The guest then stays up for the next boon.

In flight

• The guest controls their ship as usual, with keyboard, mouse or controller. Esc leaves the co-op session.
• The guest hears the host’s sounds.
• If the connection drops, the host flies on alone — a banner reports that the other player disconnected.

How it works

• The host computes the world and sends whatever changed 20 times per second. The guest draws it with their own graphics and keeps calculating movement until the next packet arrives. Sparks, embers, smoke and fire are generated by the guest.
• The connection runs directly between the two browsers (WebRTC). A small matchmaking service only helps set it up.
• In combat about 0.75 Mbit/s flows from host to guest. A good connection on the host’s side helps — a little over 1 Mbit/s upload.

Not yet

• Track is still in development and will come in a later update — and even then without co-op at first.
• The guest’s ship reacts with the connection’s latency — its own prediction is still missing.
• There is no relay: behind strict corporate or mobile networks, no direct connection can be made. The game then reports that no direct connection is possible.

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