Mage Knight: Apocalypse - Multiplayer Q&A @ GameSpot

GameSpot talks to Mage Knight: Apocalypse Senior producer David Georgeson about multiplayer, coop and related gameplay issues:

GameSpot: We understand that the game will offer an extensive cooperative multiplayer mode that will let players play through the whole campaign or through single missions. It has been hinted that there might be one or two other modes in the game. Are they still going to make it, or is the team focusing on co-op for now?

Dave Georgeson: The multiplayer system is client-server based, so players can set up their own dedicated servers, if desired. Because the servers can run independently on a 24/7 basis, we've allowed hosts a number of options on how they want the server to run.

You can play the game from start to finish, cooperatively, with up to five players. This is what we call saga mode. Or you can set your server to play a single chapter over and over again, in what we call chapter mode. A chapter is a collection of adventures that comprises about one-sixth of the game (each of the five chapters roughly centers around one of the main characters' backgrounds and the last chapter is the climactic ending of the saga). And lastly, you can also play a single adventure over and over again, if desired. This is adventure mode.

Additionally, hosts can set a hostile flag on/off on their server. The game defaults to "off," which means that players can't hurt other players. This makes using area effect attacks a lot friendlier for players and increases the pace of the action. Changing the setting to "on" means that players will hurt other players. This really ratchets up the difficulty of the game as players have to avoid killing one another during battle. Hosts can also password their servers, limit the number of players, and even limit the power rating of characters allowed on that server.