Conker’s Bad Fur Day: Multi-Redux was developed by Ninjaboi8175
Conker’s Bad Fur Day: Multi-Redux was Released on Windows
Conker’s Bad Fur Day: Multi-Redux is a Multiplayer game
### **Overview:**
Conker’s Bad Fur Day ( CBFD ) is a 3D platformer developed for the Nintendo 64 by Rareware in 2001. It consisted of two major parts: the story mode featuring Conker, and the multiplayer mode with seven unique game-modes to play with up to 4 friends locally and with A.I. opponents. It saw a remake on the original Xbox as Conker: Live and Reloaded, which in most ways was the superior version. However, the remake’s multiplayer stripped six of the seven game modes out and focused on expanding and modifying the most popular one. CBFD saw a re-release on the Xbox One as part of the Rare Replay pack but suffered from the same issues its N64 version had minus far better output.
This remake, dubbed “Multi-Redux” ( the original multiplayer select title was called “Multi” hence the name ), aims to target the original seven game modes. The goal is to do this in three non-linear phases:
**Phase 1)** Faithfully re-create the seven game modes as close to their original form as possible.
**Phase 2)** Add online functionality on top of the initial 4-player local multiplayer.
**Phase 3)** Expand upon original content and enable community modding support.
Each phase is discussed more in detail below. These are considered non-linear as it’s not my intention to do them one at a time. In other words, I won’t wait until all seven game modes are re-created to start adding online functionality, and I won’t wait for either phase 1 or 2 to start creating expanded content and mod support ( although phase 3 will likely be the least touched until the former two are much further along ). What exactly will be worked on and in what order will be determined on a case-by-case basis as development progresses. The main focus is on getting things working and accurately portrayed.
Check back on this ModDB page for announcements, news, downloads, and more as the project moves forward!
### **Phase 1:**
** A ** **ll** of the original game modes will be re-created. These are:
Beach, Raptor, Heist, Deathmatch, War, Tanks, and Race!
By “faithful”, I mean that I’ll do all in my power to retain as much from the original as possible. This goes for the models, textures, animations, map layouts, values ( health, movement speed, ammo per clip, timers, etc ), lighting, particles, music, sound effects, player input, HUD, local/split-screen, menus and menu traversal, and basically everything else. I have access to both the physical copy and ROM of the original game, and am taking deep care to ensure everything is spot-on wherever I can.
Some things however won’t be exactly as what you’d experience in the original. By design I aim to avoid some technical pitfalls that befell CBFD, most that are relics of the hardware/platform. Initially both the physics and game logic were heavily tied to frame-rate, which introduces speedups and slowdowns as game performance fluctuated. Modern and proper design dictates that this is bad, especially for anything released on PC and even more so if online functionality is introduced. If you ever remember playing with max A.I. spawns on deathmatch and seeing your frame-rate dip to the single digits and have your input and things around you become far less responsive, you know why this isn’t desirable. It might have been the lack of power the N64 console had that forced many developers to make their games frame-rate dependent, but nowadays we have more than enough computing power.
Aside from that, other things that won’t feel the same include support for aspect ratios that aren’t just 4:3, resolutions and output methods far superior to the N64, use of keyboard+mouse and controllers that aren’t N64 controllers, and more that again come with the territory of porting such an older title to PC. I do consider it worthwhile to eventually include options for filters to replicate some of the visual and audio aspects people might have fond memories of ( AV’s blurry output, the heavily compressed audio, etc ) but that’ll be towards the end of development and if the demand is there.
Due to what will very likely be a much smoother, easily controllable experience, balance in some game modes might feel changed. Weapons such as the sniper rifle will feel buffed as it’ll be much easier to control with modern controllers / mice and better input code while weapons such as the throwing knives will feel nerfed as people can see them coming with the higher frame-rate support and crisper visuals. Old strategies you once loved to implement might not be viable anymore!
Lastly, some players might want to exclude any online functionality and expanded content from their PC port experience of these game modes for nostalgia. For this reason there will be an easy toggle on/off of Online + Expansion content for those not interested in them or who’d like to easily separate their two playing experiences.
### **Phase 2:**
While local split-screen will be present, most of us don’t have the perfect situation to get such a play session going. CBFD is a very niche game, and while Rare Replay has made the game more accessible and better known, the fact that it also has no online functionality means that you’re still stuck with trying to find people around you who’d play. So a major part of this redux is to have online multiplayer and for it to work perfectly. When toggled on, you’ll be able to host and join sessions and have access to many of the modern comforts and functionality you’d expect from a networked game.
** Hosting: ** Hosting a server can be achieved one of two ways; dedicated and listen. Dedicated servers will be a separate process running on your machine and don’t require you to be running the game in order for people to play on it. If you want to host while playing, a convenient method is to start a listen server from the game itself. You can host a dedicated server and still play on it on the same machine, but for some it’s just easier to be able to shut the game down and know your server went down with it. All servers have the option to send regular heartbeats to a master server which will keep track of all servers which are public.
**Joining:** You can either directly connect to a server via IP/Port + optional password, or use the server browser to filter through public servers. Information such as server name, player count, max players allowed, game mode, latency, etc will be displayed and you can set filters to wade through them better.
### **Phase 3:**
Playing the game modes as they once were is the primary goal, but there are many things I’d personally like to see and experience additionally as well as things that just weren’t at all possible given the initial platform the game released on. Nothing in this phase is set in stone and thus is the best chance to get any features and content you’d like to play to be added in! The sky’s the limit on this one as we now have access to far greater computing power to what was possible back on the N64 as well as all the modern conveniences of the PC as a platform for modding.
Here are just a few things I hope to include as Expansion content at some point in development:
* **New maps:** Both completely original maps made by the community as well as maps targeting certain parts of the story-line content. Such as playing Deathmatch in Windy by the windmill.
* **New game modes:** Modes that are either unique to the game as a whole or are heavily based on story-line content. Such as maybe one called Vampire, where one team is vampire bats and the others are villagers.
* **Increased player count:** By default the maximum player count is 4 as that was what could be done on the N64 with its local multiplayer. However with the uncapped potential with online functionality and far greater processing power, we shalt not limit ourselves to such a small number! 50v50 War, 10v20 Raptor, maybe even 200 player Deathmatch could all be possible.
* **Increased bot count:** Originally, depending on the player count and game mode, the bot count would be limited so that it’s still playable on N64 hardware. Even on deathmatch you’d only get a small amount of bots. Having the ability to further increase this number would add to the already chaotic scenarios the game modes offer.
* **New playable characters:** Likely just expanding the roster with story-line characters like Rodent or Birdie, but maybe the community would be open to even more.
* **Balance Changes:** There are some fairly obvious balance issues in just about every game mode. Exploitable parts in the level, weapons that are simply broken in specific scenarios, etc. Giving the server hosts the option to customize settings outside Classic would definitely be appreciated.
Note that all of these will of course be completely optional to have enabled or used. If you have ideas for Expansion content, get involved in the community such as the sub-reddit or discord server! Do keep in mind that I don’t intend to include everyone’s ideas ( even if I like them ). Also they might not be made right away even after being accepted upon request. It all depends on the given workload.
### **F.A.Q. / Tid-bits:
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Q: What platforms and operating systems do you intend to target?
A: PC only, and for now Windows will be the main focus. Mac and Linux versions will very likely be available, but won’t see as much focus.
Q: What order do you intend to work on the game modes? Which ones get done first?
A: The Classic portion of the project ( phase 1 ) is broken down into 10 essential parts; The opening cinematic, tavern menu, keg menu, and all seven game modes. For now the first three are being worked on until they are 95% complete and fully functional, then from there the first game mode to be worked on is Heist. After that it’ll depend on what mode others want to see next or whichever one I feel the urge to tackle.
Q: What do you feel will be the easiest game mode or part to develop? The hardest?
A: The opening cinematic will likely be the easiest of the project, and either the tavern menu or War will be the most difficult, but no doubt each game mode will have its own hurdles to overcome.
Q: How powerful of a computer do I need to play?
A: This is uncertain at the moment and also depends on whether you want to play custom Expansion content. Classic game modes and settings by themselves should be very light on the machine and thus I doubt it’ll require any beefy machine to run. While not an immediate focus as I work on functionality and accuracy first, I do plan on ensuring performance optimization is done and anywhere I can fix up on inefficient code I’ll be sure to do when the timing seems right. In short you’ll likely be fine using a pretty cheap laptop with integrated graphics for the Classic stuff, but this answer will be edited once more concrete measurements are done.
Q: Is it be possible to use a classic N64 controller on the game?
A: Yes! There are USB N64 controllers on the market that you should be able to use for this and many other games. I’ve also seen adapters for various other retro controllers to be used on PC so there’s a good chance you might even be able to dust off your original controllers and use an adapter + software. If there’s a big enough group of people wanting to play like this I’ll try and add any support that I can for it if there’s problems.
Q: I have an idea for Expansion content! Where do I request/suggest it?
A: Mention me on the Discord server or post in the Suggestions channel as that’s where I prefer to keep these requests. You can direct message me too but given it’d be better to have others discuss your request it’d be best to post it as such.
Q: Will there be bots or A.I. to play with?
A: They won’t be an initial priority, but yes bots will be included. In Classic they should roughly play the same as they originally would but this will likely be the least accurate part of the experience. Pathing and general decision making are the two things I hope to have working well, but difficulty and aiming accuracy might not be spot-on. Expansion content might allow much higher bot count and better intelligence but that extra load will be up to how a server handles it.
Q: Will it cost money or have an in-game store at all?
A: No. It’ll be 100% monetization free. No ads. No shop/store. No upfront or hidden cost. It’s purely a project of fan passion. Maybe later down the line I might open donations for the master server’s cost or any other passive costs I might incur but I fully expect to pay for those things and don’t feel other fans should take it upon themselves to do so.
Q: Will there be dedicated 24/7 servers up for use?
A: I personally won’t be creating a 24/7 dedicated server to play on but that doesn’t stop others from doing so. Servers will have names and descriptions in the server browser so they can state in either of those as to if they are set up to be 24/7.
Q: What languages will be supported?
A: American English will be the only official language supported, but I will be encouraging anyone interested in translating it to reach out to me if they feel inclined. Not yet sure if added languages will be considered Expansion content. Any translators that have their work approved for the project will have their username or real name attributed in the distributed ReadMe’s “Translators” section if translations occur.
Q: How can I help with the project?
A: Translation to other languages and play-testing are very much appreciated! Also anybody that has access to the original CBFD that can do side-by-side comparisons of it and the project to look for inaccuracy with the recreation would be terrific as the more eyes looking out for subtle differences the better. If you have friends who are interested in CBFD, send them to check this project out.
Q: How long will it take to complete the project or to get to (insert milestone) being done?
A: This I’m entirely unsure of. One week I might be able to invest 20-30 hours, the next I might only be able to do 2-3 hours. Any roadblocks I encounter might also slow progress. However in order to curb frustrations and to give a window to the development and incremental progresses made, there will be a project map that can be followed to 1) track progress between releases when curious and 2) see the “big picture” of overall progress to major milestones. Check either the sub-reddit or discord server and if you don’t see it, ask!
Q: Will the project be open source? Can I help with programming/modeling/other?
A: As of right now the project will be closed source. I also intend on being the only developer for the project. It’s a personal challenge for me to complete this project as it’d be the biggest one I’ve tackled. It’s also a way for me to improve myself in as many areas in development as possible. So while I do seriously appreciate that other fans of CBFD would like to help speed up progress, I’d like to keep it a solo endevour. If however I cease development entirely or wish to fully withdraw from it, I’ll release all files related to the project for those in the community to pick up and resume. This along with the project map is to ensure that nobody feels the project is dead or in any uncertain terms think that progress is not being made. The project won’t fall off and vanish because of this as even if I for some reason stop working on it, the progress made won’t be lost.
Q: How much of the project will be custom-made? Will you be ripping or using any assets from the original game?
A: All assets used in the Multi-Redux project will be made from scratch using the original game’s content as a reference only. Nothing, be it textures or sound effects and voices, will be ripped from the original game. This is partly to avoid issues with Intellectual Property Infringement as well as giving me more to draw experience from.
Q: Do you plan on making the story-line?
A: No, but perhaps some of the Expansion content will feature elements that are found in the main story.
Q: Are there plans to improving the graphics or making a “remaster” rather than just a faithful port?
A: Improved graphics such as better models, animations, textures, etc are all possible as Expansion content that can be toggled off if there’s demand for it, but the aim of this project isn’t to remaster with better quality visuals and instead a focus on adherence to what was already there and having optionally-enabled extra content.
Q: Do you intend to remake Live and Reloaded’s multiplayer in any way?
A: As Expansion content, yes it could very well be done if the demand is there. The intricacies of that would have to be discussed heavily with others who would like to see it done right but I can see it being possible. Live and Reloaded had a much more developed War mode compared to the original and it’s a lot of fun in its own way, but if people want a faithful recreate of that then I’m afraid this won’t be it for them. The best I can see is a game mode geared towards retro-verting the map designs and game-play elements of it but keep the original game’s look and general feel. Doing much more than that would likely be better served as its own entirely separate project.
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I’d like to point out that I’m aware of the “Bad Fur Day Remake” project by Packer. I’ve followed his work for many years and his project at face value seems very similar to what I’m going for. However there are some major differences in what we want and how we’ll get there. If you’ve read up to this point but are unaware of his work, go check out that project page to understand the differences. I have no intention to undermine his work and am eager to see further progress. He’s not in the best of health and has other projects he works on so progress on BFDR has been very slow coming but I’m confident he’ll eventually see it through as he’s a big fan of the game.
I made a discord server and sub-reddit for the project. Day-to-day updates are much easier to post there and we can all keep in touch.
Subscribe to the sub-reddit!
Join the Discord!
Conker’s Bad Fur Day: Multi-Redux