How to Play Multiplayer in Hydroneer

Hydroneer is a base building sandbox game where you dig for resources and smelt or sell them on for profit. But what about grouping up between your friends and digging for dirt riches together. Let's find out!

Hydroneer on Steam

Hydroneer is a mining and base building sandbox. Dig for gold and other resources to turn a profit and enhance your mining operation. Build a base of operations, forge weapons, go fishing, and dig deep!

STEAM

What Multiplayer Modes Are Supported?

Hydroneer has a split-screen local multiplayer mode, where people can play together on a single machine. This does mean you need separate control schemes for each player, and also giving up valuable screen estate as the screen is divided up between each player.

There's also a Remote Play Together mode via Steam, where you can play together with friends online. However, this uses split screen mode and mirrors the game between each player.

Steam Remote Play

Play your games in exciting new ways with Steam Remote Play.

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Can I Run A Dedicated Server For Hydroneer?

No, unfortunately. The only option is split-screen multiplayer and there's no dedicated server option available.

This comes down to the game's physics engine and all materials and objects being simulated. The developer could not achieve true-multiplayer with their limited resource and split-screen/Remote Play Together was seen as a "better or nothing" solution.

You may listen to the developer's statement on YouTube.

Or if reading is your thing, see the developer's response on Steam's discussion boards:

💎💎Multiplayer FAQ (Splitscreen)💎💎 :: Hydroneer General Discussions

Due to a large amount of similar questions being posted, I’ve created this handy dandy FAQ section in relation to multiplayer splitscreen. Why does Hydroneer use Steam Remote Play? - To summarize (and keep this FAQ as short as possible), having potentially thousands of moving objects all simulating at the same speed and the same positions for all players in a game is very hard. UE4’s physics engine is non-deterministic , meaning every physics interaction could have a different outcome.

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Is Split-Screen/Remote Play Together That Bad?

I would suggest giving split-screen a try and seeing if you and your friends can look past the reduced screen estate. For the older gamers out there this may take you back a few years. Myself and my buddy were able to get into the game despite split-screen and put in 30 hours+ in this mode alone.

The Positives:

• Only one player needs to own a copy of Hydroneer.
• No paying for dedicated servers.
• Seeing where your friends are is trivial when you can see their screen!

The Negatives:

• Alright, the big one first. The game host must invite you to the game in order to play. If you can't get comfortable with split-screen mode then there's no other option.
• Achievements are only earned for the host player.

Whilst it is disappointing that Hydroneer does not have dedicated multiplayer. I am personally happy there is an option for split-screen and the whole idea was not abandoned.

FAQ

Q: I've seen YouTubers play multiplayer on individual screens, how did they do it?

By faking it, I'm afraid. If you span the game window over multiple monitors you can increase the screen estate given to each player. With a bit of video editing afterwards these can be split apart to give the appearance of dedicated multiplayer.

Q: How do I invite a player to my game with Remote Play Together?

On the Main Menu screen right after you start the game, click on the grey box next to your player profile picture. This will open a menu where you can invite a player or add a local-player.

Inviting a player with open up your Steam friend's list. Pick a player to invite then begin the game. A menu will pop-up allowing you to define controls.