This is partially a design question, but it's one driven by the realities of networked play.
I'm developing a Flash, multiplayer coop game, very similar to Gauntlet. One issue that I foresee being a problem is more than one player going for the same object (say a potion).
In order to make the game feel as responsive as possible, players' entities are moved locally on the client instantly, with the server only correcting the player if they did something impossible. Most of the time this isn't an issue, but where it will be an issue is if two players both try to pick up the same potion. The server currently will give the potion to whichever player arrives at the potion first, but from a player's perspective they may see the potion go to another player who seems farther from it.
I expect this will be annoying to the players and look like an unfair bug.
I've thought of one solution: have objects "drop" from an entity (like a chest). Every player will see the object and every player will be allowed to pick up the same object (possibly within a time limit). The object will only disappear from the client's view once they pick it up or the time limit expires.
Anyone have a different suggestion?
