Here’s how to enjoy the game of the year 2022 in co-op from start to finish, without interruption.
No offense to the developers of the sumptuous God of War: Ragnarokit’s good Elden Ring which was the great video game revelation of 2022, as evidenced by its crowning at the Game Awards (see our article). But beyond the praise, the title of FromSoftware is also the subject of a recurring criticism: Elden Ring remains a solitary and full-bodied, sometimes intimidating experience that leaves the player relatively on their own.
This point prevented a certain number of players from taking full advantage of an adventure that they would have liked to complete. If this is your case, it may be time to take the game out of your toy library and rediscover it thanks to Seamless Co-Op.
What is Seamless Co-Op?
Seamless Co-Op is a mod created by developer LukeYi. The concept is very simple: it allows a group of players to fight together for the title of Elden Lord.
” But it was always possible! “, will probably retort the aficionados of the franchise. In effect, Elden Ring inherited the summoning system from the franchise Dark Souls. It allows (among other things) to invite a friend to join us during a particularly difficult fight, and it is a good solution for those who find themselves stuck at some point.
But these invocations are voluntarily limited in time and space. It is therefore not a true cooperative mode, strictly speaking. And that’s exactly what Seamless Co-Op offers. Thanks to this mod, you will be able to play together from your arrival in Limgrave to the conquest of the Elden Tree without interruption — or almost.
How do I install Seamless Co-Op?
This mod is a standalone, which means that there is no need for other external software to use it; justElden Ringan Internet connection and one or more friends (up to 6 players in total).
To download it, start by going to the NexusMods project page, easier to access. You will then need to create a Nexus account if you do not already have one. Rest assured, the procedure is extremely simple and speaks for itself.
On the NexusMods page, then go to the tab Queuethen click Manual Download. You will then obtain an archive that you will have to decompress in the game folder. By default, you will find it at the address C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonELDENRINGGame. If you have changed this directory before, just go to Steam, right click on Elden Ringselect ” Properties », then click « Local files » and finally on « Browse “.
Steam will open a folder for you that normally has two sub-folders: AdvGuide and Game. It is in the latter that you will have to extract the contents of the downloaded archive. At the end of the operation, it is supposed to contain two new elements: a folder called SeamlessCoopand an executable named launch_elden_ring_seamlesscoop.exe.
To uninstall the mod, just delete the SeamlessCoop executable and folder.
How it works ?
All you have to do is create a shortcut to this executable, and you are now armed to play Elden Ring in co-op.
The first step in this home stretch is to agree on a common password with your group. Be sure to choose one that is not too obvious, to be sure to join the target group.
Once the code has been determined, go to the SeamlessCoop folder mentioned above (SteamsteamappscommonELDENRINGGameSeamlessCoop). There you will find a text file titled seamlesscoopsettings.ini. Open it using your favorite text editor.
In the 7th line you will find a mention ” cooppassword = “. Write your password after the equals sign, without quotes or punctuation (for example: cooppassword = JournalduGeek). Make sure that all participants have exactly the same set of characters, otherwise it will be impossible to join.
Once the password is set, run Elden Ring using the previously created shortcut to launch_elden_ring_seamlesscoop.exe. After creating your character, the game will start completely normally.
When all players will be in possession of their characters, the connection will be made through some new objects added by the mod. They offer the same functionality as a traditional lobby in any other game.
To start, the host must use the Tiny Great Pot, which allows you to open your world to other players. He may possibly use the Judicator’s Rulebookwhich allows you to modify the rules of the cooperative mode.
Once the world is open, participants just have to use theEffigy of Malenia. They will then get a message Joining another world as a wanderer. After a few seconds, the player will be transported to the host’s world. Kind of like he summoned through the normal process. The difference is that the link will not be broken after defeating a boss. You can play completely normally and go on an adventure together!
A practical advice for the road: the host must refrain from switching windows (e.g. with Alt+Tab) during loadsotherwise the game of the other participants will crash.
What does it change ?
In practice, you will be able to do absolutely everything that you can already do solo. This obviously includes bosses, but also exploration; you don’t need to stay glued to each other, and players can easily travel to different locations without breaking the connection.
You will have access to all basic content without restriction: all characters, all bosses, all quests, all objects remain available. The main difference is the difficulty.
Some purists will probably explain to you that From Software’s games are not intended to be played in co-op. In absolute terms, it is difficult to prove them wrong. the game is really calibrated for a solo player, and for two, the challenge is therefore much less important. This significantly distorts the gaming experience.
But with all due respect to elitist gatekeepers, this is not necessarily a problem. It’s even a big advantage for those who found the original experience too demanding! For a pair of neophytes not necessarily experienced in the mechanics of FromSoftware games, it’s a good way to finish this superb game without too much difficulty, but also and above all to share this magnificent experience with someone else.
And for the old timers who already know the game like the back of their hand, it’s not uninteresting either. It’s a refreshing variant that offers a radically different way of playing. Something to rediscover the Entre-Terre in another way. For example, you can experiment with unlikely combinations that would not necessarily have been fun on your own.
Is it playable?
Upon release in May, the mod was extremely wonky. But even if it is still in beta at the time of this writing, it is now fully functional. There are still a few small, discrete bugs, but nothing that can’t be fixed with a disconnect and reconnect. Over a session of about four hours, we spent 15 to 20 minutes setting up the mod and fixing these few issues; the rest of the time we were able to enjoy the adventure without any problems.
One caveat, however; the mod’s netcode has a little trouble with mount management. So expect some weird animations when riding side by side. Fortunately, this bug seems to be strictly visual and has almost no impact on gameplay. Only one exception: a mounted boss (we won’t name it to avoid spoilers) whose mod seems to have completely broken the AI.
Apart from that, nothing really disabling to report: it’s quite simply Elden Ring, but several. All you have to do now is found your own Tarnished gang to conquer the Elden Throne. Say hello to poor Margit from us!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I reuse one of my old characters?
Technically, no. The mod creates a separate save file, and your co-op characters will be separate from your solo characters. It will therefore be necessary to create a fresh adventurer.
If you really want to recover a character, however, you can search for your savegame (normally named ER0000.sl2) and then change the extension to. co2. You should therefore retrieve the custom items from Seamless Co-Op the next time you log in.
However, remember to make a backup. There is no guarantee that the process will work every time; on good terms!
Can I be banned?
No, because this mod closes access to FromSoftware’s matchmaking servers. It also cuts access to Easy Anti-Cheat. So there is no way to get banned unless you modify the mod yourself to connect to official matchmaking servers.
By extension, this means that you will also not be able to invade other players who are not using this mod. Be careful, however, to NEVER convert a .co2 save to the original .sl2 format. You then expose yourself to a possible banishment.
Can I earn Steam Achievements with this mod?
Yes ! And they will be shared by all members of the group.
I can’t ride Torrent anymore! What to do ?
All the host has to do is close the world with the Separation Mist item, then reopen it with the Tiny Great Pot. Other players should be able to reconnect and use Torrent. In total, this represents a loss of time of a few minutes at the most.
The game tells me that I am trying to connect, but nothing happens!
Same as above; the host should close the world with the Separation Mist, reopen it with the Tiny Great Pot, and other players should be able to connect. If the problem persists, it may be useful to restart the game entirely.
