Testing happened over the weekend and we learned a lot, not just about our matchmaking system, but about testing. Let me first apologize for those who took part in for not properly preparing you for a testing mindset. The key as we said before is this is a first pass and that means things will be wrong and bonked and you did a wonderful job of helping us find them.
This also includes other features we didn’t mean to have tested and weren’t ready (new UI and horrible crash sounds.)
We also released everyone into the wild without a set testing scenario which also contributed to some of confusion in game.
We appreciate all the help so far, but we’re not done yet. The next testing session is tentatively scheduled for Saturday March 29th, but we are making sure we can get the next build of matchmaking in before we set that date. Those who signed up for matchmaking test either through the form (included above and here) or the Steam Experimental group will receive an official notice the moment we set that date in stone.
See the results after the jump.
Because of your hard work in that unforgiving environment we have some changes set and I’m happy to show off that came from some of the things we learned.
Non-standard crews and captain’s preferences were pointed out to us.
1) Instead of a fixed Pilot-Gunner-Engineer-Engineer composition, captains can now assign preferred classes for the empty slots in his crew by clicking on the class icon. The matchmaker would attempt to fill users with that class if possible. However, we still have some limits so that pilots should normally be captains only. This makes it easier for the matchmaker to organize crews, but also makes it so when a player signs up as a pilot there won’t be a time a squid pilot gets put in charge of a galleon.
We accidentally removed your ability to leave the game. It’s back, though we’re going to test out a new leaving penalty. We also included a way for matchmaker to fill holes in games.
2) Users may leave at the game lobby now (no need to force closing the game anymore), but doing so twice in a row would cause a penalty which would lower your priority in queue next time. Empty slots would be automatically filled by the matchmaker now. Like in crew formation, captains may also specify the preferred class for the empty slots. This also applies to rematches (except that you don’t get a penalty for leaving a rematch), but not custom matches.
Luckily we had testers from many different global locations show up, but it also brought up some issues we had to address.
3) Instead of picking one server location, now you may (and is encouraged to) choose multiple server locations as long as the pings are all fine. This would put you in a match faster.
Hats off to our testers who tested to see how long the original matchmaking timer would go.
4) In order to reduce the wait time in queue, the system would ignore some of the settings (e.g., preferred classes for empty slots, game mode, game size, novice mode) if it can’t find you a match after a while.
We were told about the glaring oversight of not being able to join friends.
5) You may join others whether your friend is currently in game lobby or a running match.
The first pass nature of some of the UI elements was pointed out.
6) UI fixes to make things easier to use and understand, as well as removing some controls that are available elsewhere.
As always we need as much help as possible to
make sure we do this right. If you want to join in follow this link.
Thank you!