Objective:
Provide a quick, accessible matchmaking system that keeps players actively engaged in multiplayer and single player.
Experience:
· Toggle Matchmaking on to show others you're ready for a fight.
· Bump into real-life opponents as you continue on your journey.
· Take down challengers for currency, rewards and prestige!
Vision:
· Easy to start and stop matchmaking.
· Minimal data transferred to prevent excessive data usage on mobile.
· Snappy access to basic Player vs. Player matches.
· Clear information presented with minimal UI.
Anti-Vision:
· Long waits in queues and menus for matchmaking partners.
· Excessive screen flow between the initial menu selection and gameplay.
· Custom parameters to set-up specific match types.
Details:
Matchmaking Toggle
· Toggle matchmaking on and off with a single button.
o Matchmaking button is clearly surfaced in the main player interface.
o Toggling matchmaking on will attempt to connect to the server.
§ If no connection can be made, an error message is displayed.
· Player visually update based on matchmaking state.
o When matchmaking, the player's character appears battle ready.
o A Player vs. Player banner is placed behind the player character.
o An unobtrusive notification message should also be displayed on screen after toggle, then fades out.
§ eg. "Searching for challengers!" and "Avoiding challengers."
Search Criteria
· All players are subject to the same search criteria.
· Search checks for players of the same level first.
· If a player of the same level is not found, the search checks for players one level lower, then one level higher.
o This process should repeat until all levels have been searched through, then restart the matchmaking process until a match has been found.
· Players should not be matched with the same person repeatedly.
o Players that have recently fought each other are not matched together for a short duration (~5m).
o This should provide more matchmaking variety and prevent potential griefing.
o If there are no other players online, this rule will be ignored.
· Searching is halted when already in a match, or a single player fight.
o Searching resumes as soon as combat has concluded.
· Once an appropriate match has been found, both players are notified with an Accept/Decline Notification.
o If a player declines, the other is notified. Both players return to matchmaking.
o If a player does not accept within a certain time limit, they automatically decline.
o If both players accept, a fight will start.
Matchmaking Flow
· Matchmaking Flow Chart:
Disconnections
· Players who disconnect from the server will have matchmaking toggled off.
o An appropriate error message will be displayed.
· Disconnecting when a match has been found but not accepted will automatically decline it.
o Like above, an appropriate error message will be displayed.
· Disconnecting in the middle of a match will result in a loss for the disconnected player.
o An appropriate error message will be displayed outlining the loss to the disconnected player.
o The player who has not disconnected will win the match.
o Match win/lose data will be discarded for situations where both players disconnect during the match (eg. Server down).
Other Considerations:
· Desyncs and Lag
· Countdowns
· Leaderboard Statistics
· Rewards
· Transitioning to a match from various screens
© Scott Balmer - Game Design - 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment