Hello and welcome to the last multiplayer blog post. The topics of the day are player portrait customization and matchmaking!
- Multiplayer part 1: an introduction
A look at what the multiplayer campaign is and what a turn of playing looks like. - Multiplayer part 2: a match in action
A first look at the info you get to see about your opponents. - Multiplayer part 3: game history and end-of-game
A look at in-game player statistics and the History page. - Multiplayer part 4: customization and matchmaking ← You are here
Cosmetic player customization and details about how you actually join a match. - Multiplayer part 5: questions & answers
An overview of community questions that were answered previously. Make sure to put your questions in the comments!
Player customization
In order to distinguish the players in a multiplayer game, we needed to make sure that you don’t look the same. We firstsimply assigned a random character to each player (Blanche, Joshua, Daisy or Ricardo). But this was pretty boring, and you would be playing as a different character in each match. Instead of this, you can now pick your own portrait, and we added a bunch of unique portrait borders as well.
Henry busting out of prison very politely with hat in hand is my favorite portrait so far.
You might notice the character customization menu is located in a completely new multiplayer menu. I hope you like it, because you’ll be seeing a lot more of it!
At the moment there are 12 characters and 11 portrait borders to choose from. The characters include all the classic, expert and Heat Is On playable characters and 3 completely new characters. We’ll certainly aim to add more in the future!
All the portraits are available from the start without any additional unlock conditions (or payment, no loot boxes to be seen here). We initially played with the idea of unlocking certain portrait borders by completing multiplayer matches or getting other achievements. In the end we decided against this.
We might reconsider unlock conditions for portraits added in the future. There is a certain prestige to using a cosmetic that no one else has access to, but we don’t want to turn picking your portrait into a negative experience either. Let us know how you feel about this in the comments.
Matchmaking: joining a multiplayer match
Let’s talk a bit about matchmaking. How do you actually play a match and who will be your opponents?
Starting a new match is as easy as pressing the “Play now!” button. You will join a match instantly.
In the current system you can join a random online match, or play with a selected group. After pressing the “Play now!” button, you don’t have to wait in queue or anything like that. You join a match, get land from the mayor, and play your first level and auctions. Even if all the player slots aren’t filled yet.
Of course you can’t progress further than one level until all the player slots are filled and other people have played their first level as well. Just close the game and you will get a Steam notification when it’s your turn again. This might take a few minutes, or a day. So don’t plan your day around playing online Turmoil unless you’re playing with friends.
Joining multiple matches
Playing just one match of Turmoil at a time might be fun, but what if every turn is taking 1-2 days and that just doesn’t scratch your oil drilling itch enough? The solution is simple, you can join multiple matches and play them all at the same time.
The lobby is the first screen of the multiplayer menu and shows you an overview of all the matches that you participate in, in order of importance.
When playing multiple matches, don’t forget to check which upgrades you purchased and what your opponents are up to. You can always refresh your memory by taking a look at the history.
Skipping a turn
While it’s not a large obligation, sometimes life gets the better of you and you simply don’t have the time to attend to your multiplayer match in time. There two things you have to keep in mind when skipping a turn:
1: If you take longer than 2 days to take your turn, you automatically get $0 profit, a random plot for $2’000, and will bid only $1 at the stock auction.
This allows the game to continue and prevents endless stalling. There is no punishment for stalling and skipping a turn. However…
2: After not playing for 3 turns in a row, you will get kicked from the match and it continues without you. This counts towards your player statistics as if you conceded the game.
This brings us to the topic of conceding (leaving a match).
Conceding the game and repeated concede punishment
When deciding to join a multiplayer match in any long-form game, you are expected to play until the end. Conceding in a Turmoil match is always an option, and will not be punished when used sparingly. However, abuse of the concede game option will be noted.
After conceding too many matches compared to finishing them, you will be put in a separate queue with other players who share the same fate.
This is to prevent the main pool of players from deteriorating into meta-strategies where you leave as soon as you feel like you can’t get first place anymore. It’s also required in order to keep griefers/trolls from polluting the pool.
Playing the game is not just about winning. When you’re at the bottom, adopt a different playstyle and try to aim for third or second place. Aside from doing that, you can still influence the game by saving up money and pressuring your opponents into bidding more on the stock auction.
In short: Don’t be a sour-puss! Keep some perspective and don’t turn the game into a grind of trying to get a 50% win rate or some other arbitrary statistic. You can’t win 'em all!.
Playing with friends
For those who don’t want to deal with the shenanigans of playing with random people online, there is also a “Custom game” option where you can invite your friends.
Creating a custom game. You can invite players by name or use your in-game friends list.
You can only start a custom game when you have a full group of 4 players. We’re still considering how to handle less than 4 players.
Closing words
As always, let us know if you have any suggestions, we’ll be posting our answers in the Q&A post next week. And if you’re not sure how you feel about any of this, you can sign up for the Steam playtest once it goes live and give feedback based on your actual game experience.