Matchmaking is a system in Tower Defense Simulator that matches up players between servers. Players will be matched up with other players who selected the same mode and squad size. They are also initially matched up based on their Level, however, the system will not try to find players of similar Level forever. After a certain point, it will accept players of lower Level and higher Level, creating large gaps of Level between players.
Usage
Matchmaking can be activated in two ways. The main method is using the Play button in the middle of the screen. A secondary method of matchmaking is using statues placed in the lobby, though currently only PVP mode has a statue.
When accessed this way, in most cases a screen with multiple options will appear. These options are Hardcore, PVP, survival, special modes and Sandbox. Going into either survival or special will have multiple additional options appear, that being Easy mode, Casual mode, Intermediate mode, Molten mode and Fallen mode in the survival section, special contains Pizza Party, Polluted Wasteland II and Badlands II, while PVP contains casual and ranked.
There are also a few other screens. For Challenge Maps, there is no option for it in the main Matchmaking menu. Instead, it can only be accessed through the Quests menu. For events, the old Matchmaking menu will be used instead, where a small pop up window will appear with multiple difficulty options, if they exist, then a player count for the lobby.
After getting through the mode selection, player count can be chosen. Solo creates a one player match, duo creates a two player match, trio creates a three player match and squad creates a four player match. In Sandbox, two additional options appear, these being another squad option for five players and a mega option for six players. In both cases, the four player squad icon is used. In PVP mode, the usual options are replaced with 1v1, which has the players be in teams consisting of one player only, and 2v2, where players are in two player teams.
Selecting the player count will then start a player search. If the Party size is the same as selected player count, a match will be created instantly. Otherwise, Matchmaking will begin searching for players of a specific similar statistic:
- In majority of cases, it will look players of a similar Level. This applies to majority of the modes, with all exceptions being listed below. If unable to find players of similar Level quickly, players of significantly higher or lower Level will be accepted.
- Ranked PVP looks for players of similar ELO. If unable to find players of similar ELO quickly, players of significantly higher or lower ELO will be accepted.
- Sandbox mode will instantly start the match, regardless if the selected player count actually matches the Party size. However, it will not wait indefinitely until it finds such players, it will instead pick players with lower Levels/ELO. Once all players are found, every single player's loadout, level, triumph count and loss count will be displayed, alongside their username and avatar. The triumph and loss counters are currently bugged and are always displayed as zero.
Historical Matchmaking
Matchmaking Elevator
Matchmaking Elevator refers to a Matchmaking which was never actually used in-game outside of public tests. It would move the player away from the main lobby into an elevator.
Matchmaking Elevator would put the player inside an elevator with three options, survival, hardcore and event. After either one is chosen a player count would be chosen, which could be one player, two players, three players, four players or a MEGA Server. A search for players would then begin, where player avatars would start appearing inside the elevator.
It would be accessible through a "Play" button on the screen.
Legacy Event Matchmaking
Legacy Event Matchmaking refers to an early version of Matchmaking used by the Solar Eclipse Event and Duck Hunt Event. It was a far more primitive version of Matchmaking, as it had no actual options for the player. The match size would always be the highest one available, meaning that if the Party was not full, the game would fill out the rest of the slots with other players.
Few months after Duck Hunt Event released, the game would receive proper Matchmaking statues in the lobby which would use a slightly different UI and give the player the option to pick the match size, meaning Legacy Event Matchmaking would not end up being used for the Violent Night Event.
Gallery
Mode Icons
Squad Size Icons
