Network Multiplayer has been developed from scratch

As with every feature in Quadropoly, Network Multiplayer has been developed from scratch from bottom up. There are many unique features invented specifically for Quadropoly, and therefore, not available anywhere else. Here I will try to explain only those affecting user experience the most, without going into technical details.

Ability to reconnect

The main feature of Network Multiplayer in Quadropoly is the ability to reconnect to your game after dropping out for any reason. As long as the game is not yet finished you should always be able to reconnect (even if all players abandoned it).

Timeout

At the same time, when someone drops out the game will not get stuck waiting forever on that player’s turn. The timeout is set to 3 minutes. However, there should be someone in game waiting (without pause mode activated) to count those 3 minutes down. If you don’t want the player to be replaced by AI, you can just pause the game by tapping on Clock, or simply go to the Menu screen. For example, when you are playing with your friends and you agree to continue your game at a later time, just pause it together and neither of you will be replaced by AI. When you are back, make sure to reconnect within 3 minutes of the first player reconnecting. Even if your token is taken over by AI, the control will be returned back to the owner as soon as he logs back in.

Replacement by corresponding AI level

Inactive player, based on his performance and overall skill level, will be replaced by corresponding AI level. Please note: it is not enough to simply unlock Champions or Monopolists to be replaced by them in Network Multiplayer games while you are reconnecting – you have to be in top 50% percentile of all players playing with AI on that level. Even though 100% of people believe they are better than average at Monopoly, only 49.99% really are 🙂 Every new player as well as players not in top 50% percentile for any level will be replaced by Students. If you are replaced by a Student, make sure you reconnect as quickly as possible as Students have huge penalties to trade estimates, selling everything very cheap and buying expensive. They are not offering trades themselves, but will be happy to accept bad deals should someone try their luck while you are reconnecting. To reduce that risk, other players will not be notified when you are replaced by your AI level or when you take the control back. Please refer to in-game Quadropoly Rules for exact replacement AI level requirements (subject to change from release to release, most probably – upwards as more people learn and become better at it).

Differences between Offline and Online game modes

There are also some minor differences between Offline and Online game modes:

• On Multiplayer New Game screen, player has to choose all the rules prior to Creating the game (Create button in top right corner of the screen). Once Create is pressed, Chat becomes visible and the game becomes available for other players to connect. Most rules can no longer be changed at this point. However, the number of players and whether they are AI or humans can be modified any time. Only the game host can start the game (everyone else will see “Wait” button instead of “GO!”)
• Player can kick out any player he does not like to share his game with, or when he waits for his friends to connect. Obviously, cannot be done after the game has been started
• Trade rollback is only available to a player initiating the trade for Multiplayer games (in Offline mode, it is also available for the other side for 5 seconds after trade is accepted)
• AI Advice, Roll your Own Dice Pro settings cannot be enabled for Multiplayer games as it would not be fair to your opponents
• Chat is available for Multiplayer games only. On New Game screen, it becomes visible only after game is Created (published for other players). In Offline game, instead of a Chat players might see Notifications about new Online games available for connection (Added in version 1.60.2)
• All Multiplayer games are not scored at this point. I will look at statistics and come up with the best way to score these games that would exclude possibility of cheating and artificially inflating the scores in future releases

These are still early days for Network Multiplayer feature, and despite my best effort I could not have tested everything in all possible conditions. If something is not right, especially if the problem can be reproduced after closing Quadropoly and restarting it, please email me at clevermindgames@gmail.com with as many details as possible and I will get it fixed ASAP. Thank you in advance!