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We know players are looking forward to online lobbies and we want people to be able to play Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection with friends and family over the Thanksgiving holiday, so we are releasing a time-limited beta version on Steam later today. This new system, called Online Arcade, will allow us to pressure test the new system and get quick feedback from the community. We welcome all feedback from Online Arcade beta participants via Discord.
Our goal with Online Arcade mode is to replicate the experience of having a large group of players together in a personal arcade or game room. In that room, you will have total freedom and control over who is allowed in, and which games everyone can play. These rooms will support up to 16 participants who can play any mix of games found in the Kollection that support online play. Up to eight matches can happen simultaneously, and players have the option of competing or spectating.
Spectator mode was designed in part for running informal tournaments or streaming. It allows lobby participants to watch matches, organize brackets, narrate or announce the games, and even stream all the action from their account.
Once we have confidence the new system is performing as designed, we will move the update onto PlayStation and Xbox as soon as we can. The Switch process is expected to take a little longer.
Read on for answers to questions we expect from players, details on exactly how to join the beta, and what work-in-progress elements you might encounter while playing online.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is the difference between public and private rooms?
Private rooms can't be seen in the list of lobbies and can only be accessed by direct invite.
Public rooms are broadcast on the lobby list. Public rooms will include a rating of connection quality, so players can find the rooms that will offer them the best performance.
How does game selection work?
We want to give people the tools to play whatever game or games interest them. In both public and private rooms any participant can select a game to play from the Kollection that supports online play.
Any combination of up to eight games is possible. One group of people in the room can play the original Mortal Kombat arcade game, another group in the same room can play Ultimate MK3 on Super NES, and a third group could play Mortal Kombat II on 32X. Or, if the host wants to run a private tournament for a single game, they can set up their room with eight instances of just one game.
How many simultaneous matches can exist in a room?
Each room can support up to 16 participants and eight matches occurring simultaneously.
Once you enter a room, how do you start or join a match?
When you enter a room, you will see a list of games that people have created. You can choose to join a queue to play one of the games listed or you can create your own game. Once you are in a queue you can drop out at any time.
Much like classic arcade play, each game is a round robin/king of the hill format, so the winner stays until they lose or decide to end their run. Spectators can queue up to play the current room champion if they choose; otherwise, they can just watch the action.
Are there tools to run tournaments?
Players can run ad-hoc tournaments using the lobby system, but there is no preset structure for running tournaments.
Can you see the connection quality of other players in a room?
The quality of both players' connections will have a big impact on the quality of a match. When you join a lobby, we show a bar-graph icon value that represents the quality of the connection between you and every other member of the room. We think this will make it easy for players to choose a room at a glance.
How are rooms and players identified?
Each room is named after the host who created it – and is automatically generated based on the host’s online gamer name. You can also add descriptors chosen from a pre-populated drop-down list. We've come up with a limited number of preset descriptions for the Beta, including “Newbies Only,” “MKII Only," and “Hardcore Players Only,” among others. We can expand these options based on player feedback.
Can you see how many people are in each room before you join?
Yes. When you're scrolling through the list of rooms, you can see the number of players in that room, as well as some other useful information, including how many people are currently spectating vs playing. If a room is full you won't be able to join it.
Can you queue to join a lobby that is full?
No, there's no queue process to get into a room. If you try to join a room that is full, you will get a message stating that the room is full.
Is there a “kick” mechanic to remove players from rooms?
There's currently no process for being able to kick people from a game or a room, but private rooms can be created to control who has access.
Do lobbies display the session performance of players, including wins and losses?
Not at the moment. We only show how many games someone has won in a row. We are investigating different ways to retain more information, but we don't have the answers to those questions yet.
JOINING THE ONLINE ARCADE BETA
In order to participate in the Online Arcade Beta on Steam, please follow the these directions:
- Log into the Steam client with an account that has purchased the Kollection
- In your Library, right click on Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection and select Properties.
- In the pop-up window, click on “Betas” from the list on the left side.
- Enter PublicOnlineArcadeBeta into the “Private Betas” section and click on “Check Code.” Please note this phrase is case-sensitive.
- If the code was entered correctly, you will see a success message and an “Opt into” notification.
- Click on the Beta Participation drop-down menu and select the “online_arcade_public_beta” branch, which will automatically update your version of the game to the Online Arcade Public Beta version.
LEAVING THE ONLINE ARCADE BETA
You can return to the standard release of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection at any time. To leave the Online Arcade Beta, simply return to the Betas pop-up window and choose “None” from the Beta Participation dropbox. Your game will then be automatically reverted to the latest public release of the Kollection.
KNOWN ISSUES
Abrupt Spectator Exits
In certain situations, spectators may abruptly get kicked from a game due to network-related quality issues. If this occurs, please report it and provide as much information as possible so that we can more quickly determine the cause and address it. In some cases, this issue may also result in problems with the current game that is being played.
Desync Issues
While we have attempted to address as many potential desync issues as possible between players, there might be some scenarios where they can still occur in this Open Beta. If you do see a potential desync issue occur, please report it and provide as much information as possible so that we can more quickly determine the cause and address it.
How to Report Issues
We want to hear about your experiences in the Online Arcade beta at the Digital Eclipse Discord channel. Please post any and all feedback there so it can be tracked and reviewed by the development team.
PATCH NOTES
- Added Online Arcade mode - Players can now create public or private rooms, invite friends into their room, and select which games are available in their room
- Added Lore section to The Krypt - The Khronicle of the Realms tells the story of the conflicts depicted from ancient history through to the events of Mortal Kombat 4
- Emulation latency improvements for MK, MKII, MK3, UMK3 and UMK3 (WaveNet)
- Screen scaling adjustments for MK3, UMK3 and UMK3 (WaveNet)
- Versus Mode for Arcade Modes and MK Trilogy can be fought against AI opponents with configurable AI difficulty
- Training Modes can now configure the difficulty of the AI when AI is selected
- Added Training mode to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (WaveNet)
- Recordings in training modes now adjust when character switches sides
- Volume should be at a more consistent level across all games
- Improvements to controls configuration
- Block has been remapped by default to R1 (PlayStation), RB (Xbox), R (Switch) and Run is now on L1 (PlayStation), LB (Xbox) and L (Switch). Block 2 is now on R2 (PlayStation), RT (Xbox), ZR (Switch). Run 2 is now L2 (PlayStation), LT (Xbox) and ZL (Switch)
- Moves lists across several games have been revised to be more accurate.=
- MK Trilogy load times have been further reduced
- Music will now loop properly in MK Trilogy when the round timer is unlimited
- Implemented adjustable CPU difficulty settings for arcade games and MK Trilogy
- Improvements to "random" character select option in all games
- Addressed some issues in MK: Special Forces
- High Scores and audit information are now persisted for all Arcade games
- Noob Saibot secret fight can now be accessed with only one controller in Arcade, Genesis and 32X MKII
- Ermac Fatality 2 can now be performed in SNES UMK3
- Added portraits to the moves list for Deadly Alliance and Tournament Edition
- GBA Deadly Alliance and Tournament Edition will now have controller icons per platform for the default control scheme of those games
- Mythologies Sub-Zero and Special Forces will now reflect the controller icons set in the options menu (PC Only)
- A handful of small typographical or formatting errors have been fixed throughout the Documentary and Kombatants sections in The Krypt
- Additional localization improvements throughout the Kollection
- Minor trophy set naming adjustment (PS4/PS5)
- Miscellaneous bug fixes
