Lobby
Template:Image The Battle Lobby is the place inside Inkopolis Tower where players cue up for online battles with other players around the world.
Options
Upon entering the tower, the player is presented with three different connection options to choose from. These options are Regular Battle, Join a Friend, and Ranked Battle.
Regular Battle
This option allows the player to join non-ranked online battles with all players around the world. These battles are for more casual play, and both the winning and losing teams get rewards at the end of each battle. Currently, the only mode in Regular Battles is Turf War, Splatoon's main mode.
Join a Friend
This option also allows players to join non-ranked battles. However, rather than joining a game with random players from around the world, it instead allows players to join any Miiverse friend who is currently playing in a Regular Battle. If the friend is joinable, upon clicking on their name, the player will have to wait in a loading screen until his friend's match is over before being able to join. After the results screen is finished, if one of the eight slots opens up in the friends lobby, the player can join his lobby. It should be noted that this option does not guarantee that the two friends will be put on the same team. It only allows them to play in the same lobby.
Ranked Battles
This option allows for players to join ranked battles with players around the world. This mode has a ranking system that groups players of similar skill together in a battle. This mode is more competitive, as teams get significantly more Battle Points and coins upon winning a battle. The players' ranks are also negatively affected upon a loss, making winning an even bigger priority in these battles. Due to this competitiveness, players can not join their friends in this mode. There are currently two modes in Ranked Battles: Splat Zones and Tower Control. A third mode, Rainmaker, is also in the works.
Lobbies
Lobbies are the areas where players wait for battles to begin. Once a player joins a lobby after clicking on any of the three options listed above, he can not back out of the lobby, or change his weapon/gear.
Before a Battle
When the players selects one of the three connection options, Nintendo's matchmaking service will find a lobby for the player to join. If there is no joinable lobby for the option the player selected, there will be a waiting screen and a timer that shows when the first joinable lobby will end its battle and become available. Upon joining a lobby, the player must sit on a lobby screen until eight players join. This screen displays several different things, including:
- The names of the other players currently in the lobby, as well as their levels, and in Ranked Battle lobbies, their ranks.
- The mode that will be played in the next battle,
- The two stages currently in the rotation for that mode,
- The player's vibe meter, and
- A countdown in the upper-left corner of the screen. If this countdown reaches zero before eight players have joined the lobby, everyone in the lobby will be disconnected.
While waiting for the battle to start, as well as while waiting to join a lobby, the player can play a minigame on the gamepad by pressing plus. More minigames can be unlocked by playing through amiibo challenges. Once eight players have joined the lobby, the lobby screen will display "BATTLE TIME!" in the North American version of the game, and "Let Battle Commence!" in the European version. Then the battle will start.
After a Battle
After the battle has finished, and Judd has determined which team has won, each player is taken to a results screen, which shows how many kills and deaths each player had, and in Regular Battle lobbies, how much turf each player inked. After this, the player is given the option to either play another round in the same lobby, or disconnect from the lobby. If the player chooses to disconnect, he is taken back to the menu with the three connection options that is displayed after entering Inkopolis Tower.
Communications Error
If a player's internet connection is not good enough to stay in the lobby/battle, he will be disconnected from the lobby. This is also called a Communications Error. If this occurs before the battle starts, the player will simply receive a message that states that "A communications error has occurred", and he will be disconnected from the lobby. If this happens during or directly after a battle before the results screen, a message will come up saying the same thing, and the player will again be disconnected. On the results screen, it will show that the disconnected player had zero kills and deaths, and in Regular Battles, it will show that he inked zero turf (unless his team won, in which case it will show that he earned 300bp). In both instances, the disconnected player will return to the menu with the three connection options.
Splatfest
During Splatfest, the lobbies are a bit different than normal. Upon first entering Inkopolis Tower, the player is not given the three normal connection options. Rather, the only option is to join a Splatfest Battle. Upon joining a lobby, one can notice that, rather than having eight slots all in a row, there are two groups of four slots, one for each Splatfest team. Once four people on the player's team has joined the lobby, it will say that that team is ready. Once the other team joins, it will say that the other team is ready, and then the Turf War will begin.
