Whisper

Whisper — Lobby Discovery Fix for Mage Arena

Whisper is a lightweight BepInEx mod that fixes Steam lobby discovery issues in Mage Arena by removing unnecessary client-side filters applied by the game.

If public lobbies exist, Whisper makes sure they are actually visible.

✨ Features

• ✅ Removes restrictive Steam lobby distance filters
• ✅ Allows worldwide lobby discovery
• ✅ Increases the maximum number of returned lobbies
• ✅ Optional version filtering
• ✅ Clean fallback to vanilla behavior when disabled
• ✅ Zero impact on matchmaking, gameplay, or voice chat

❓ What This Mod Does (and Does NOT Do)

✔️ What it does

• Fixes broken or overly strict lobby discovery
• Ensures Steam returns all discoverable public lobbies
• Prevents duplicate or cached lobby entries

❌ What it does NOT do

• ❌ It does not create lobbies
• ❌ It does not make private or friends-only lobbies public
• ❌ It does not bypass Steam privacy rules
• ❌ It does not add matchmaking

If no lobbies appear, it means no public Steam lobbies exist at that moment.

🔧 Configuration

Whisper is fully configurable via BepInEx.

Example config file:

Settings file was created by plugin Whisper v1.0.0

Plugin GUID: com.harukadev.magearena.whisper

[Compatibility]

Allows joining lobbies with different game versions (unsafe).

Setting type: Boolean

Default value: false

IgnoreGameVersion = false

Disables Whisper lobby discovery and uses the game's original behavior.

Setting type: Boolean

Default value: false

DisableWhisperPatch = false

[Debug]

Enables verbose debug logging.

Setting type: Boolean

Default value: false

EnableDebugLogs = false

[General]

Toggle the mod

Setting type: Boolean

Default value: true

Enabled = true

[Lobby Discovery]

How far Steam should search for lobbies.

Setting type: FilterOptionsEnum

Default value: Global

Acceptable values: SameRegion, NearbyRegion, Continent, Global

LobbyDistance = Global

Maximum number of lobbies requested from Steam.

Setting type: Int32

Default value: 100

Acceptable value range: From 20 to 250

MaxLobbyResults = 100

Ignores the game's original lobby size filter (2p / 8p).

Setting type: Boolean

Default value: true

IgnoreLobbySizeFilter = true

`

Lobby Distance Options

| Option | Description |

|--------------|-------------------------------|

| SameRegion | Very close / same region only |

| NearbyRegion | Nearby regions |

| Continent | Same continent |

| Global | Worldwide (recommended) |

🧠 How It Works

Whisper patches the following methods:

• BootstrapManager.GetLobbiesList
• BootstrapManager.OnGetLobbyList

It replaces the game's Steam lobby request with:

• A configurable distance filter
• Higher result limits
• Optional version filtering
• Clean lobby injection without redundant filtering

If Steam returns 0 lobbies, Whisper safely falls back to the game's original behavior.

🧪 Tested On

• Mage Arena 0.8.1
• BepInEx 5.4.23.4
• Steamworks.NET
• Windows 64-bit

📦 Installation

• Install BepInEx 5 for Mage Arena
• Drop Whisper.dll into:

MageArena/BepInEx/plugins/

• Launch the game once to generate the config
• Adjust settings if desired

🐞 Troubleshooting

“I see players online but no lobbies”

This is normal.

Steam player count ≠ public lobbies.

Most players host private or friends-only lobbies.

Whisper cannot show lobbies that Steam does not expose.

📜 License

MIT License

Feel free to fork, modify, and improve.

🧙 Final Notes

Whisper is intentionally minimal.

It fixes one problem — and does it well.

If Mage Arena ever changes its lobby system, this mod can be easily adapted.

Enjoy ✨