October Update (version... whatever)


I just uploaded a new update finally.


I started by fixing the player 2 character colours, sorry that was broken for so long. The game now saves both players customisation and colours automatically.

I added some experimental 'shared keyboard' layouts for those who want to play together on 1 keyboard. It seems some keyboards have a limit to the number of simultaneous inputs so this is a work in progress. Navigating the menu is also still kind of a buggy nightmare but I've tested that the setup works.

I added a proper foreground to the 'field' stage with the pyramids, and I added a new 'custom' stage. The game folder contains a background and foreground image that can be edited however you want to create an 'indoors' style stage with blood on the wall.

The counter system is now better fleshed out and contains a unique sound effect and brief flash to give feedback to your timing. The AI also use counters on purpose now, instead of just by accident.

I added a new 'fatigue' system to address some of the balance issues:

- Swinging into the air without hitting anything now builds up fatigue.

- Blocking an attack now builds fatigue.

- Being shoved now builds fatigue.

Fatigue will slow down your attack release slightly and make your swings more sluggish.

Fatigue is automatically reduced when you're not performing an action and will clear up very quickly.

Fatigue can be avoided by using dodges instead of blocks and making sure your strikes contact something.


You can now also continue attacking your opponent after the first cut, and bodies can now be chopped into pieces while they're falling over. Happy Halloween.

Files

First Cut.zip 27 MB
Oct 31, 2020

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Comments

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eta on multiplayer?

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Is that a motherfucking QUIT BUTTON I see?! 11/10!

My girlfriend is very happy to be able to change colors!

Bug report: Full Screen setting is lost after every match or game restart.

Feedback: It's awesome. I just find 1 aspect a bit strange: wouldn't building fatigue for blocking disadvantage the defender against a spammer? It's a minor thing, no biggie, just stating my thoughts.

Questions: How long does it take to recover from fatigued state? Is counter speed affected by fatigue if you blocked lots of attacks before countering?

Put the quit button in the changelog! It's a milestone! :D

I hope you read my follow-up comment to your reply in which I describe why the game is so good for us.

I'll make good on my $60 donation as soon as I can. 2/3 requests is good, the 3rd one was minor.

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Hey man I'll check out that fullscreen bug soon. I changed the way the game restarts itself so that would explain things.

The fatigue system is a work in progress but the idea is:

Blocking is fairly lenient (the timing window is giant) and doing so allows you to counter. Every time you attempt a counter you need to block, so it's a trade-off every time you try to catch them with a quick counter slash. The Master AI is almost perfect at blocking so I thought there should be a way to soften up a defensive opponent and force them to mix it up in order to maintain their offensive capabilities.

Since blocking builds fatigue, dodging is now a riskier way to defend while avoiding any fatigue, and shoving is now more useful. Furthermore dodging causes your opponent to miss their swing, making them fatigued instead.

Fatigue goes up to a maximum of 10, and is reduced in 16-frame increments (about 1/4 of a second). So a recovery from full fatigue takes just over 2 seconds and will gradually reduce itself whenever your movement is free.


I'm happy to hear anyone's thoughts on the system since it's a new attempt to balance some of the moves in the game into a tactical whole. Thanks for your support and all the feedback too.

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Thanks for taking the time to answer! Sorry for asking again, but is the counter attack speed affected by fatigue or not? If it's not, then blocking fatigue is fine in my opinion. Of course, I'm just one guy, so don't put too much weight in my opinion. Also bear in mind I exclusively play against humans, so I have no experience with the single player.

Fatigue is intended to only affect counters by half, but I noticed earlier I fudged the implementation of that so another hotfix is coming.

I also think that, if you release and sell the game, it has the potential to be a multiplayer hit, but not a lot of potential on the single player side, so I would think multiplayer balancing is prioritary, but, again, I'm not an expert.

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I just pushed a hotfix to fix the menu. I also added that UI arrow you requested, it slipped my mind the other day.

I read your other message and I'm glad she's having fun with it. I always intend for this game to be easy to learn and feel intuitive, so comparing your two experiences is very valuable. I'm curious how fatigue will affect your matches since it was intended to work somewhat under the hood to balance things subtly rather than work like a typical stamina bar system or something.

Wow, awesome! That was fast!

Working as intended. I'll be sure to let you know how the fatigue system influences our games once we get some more game time in!

(+1)

looking good feeling good 10/10 100% recomend