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[xix]

Dang I really want to try it out, but don't have anyone around to play locally with at the moment.

Well, think about me when you do have someone to play with locally

[xix]

Holy cow, I got a message from someone who had 1) a really good opinion of the game 2) but didn't use the run at all over 10 matches. Craaazy. That's really not optimal, so I am going to type up a quick new roadmap for this post-itch-early-access life I have:

Clean Up Current Demo
-Easier access to Options
-"How To Play" tutorial
-"Match Completed" screen with a rematch/reset menu

Then I'm gonna start doing some local multiplayer streams. I know I wanna play melee combat games so I wanna do everything from Samurai Gunn to Samurai Spirits to Bushido Blade. I know I'm gonna have to do some Smash.

AAAAAAAAND I get to work on single player, too.

[io3 creations]

I'm wondering what kind of feedback you've received regarding sfx.  To me it doesn't fit for two reasons.  As we talked about before, to me the game is more of a 3d with pixel shader/asthetic (still looking great!).  But even if I ignore the pixels, the color range implies that it's a "high resolution" type game.  To that, the "low resolution" sfx don't fit.  Also, the sfx sounds like something I'd expect for a light hearted platformer and not in a combat game.  Although, if I was playing, I'd probably wouldn't even be aware of that due to focusing on gameplay but based on past experiences it might be a bit distracting.  But, that's just my opinion.

[xix]

Most folks say they like it, but I haven't had real sound professionals critique it yet.

Your point about the lofi SFX not fitting is actually something I've thought about. I have a combination of hifidelity sounds and lofidelity sounds, but I guess you didn't catch the hifi stuff? The reason for the split is because I want the character/organic/character sounds to be lofi to match the sprites, and things that are associated with voxels to be hifi.

Have you watched the GoldenArmsRR video? This is the one w/ the most recent SFX.

[io3 creations]

Yes, that's the one!   Actually, the attack sfx are fine (probably hifi) but as you mentioned it's mainly the walking and jumping sfx lofi sounds mostly off to me.

Also, as you mentioned earlier, there are people who thought the game is a "pixel" game and probably for that reason it's not an issue for them.

Similarly, Shovel Knight's lofi sfx are fine for me because of consistency with the lofi visuals.

[Pixel Noise]

Personally, I don't think the current sfx are a great fit for the game. They work - but I think they could be better. Partly, it's a question of character - do you want the sfx to be fun and playful, or a bit more serious and impactful? (OR a blend of both?) And then secondly, the overall sound quality can be improved, I think.

[io3 creations]

I was thinking about the sfx and there might one more aspect.  As I mentioned, to me the game is more 3d-ish and closer to realistic than cartoony and would expect the sounds to match.  When I look at the characters, their weapons and armor imply something heavy and would expect "heavier" (i.e. low pitch) sounds.  Though, even then lofi sounds probably wouldn't work for me.

These are my best guesses so far.

[xix]

Ok, so I'm just gonna try to get this straight, I see that you guys are discussing two issues with the SFX:

1) It does not come off as "what you expect" from the visuals. E.g. you see 3D visuals so you expect higher fidelity sounds, and you find that the lower fidelity sounds dominate too much whereas the "high fidelity" sounds don't have the heft you were expecting?

2) The sound quality can be improved? Are you saying that the bitrate is too low? Is it that you can't hear the weapon swipes?

[xix]

https://go.twitch.tv/goldenarmsrr

My bud is streaming The Moon Fields right now. I'll be hanging in the room for a minute.

[io3 creations]

Ok, so I'm just gonna try to get this straight, I see that you guys are discussing two issues with the SFX:

1) It does not come off as "what you expect" from the visuals. E.g. you see 3D visuals so you expect higher fidelity sounds, and you find that the lower fidelity sounds dominate too much whereas the "high fidelity" sounds don't have the heft you were expecting?

2) The sound quality can be improved? Are you saying that the bitrate is too low? Is it that you can't hear the weapon swipes?

Pixel Noise might be referring to different things, so I'll just answer from my perspective.  For the lofi sfx I wouldn't say "low quality" because I know that many pixel games use them and I do find it appropriate for those.  But, as you mentioned, for hifi visuals I (tend to) expect hifi sfx.  Interestingly, I had the same experience with In the Shadows, that I just started playing.  It kind of looks like a pixel game first, but to me the light and much richer color range separate it from pixel games.  Having followed the devlog, I know the game is using voxels and certain light techniques in Unity but even without that I don't perceive it as a pixel game.  Also, the music is hifi that contrasts the lofi sfx (e.g. walking, ladder climbing) even more. 

As mentioned, it's one of those individual preference things.  If you haven't heard a lot of complaints/mentions regarding sfx from players, then probably they either like it or might be fine with it and it's not an issue for them.

[Pixel Noise]

To clarify, and maybe walk that last statement back a bit - I think the current sfx DO fit the game. The overall style and sound - it works. I would like to hear more variation in the sounds - particularly in the attacks. I feel like the larger weapons need a bit more depth/difference to the sound - the current sfx work well for the faster/lighter weapons, but I feel like they don't give enough oomph to the axe attacks etc.

Listening again, I think part of it is also balance - I think the jump sound is too loud right now, especially for how often it will be used. I might drop that one just a bit in the mix, and raise the weapon attack sound (the swish, not the sound that plays when a player takes damage).

[xix]

This is a video from the last Milwaukee gamedev meeting. Sorry for my annoying voice. I think I get quieter after a minute or two.




I just got an HD60S capture device. I'm gonna be able to get some better recordings now. And once I get better recordings, then I'll be able to put together a traaailer (for the early access... a month late!). In other news, I'm in talks w/ a musician. I'll be posting what we come up w/ in about a week. So stoked.

[xix]

I've mostly been updating my devlog on itch.io. You can go there to check it out.

I guess for unique content in this thread, I'll post some insight in how I balance things. At the M+Dev party, one of my friends who plays the game up in Minneapolis was able to show me how rough he can be with a the Black Branch, a mace. I think we ran an hour of 1v1 matches (not the video above) and I didn't get a single match against him. I tried a lot of things to get around his setup, but I couldn't get an angle on him. Obviously one of the two builds was problematic. Immediately afterwards I thought it was his build because the Sun Hat performed pretty well in most situations, but I had to do my due diligence.

So, let's explain the setup: I was the standard Sun Hat build and he was the Brave Cat with the Black Branch (mace) and the Lion Guard (shield with a deep hitbox).

The Sun Hat build has four item slots, and they synergize with each other in pairs to create a short range/long range dynamic. The Sun Hat is meant to flow in and out of short and long range based on what is most advantageous. His scimitar Moon Breaker pops in and out of melee combat pinging damage with a short range stab and a short range wide swipe. The wide swipe also has a step back component, so it's used more as an emergency "Get Me Out Of here" move. The Moon Breaker works really well with the dash boots for lots of mobility - dashing in and out of melee range and controlling when engagements happen is important for the Moon Breaker/Dash Boot combo. The Book of Orbs and Shortbow both do well at longer range. The Book Of Orbs is slower to cast and needs energy to cast, but it has infinite ammo and does area damage. It also has slow and fast fire modes that help control space even if you're not directly damaging. The Shortbow is quick and has lots of spammy attacks to threaten from afar, but has limited ammo. Nailing a shot or two from the Shortbow should keep your enemy under cover giving you just enough time to generate magic to keep the long range pressure and control the map.

This is not what happened against Brave Cat.

Brave Cat was never threatened by Sun Hat in melee range, and he was fast enough to evade all the projectiles or beefy enough to take a hit and keep going. Even if I could combine various projectiles to get a little damage, it was mostly just bad trades. I had to ping 1pt damage attacks 5 times on him before he could get 2 2pt damage attacks on me. And his attacks comboed into each other. And in the range I needed to be in to actually do damage to him, he had a very clear and easy approach to me.

I was pretty sure I was going to nerf this, but I wanted to keep the fun parts of the character and item build in. As far as I see it, the mace is a great beginner weapon because you just mash the attack button and it links into itself. It becomes a pro weapon when you're judging when and how you line up against your opponents, and then mash. I decided to buff it by making the weapon even faster, stun slightly longer, and have more forward motion per attack. It's still easy to get 1 or 2 Black Branch hits in, but by the third or fourth attack you might have to realign yourself based on pushback and forward motion. So while you can still combo someone to death, the third and fourth points of damage are a lot harder. The buffs all encourage the act of running up and mashing, and the nerf really just means you do more of the fun thing.

Hopefully! We'll see how it goes this weekend.

[xix]

A few things: I'll be in Iowa City demoing the game at RADPlay this weekend. The next weekend starting November 17, my friend Paul will be at Daisho Con showing off The Moon Fields, and I'll be in Chicago checking out Indie City Coop and hopefully demoing at Logan Theater Playtest. If you're in any of these spots, it'd be super cool to see you.

I actually changed the above damage nerf to a stun nerf. But there are actually 2 big changes I'm putting in the game:

1) I added an Aiming button. On PS4/XB controllers all the R1/L1 and RB/LB buttons are all Aiming buttons, and on a Gamecube controller it's the Z button. This is an optional button that, if you're at Neutral, limits your stick position to under the threshhold for walking. It lets you turn and aim without moving which is pretty helpful for popping out the neutral attacks in the right direction.

Related, but not as important, the telescope is now a toggle. This makes the telescope's aim more useful for magic builds, and it's a little bit more understandable. I was wary about having a toggle type item, but I think this is going to be fine. I know there's going to be a torch, and that'll also be a toggle type action.

2) I modified the jumping/leaping a lot. Before, Jump and Leap were differentiated by horizontal motion - Jump was straight up and Leap had horizontal motion related to the amount you pressed out the analog stick, but they both jumped up 2m. I changed it so that Leap now has 3m of vertical push, so you have more mobility if you plan correctly. The small amount of time difference (24f vs. 30f) that Leap throws you up in the air also allows for more punishes if you jump incorrectly, but also more time/distance to use your air attacks. I gave downforce to a lot of the air attacks, and the slight variance here makes for really dynamic air attacks (e.g. you can activate early or late).

Lots of other small tweaks:

a) Max speed during leap charge time is 25%
b) Leap charge time up from 11f to 12f
c) If you fall off a cliff while charging you auto-Jump (sup Ocarina of Time)

[xix]

Though I didn't win the C2E2 booth from Playtest, the events went fairly well. I'm still planning on showing the game. I'm going to exhibit as a side event at Construct 94 here in Milwaukee this Saturday, and I'm looking for more events throughout the Midwest.

The game itself is going well. I think the only balance things I'm concerned about are the back shields being seemingly too powerful. There have been some crazy matches this weekend with some very impressive weapon clashes happening this weekend.

The biggest reason I'm posting here is because I am looking for a musician to work on the project. If you're interested, please click through and send me a DM.

The Moon Fields needs music!

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=63259.msg1363553#msg1363553

[xix]

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-indie-dev-taking-his-brawler-on-tour-to-test-it-against-the-toughest-audiences/

Yo what's up how you doing?

[Pixel Noise]

"I actually met Lupe Fiasco [at Combo Breaker]. He did not like the game I was showing."

Whaaaattttt.

[Sundrop]

This is the first pass at the dungeon level. I think it needs a few more details like edges by the walls and other walkable areas and more dirt and pebbles. I was actually playing around with flipping over one of the statues or pillars, but I forgot those details are actually stretched 2x vertically, so when they lay horizontally they look ridiculous and totally break any illusions right now.

I'd like to tweak the lighting/floor material so the shadows are more pronounced, but that'll happen later. Edit: tweaked. Still not perfect, but close.

Love the stab of that lance! Reminds me of Monster Hunter lances!

[freank]

great work! I like it

[xix]

I've had a couple people twitch stream The Moon Fields, and I realized that I needed to put together an overlay for information that a viewer needs that is distinct from the player. The players play on a field without HUDs because 1) HUDs are ugly 2) once you know what's going on in TMF it's just a waste of space. Twitch viewing this stuff, tho... you need to see the camera and be able to introduce folks to what's going on at their own pace. The names, images, and flags are all modifiable within OBS. I just need to figure out how to drop this as a package with the game...