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[xix]

Ok! So I've got some unique gameplay mechanics to talk about in this post! A lot of this game is footsies. You position your hitboxes in the right way to damage the other person. They have their own hurtboxes AND shieldboxes that you have to maneuver to or around. In general stabs are fast, vertical attacks go over (some shields), forearm swings attack a forward facing enemy's shielded side, and a backarm swing attacks a FFE's unshielded side. Backshields are good in conjunction with sideshields for coverage on ~50% of your horizontal surface area, though you have to be wary of the way you dance - moving CCW vs CW opens up new avenues for attacking and new avenues for being attacked. Anyways......

1) The Knights' Sword neutral attack is a flurry that goes backhand swing -> forehand swing. The backswing is slow, but it'll go directly into your opponent's unshielded side. Even if somehow you get a sword full of shield, you get a second chance on the return foreswing. For added benefit I recorded a the Aerial Downstab.

Also note: gratuitous sparks on shield collision.

2) The Battle Axe's tilt is a long range forehand swing that'll eat shield if your enemy is equipped to defend. I haven't tested this new version in the heat of combat yet, but the stun return on the BattleAxe is going to be low enough that this should be a relatively safe poke. It's also really good to chase down enemies. The neutral is a pair of 360* backhanded swings that get Armored on the second swing.

Aesthetic question: do the damage hearts in the right image look like you can pick them up ****? Do the ones in the left one? Does one look better than the other?

**** Edit: They're not pickups! They're both "damage debris" and damage indicators. If you have 5 health and you lose 5 hearts, you're dead :-p

[io3 creations]

Hearts?  Oh, those are hearts?! 

Actually, I did realize that those were hearts based on the gif on the right.  But at first, I thought that the glowing red chunks were body chunks that you removed from the enemy.   

I think it would help if the hearts didn't rotate or maybe only around the vertical axis.  Also, if something is collectible, it should stay on screen a little longer to give the player a chance to collect them.  Right now, those disappear at about the same time I'd expect damage debris to disappear.

[xix]

@io3
The hearts aren't supposed to be pickups! I must've worded the question poorly in the other post. They're just supposed to be damage indicators in the gamespace!



Since I'm here, I got a couple more GIFs.

1) This is a demo of the Parry Attacks. They's no "stat" or "value" that makes them a a parry attack. They just rotate the player character in a way that, if they have a shield, you can probably use that to block, and then you can go right into attacking. In general, larger weapons that have backhand swings (CW swings) will Parry Attacks with the backshield, and smaller weapons with forehand swings (CCW swings) will Parry Attacks with the side shield.

2) This is just cool particles and bats dying. Sorry bats.

[io3 creations]

@io3
The hearts aren't supposed to be pickups! I must've worded the question poorly in the other post. They're just supposed to be damage indicators in the gamespace!



Since I'm here, I got a couple more GIFs.

1) This is a demo of the Parry Attacks. They's no "stat" or "value" that makes them a a parry attack. They just rotate the player character in a way that, if they have a shield, you can probably use that to block, and then you can go right into attacking. In general, larger weapons that have backhand swings (CW swings) will Parry Attacks with the backshield, and smaller weapons with forehand swings (CCW swings) will Parry Attacks with the side shield.

2) This is just cool particles and bats dying. Sorry bats.

Certain things are open to interpretation.    Hmm, looking at the hearts again, I'm going to change my opinion.  Previously, I was focusing on their shape but now looking at the "full picture" it seems like that those could be pick-up items.  Mainly because of the red light around them gives them a certain kind of contrast that makes them stand out as somehow "special", likely as pickup items.

Regarding the bats, its hard to gauge their elevation.  While their shadow might be an indication, for me it's still not a definite source.  Of course, I'd see if I can hit the bats by moving close to them but on the other hand I'd expect bats to also fly up and have different attack patterns.  In other games there's at least a simplified oval or actual shadow shape right below the characters and that gives a very good idea of their location and elevation.  Since any light source can create a shadow, I'd say having another shadow below each character might help.

[xix]

Thanks io3! I forgot about the bat elevation situation. For the players, I have an unshadowed pointlight. I copied that and put it on the bats. I think it helps identify where the bat is on the horizontal XZ plane. Essentially its an anti-shadow. Bonus, when I finally add movement to the bat it'll show its distance from the bat to the ground plane.



Also, anyone reading: I'm finally putting together the character customizer. Please get at me for desired hair styles and body colors. Currently I got:

Mohawk
Long Hair
Short Hair
Bald + Big Ears (ears are a hair type, right?)

I'm going to add:
Oxtails
Pigtails
Afro
Flat Top
Medium Hair
Ponytail (Samurai or High School girl? Or High School Girl Samurai?)
Top Knot
Beerdad (gonna be spelled this way in game)
Buzzcut
Bun

I'm sure there are other hairstyles. Please suggest.

[IncrediCorp]

I also find that it takes a little effort of concentration to understand the morphology and animations of the characters, but afterwards we get used to it.
I like the rendering, especially the shadows!

[xix]

I haven't posted here for a minute. Let's have some pictures!



These are some of the character cards that you use to select your initial character build. Outside of some pixel art and a name, the cards are supposed to display the health/speed/magic/carry capacity of each of the characters (except Rain Hat and Bonehead). Even though each character is a blank slate, the intended personality of the character's default setup is supposed to come through with the image. E.g. The Tower is imposing and has heavy weapons and Peregrine is fast and leaves chaos in its wake.



Once you select a character card and either the standard setup or a custom setup, it flips over to show this part of the card to you. The character stats are shown at the bottom again, but the particular items are shown to the right. I'm *hoping* to render something regarding the player on the left side. *Fingers crossed*.

[Pixel Noise]

Been away for a while and just getting back to checking on devlogs - I love the aesthetic of the cards and character creation! I think it looks like a good approach.

[xix]

Thanks pixelnoise. I've been kinda sick for the last month, so encouragement is 

Here's the finished set of character cards:



And some GIFs for   

[xix]

Started a real title screen. Pixely not pixely is the area I'm looking to be, but I hope that it isn't too... unwieldy.



This guy is called Brave Cat. Has a lot of HP and Speed, but he can only carry two items at a time. There's a mechanic where you can ignore stun if you're going fast enough, so BC here will mostly be hiding in bushes and popping out for big damage.


This guy is Bonehead. He has good magic and decent HP (more than the Wizard), but he doesn't have much carry capacity, either. Once more spellbooks get into the game, he'll probably trade down damage for versatility.


Rain Hat is a beefier, slower, mildly magical dude. His itemset in the works, but he's kinda cool to look at.

[xix]

Also! I'm going to be at 2DConn up in Minneapolis August 12th. If ya'll are in the MSPTwinCities area please come hang out and say hi! Zaibach, are you going to be there?

[xix]

Sorry for the lack of posts. 2DCon went really, really well. I'll probably try to do Gamer's Rhapsody or whatever they call it next.

[freank]

amazing light effects!

[joey4track]

Such an interesting game and dev log, keep up the good work!

[xix]

Started doing some balance testing:
https://twitter.com/LUNARSIGNALS/status/898593607611031553

On that note, I'm putting together a small beta group. If you're interested send me a message. Requirements:

1) Have a local multiplayer group to play with (2 is a must, obviously, but the game runs up to

2) Fighting Game Fan OR Streamer

IF you have a Mayflash Gamecube -> USB adapter, I'm *super interested* in your opinions. I really want this game to run like butter magic on a Gamecube Controller. I just haven't been able to move from PS4/360/One to Gamecube yet because controllers are $$$.

[xix]

**Edit: Tip for embedding video, don't use youtube's shortened URL. use h ttps://youtube.com/watch?v= and the key for video glory.

Still looking for beta testers. If (you got a weekly/biweekly/monthly group) && (are FGC || are a streamer) I got some fun stuff for you.

[s_harriton]

Cool vid!

[xix]

Btw, thanks for the kind words, guys. I'm pretty happy that the gameplay and the art are finally getting to where I want them to be. I just neeeeed some beta testerssss. PM me pleaaase.

[xix]

[xix]

I just found out GIPHY can make 10s GIFs of your youtube videos.