[h1Free To Play Patch 7 Hotfix 1 We're releasing a small hotfix to a few minor issues identified after releasing Free To Play Patch 7. We'll continue to address major issues that affect Workshop, SourceMod or the Stats system, as well as any crashes that are reported to us.
Special thanks to Prohorov Ilja for testing SourceMod support on his server!
Changes since Free To Play Patch 7
Changelog
Bug Fixes
Addressed problem preventing multiple SourceMod plugins from working.
Allowed Source engine server plugins to load on listen servers by default.
Fixed Discord Rich Presence integration not displaying images in-app.
Free to Play Patch 7, Stats and Workshop are back!
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 7
With the new year upon us, it’s time to release a new update to Blade Symphony. Exciting news as the Blade Symphony Stats system is back online, recording data, and re-integrated with the game. You’ll see your global rank and league in-game, in some new areas!
The other major update is that Blade Symphony’s Steam Workshop support is back! The majority of old items should once again work in-game and be visible to other players. We’re still working to clear up any issues that may arise from old, outdated workshop items.
If you're looking for players to duel against, why not try out our new automated Pick-up Duel functionality on our Discord Server!?
Changes since Free To Play Patch 6
Changelog
Changes
Restored support for using items from the Steam Workshop.
Added an option to automatically delete unsubscribed workshop content from disk.
Added support for previewing local workshop items in-game before they are published (other players see default items).
Masks no longer require the head bone to be their root bone, allowing for cosmetics attached to the neck and shoulders.
Updated to latest SteamUGC implementation.
Re-integrated global leaderboard stats tracking.
Updated the duel intro box to display the player’s global rank and a nice shiny league icon.
Updated the scoreboard to show the player’s avatar more predominantly and to display their global rank.
Changed the duel intro box to display the sword type rather than the sword name.
Updated engine interfaces for improved SourceMod compatibility.
Changed server queries to use Steam standards.
Re-added the backdrop behind the loading screen logo.
Fixed some unused internal texture system functionality eating video memory.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a crash that would sometimes occur when scanning for voice chat devices.
Fixed a rare crash that would occur when entering a duel.
Fixed SourceMod HUD menu not receiving input.
Fixed several warnings and notifications that would appear in the developer console.
Fixed several bugs with multi-threaded model loading.
Fixed the published workshop items page showing subscribed items too.
Fixed the game entering an invalid state after editing a workshop item.
Fixed text clipping with buttons on the character customization page.
Updated SFML.
Free to Play Patch 6, Begone Crashes!
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 6
Since the last update, our focus has been to get SourceMod working with the game again. Unfortunately, SourceMod support for 64-bit operating systems is still underdeveloped, which is what the Windows and Linux dedicated servers use.
Until the wonderful SourceMod team are able to improve 64-bit support, we decided to switch gears and fix crashes and bugs that we've noticed new players are encountering. After this update, we want to pivot to working on workshop support for older items.
Thanks to the wonderful continued support from our community we will be working to add workshop support for older items, re-implement the statistics system, and begin working on gameplay changes again!
Join our Discord and be sure to check out our Bug Tracker, if you would like to assist with development!
Changelog
Changes since Free to Play Patch 5
Changes
End of duel slow-motion now properly accounts for player animation speed.
Added mouse-over effects to the web links in the menu.
Hid the redundant “Harmonious Prelude” text at the bottom left of the main menu.
Optimizations
Optimized a lot of cases where memory would be copied where it was unnecessary to do so.
Solved a lot of warnings that would be constantly logged to the developer console, which could cause mid-game stutters.
Optimized console variable management in the engine, providing a minor speed-up across the board.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed many bugs where memory owned by another part of the game would be written over. Causing crashes that wouldn’t manifest until the affected memory was accessed again, typically when changing maps or closing the game.
Fixed a crash when building lightmaps.
Fixed a crash related to Discord rich presence integration.
Fixed many instances of memory being used after it had been deallocated.
Fixed a crash caused by the customization menu writing to memory used by other parts of the game.
Fixed a crash related to BBTV playback.
Fixed a crash when sending client info to a server.
Fixed an oversight where players would move at their normal speed during the end of duel slow-motion.
Fixed a bug where players could kick themselves from the game by scrolling the mouse wheel too fast over menu spinwheels.
Fixed a bug where GUI spinwheel controls would randomly not scroll back to the beginning properly.
Fixed a broken material on duel_winter.
Free To Play Patch 5, optimize everything!
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 5
Over the last few weeks, we have been internally testing a number of methods to better optimize Blade Symphony. After all, having fluid swordplay is important.
Thankfully, since the last update, there have been very few crashes. The team thought it was important to spend some time reducing the amount of times players will receive "hitches" in-game, or finding ways to reduce filesize.
The result is Free To Play Patch 5! This should allow us to keep going with more patches, and more changes soon. Keep an eye out, and thanks for supporting continued Blade Symphony development!
Join our Discord and be sure to check out our Bug Tracker, if you would like to assist with development!
Changelog
Changes
Disabled vscript, which should fix certain instabilities and provide a small performance boost.
The Hammer editor no longer plays a MIDI tune every time it is started.
Various under the hood changes.
Optimizations
Fixed numerous material problems that created a lot of unnecessary warnings in the game console.
Fixed textures and materials being completely reloaded upon map change, which should improve load times.
Fixed several slow debugging features being enabled for release builds.
Enabled general optimizations for several modules that previously had them disabled.
Enabled an optimization to reduce the size of game binaries.
Dedicated servers now use a multi-threaded logging system.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed character inverse-kinematics (IK) not being reset when changing stances.
Fixed player avatars displaying white in the duel scoreboard.
Fixed the courtyard center in Monastery using the wrong texture.
Fixed a crash caused by vscript when unloading a map.
Fixed a minor technical oversight in the physically-based rendering shader.
Free To Play Patch 4, stability madness!
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 4
Since November of last year, the team took a careful and extensive look at Blade Symphony's codebase to fix lots of difficult bugs, but most importantly, fix EVERY crash we could find!
Many of the crashes you may have been experiencing were due to memory issues in the game. So, our awesome new programmer Josh "Slartibarty" Dowell was able to refactor a big portion of the code to be more efficient. It's quite the difference!
In addition, we're replacing our custom asset streaming with the CS:GO asset streaming, which we're very confident with so far. If you don't see it working, it's because it's off by default (for now.) You can change the setting in your graphics options.
We're hot on the tail of LOTS more changes. As long as the community is continuing to crowdfund our efforts to provide a free, and fun tactical sword fighting experience, we'll keep updating. Look for our next update in just a few weeks!
Join our Discord and be sure to check out our Bug Tracker, if you would like to assist with development!
Changelog
Changes
Enabled texture streaming for Windows, Mac and Linux from the Graphics Menu. This texture streaming, pulled from CS:GO, replaces our custom texture-streaming implementation.
Added support for running multiple instances of the game on a single machine via the “-multirun” parameter.
Optimizations
Updated the Steam Networking implementation, resulting in better network performance and security.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed a large number of crashes due to memory corruption.
Fixed a crash that occurred when the training menu was opened.
Fixed a crash caused by building hash tables for VPK files that have no data.
Fixed a crash due to not finding a valid animation model sequence.
Fixed a crash caused by accessing out-of-bounds model data.
Fixed the player’s volume setting for background music not persisting after game exit. (#7195)
Fixed a camera flicker occurring for dead players that are viewing through a ragdoll body. (#7248)
Fixed a massive amount of console warning messages due to missing impact particles.
Fixed a localization error that was displayed during the Katana portion of the Tutorial (#7251)
Free To Play Patch 4 Testing
We need your help to put the upcoming patch for Blade Symphony through its paces. Today, we will be reproducing known bugs, looking for new bugs, and testing the stability of the current development version of Blade Symphony.
Free To Play Patch 4 is set to release this week. While it may not appear to be very bug, it contains over 200 memory fixes to Blade Symphony and the Source Engine. This should swat pretty much any crash that has occurred over the last 10 months!
Come and join us on our Discord, and help the developers playtest the development version of the game on the Steam release_candidate branch!
To access this special branch, right-click on Blade Symphony from Steam, go to the "BETAS" section, and select release_candidate from the dropdown:
Changes since Free To Play Patch 3
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Changes
Enabled texture streaming for Windows, Mac, and Linux from the Graphics Menu. This texture streaming pulled from CS:GO, replaces our custom texture-streaming implementation.
Added support for running multiple instances of the game on a single machine via the “-multirun” parameter.
Optimizations
Updated the Steam Networking implementation, resulting in better network performance and security.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a large number of crashes due to memory corruption.
Fixed a crash that occurred when the training menu was opened.
Fixed a crash caused by building hash tables for VPK files that have no data.
Fixed a crash due to not finding a valid animation model sequence.
Fixed a crash caused by accessing out-of-bounds model data.
Fixed the player’s volume setting for background music not persisting after game exit. (#7195)
Fixed a camera flicker occurring for dead players that are viewing through a ragdoll body. (#7248)
Fixed a massive amount of console warning messages due to missing impact particles.
Fixed a localization error that was displayed during the Katana portion of the Tutorial (#7251)
Release Candidate - Material Streaming and Crash Fixes
Material Streaming is now available in the settings menu, and on by default for this Release Candidate build Lots of Memory Corruption fixes
Tactical Swordplay versus the Creators
Fighting Game Sale LiveStream
With the recent release of Free To Play Patch 3, we're seeing lots of players joining, giving us awesome feedback, helping with bug reports, and reporting crashes.
Come join the developers of Blade Symphony over a Livestream, or on our Discord, to better understand how to play Blade Symphony, watch enthralling duels, or enjoy our engaging community.
Hotfix Released
Yesterday, we released a small hotfix, that addressed numerous crashes we're receiving from our fantastic community. If you crash, please don't forget to leave information about what you were doing!
Crowdfunding Continues
Our long-term support campaign for Blade Symphony is underway. If you're enjoying the game so far and want to support further development, then spare a few dollars a month for a Discord role, direct access to the developers, and more!
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 3 Released
Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 3
More than a year ago, we released a patch for Blade Symphony’s Free To Play version, and admittedly, the reception was poor. We have been challenged ever since the initial transition, re-establishing the game’s former glory is tough work.
Today, we bring you a much needed, large update for Blade Symphony, Patch 3.
Thank you for all of the support and bug reports We’re appreciative to the community for coming together on our Discord Server and helping identify and fix issues with Blade Symphony.
A big thank-you to those who have helped test changes, give feedback and report bugs on our Bug Tracker. We are so thankful for your time and patience, and couldn’t continue development without you!
Help Blade Symphony move forward There’s still so much to do with Blade Symphony. We want to finish re-implementing the Steam Workshop, get the statistics server running again, and more.
Check out this awesome similar title, on Kickstarter! Besides running our own campaign, a similar title, heavily inspired by Bushido Blade, is also running a campaign. Go check it out! They’re fantastic developers and reached out to us because they know our community has shown so much support in the past.
Changelog
Changes
Added support to SourceMod (https://www.sourcemod.net/) to Harmonious Prelude engine branch, huge thanks to their developers for working together on this!
Added experimental Vulkan support. Can be toggled using -vulkan launch parameter
Added support for new Steam Controller system
Changed Classic Style to always be default
Added new Round Replay that occurs after displaying the finishing blow
Changed finishing blow to have a dynamic camera angle
Added icons for Sword Glows in Customization Screen
Improved appearance of Summary Screen
Added new transition going from the end of a Match to the Summary Screen
Added ticking sounds to alert players of end of round while on Summary screen
Changed spectator music tracks to shuffle if the player did not click continue on the Summary Screen
Improved appearance of Overgrown Mask, Skin and Attachments (Thanks Jester!)
Improved appearance of waving Emblems by using specular maps and better shadows
Added support for maps to have their own combat and meditation music
Added jigglebones to Pure's Furious Mask
Added intro cameras for duel_box and practice box
Changed the reset time for combo attacks to be 2.5 seconds from 1 second
Changed Pure and Vanguard's Heavy taunt to draw a heart
Changed Matches with only bots to shuffle their Style if more than one player is in the server
Changed Matches to use the player's Style if there is only one player in the server
Increased FFA challenge timeout from 10 seconds to 5 seconds
Increased chat font size and made it proportional for higher DPI displays
Changed ".sw.vtx" models to be optional for workshop submission
Increase maximum map file download size to 300MB from a server
Removed warning message informing player of switching to Classic Style
Added more language translators to credits
Added exclusive capes for 2017 Autumn Winter Tournament and Patreon supporters
Changed the Discord Rich Presence party size to be the size of the server, instead of 5
Updated SDK to use studiomdl, vbsp, vvis and vrad from CSGO Danger Zone branch added staticpropcompile
Updated SDK to include staticpropcompile
Updated Hungarian translation (Thanks Tamás!)
Updated French translation (Thanks Charles and Alexander!)
Updated Ukranian translation (Thanks Anatolii!)
Added a community FastDL host as default for common custom community maps
Move Round Win/Lose panel below the combo bar
Reengineered end-of-duel slowdown to slow down only the current duel rather than the entire client
Add small flash feedback effect on the final blow of a match
Change FFA respawn time from 8 seconds to 5 seconds
Added Discord lobbies to Blade Symphony
Add feedback sound for outfit color, glow type, glow color, chat color, color picker and others on customization screen
Added Steam Workshop support for legacy maps and client mods
Disabled texture streaming to avoid crashes until new texture streaming system is finished
Added self-illumination support to PBRStandard shader for content creators, use the alpha channel of the Albedo to modulate it
Made game models load asynchronously, making things load faster
Fix duel slowdown camera clipping through geometry or not looking correct
Fix VPK not loading old file format properly while not breaking compatibility with the new VPK formats
Added Steam Workshop support for legacy maps and client mods
Made game models load asynchronously, making things load faster
Fix bug where generic attachments would seem still selectable on entering Misc tab on customization screen while already having maximum count of generic attachments
Added self-illumination support to PBRStandard shader for content creators, use the alpha channel of the Albedo to modulate it
Fix transition effect not working on generic attachments in customization screen
Skip duplicate colours on customization screen
Add feedback sound for outfit color, glow type, glow color, chat color, color picker and others on customization screen
Fix bug where you would actually get readded to a queue if you unqueue and wait for duel timeout on summary screen
Fix rare crash during duel introduction if player is not fully initialized or doesn't exist
Fixed players being able to remain on duel even after summary screen timeout
Change FFA respawn time from 8 seconds to 5 seconds
Fixed dead players and players of other duels being layered inside player's emblem flag
Make announcer sounds play at correct volume
Fix server crashing when changing bb_duelbots_numbots while ingame
Add small flash feedback effect on the final blow of a match
Fixed sounds feeling "crackly" when slowdown effect is active
Disable texture streaming to avoid crashes until new texture streaming system is finished
Reengineered end-of-duel slowdown to slow down only the current duel rather than the entire client
Fixed ghost hits and lag compensation issues
Fix rare case where "Round win" bar would stay painted permanently
Fix shurikens' tracer being blocked resulting in it shooting upwards
Move Round Win/Lose panel below the combo bar
Added a community FastDL host as default for common custom community maps
Optimizations
Add engine fixes and changes from CS:GO Danger Zone update
Improved network latency by not transmitting data of invisible players in the same arena
Improved client FPS by reducing engine-level copy function time for various operations
Improved accuracy of calculation of scoreboard ping
Improved per-pixel motion blur and made it simulate HDR overexposure
Improved rendering pipeline (Citation needed)
Improved game initialization time
Improved 'fastpath' rendering method to improve rendering of level models
Improved physically based rendering (PBR) shader to appear better and render faster
Improved the Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO) shader
Upgraded to new Discord SDK for Discord Rich Presence
Upgraded to Steam screenshot system when taking screenshots
Bug Fixes:
Fixed issue where all or some players would suffer decrease in frames when other players join a server.
Potentially fixed "ghost" hits occurring when a player would hit their opponent, but damage was not registered
Potentially fixed players and bots potentially falling underneath the level
Fixed instance where Texture Streaming system could freeze the game
Fixed crash when game client attempts to create a physics prop without a model
Fixed occasional crash due to rendering Sword Glows
Fixed occasional crash when playing the Tutorial
Fixed players being able to change their duel Style even after map time limit has reached.
Fixed "My Hero" achievement not being given even if conditions were met
Fixed players being able to suicide during opponent's death animation
Fixed rounds not ending in a draw if both players die at the same time
Fixed Round ending in a draw if a player died due to the environment
Fixed footstep sounds not playing for Pure when walking on metal materials
Fixed voice icon for local player not appearing when player is using the microphone
Fixed Conical Cantata sounds being played in other arenas
Fixed player being unable to upload custom spray images to server
Fixed not being to able enable Cascaded Shadow Maps (CSM) from the Video menu
Fixed character outlines being rendered at times when they shouldn't be
Fixed issue causing Pure's Furious Sword Scabbard not to show
Fixed various visual issues occuring on Style Confirmation Screen
Fixed not being able to deselect an Emblem when one is equipped on Customization Screen
Fixed various visual issues occuring after selecting a new Emblem on Customization Screen
Fixed various visual issues showing if the Summary Screen appeared while the chat box was open
Fixed Emblem's waving effect appearing distorted on character intro scenes
Fixed Emblem's waving effect not appearing at all on AMD graphics cards.
Fixed combo notification showing for a split-second during character intro scenes
Fixed Inverse Kinematics (IK) not working when player is doing stances or sheathing
Fixed black shadows on duel_box
Fixed being unable to close in-game Main Menu after changing video settings
Fixed being unable to go back to the previous menu on confirmation menus or the Video menu
Fixed external Main Menu buttons for Discord, Forums and Steam not appearing while in-game
Fixed missing lock icon texture when joining password protected servers.
Fixed misaligned text in duel spectator menu if there is only one player in the duel
Fixed various issues on Credits screen
Fixed Discord automatically launching when client is started
Fixed various issues with Discord Rich Presence
Fixed the Crash Reporter's background not appearing and not wrapping text
(Mac only) Fixed the need to double click on Main Menus
(Mac only) Fixed disappearing cursor while using in-game or out of game menus
Removed debug messages shown when sliding on walls
Removed debug messages about clamping level of detail change speed
Fix console input not working on Linux and macOS
Fix duel slowdown camera clipping through geometry or not looking correct
Fix rare case where "Round win" bar would stay painted permanently
Fixed ghost hits and lag compensation issues
Fixed sounds feeling "crackly" when slowdown effect is active
Fix server crashing when changing bb_duelbots_numbots while ingame
Fixed announcer sounds playing at incorrect volume
Fixed dead players and players of other duels being layered inside player's emblem flag
Fixed players being able to remain on duel even after summary screen timeout
Fix rare crash during duel introduction if player is not fully initialized or doesn't exist
Fix bug where you would actually get readded to a queue if you unqueue and wait for duel timeout on summary screen
Fix transition effect not working on generic attachments in customization screen
Fixed bug where multiple colors of the same kind could appear in customization screen
Fix VPK not loading old file format properly while not breaking compatibility with the new VPK formats
Fixed Lightmappedgeneric shaders rendering incorrectly in duel_temple and free_temple
Fixed Water Rendering
Fix bug where generic attachments would seem still selectable on entering Misc tab on customization screen while already having maximum count of generic attachments
Fix shurikens' tracer being blocked resulting in it shooting upwards
Community Pickup and Gather
Gather with members of the community on the official Puny Human Discord server to play pick-up matches of Blade Symphony!