We extended the Dad by the Sword Public Demo because we wanted to get some changes in! The demo will now end some time Wednesday Night (or early Thursday if I'm too sleepy)
Here's a short list of changes, I may be missing some:
Parries no longer require a directional input, just proper timing of letting go of Block right before an enemy hits
New Perfect Parries use the old directional input system, and reward you with bonus sword energy each time you do it. This also restores Sword Flaccid State
The stronger Parry Perks require Perfect Parry, with their descriptions updated to indicate if they require this or any parry works
Hotdog Dadcessory now properly applies a running speed buff to the player
Tutorial revamped to explain the new parries, now with smalls videos to show exactly how the parrying works
Slightly updated the reticle to show center-parrying
More gamepad support for tutorial menus
Easier projectile reflection in tutorial (slightly), with some other cosmetic tweaks
Some SFX updates
Fix for sword jump cancellation bug when looking upward
Bug fix for an error that could happen on the boss floor
Possible selection bug fixed with pillars and the Garage Door Opener
As always, send Feedback here, or on our Twitter (link below) or our Discord (link in-game). I'm particularly interested to hear what you think about the Parry changes!
Father's Day Demo Starts Now!
The Dad by the Sword demo is now up! See our last post on this here for more details on what we've added: Limited Time Demo for Father's Day
The link to the demo should be at the top of the Dad by the Sword Store Page on Steam.
Summary: We added a lot. Check the above post, and also the section below for new Demo Notes.
If you like the demo, tell your friends and any streamers you may think will be interested! We want as much feedback as possible, and we plan on having the demo up for one week.
The tutorial changed a lot. I recommend checking that out, even if you saw the previous tutorial.
Controls were heavily revamped! The more feedback we get on this, the better. We tried to implement most of the feedback from last time, except we didn't get to do rebinding controls for individual sword swings. We're leaning towards doing this before launch.
We now have 6 dad character classes. I recommend DefenDad at first, as he starts with a Shield. PowerDad and LongDad are also great choices to start as.
Gamepad works now, though menu support for the gamepad is very new.
Tier 2 and 3 enemies were buffed! A lot, especially the Rib Monsters. BEWARE.
Special Attacks for weapons changed. Now you hold and release R to do any special attack on a weapon. Also, all weapons regenerate special attack meter as you do damage, even sheathed weapons you don't have currently active in your hand.
I didn't mention this in the previous post because we just slipped this in, but we about doubled the amount of shoes. Have fun with the Roller Skates and then accidentally sail off a cliff!
I hope you enjoy the demo! We'll be reading all feedback you send us.
Limited Time Demo for Father's Day, starting June 16th
We're running another limited time public demo for Dad by the Sword for this Father's Day! It will go from June 16th to the 23rd, and have a slew of new content and tweaks, including the ability to pick a starting Dad Class! Read on for a list of details, and a summary of the six new starting classes.
Also, read on for news on the launch date for Dad by the Sword. We delayed that a bit, short summary is that really want to get more enemies and another full biome in the game before we launch it. You can see more of my reasoning and things we're thinking about now in the bottom section.
New Demo Content
We've been really busy! Here's a short list of the new stuff you'll be able to play with in the demo:
6 new player classes you can pick from! They each have their own bonuses to different playstyles. Read the next section for some details
Revamped tutorial! It's a little longer, has real combat practice segments (with you being immortal during it), and covers more things
We revamped the mouse controls to be kind of a mix between Mordhau and Mount and Blade: Bannerlord. This actually took a lot less time than I thought it would, and feels great to me. I want a lot more opinions on this control style, as I still prefer the WASD Dark Messiah-style controls
Gamepad support! It's not in for menus as I type this, but it's in for gameplay. This was requested a lot for the first demo
The amount of possible room types more than doubled!
The amount of possible weapons that can generate about doubled
How weapon special attacks work was revamped entirely
Rare golden enemies can spawn. They're dangerous, but fragile. Killing them gives the player a bunch of bonuses right away, including a sword full repair and a guaranteed critical hit
New dadcessories!
Lots more tweaks and requests
I'm really eager to hear what people think of all the new changes, particularly the Dad Classes and the gamepad and revamped mouse controls.
Dad Classes
You can now pick a Dad Class, each with their own perks and equipment. Here are a few examples:
Left to Right:
CYBERDAD starts with A GUN and a cybernetic arm a golf club (currently). His unique perk makes it so every 6th kill with a ranged dadcessory (pistols,shortguns, nailguns, etc) puts +1 CRITICAL POWER on his sword. Because this is so reliable, you could just stack Crit Power on a side sword all day without swinging it, then hit a boss for 27 criticals in a row with one swing.
LONGDAD has a long reach and a cool hairstyle. He starts with the Longish Sword, which has a lot of range compared to any of the early game swords. His unique perk gives him extra bonus range with his sword strikes the lower his health gets, and his second perk gives him one free critical hit whenever he takes damage.
FENCERDAD is for players that want more flashy technique in their swordplay. His starting sword and two starting perks all focus on bonuses with the Parry mechanic. He also starts with a pair of shoes that let him reflect enemy projectiles when kicking them, and doing so gives him a speed bonus.
The other starting classes in the demo are POWERDAD, who has weak starting equipment but two nice critical-focused perks to start, HANDYDAD, a dadcessory specialist, and DEFENDAD, a tanky defense focused class that starts with a shield. DEFENDAD gets to go to the top of the list, as I think that and POWERDAD will be the most welcoming classes for new players.
We're shooting for about 15 Dad Classes in the final game, and currently have about 12 planned total.
Dad by the Sword Launch
I'm delaying the launch. With all the things we added, we did not have enough people to also finish implementing the enemies we almost have ready to go. We also have not finished the next biome, I'd say we're about a quarter done with the rooms. After the demo, we'll be focusing on the new monsters and blasting through the new Sand Zone biome.
During the demo period, I'm going to discuss with the team what exactly the kind of launch we want to do. Originally the plan was to do an Early Access launch with just the one biome, as other games have done this in the past with a lot of success. This just doesn't strongly appeal to me as a player, I'm not sure what the general opinion of this is now. I'm guessing the time for this may have passed.
Current plans are to either do an Early Access launch with at least 2 biomes and their enemies, maybe something like 2.5 biomes if we can. Then have some placeholder quick endgame and a final boss, so the game can still be beaten. Then Early Access would be about simply making more content. New monsters, biomes, weapons and items, an extended endgame, more Dad classes, so on. We would want to launch this before the year was over, and then shoot for a 1.0 launch for around Father's Day 2024 (I really want to launch around here so we can be the "ULTIMATE Father's Day game").
2/23 Build: Final Updates before Public Demo is over
This should be our last big update to the Public Demo, which ends 2/27 (Monday). Lots of tweaks in here, some experimental, so let me know what you think! We also added the new Dadcessory, the Football, as promised.
We may do a last mini-update to this before the demo is over. If we do so, I'll post the notes here in an edit. Note that this update was actually posted on the 23rd, though I wasn't able to do the patch notes until I got back home.
With the public demo over, we're going to be hard at work on new content. Make sure to Wishlist the game, and follow us on Twitter, talk to us on the official Rocketcat Games Discord, or check back for news on the game's Steam page itself occasionally for major updates!
List of Changes for 2/23 Public Demo Build
- New Football Dadcessory added! Knocks enemies down close-up, and EXPLODES if you land a hit from a long distance! In exchange for its power, it is pretty hard to aim
- Experimental: New Outline system to highlight things you can pick up with your sword!
- Experimental: No more lookspeed slowdown at all for using the sword, in either mode. Let me know what you think on this particularly! (This may make True Dad Swing hard to control for people without Point Speed turned way up)
- Pillars now convert balance damage to HP damage, meaning you can use a mixture of both to break pillars faster
- Default True Dad Swing jump input mode changed to RMB + "Both Swing down or Kick"
- Tutorial now gives you a choice of control style selection after you grab the first sword - Many updates for the tutorial text depending on control style - Updated reticles for some tutorial quests
- Bowling Ball now deflects when attacked, as though bouncing off a wall - Bowling ball no longer counts bounce "durability" from traps and hazards
- Further fixes for Jogging Shoes, plus a new icon for them - Fix for stockmen finishing an attack after they lose a leg - Fix for dadcessories occasionally persisting during SwordJump - Fix for treasure room and exit room messing up the map - Fix where jumping in hallways gave a persistent speed bonus
- Chopblade now has SFX for firing, impacts, and flying by - Pillars now have for sfx for on-hit and breaking - Updates to the Sword Pills: Empty bottle effects, and SFX updates - Updates to Wizzard textures
- More fixes and tweaks I may have missed for these notes!
2/14 Limited Time Demo Update: FOV Slider, Easier Blocking, and More
Steam Next Fest is over, but the feedback we've been getting has been invaluable so we're doing at least one more update after this one. Read on for a full list of changes, and keep sending your thoughts and suggestions!
The demo will be shutting down on 2/27. Make sure to tell your friends to try the demo out before it's gone, if you think they'll like the game. For our last update, I'll post a big list of ways you can keep following us outside of Steam.
2/14 Demo Update Changelog
- FOV slider added to the options menu. Currently, it goes from 77 to 100. We may expand this in the future, but it will likely be behind an ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS check
- Blocking now no longer requires specific directions versus enemy attack directions, though parrying still does. Now in order to block, just hold the right mouse button when an enemy is in front of you
- +0.05 sword length added to every sword - +0.05 sword length added to every BROKEN sword
- Fix for the "sword jitter"! This was caused by higher framerates. Thanks for helping us track this down!
- Fix for a bug involving grabbing objects with your sword, it wasn't grabbing properly in some cases
- Letting go of block (or attack in True Dad Swing) now gives a parry direction and window indicator
- Updates to the Advanced Controls Customization menu - Update to the look and behavior of the Sword Reticles - Red flash indicators re-added to enemies that you damage - Various fixes to the tutorial - Lots of bugs hunted down
This is a big build where we focus on being able to fine-tine controls options. There is now an easy toggle between the newer WASD-based sword swing mode, inspired by Dark Messiah, and the older controls method where swings are based on mouse movements. You can find this simply by pressing Escape.
In addition to that, there's a bunch of fine-tuning options for both sets of control modes! Let us know what you think, and if you have any requests.
Further tweaks and additions include being able to invert the Y-axis in the options menu, and WASD/Dark Dadssiah Mode now also using mouse-aim blocking by default. Read on for a list of changes.
Next Major Goal for Demo Build Updates: FOV options. We have some ideas here, still asking for feedback on what the default and ranges should be.
List of Changes for 2/10 Demo Build
- You can now switch between Dark Dadssiah (WASD-driven sword swings) and True Dad Swing Mode (Mouse-driven sword swings) at any time in the Escape Menu. These also have a quick cheat sheet for how their controls work if mouse-overing the options
- Invert Y Axis option added
- New Controls Customization menu with advanced controls options for both modes! Read below sections for details
- The slowdown your mouse got from doing cleaving swings has been completely removed
- In WASD Mode, by default, your blocking controls are now influenced by your mouse direction instead of your movement direction. This makes blocking the same for both modes
- Reticles added for blocking and attack directions
- Reset to defaults buttons for the Advanced Controls menu, one button for each control mode
Advanced Controls: WASD Mode
- You can now toggle between mouse or WASD aiming for the Blocking Mode - You can make the swing directions no longer lock on first input, meaning that you can rapidly change swing directions by small adjustments to movement - You can set it so that stopping your movement will reset your sword position to front/neutral (only if previous option is on "unlock". This mostly is for making it easier to pick things up - You can invert the horizontal directions of swings
Advanced Controls: Mouse Mode
- You can change the camera lock while swinging to have no lock at all, lock when in the pre-swing period, or lock during pre and post-swing. By default, it's no lock at all - You can set Sword Jump controls to downswing when blocking, blocking + kick, or either - You can un-invert the Y swing if the camera Y-axis is inverted. This makes overhead attacks lightning quick if you choose - You can set the sword to swing on release of the mouse button, instead of doing the swing gesture
Steam Next Fest Update #1: All New Dark-Messiah Style Control Scheme!
Giant revamp for the controls! Testing out an all new control scheme: Dad Dadssiah Mode This is a mode similar to the old game Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and others of that era. Both Dark Messiah and Die by the Sword were big inspirations for this game, with the previous mouse swing controls more like the latter.
Let me know what you think of these changes, either on this forum, or the Discord! And if you think any of your friends, family, or favorite streams would like the game, be sure to let them know about the demo.
More updates this week. We will be re-adding the previous controls as a toggle option. Both sets of controls will be strong at different aspects of the game, and you will be able to easily switch between them and further customize them.
We're hoping people like these controls, I have to admit I'm a pretty big fan already. Read on for exactly how the new controls work, and details on the rest of the changes this update!
Dad Dadssiah Controls Changes
- Swing your sword by holding Left Mouse Button, moving in any direction with WASD, and then letting go of the mouse button - A or D for horizontal, W or S for overhead, W+A or W+D for diagonal swings - Blocking and Parrying also uses this system, with Right Mouse Button
- Jump by holding RMB, then pressing SPACE - We will also make this an option for "True Dad Swing", the previous Mouse-Driven Mode - Use the Dad Stab (after you unlock it) by holding RMB and holding SHIFT - Offensive Parrying is turned off for this mode! This will be the specialty of "True Dad Swing" mode, which seems better for parrying in general.
Full List of Update Changes
- The Dad Dadssiah controls, above
- Use Accessory is now bound to SHIFT by default - Kick is now bound to SPACE by default
- Removed the Abyss Room that Wizzards can spawn in for now - Removed the 4 Pillars Acid room (the one with no central acid pits) for now
- Slight buff for light throwable objects like pots, they should do the same balance damage as a general tap kick now
- Music should now continue when paused
- Basketball shoes should now be able to kick while jumping - Fix for Basketball Shoes being able to jump in no-jump zones - Added a no-jump-zone for the Shop
- Bigger Gut Perk no longer buffs Shop Donuts
- Lots of VFX fixes and updates, such as for candles, kicks, rib spit, blood, and more
- Fix for a SpikeWall sometimes just disappearing when destroyed - Fix for coins getting stuck sometimes under enemies, or them getting otherwise stuck - Fix for Shaving Cream persisting after shaving minigame
- Better player logs related to Dungeon Structure
Watch Us Play Dad by the Sword! - LiveStream Feb 12th, 1 PM Pacific Time
Join us February 12th, Sunday, 1 PM Pacific Time to watch the lead designer play Dad by the Sword during Steam Next Fest! Distract us with questions as the developer responsible for combat (ME) attempts to parry Hot Dog monsters and other Anti-Dads.
By that time we should have some new builds to show off alternate control schemes, so we'll be discussing those as I play with all of them!
I hope to boast that I'm going to win the demo first attempt, then die many embarrassing deaths. See you there!
In this update, we've revamped the Mouse Swing controls to no longer lock the camera, by default. You can change this in the options menu. Holding down your attack button still lowers turning speed, and swinging still lowers turn speed, but to a lesser extent. Let us know what you think about this compared to the previous builds, it's a major change!
We are still working on a bigger controls revamp. The likely end result of this will be a new default controls mode that controls similarly to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic or Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. That is, movement direction will change your sword swing direction, instead of mouse direction. We are shooting for this some time next week, during Steam Next Fest.
After this change, the current mouse-driven swings mode will still be kept as an advanced mode you can switch between whenever you want.
This update also includes a lot of balance changes! Some based on feedback, some we just wanted to try out. They're all generally in the player's favor, including a general buff for sword swing range. The only change against the player: a new dungeon floor with a special enemy rule.
Read on for a full list of changes!
Full List of Changes for 1/30 Build
- New camera control options while using the sword: 'Camera Never Locks While Using the Sword', which allows you to retain control of the camera while aiming and attacking. 'Camera Locks While Aiming' keeps the camera stationary while pointing if you prefer to aim precisely, while letting you make slight adjustments during attacks. And 'Camera Always Locks' represents the older style, where the camera is fixed while pointing or attacking with the sword.
- Balance damage system updates: there was previously a requirement to deal a high amount of balance damage in a single hit to knock down most enemies. This has been removed, so even the tougher Kobolds in the game can be reliably knocked down if they're kicked several times. This is a big buff to both kicking and the weapons that inflict balance damage, such as the Baseball Bat or the Chonkus.
- Tier 1 Kobolds also have slightly less balance HP than before, making them easier to knock down - Apply and Revert buttons added to the Options menu - Misc. VFX and collision fixes thanks to bug reports from Discord!
Weapon Length Buffs
- The starting sword, and all other Sword Length: C Rating weapons are 10% longer than before! - D and F Length Rating weapons are now significantly longer! The new D rank length is the same as the old C rating, and F rating is now the same as the old D rating. - B Length Rating weapons are now slightly longer - A and S rating weapons remain the same length as they previously were
Dungeon Layout Changes
- Dungeon floor layout / balance changes. The start of a new run is generally easier and faster, with the difficulty ramping more smoothly towards the final floor. - The dungeon has an additional floor now! - The Final Floor is now full of highly armored Kobolds.
- Moved the big chopblades with buttons in a platform in the center of a big pit room to Floor 3, minimum - The Wizzard's study now has rib monsters plus a single Kobold with +1 better armor stat than usual - The Pipes and Pits room now has the center big spawn of Rib Monsters removed
Demo Build Update 1/27
Here's an update to the demo that tweaks difficulty for each of the floors, and introduces some new Visual FX improvements and fixes. Coming up very soon, we're looking at a few major things:
The controls. Lots of feedback here, and I think some experiments in fundamental changes for new players is really worth checking out. More details on this soon!
Slightly increasing the length of some of the weapons, including the starter sword!
Some tweaks to spawns in some of the rooms that really stick out as overwhelming.
Keep the feedback coming! It's been immensely helpful so far, both positive and negative.
List of Changes for the 1/27 Demo Build
- Made it easier to stab objects onto the sword, especially when pointing at something further from the center of the screen. - Broken swords can no longer stab objects - Fix the Stockman's jump attack hitbox lingering during its recovery animation - Fix a collision issue with a particular room where you could fall through the floor near the entrance - Misc VFX improvements and additions
General Monster Changes
- Made Wizzards a lot more expensive in the monster generator, they are 33% more pricey at a minimum - Higher tier enemy versions are now more expensive than they in the monster generator, so less will spawn
Changes to the Floors
Floor 1
- +1 healing items, now up to 3 - Kobolds now half as common as Ribs (Kobolds now weight 2, ribs 4, hotdogs 5)
Floor 2
- Moved Pipes and Pits and JumpbackBridge to this floor - 1 Extra treasure room (Now 3) - No more Wizzards - Kobolds don't start getting their advanced armor yet, similar armor to floor 1 now
Floor 3
- Moved SpringElevators room to this floor - Kobolds are armored like they were in the previous builds on Floor 2 - A shop now spawns on this floor - Wizzards still spawn, but are half as common as they were before
Floor 4
- Kobold armor toned down to what it was like in floor 3 in previous builds - Wizzards half as common as they were before
