It's been a while since we've updated the build (and even longer since we posted an announcement!) but I've rolled up all the latest changes and feel like everything's gotten a lot smoother. Windows and Mac builds are updated, and here's a rough list of some of the changes:
Knockdown changes
Previously there was a single cooldown time for knockdowns, which protected you from too many in a row but was clunky. Now you can get more knockdowns within combos, or follow up a knockdown with a slide attack and not feel restricted.
Less walking through knocked down opponents
Throw cooldown shorter, and can press directions while throwing to change arc of opponent (press away for a farther throw, or up to throw straight up and attack while they're in the air)
Some special attack changes (example, lightning attack is linear and stuns you strongly)
Previously grab could interrupt supposedly uninterruptable attacks like power moves. Fixed.
Jump back and jump could be combined if you're fast, leading to giant moon jumps. Fixed.
Blazing & poison powerups could create way too many particles if you take extra damage while enflamed/poisoned. Fixed.
Powerup buttons now work while stunned, so while you can't counterattack you might be able to fight back with a powerup
Better indication of hurt/stun state (flashing white, plus star effects for bigger stuns)
Block completely reworked
Blocks 100% of damage until block is broken.
If your block gets broken you get staggered temporarily.
Grabs now get through block entirely
Attacking while blocking leaves you vulnerable during attack anim
Not ducking while blocking still protects more of your body, but still vulnerable to low sweeps and low attacks
Some projectiles can't be blocked, like mcrainbows' dragon
Knockdowns are now predictable. Previously a lot of attacks had a percentage to knockdown. Went through all attacks to make a hard decision on whether it knocks down or stuns or just does damage.
Added stagger effect as alternative for some knockdowns.
In-air special attacks (GremBot antenna, IronMoose ghost and headbutt, KrumbleJack bitebear, Krunchy cane, MonsterGirl spin and flip, ZombieZak puke), so you can have more control over when to pull them off.
Some attacks now have max damage and higher per-second damage to be more useful and predictable. This includes projectiles. So now bigger attacks have a better guaranteed damage amount without game breaking stuff that might completely kill an enemy in one attack.
Some attacks faster (base standing attacks, low attacks).
More control over air knockdowns (whether or not getting damaged in the air causes you to get knocked to the ground). Some force it, some don't, some depend on damage.
More control over in-air punch/kick. Can start a little sooner, and can hold down early to queue it. Also will have some air control while attack is active.
Early Spring 2017 Update!
It's been some time since we put an update out, but we've been rolling this one around for a while. We've streamlined the controls, added slide attacks, and did a bunch of other smaller things. Overall it should be a smoother experience now!
Here's a rough list of what's changed:
Revamped the controls!
Converted the "pose" button into a block button.
Adjusted posed attacks to work naturally from directional buttons.
Added "hard" attacks, so the A/B/X/Y buttons are all for attacks, moving powerups to R-shoulder.
Slightly nicer controls menu.
Corresponding change in special combos, particularly ones that required "holding" direction, since a ton of people had problems with them.
Slide attack!
While running, press down to slide tackle.
That's pretty much how that works! Knock 'em down!
Misc. fixes!
Added gameplay options for rounds, powerups, match time.
Throwing near edge of screen throws towards middle of level instead.
Fixed some mouse menu bugs.
Training mode now has infinite time, and fixed problems with returning from training.
Added chance for recovery from knockdowns/throws if you time attack button right.
Increased stun times.
Some level aesthetics enhanced.
Quick Winter Update
We've added a fairly basic training mode that lets you practice moves and powerups against an optional AI, with the ability to toggle infinite health/power/powerups.
We've also done some tweaking to the hit timing of a lot of the attacks. One character that got a lot of work was McRainbows, as their attacks were happening just a little later in the anim than they should have been, contributing to their overall sluggishness.
There's still a lot more we've got in our pipeline, but these were some quick enhancements before the end of the year.
Demo is Back!
The free demo has been updated and its main link re-added to the main page. We took it down temporarily after launch because it was crusty and old and terrible, but we wanted to make sure anyone can try this out for free so we've ripped out all the old demo stuff and re-implemented the short single player campaign using our existing map framework. You'll have access to Faceless and Monster Girl, and can play as Krumble Jack once you beat him.
So if you're on the fence about making a purchase or unsure of compatibility, give the demo a try first!
First Update!
We've been kind of quiet since we released a few weeks ago, but we've been collecting feedback, fixing bugs, and balancing gameplay. There's a new update available now, and a few of the major things we've fixed are:
Fixed some major problems with key binding.
Fixed some hit collision problems, especially with low attacks and jump attacks.
A ton of gameplay and balance tweaks (improving projectiles, reworking stuns, balancing some attacks, speeding up some things, etc.).
I'll provide a more detailed list at the end of this update. In the meantime, I also wanted to share our overall plan for the future of this game.
Short Term
We've got a pretty decent list of minor fixes and features we want to add, so we're prioritizing and looking into implementing the ones that would have the most impact. Two things I'll be working on next are adding a training mode and making an updated demo version available so people can try this out more easily.
Long Term
We are planning to have our first major update (unlike these small tweak/fix updates) be to finish porting a Mac and Linux version up here on Steam, along with an iOS version.
After that, we are aiming to have remote multiplayer available, with online matchmaking and such. We'll post more about these projects as they become closer to launch.
Depending on how things go, there are some miscellaneous interim things I'd like to get to, such as adding more attacks and combos, streamlining some of the animations, and maybe even adding more characters.
Change list
Fixed problems with resetting singleplayer game (sometimes wouldn't fully reset state, or would leave graphical artifacts)
Fixed damage color bug that could lead to color artifacts.
Slower intro sequences and faster ending sequences, to normalize the amount of time each has.
Changed when character intros played to be more intuitive.
Dr. Igg's horn sparkle attack now is more useful.
Fixed up some knockdown logic to make it less overpowering.
Changed default button on powerup screen to streamline jumping into match more quickly.
Added projectile stun, knockback, and knockdown for some projectiles.
Changed damage stun to have two modes: full stun and disabled attacks. Full stun is shorter but fully blocks input, while the attack stun just prohibits counterattack but allows movement.
Fixed collision calculation for lower attacks to use origin of ray collision check.
Fixed jump collision check to be more accurate (jump kicks over opponent nearly always hit, even when they should not have).
Fixed control binding (if you bind a key that was bound to an opponent, the opponent's key is unbound, along with other fixes).
Allowing unbinding of controls by hitting Escape while binding a key.
Xonolox's teleport now is more useful (allows movement during mid phase, disables character collision during phase out, disables animation interruptions).
Reduced some projectile effectiveness to make non-powermove specials less overpowered (like grembot's radio).
Poses now snap out of pose when you're no longer pressing pose button.
Turned up sensitivity of gamepad axis movement detection to hopefelly fix some problems some people were having with gamepads (but if you still have problems please let us know your gamepad model!)
Fixed some menu overdrawing that was causing frame rate stutter in menus.
Probably more, because I'm bad at documenting everything.
FrightShow Fighter set to Release on Nov 14th
It's been years in the making, but FrightShow Fighter is set to release on Nov 14th.
We've been focusing on gameplay these last few weeks and things are playing really smoothly. The AI is responsive and poses quite a challenge in harder difficulties.
This initial release is super awesome, and we'll still constantly be working to add updates and make it even better!
This current build of FrightShow Fighter has 1-player Story Mode and 2-player Local Multiplayer Mode. Unlike the demo you'll get all 10 characters to choose from and get to play with the not-yet-seen PowerUps!
Future updates will allow Online Multiplayer with a ranking system, and a Store to get more PowerUp packs and new skins.