Genre: Fighting, Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure, IndieHeart&Slash
HOTFIX: LINUX UPDATE
Some users were reporting issues playing our latest Linux builds. We haven't been able to replicate the problem, so we've tried generating new builds from a different development machine. Hopefully, this should fix the issues.
Also, since this Linux build has been generated from our most recent development code, it comes with a few changes and improvements. The most evident ones are that we now display our publisher's and aheartfulofgames' logos at the start of the game.
Also, to adhere to console requirements, we have removed the PRESS START text. We're very sorry, but having that co-exist with the console development would have been a considerable headache.
And, for the same reasons, cinematics can now be skipped pressing any button. This change is quite minor.
If Linux builds still fail to run, please get in contact with us. We've tested them on a Debian Stretch machine.
UPDATE #39: REALLY CLOSE NOW
GENERAL PROGRESS
We keep progressing with the porting. Hopefully, for our next update the first two of the three console ports will be done.
The QA requirements of the consoles mean a lot of changes are done to our backends (savegames, unlocks... etc) and those changes are getting ported to the PC version as soon as they are implemented.
ENEMY BEHAVIOUR
The most significant gameplay change in this build is a change on how the combat director organizes enemy attack patterns. Before, enemies where assigned an aggressive ticket that moved them into attacking distance and allowed then to actually attack. However, those tickets were held for a long time, making many enemies unable to get their own tickets unless you either attacked them or killed the aggressive enemy. Now, once an enemy attacks, it loses its aggression ticket and allows other enemies to get one. This results in less enemies being passive, but also in a moderately higher amount of attacks against the player, significantly changing the difficulty of the game.
We'd love to hear your feedback on this.
BUGFIXING
-Volume options now affect all sounds
-Sounds pause during menus now
-In game text should not overlap menus anymore
-Enemies should attack much more frequently.
-Enemy kills are processed much faster now.
-Heart no longer hasa black screen on its face for one frame when switching weapons
-Linus build shoud be working now
-Slash second Quest laser are not deafening anymore
-Factory elevator sound behaves more sensibly
-Flybots cast longer shadows and are easier to localize in space
-Heart does no longer look SD in the equipment menu
-Not having Steam on should no lnger make the game unplayable.
UPDATE #38: WE ARE BACK
CHINESE IMAGE TRANSLATION
Chinese version of the game now has the game title and most of the visual HUD indicators translated. Equipment names are not translated, since we don't have the resources to do so, but we are talking to some partners that might help with this.
WIN 64
We have at last introduced Win 64 builds of the game. Since these have not been as thoroughly tested, there might be unknown issues with this version. However, it seems stable and should provide a small performance boost to compatible systems.
INTROS AND FADES
For a long time the game has been showing some garbage on the screen when switching scenes and going back to the main menu. We have revisited all our fades in and outs to make the game a much smoother experience. Yes, this sounds minor, but for us it's an important step in the polishing process.
BUGFIXES
- [TiZ]Reduced maximum fog in the city so Copgore fight doesn't become too much.
- [TiZ]Fences in city should be more visible now.
- [TiZ]Normal Shinken base attack should have less delay.
- [(ISIG]Ezekude]Electric guitar should not crash anymore
- [[Agartha]H.T.W.F.] robnin should work now...
- [Leudic] Explorer hat should be able to be repicked
- Start is no longer a confirm button (except in the keyboard where enter remains one)
- You can no longer exit the first room without an effective weapon equipped
- Flybots will fly more stable now, and won't drop to the fllor while firing.
- [morgankitten] can't access menu before initial cutscene anymore
- When killing flybots laser sounds should go away faster now
UPDATE #37: BUGFIXES FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Of course, we are also looking hard at those bugs you guys report here and fixing those as well.
So this is primarily a bugfix update. Below is the list of bugfixes (most of them, some fixes might not be listed, since there were a lot):
BUGFIXES
- Fixed visual error in sewer cross room
- Fixed Quassy stairs collision
- Fixed 2 Slashes appearing when being gratuitously violent
- Fixed Flybots quickly dropping to ground level when spawned
- Updated Chinese translation
- Fixes boomerang and american shield getting stuck
- Fixed missile launched HUD icon not disappearing
- Fixed Wind Wand particles staying on
- Fixed Combo katana description and behaviors
- Made Madbat stronger
- Rebalanced Pan
- Fixed Stiletto infinite air attacks
- Fixed collision meshes in first room
- Fixed collision meshes in second room
- Fixed potential crash bug with kinetic accumulators
- Fixes Bdss equipment, which was somehow broken in a previous update
- Fixed [morgankitten] COP security screen not possible to be destroyed
- Fixed hole in FRANK-Y's room
- Fixed some bugs in Level 3 that sometimes made it fail when reaching the top
- Updated Spanish translations.
- Fixed some typos in English text.
- Removed Beta Warning screen
- Fixed [BADLAND] Problem when picking a gun as the first thing you pick
- Fix nullref when disabling rooms and destroying rooms, caused by an undesired update of the minimap icons.
UPDATE #36 - BUGFIXING, NEW LANGUAGES, LINUX IMPROVEMENTS
As is the norm now, the new builds of Heart & Slash include several bugfixes, of diverse severity.
Also, as usual, the MacOS build will have to wait a little bit longer.
LANGUAGES
We have included 3 new languages for the game: German, Italian and Russian. The previous ones available were English, Spanish and Chinese.
All languages but English are still missing some translations and will have errors. We are working on getting the whole text completely translated and reviewed.
We will not mark the builds as having these languages available, however, until the Mac builds are up.
LINUX
In order to solve several problems that plagued our Linux builds, we have updated the version of the engine. The most important issue fixed is a problem with menus becoming unresponsive to the keyboard after pressing a couple of keys.
Another important issue that was solved some time ago, but we hadn't tested thoroughly yet, is support for integrated Intel graphics cards. The latest families of their chips (Intel Grpahics HD 4000 and above) should display all graphics effects without issue now. Performance won't be wonderful, however, so we recommend keeping a modest resolution and disabling most video options.
There are some crashes that have been potentially fixed, too, but we cannot be sure if that's the case for all of them, since many were machine or distribution specific.
If the game still crashes after this update, please try running the game outside of Steam, from its installation directory (./heartnslash will select whether the x86 of x86_64 version of the game is the appropriate for you). After reproducing the crash, please send the file Player.log (located in /home/[user name]/.config/unity3d/aheartfulofgames/HeartnSlash) to admin {at} aheartfulofgames {dot} com. Please, also include all information you might consider relevant about the crash and how to reproduce it.
BUGFIXES
Other issues fixed in this build include:
- The screens in the first weapons room were not rendered.
- [danielpal] Freeze when using Steam Overlay and returning
- [MJRMasqu3rade] HERBIE intro out of sync
- FPS Counter might stops appearing after playing for a long time
- [morgankitten] Improve lifebar (clockwork lens) visuals
- [The Almighty 404] [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Copgore Issues
- [TiZ] Mesa driver with Intel integrated cards disables everything
HOTFIX AGAIN
We managed to fix some other less critical issues too.
BUGFIX
-Fixed bug that was breaking Copgore's fight and not allowing progress
-[morgankitten] Improve lifebar (clockwork lens) visuals
-Fixed HUD appearing briefly after level load
-Fixed issue when skipping dialogs
-Fixed misplaced asset on streets-2
-Fixed many audio errors on bosses
-[MJRMasqu3rade] HERBIE intro out of sync bug
HOTFIX
As you know from our previous update, we were expecting a couple nasty bugs to rear their head now that we moved to Unity 5. We have already fixed some of these bugs, so we are uploading a small hotfix.
Linux seems broken in Unity 5, we are looking into it. Also, no Mac build yet. We will upload it tomorrow.
BUGFIXES:
-Spanish typo
-Some collision and visual errors on crashed ship room on level 2.
-Mortar shot projectors no longer make everything dark.
-Made Doors, laser, spawners and missiles to use volume settings
-Fixed: [morgankitten] BDSS is too easy to stun lock
-Boss music now loops properly
-Fixed: [XKirby] BDSS falls out of room
-Fixed: [Morgankitten] Falling through geometry due to quest screens...
-Fixed: [Morgankitten] Level music stops after Slash fight
UPDATE #35: CONTENT COMPLETE!!!!
It's been a long time since the last update, but that's because I didn't want to do another update until I could say that we are now CONTENT COMPLETE. That means the game is finished, and now looks very similar to how it will look in release (it's lacking bugfixing and polish).
Of course, it's been a while, so we did work on many other things. So let's go through today's update:
CONTENT COMPLETE
The game is now content complete. The last music tracks and cutscene art is integrated and in the game now. Your reward for beating the game and getting the true ending is no longer a black screen!!!
SOUND WORK
Most of the sound is done. Many, many changes since the last update. Still a couple of missing and not quite right sounds, but getting very close to the finish line here.
CHINESE AND SPANISH
Both translations are now in-game and selectable.
UNITY 5
Up until now the game had been built in Unity 4.5. Because of *reasons*. Now, because of other *reasons*, and because the game is complete, we can port it to Unity 5, and have done so. Expect some very minor performance improvements.
More importantly, this fixed some long standing bugs (but brought others in, see bellow). It will also make the game easier to maintain moving forward.
BUGFIXING
Plenty of bugfixing. A week ago the Windows version of the game entered QA, so we managed to catch a lot of new stuff. Also, the port to Unity 5 created new bugs and resurfaced old ones, since the way physics are handled has changed a little. It also meant keeping track of bug fixed between this release and the last is impossible.
The alt-tab bug is fixed, though.
We think we are pretty stable now, but surely there will be some new issues due to the port. Please, let us know what you find.
MOVING FORWARD
It's all polish and bug-fixing now. And porting.
We might want to get some minor extra content in before release (Eclipse second ground attack comes to mind), but the game should be considered feature locked. we have plans for expansions/DLC, but we need to see how well the game is received before committing to anything.
Also, after the ports are finished we will start working on fulfilling KS rewards (strategy guide, art book...). This will be early next year.
It's been a very long journey. Thanks for sticking with us!!!
Now, let's just make a final push...
UPDATE #35: CONTENT COMPLETE!!!!
I know it's been a long time since the last public build, but I didn't want to do another update until we had all the game content in. That is, we got the final pieces of music and cutscene art into the game! The game is not looking very similar to how it will look at release, except for bugfixing and polish work, which is still needed.
So, what's in this update?
NEW MUSIC AND CUTSCENES
Now, when you beat the game and unlock the true ending you will get a better reward than just a black screen! Also, Michael Chait has provided music for the space elevator, Quassy, and the end credits, so now we have a full soundtrack.
PLENTY NEW SOUNDS
Lots of sound work since the previous build. The game should now sound much better. Still a couple of effects we could improve, but we are pretty close to being done with this.
CHINES AND SPANISH
Both Chinese and Spanish translations are complete (there might be typos, still not proofread). Language selector now works in the game.
UNITY 5
We ported the game to Unity 5. This will bring tiny performance differentials (the game should be slightly faster for most people) plus it will allow us to move to a 64 bit executable soon. Things should also be more stable now.
HOWEVER, this means there will be some new, unexpected bugs popping up. Unity 5 has a slightly different physics system and there might be some inconsistencies here and there.
Let us know what you find.
BUGFIXING
The Windows version of the game entered QA last week with Badland Indie (our publishers) so we took care of many, many bugs (specially, the alt-tab bug should be fixed now).
However, because of the big amount of bugs we fixed, and because of the shift to Unity 5 (which means no continuity in the bug tracking, some disappeared just because of the change and some resurfaced for the same reason), we don't have a concrete bugfix list this release. But the difference should be significant...
As stated above, the port to Unity 5 might have introduced new bugs (we caught plenty, but there might be more). Let us know what you see...
THE WAY FORWARD
From now on we will focus on implementing new translations, bugfixing, polishing and porting the game. Some minor content additions might be made (I want to get Eclipse second ground attack animation in before release), but content should be considered fixed.
Also, once porting is done we will start working on some Kickstarter rewards we need to create.
We also have plans for expansions and DLC, but we will need to see how well the game is received before we can commit.
It's been a long way, but we are now nearing the end...
Thank you all of you who are hanging around! your encouragement means a lot to us.
UPDATE #34 - ACHIEVEMENTS, CLOUD SAVE, THIRD LEVEL FIXES AND MUCH MORE...
Today's update it's pretty big in many ways, so let's get started on what's new.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND CLOUD SAVES:
Starting today, in-game achievements will be linked to Steam's achievements for the game. All 71 of them. Also, we have enabled cloud save. It should work, but our testing (due to just having two development computers) has been limited, so please report if you find issues here.
CUTSCENES
the first interstitial cutscenes (when you finish the tutorial) is in with final art. There are still more to come, but it's good to finally see how these are going to play out.
SOUND WORK
Many new sounds, all over the place. There is still work to do in this area, but the game is sounding better (and more) than before.
THIRD LEVEL REVAMP
There has been a decent rework of the third level's pace and generation. Should play much better now, and we killed many bugs in the process of building it. Please, let us know what you think!!!
CHINESE LOCALIZATION WIP
Not yet in game, but Chinese text is working and we only need to change the (already translated) text strings. More languages will start appearing very soon.
BUGFIXES
Many, many bugfixes. A partial list:
- Eclipse doesn't work.
- Electric guitar special attack has misconfigured priority/type.
- XP particles move faster than the player
- Franky's hitboxes are small
- Nimblebot rocket does not hit Heart
- Player does not fall from sewer
- Improve level loading feedback, times and memory consumption
- Air drop attacks on top of quest screens pushes Heart out of room
- Vampire sword recovers life on enemies friendly hits
- [EclipseHusky] Baton cops first attack
- [EclipseHusky] Typo
- [Abomination Jones] Frankie legs bug out when scrapping
- [Abomination Jones] Floating stop signs
- [Abomination Jones] Wall can be walked through in city
- Settings must be saved soon after they are edited
- [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Ricochet stars dissapear eventually...
- Implement audio player for cutscenes
- [Bro.] Should save using Persistent data path
- [Bro.] Equipment keeps displaying in pickup menu when scrapped
- [Bro.] Camera zoomed in too far
- [Bro.] Almost Invincibility and Copgore armor buffs staying without copgore armor
- [Bro.] Quassy invincible to melee
- [Bro.] Problem with last slash quest on level 2
- [K-BIT] Sometimes the door of the first weapon quest does not open.
- Improve alarm sound in First Weapon Room
- Explorer hat remembers upgrades between runs in the same session
...and many more that where not listed and fixed as found.
But since this is a hefty update on many internal structural issues, we might have introduced a few new or previously unknown bugs. Please, keep reporting everything you find to us. You guys have been awesome testers, and if the game is (finally) getting stable is thanks to you!!!
TO DO TILL CONTENT COMPLETE
Basically, we are still missing:
-Level 3 music (almost made the cut for this build, but still not there).
-Cutscene images for levels 1, 2 and 3.
After that we would be content complete, although we will still keep polishing and improving some character/weapons as we progress on the ports. But this is what is missing for a build we consider as the first time the game was complete.
So close....