Heart&Slash cover
Heart&Slash screenshot
Linux PC Mac PS4 XONE Switch Steam
Genre: Fighting, Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure, Indie

Heart&Slash

UPDATE #33: Bugfix
This week we are showing the game at Madrid Games Week, so progress has been all right but not spectacular.

However, we managed to fix a good number of the new bug reported since the last update went live, although the elusive armors flying away bug has not yet been fixed (it's a tough one to find, since it works in our tools OK, but not when we build).

BUGFIXES:
Among others we have fixed:
-Fixed a probable cause of framerate drop on level one. There might be other causes, though, so the bug might persist. Please let us know.
-[r.kachowski] Xbox controller not recognized on Macs
-Heart's bodyparts tended to dissapear on death.
-Ice sword now has less particles. Still looks cool, lags less.
-Lifter laser head keeps laser aim active when killed
-[Abomination Jones] Backstabbing teleport
-[Abomination JOnes] Some broken dialog (names being replaced by code strings).
-[Eclipse husky] BDSS equipment needs to reset rotatio
-[Abomination Jones] [Winter is better] Weapons still have visual issues when deactivating (weapons tended to appear when not held)
-[Abomination Jones] Mech body pickup texture.
-[Abomination Jones] Upside down sign in the city
-Franky made less weak to elemental attacks.
-[Abomination Jones] issues with Slash last Quest not working

Anyway, we are back of to MGW to keep showing the game. We'll be back next week with the final pass to the third level. After that, we are planning on entering testing this month for PC!

UPDATE #32: ALL CHARACTERS ARE IN!
Hello there! This weekend's is one of the last big updates left for Heart&Slash. We have released the two final extra characters, fixed lots of issues with QUASSY's final encounter and many other bugs. We've also added a new option to the graphics configuration to adapt resolution dynamically if framerate drops too much.

CHARACTERS


The two characters from our Kickstarter backers that were pending integration have been finally included in the game. Let me present you Robnin and Eclipse:

  • Robnin is a wandering samurai robot which refused to accept its time had passed. By remaining faithful to its swords, it has mastered their use and can tackle any obstacle without hesitation.
  • Eclipse is the final version of another HeartTech prototype. This robotic dog has a limited set of moves and weapons, but can deal lots of damage in non-standard ways.

Unlocking them won't be easy, but those who achieve it will be rewarded with two very different combat styles.

QUASSY


The battle against QUASSY has seen many improvements. Some heads had trouble with it, it moved a little too randomly and during the fight it might not be clear how to fight it. There was also a bug which froze the game during one of its intro dialogues.

DYNAMIC RESOLUTION


From the VIDEO OPTIONS menu you can now enable Dynamic Resolution. It is something we recommend for computers near the minimum requirements. If enabled, the game will automatically reduce resolution if framerate drops below 30 frames per second. This reduction is applied to horizontal resolution and steps down progressively until it reaches half the resolution you are running the game at. Once the framerate recovers, resolution will gradually increase.

This should help those who would see framerate drop to 20-25 frames per second from time to time. Also, if your framerate is good enough but you had to disable some video options, this might let you run the game smoothly with those options enabled.

PROGRESSION


We have reviewed the experience given by enemies in each level and made the bosses release experience too. We're still trying to figure out the correct balance, but things should be better now.

Another thing we've modified is the balance of the first level, removing all arenas from its start section, but adding more to the final ones. This should make things easier for first timers, but require a better understanding of the game mechanics to get to the second level.

CAMERA


The bug which made the camera turn suddenly during combats has been fixed. It should behave smoothly in all situations. The camera itself still needs some tweaks, but it is a lot better now.

SLASH CITY QUEST


There was some confussion regarding the security terminals quest. We have now clarified in the dialogues that destroying all the terminals might require more than on run.

BUGFIXING


The list of bug fixes included in the build is:

  • Fix camera shake
  • Slash quest 2 (no evasion) music starts a little too late
  • Maximap/Progress panel overlaps sub-menus
  • Read and write saved data feedback
  • [AbominationJones] Balance is off, game becomes too easy in the later levels/once you played a lot
  • [AbominationJOnes] Copgore set is OP
  • [AbominationJones] Ice Sowrd creates too much experience?
  • [AbominationJones] Satelite bugs
  • [EclipseHusky] XP feedback
  • [EclipseHusky] Kinetic Repeller
  • [EclipseHusky]B-DSS head laser shot got a bit weird when fighting Herbie, it aimed at the floor
  • Quassy dialogue stops because of missing translation
  • Clockwork lens upgrade texts are outdated
  • Kamikaze nimblebot particles are misplaced
  • Deflected missiles select dead enemies (turrets) as targets
  • Improve Clockwork lens icons (same as stats) and behaviour
  • Uncertaintifier effect remains active if player knocked
  • Adaptive resolution
  • [Abomination Jones] Slash security terminals quest might not be working
  • Dog character
  • Samurai character
  • [Fernando Badlands] Bug with first Doctor quest
  • [Abomination Jones] Combat feedback
  • [Abomination Jones] Slash events
  • [EclipseHusky] Zaber hits Quassy
  • [Alzola] It is not clear how to beat Quassy
  • [Alzola] Camera in Quassy fight does weird things
  • Tutorial displays spacelift intrussion indicators
  • Quassy can be hit twice in a row
  • New equipment improvements
  • Combat Pass 1

UPDATE #32: ALL CHARACTERS ARE IN!
Hello there! This weekend's is one of the last big updates left for Heart&Slash. We have released the two final extra characters, fixed lots of issues with QUASSY's final encounter and many other bugs. We've also added a new option to the graphics configuration to adapt resolution dynamically if framerate drops too much.

CHARACTERS


The two characters from our Kickstarter backers that were pending integration have been finally included in the game. Let me present you Robnin and Eclipse:

  • Robnin is a wandering samurai robot which refused to accept its time had passed. By remaining faithful to its swords, it has mastered their use and can tackle any obstacle without hesitation.
  • Eclipse is the final version of another HeartTech prototype. This robotic dog has a limited set of moves and weapons, but can deal lots of damage in non-standard ways.

Unlocking them won't be easy, but those who achieve it will be rewarded with two very special characters.

QUASSY


The battle against QUASSY has seen many improvements. Some heads had trouble with it, it moved a little too randomly and during the fight it might not be clear how to fight it. There was also a bug which froze the game during one of its intro dialogues.

DYNAMIC RESOLUTION


From the VIDEO OPTIONS menu you can now enable Dynamic Resolution. It is something we recommend for computers near the minimum requirements. If enabled, the game will automatically reduce resolution if framerate drops below 30 frames per second. This reduction is applied to horizontal resolution and steps down progressively until it reaches half the resolution you are running the game at. Once the framerate recovers, resolution will gradually increase.

This should help those who would see framerate drop to 20-25 frames per second from time to time. Also, if your framerate is good enough but you had to disable some video options, this might let you run the game smoothly with those options enabled.

EXPERIENCE


We have also reviewed the experience given by enemies in each level and made the bosses release experience too. We're still trying to figure out the correct balance, but things should be better now.

CAMERA


The bug which made the camera turn suddenly during combats has been fixed. It should behave smoothly in all situations. The camera itself still needs some tweaks, but it is a lot better now.

SLASH CITY QUEST


There was some confussion regarding the security terminals quest. We have now clarified in the dialogues that destroying all the terminals might require more than on run.

BUGFIXING


The list of bug fixes included in the build is:

  • Fix camera shake
  • Slash quest 2 (no evasion) music starts a little too late
  • Maximap/Progress panel overlaps sub-menus
  • Read and write saved data feedback
  • [AbominationJones] Balance is off, game becomes too easy in the later levels/once you played a lot
  • [AbominationJOnes] Copgore set is OP
  • [AbominationJones] Ice Sowrd creates too much experience?
  • [AbominationJones] Satelite bugs
  • [EclipseHusky] XP feedback
  • [EclipseHusky] Kinetic Repeller
  • [EclipseHusky]B-DSS head laser shot got a bit weird when fighting Herbie, it aimed at the floor
  • Quassy dialogue stops because of missing translation
  • Clockwork lens upgrade texts are outdated
  • Kamikaze nimblebot particles are misplaced
  • Deflected missiles select dead enemies (turrets) as targets
  • Improve Clockwork lens icons (same as stats) and behaviour
  • Uncertaintifier effect remains active if player knocked
  • Adaptive resolution
  • [Abomination Jones] Slash security terminals quest might not be working
  • Dog character
  • Samurai character
  • [Fernando Badlands] Bug with first Doctor quest
  • [Abomination Jones] Combat feedback
  • [Abomination Jones] Slash events
  • [EclipseHusky] Zaber hits Quassy
  • [Alzola] It is not clear how to beat Quassy
  • [Alzola] Camera in Quassy fight does weird things
  • Tutorial displays spacelift intrussion indicators
  • Quassy can be hit twice in a row
  • New equipment improvements
  • Combat Pass 1

UPDATE #31: ALL YOUR WEAPONS
August has been a little slower than usual thus far, but still a very productive
month.

NEW WEAPONS



The most obvious change in this build is the addition of 25 more weapons to Hearts arsenal. Some of these are variations of previous weapons (with 75 weapons you are bound to find some variations!) but some are very unique special weapons like the Disco Bomb.

With this, all projected equipment has been integrated into the game!

LOADING SCENES



We also created story loading scenes for after the tutorial and after every boss. It should be clear the tutorial is over now (hint, it's ok if you die).

These are (obviously) temporary, since we don't yet have the art to go with them, but they work and we think add a tiny amount of context to the flow of the game. Nothing major, but we are happy we have them.

CREDITS



We also implemented the first version of the game's credits! Now you can check who's everybody who has worked in the game thus far.

SLASH AND OTHER GUEST CHARACTERS



We also integrated a playable Slash (if you unlock him). He plays similar to Heart, but a little bit different (has less health, but a better land evade and an air evade by default).

The framework is done for the last two unlockable characters (Robnin and Eclipse) to go in, and that's something we are thinking of focusing on for the next release.

BUGFIXING



We did a pretty hefty amount of bugfixing too. Bugs fixed in this update:

  • Copgore doesn't drop enemies [fixed]
  • Slash moved to white rooms [improvement]
  • Combat Shortgun ignores armor and shields [fixed]
  • Recycling the current weapon does not change iddle animation [fixed]
  • Improved grenade behavior [improvement]
  • Subway has wrong markers configured [fixed]
  • Roborang is not visible when collectible [fixed]
  • B-DSS equipment triggers pickup menu in other equipment [fixed]
  • Duelist gun is hard to figure out [fixed]
  • Enemy visibles in menu even when they shouldn't [fixed]
  • Kinetic repeller sphere remains active when dropped [fixed]
  • 1% legs feet where inverted [fixed]
  • Some typos [fixed]
  • Explorer hat indicator texture wraps [fixed]
  • Frankie shots dissapear if far away [fixed]
  • Reducing extra health and base health takes away health [fixed]
  • Some unlocks are incorrectly configured [fixed]
  • Factory chain boxes spawn weapons not available to player [fixed]
  • Equipment without upgrades breaks menu [fixed]
  • RocketCam target locking is bugged [fixed]
  • HUD feedback improvements [improvement]


PROGRESS UPDATE



This is what reamins to a full content complete version:

-Images for transition scenes
-Music for level 3 (in progress)
-Two extra characters

Of those, the music and images are something that won't take any time at all to integrate once we receive them from the artist and musician. Only the two extra characters are left.

We also want to improve the feeling of level 2, and (most importantly) level 3, which right now plays too loose. But that's not content, but polish and bugfixing!

Also, we need to integrate the endless mode KS stretch goal. The design of the game has changed a lot since the KS, and we are not yet sure how we will integrate this (doesn't fit as well anymore). But we will, we just need to find a solution.

But overall, the game is pretty much finished content wise. Since we have until December to finsih it off (tentative date) there's still plenty of time for bug catching and improvements.

So overall, a pretty hefty update, we think.

We are looking forward to the coming months!

UPDATE #30: BUGFIX GALORE
Hello all.

Today we have a small update focused on fixing some of the bugs found in the last 2 weeks.

This is what we have fixed:


  • [Abomination Jones] Scavenger Queen Herbie parts don't have upgrade descriptions
  • [Abomination Jones] Meat cleaver descriptions have typo
  • [Abomination Jones] After completing the no evades quest, Slash's room fails to appear again.
  • [Abomination Jones] Sticky legs allow you to climb city.
  • [KCrossX] Bug: Enemies failed to shoot projectiles.
  • [TiZ] Black screen if pressing start too fast on level load.


However, we haven't yet tested thoroughly Slash's quest progression, so let us know if there's any bug left there (the changes we did to fix the current bugs might have included new unforeseen ones...).

PROGRESS UPDATE

Since the last update, we have implemented 19 of the 25 weapons of the final batch, including the famous MUSIC BOMB. However, these weapons are not in the game yet (we'll release the full batch, hopefully next week).

After that it's just level 3 balancing, music, sound and bug fixing.

We've also made significant advances in the several ports of the games, which means we will have more time to polish (since we won't have to be worried about technical details).

Therefore, we are still looking at late August for a content complete update (except for some extra unlockable characters, and of course extra polish bug fixing). We will keep updating you guys in case things change.

HOTFIX
Hey,

The previous update included a bug with particle and shots pools. They would not appear and thus enemies would not shoot you (plus there where no ground particles).

This was due to a strange bug (only happens in builds, not in editor) created during the pre Unity5 integration proccess.

We have just uploaded a fix.

Thanks!

UPDATE #29: EQUIPMENT AND BUGFIXES
Hello all.

We wanted to upload this update last Friday, alas, technical problems didn't allow for it. But here it is now.

But what does it bring to the game?

NEW EQUIPMENT



This update brings in the second to last content injection, which is the third level set of bodyparts. 20 new bodyparts are now part of the game (although you might have to unlock them if they weren't unlocked already).

This means the last piece of gameplay related content to wrap the content creation process are the new weapons for level 3. We have just started working on them, and with any luck they will be included in the next update.

BUGFIXING



We also did a thorough round of bugfixing. We have tackled:

  • Copgore getting stuck. We rewrote Copgore behavior to try to fix this once and for all. In our tests, it didn't reproduce, so we think it's fixed. Let us know otherwise.
  • Improved several encounters with Slash.
  • Mouse sensitivity (camera) is now exponential, so it should be easier to configure for a wider range of devices.
  • Reduced errors in pool cleanup.
  • Shields should no longer block while not equipped (this was happening).

<*>Minor tweaks to equipment.


ONGOING PROGRESS



Other than this, we started doing preliminary work on preparing the console ports, which means a lot of the code has been cleaned in preparation to shift the game to Unity5. Unity5 provides better performance, but we have discovered the screen effects (ambient occlusion, bloom) are of higher quality and therefore more demanding. We are considering implementing several different quality effects to try to address the biggest range of systems we can.

And we are starting on the console port because our to-do list is getting very small.

This is what remains for what we call 1.0:

  • Integrate the last 25 weapons.
  • Gameplay pass to level 3.
  • Music for level 3 (3 tracks).
  • Illustrated cutscenes at the end of each level, bridging story beats and telling the 2 endings (drawn, but not yet integrated).


Which is quite some work, but not that much anymore!!!

Hopefully, by August this list will be crossed, and the game (at least the main experience playing as Heart) will be done!!!! It's been a long way for us to get here, and we are very excited to finally see the end in sight.

After this we still won't be finished. We need to keep polishing and bugfixing while we finish the console ports, and bring into the game 3 special player characters, plus a high-score, endless mode. So you should keep seeing improvements to the Steam version of the game until December at least.

Thanks for sticking with us!!!

Juan

UPDATE #28: IMPROVED CITY LEVEL, REMOVED LEVEL SELECTION
Welcome again to the build parade!

Today we reach a very important milestone in development, after going through the city fixing long time bugs, making enemies better behaved and improving its overall experience.

LEVEL SELECTION IS NO MORE


Because of this, we have decided to finally remove the level selection menu. From now on, Heart will always start its adventure from the very beginning. This was the idea from the start, of course, so this should help us evaluate Heart&Slash final experience.

We've been working, with your wonderful help, having reported lots and lots of bugs and helping us locate them, in improving the game stability, and we hope it is now good enough to allow full runs regularly. We still have the ocassional memory crash when building levels, so we're trying to improve on that front next.

USER INTERFACE


Apart from this, we've reworked most of the menus, so they can now be easily localized to other languages. The usability should be the same, since we have tried to keep them as close to their original versions. Where that was not possible, we've looked for a nice looking alternative.

We really hope you like it now.

KNOWN ISSUES


We have detected that Mac builds have a very noticeable tendency to place no weapons in the Factory's starting room. Going to the menu and starting a new run usually grants a valid room.

We're trying to find the cause, but so far we've had no luck. We think this is a Mac only issue, but should anyone see this in Windows or Linux, we'd be very glad if you let us know.

BUGFIXES


As usual, several bugfixes are included in here.

  • Police Shield Turrets don't spawn
  • [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Spectralizer bugs out when evading QUASSY's attacks
  • Dialog CONTINUE splits into multi-line
  • Back button is not configured until done through controller mapping
  • Bug with Slash quest console
  • Collision on City tree is bugged
  • On the tree room, maybe the lighting should changed slower
  • Stuck on high bar

UPDATE #28: IMPROVED CITY LEVEL, REMOVED LEVEL SELECTION
Welcome again to the build parade!

Today we reach a very important milestone in development, after going through the city fixing long time bugs, making enemies better behaved and improving its overall experience.

LEVEL SELECTION IS NO MORE


Because of this, we have decided to finally remove the level selection menu. From now on, Heart will always start its adventure from the very beginning. This was the idea from the start, of course, so this should help us evaluate Heart&Slash final experience.

We've been working, with your wonderful help, having reported lots and lots of bugs and helping us locate them, in improving the game stability, and we hope it is now good enough to allow full runs regularly. We still have the ocassional memory crash when building levels, so we're trying to improve on that front next.

USER INTERFACE


Apart from this, we've reworked most of the menus, so they can now be easily localized to other languages. The usability should be the same, since we have tried to keep them as close to their original versions. Where that was not possible, we've looked for a nice looking alternative.

We really hope you like it now.

KNOWN ISSUES


We have detected that Mac builds have a very noticeable tendency to place no weapons in the Factory's starting room. Going to the menu and starting a new run usually grants a valid room.

We're trying to find the cause, but so far we've had no luck. We think this is a Mac only issue, but should anyone see this in Windows or Linux, we'd be very glad if you let us know.

BUGFIXES


As usual, several bugfixes are included in here.

  • Police Shield Turrets don't spawn
  • [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Spectralizer bugs out when evading QUASSY's attacks
  • Dialog CONTINUE splits into multi-line
  • Back button is not configured until done through controller mapping
  • Bug with Slash quest console
  • Collision on City tree is bugged
  • On the tree room, maybe the lighting should changed slower
  • Stuck on high bar

UPDATE #27: QUESTS, COPGORE, PHYSICS AND GAMELAB AWARDS CANDIDATES
We are releasing a build midweek, which is not the usual, because we think we have improved the experience considerably in the last few days. We've improved COPGORE considerably, fixed some nasty issues with Slash's quests and changed how we detect and correct problematic collisions with the terrain. These changes will be made available on MacOS shortly.

COPGORE


Fighting COPGORE is now easier and less error prone. We've changed a lot of it's behaviour and the camera, so we hope things work better. We have a couple of issues and ideas to get in there, but it is now much better and less buggy than it used to be.

QUESTS


We've been testing the quests thoroughly and have discovered some nasty bugs. Now that we've fixed them all, completing the main story should be doable without major hickups.

TERRAIN COLLISIONS


After lots of trials, errors and tests, we think we've got a fix to prevent players getting trapped in the scenary. We're confident this is a good version of the system.

Still, should anyone get stuck in the floor or in a wall, please let us know with a screenshot.

INPUT


We have done some reworking of the input system, mainly to make it easier to port and adjust for each platofrm. We have tested it in several machines and are quite happy with it, so we're rolling it out. Ideally, it should get rid of some of the input configuration issues people were experiencing.

GAMELAB AWARDS


Heart&Slash is a candidate to GAMELAB's Spanish Videogames Industry Awards: http://gamelab.es/premios2015/candidates/ [site in Spanish]

Members of the Spanish Videogames Academy and the general public can vote for the categories each game will be nominated for. Apart from Heart&Slash, there are many other cool games, some of which we have voted ourselves in previous industry fairs. We'd be grateful if any of you would go there and vote for whatever games they think is the best. Even if it's not ours.

BUGFIXING


And, as always, bugfixing, bugfixing...

  • Disabled buggy minimap in spacelift and replaced with a (temp) progress report
  • Slash does not spawn on final battle
  • Slash Quest 7 triggers without scrapping part
  • Roborang error when aiming tripod
  • Induction shield below feet when picked up
  • [(ISIG) JDEzekude] COPGORE struck into antenna
  • [Leudic] Talking to computer in DOCTOR quest 1 triggers error
  • [Leudic] Killing Slash in the tutorial might reset its quest line
Newer posts Older posts