Knockout League
Knockout League - Heavy Bag DLC Now Available!
For additional update info, please see our previous news post: https://steamcommunity.com/games/488920/announcements/detail/1715198692639259483
Thanks and enjoy!
Knockout League - Heavy Bag DLC Gameplay Trailer
Grab Games is excited to announce that Heavy Bag, our first DLC for Knockout League, will be arriving very soon! ($2.99 USD)
In this new training game, you’ll target different areas on the Heavy Bag with vicious combinations of punches as Doug tests your accuracy, speed, power, and endurance. Keep your workout towel handy, and check out our gameplay trailer here!
https://youtu.be/NlnZYY11oTg
This game update also adds a “southpaw” option to the Focus Mitts modification panel for all players (no DLC required). We also fixed an issue that caused non-VR controllers to vibrate if they were plugged in while playing Knockout League. Additionally, instances of the “hold to exit” menu getting stuck should be significantly reduced. In the event that this does still occur, activating the menu button a second time will close the menu (before, no input was accepted once the menu was stuck).
Thanks for continuing to play our game!
Body Blow Update Live! (and here's a Calorie Tracker Infographic too!)
The Body Blow Update for Knockout League's training games is now live! We hope you all have a lot of fun and get a great workout! For those that haven't seen the patch notes we posted last week, here's a recap:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/488920/announcements/detail/1701680279718647205
On a related note, we also wanted to take this time to release some interesting stats about all the calories our players have burned while playing Knockout League. Here's an infographic that breaks it all down:
https://imgur.com/a/AJ8oTvO
Thanks for the continued support!
Knockout League Body Blow Update Coming Soon! (Patch 1.07 Notes Here)
We’re getting ready to release a free content update for Knockout League! For this update, we focused on new features that align with some community requests we’ve seen for our training modes. We hope you enjoy it!
Please keep in mind that the leaderboards for both Reflex Alley and Focus Mitts will be reset due to the number of changes and additions made to the two game modes. Once the patch drops, Stamina Mode Hard will be the new leaderboard-enabled game mode for both training games. Internally, we still have access to the old leaderboard data, so we are looking at ways we might be able to make it publicly accessible in the future.
The patch is planned to go live next Friday (6/29). Here’s specific info about what you can expect:
Features:
- Added new body blow punches to Focus Mitts and Reflex Alley
- Added gameplay modifications panel to Focus Mitts (No Body Blows, No Voice, No Dodge)
- Added gameplay modifications panel to Reflex Alley (No Body Blows, No Block, No Dodge)
- Added timed workout mode to Focus Mitts and Reflex Alley, where players can select a difficulty and a specific session length
- Added Stamina mode difficulties (Easy, Normal, Hard) to Focus Mitts and Reflex Alley
- Added infrastructure for future content updates, including an announcement module
Gameplay:
- Adjusted spacing of balloons within hook and uppercut volleys in Reflex Alley to improve punch consistency
- Rebalanced health penalties in Stamina Reflex Alley so that longer combos are necessary to gain back a lot of health
- Rebalanced the speed of Doug’s punches in Focus Mitts
- Rebalanced the rules for when dodge callouts can be issued in Focus Mitts
- Rebalanced how often Doug moves in Focus Mitts, and how far he moves
- Replaced “mistakes” mechanic in Focus Mitts Stamina mode with health mechanic from Reflex Alley
- Rebalanced the punching speeds required for each zone in Speed Bag’s speed meter
- Reduced the amount that Barrage turns during flurry attacks
Miscellaneous:
- Fixed an issue with Doug getting his lines cut off when returning to the training hub from Reflex Alley
And one other thing: be on the lookout for info about Heavy Bag, a brand-new paid DLC training game we’ll be launching soon!
Knockout League Patch: v1.04
The patch today contains some minor tweaks and bug fixes. Please see the information below for specifics:
Gameplay:
- Increased the amount of time that players have to damage Octopunch once they stun him
- Extended Tri-Tip’s vulnerability window for his straights and jabs when Strong Blocked
- Reduced the score requirement for “Flying High Now” achievement from 300 to 275
- Slightly reduced the distance that Doug moves in Focus Mitts
- Added a visual indicator for where to punch during the tutorial
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where one of Showtime’s Grudge Match attacks was undodgeable
- Fixed Showtime’s name displaying too late on the screens during his intro
- Fixed an issue with Showtime’s money not disappearing properly
- Fixed a typo in Barrage’s pre-match tip
- Fixed a typo in Iron Maiden’s stadium video
- Fixed an issue where Iron Maiden’s Grudge Match interrupt did not match the actual punch spot
- Fixed an issue where Iron Maiden’s final song cue didn’t play when she was knocked out
- Fixed an issue causing the speed meter in Speed Bag to sometimes not render properly
- Fixed an issue where Speed Bag punch points would be displayed in Free mode
- Made missed hits in Focus Mitts (waiting too long to hit) count as “bad hits” for stats
We’re currently hard at work on post-release content and features for the game, so stay tuned!
Full Release: 2/13/2018
We are incredibly excited to announce that we will be coming out of early access next week on Tuesday, February 13th! This release update is our biggest yet:
- Brought the opponent count to 9 total characters for release
- Re-reordered circuit progression with a title fight at the end of each of the 3 circuits
- Added Grudge Match mode, where all 9 characters are faster, stronger, and have new moves
- Added cinematics between each fight to help tie together your progression through the game
- Heavily overhauled gameplay for fights
- Created a revamped stadium environment that includes dynamic stadium screens
- Revamped the entire tutorial, which includes new lessons about the new fight mechanics
- Added leaderboard support for all game modes
- Added achievements that include an interactive in-game trophy room
- Revamped the UI
- Included many miscellaneous bug fixes, balance changes, and other tweaks to help polish your experience
Lastly, let’s talk a little more in depth about our overhauled gameplay mechanics. We received a tremendous amount of constructive feedback during early access that helped shape the direction of our final gameplay mechanics. These improvements include:
- Rewarding players for punching hard and throwing good combinations of punches
- If you punch hard and punch with variety (straights, hooks, uppercuts, head/body shots), you’ll earn your Golden Gloves faster. Golden Gloves increase the amount of damage you do, modify your block to become a perfect parry, and increase the score multiplier you earn with each punch you land. If you want to maximize your times and scores in our fights, you’re gonna have to really earn it now!
- If you punch hard and punch with variety (straights, hooks, uppercuts, head/body shots), you’ll earn your Golden Gloves faster. Golden Gloves increase the amount of damage you do, modify your block to become a perfect parry, and increase the score multiplier you earn with each punch you land. If you want to maximize your times and scores in our fights, you’re gonna have to really earn it now!
- Allowing players to go on the offensive and break through their opponent’s guard
- You can now get some hits on your opponent without waiting for them to attack. If you mix up your punches while your opponents are trying to block, you can increase your chances of slipping punches through their guard. Earn your Golden Gloves, and you’ll have an even greater chance of breaking their guard. Be careful though! Wildly swinging punches might make it hard to react to a fast attack from your opponent. Also, a few of our opponents still have a perfect guard, so be on the lookout so you don’t waste energy.
- You can now get some hits on your opponent without waiting for them to attack. If you mix up your punches while your opponents are trying to block, you can increase your chances of slipping punches through their guard. Earn your Golden Gloves, and you’ll have an even greater chance of breaking their guard. Be careful though! Wildly swinging punches might make it hard to react to a fast attack from your opponent. Also, a few of our opponents still have a perfect guard, so be on the lookout so you don’t waste energy.
- Giving players special opportunities to interrupt their opponent’s attacks
- You will now see a visual indicator on either the head or body of your opponent during some special moves that signifies an opening to attack. The timing on these is strict, but if you can take advantage, you’ll be able to give yourself an edge in the fight!
- You will now see a visual indicator on either the head or body of your opponent during some special moves that signifies an opening to attack. The timing on these is strict, but if you can take advantage, you’ll be able to give yourself an edge in the fight!
- Showing players clear indicators for how close they are to knocking down their opponents
- Our new stadium includes stamina monitors attached to the corners of the ring. The right corner displays your opponent’s stamina, and the left corner displays your stamina (in addition to your current score multiplier). Now, when you see that your opponent is barely hanging on, you can try to go for a quick finish by breaking through their guard!
- Our new stadium includes stamina monitors attached to the corners of the ring. The right corner displays your opponent’s stamina, and the left corner displays your stamina (in addition to your current score multiplier). Now, when you see that your opponent is barely hanging on, you can try to go for a quick finish by breaking through their guard!
- Clarifying for players when an opponent’s attack has special properties
- You will now see clear visual indicators when an opponent’s attack is unblockable or undodgeable to help reduce confusion during fights.
- You will now see clear visual indicators when an opponent’s attack is unblockable or undodgeable to help reduce confusion during fights.
- Improving the tradeoff for players when choosing to block or dodge an attack
- Turtling with blocks is riskier now, so try to mix in some dodging. Each time you block, you’ll take a little bit of block fatigue (visible on your stamina bar). If you take a hit when you have block fatigue, the fatigue will be converted into additional damage. You can reduce this fatigue by doing damage to your opponent. Also, parrying with Golden Gloves does not give you any block fatigue!
- Turtling with blocks is riskier now, so try to mix in some dodging. Each time you block, you’ll take a little bit of block fatigue (visible on your stamina bar). If you take a hit when you have block fatigue, the fatigue will be converted into additional damage. You can reduce this fatigue by doing damage to your opponent. Also, parrying with Golden Gloves does not give you any block fatigue!
- Giving players a way to end their fights in style
- When you drop your opponent’s stamina bar to 0 for the final knockout, you’ll get a special, longer stun state to hit your opponent as much as possible. This is your moment to continue racking up as high of a score multiplier as you possibly can. Really giving it your all can help turn a solid performance into a great one!
- When you drop your opponent’s stamina bar to 0 for the final knockout, you’ll get a special, longer stun state to hit your opponent as much as possible. This is your moment to continue racking up as high of a score multiplier as you possibly can. Really giving it your all can help turn a solid performance into a great one!
- Adding other ways for players to maximize their performance in a fight
- In addition to the new systems explained above, we also changed how our opponent’s normal stun states work in order to create additional potential for improving your fighting performance. Now, instead of a specific punch limit, you have a set amount of time to do damage when your opponent is stunned before they stumble backwards. Interrupts and parries give you additional time to hit. This means you’ll have to take risks and balance your punching speed, power, and variety in order to maximize your performance. If you want to truly dominate your opponent, you’ll need to put in some solid effort!
- In addition to the new systems explained above, we also changed how our opponent’s normal stun states work in order to create additional potential for improving your fighting performance. Now, instead of a specific punch limit, you have a set amount of time to do damage when your opponent is stunned before they stumble backwards. Interrupts and parries give you additional time to hit. This means you’ll have to take risks and balance your punching speed, power, and variety in order to maximize your performance. If you want to truly dominate your opponent, you’ll need to put in some solid effort!
In the coming days, you might notice changes and additions to the achievements listed for our game. This is in preparation for release. Please note that the achievements during early access were for testing purposes, so those old ones will be removed and replaced with the final list of achievements. In addition, progression data from early access will be wiped for release, since a lot of content has been changed or added since the last update.
Thanks again for all of the support and feedback during early access. We hope you are all excited to play with the new content on February 13th!
Iron Update Patch: 8/14/17
We’re also releasing another training game, Reflex Alley. Doug’s taking you out back and introducing you to his famous creation, the Doug-o-Matic 5000. It’s one of Doug’s favorite training tools, and we hope you like it too! You’ll have to dodge, block, and punch the various objects that are launched by the Doug-o-Matic 5000. And if you think you have what it takes, see how long you can last in Stamina Mode. Just make sure you have a workout towel handy…
We also changed/added some gameplay features:
- Crimson Fang
- She now takes damage on every hit you land, instead of only taking damage in her stun state. She also no longer restarts her attack chain from the beginning if you are hit by one of her attacks. Instead, she does one less attack for each attack you successfully dodge/block and counter on your way to her stun state. These changes mean that you can now make progress on her even if you don’t make it through her entire attack chain.
- To compensate for her attack chain and damage changes, her health and stun lengths were tweaked slightly.
- She now takes damage on every hit you land, instead of only taking damage in her stun state. She also no longer restarts her attack chain from the beginning if you are hit by one of her attacks. Instead, she does one less attack for each attack you successfully dodge/block and counter on your way to her stun state. These changes mean that you can now make progress on her even if you don’t make it through her entire attack chain.
- Dodge Timing
- Once a character starts winding up, you can now dodge without penalty. Before, players often dodged properly on attacks such as Tri-Tip’s flaming uppercut and Crimson Fang’s jumping slam, but they would still get hit because they didn’t dodge at the last second. This behavior often confused and frustrated players, so we decided to simply remove it. That being said, you still cannot “pre-dodge” before an attack begins.
- Once a character starts winding up, you can now dodge without penalty. Before, players often dodged properly on attacks such as Tri-Tip’s flaming uppercut and Crimson Fang’s jumping slam, but they would still get hit because they didn’t dodge at the last second. This behavior often confused and frustrated players, so we decided to simply remove it. That being said, you still cannot “pre-dodge” before an attack begins.
- Hitboxes
- We made some adjustments to our damage system which, combined with our dodge timing changes, should make dodging feel more accurate and responsive.
- We made some adjustments to our damage system which, combined with our dodge timing changes, should make dodging feel more accurate and responsive.
Finally, we addressed a handful of miscellaneous bugs, including an issue that caused opponents to fall outside of the ring’s ropes when knocked down. We also added a few miscellaneous visual improvements such as bouncing ring ropes.
We hope you enjoy the new content! And be on the lookout for future news about our next update, which will include a host of mechanics changes and features shaped by all of your awesome feedback!
Community Update: 5/4/2017
I wanted to provide a quick overview of the content you can expect in some upcoming early access patches (release dates still TBD).
We will be releasing a new character named Iron Maiden! The combination of her spiky plate armor and her frantic style will definitely keep you on your toes. If you haven’t seen it already, you can catch a sneak peak of her in our previously released fitness update trailer on our Steam store page.
Also, we will be releasing a new training game! This training game will push your reflexes and decision-making to the limit as you punch, block, or dodge different objects that Doug launches at you.
Finally, we will be releasing a new game mode we call Rematch Mode (name subject to change). Each time you beat the normal mode of a fighter, you will unlock their counterpart in Rematch Mode. These Rematch Mode versions of our fighters are faster, stronger, and more vicious. In fact, they might have even learned a few new moves while training for their rematch…better watch out!
There’s still more to come before we release later this summer such as a game mechanics update, but we aren’t quite ready to talk about that stuff in detail just yet. Thanks again for supporting us, and please, keep the feedback coming!
Fitness Update Patch: 3/31/17
We are excited to release our first two training games: focus mitts, and speed bag.
- Focus mitts
- Enter the ring with Doug and hit the mitts! Test your hand speed, punch accuracy, and hitting power as you complete each difficulty and try to score as many points as possible. Then, you can hop into stamina mode and try to follow Doug’s commands as long as you can! Online leaderboards for stamina mode will be added at a later date.
- Enter the ring with Doug and hit the mitts! Test your hand speed, punch accuracy, and hitting power as you complete each difficulty and try to score as many points as possible. Then, you can hop into stamina mode and try to follow Doug’s commands as long as you can! Online leaderboards for stamina mode will be added at a later date.
- Speed bag
- Work on your hand control with Doug’s speed bag! Doug will lead you through bag drills where you try to score points by following his commands. Or, you can play free mode to hit the bag on your own without Doug or any score to worry about.
- Work on your hand control with Doug’s speed bag! Doug will lead you through bag drills where you try to score points by following his commands. Or, you can play free mode to hit the bag on your own without Doug or any score to worry about.
We are also happy to add a few feature additions that the community has asked for:
- Calorie Tracker
- You now have the option to enter your weight in the settings menu. This allows you to track an approximation of the calories you are burning. Opening the pop-up menu displays the total amount of calories burned on your save file. It also shows the calories you burned in your current gameplay session. In addition, post-activity screens tell you how many calories you burned.
- You now have the option to enter your weight in the settings menu. This allows you to track an approximation of the calories you are burning. Opening the pop-up menu displays the total amount of calories burned on your save file. It also shows the calories you burned in your current gameplay session. In addition, post-activity screens tell you how many calories you burned.
- Controller grip option
- You can now choose a community-requested alternate grip style in the settings menu.
- You can now choose a community-requested alternate grip style in the settings menu.
- Background audio option
- In the audio settings, you can now choose to allow audio to play when the game is in the background. That means that even if the game is not the active window (tabbed out), you can choose to allow sound to play. This setting is on by default.
- In the audio settings, you can now choose to allow audio to play when the game is in the background. That means that even if the game is not the active window (tabbed out), you can choose to allow sound to play. This setting is on by default.
Gameplay Improvements
- Hit detection system revamped
- Opponents acquire their target more consistently, which makes timing your dodge to “slip” punches more consistent. This also means you can no longer move and wait for some attacks to miss such as Scurvy’s head-butt; you must duck or move as attacks are about to be thrown at you.
- Opponents now track their punches closer to the player’s head when possible.
- Dodging is not as strict about forcing you to the “perfect” spot. If you time your dodge properly and get your head/body away from your opponent’s hand, you can dodge in some ways that you couldn’t before.
- NOTE* some restrictions still apply to prevent exploitative gameplay (i.e. hook punches still require you to duck, and slashes across the body still require you to lean under them in the proper direction)
- NOTE* some restrictions still apply to prevent exploitative gameplay (i.e. hook punches still require you to duck, and slashes across the body still require you to lean under them in the proper direction)
- Opponents acquire their target more consistently, which makes timing your dodge to “slip” punches more consistent. This also means you can no longer move and wait for some attacks to miss such as Scurvy’s head-butt; you must duck or move as attacks are about to be thrown at you.
- Crimson Fang rebalanced
- Players no longer have to dodge as many attack volleys before she is vulnerable.
- Players only need to dodge her volley cycle once in the second phase, down from twice.
- Dodge timing on her jump attack is more forgiving.
- Players no longer have to dodge as many attack volleys before she is vulnerable.
- Scurvy rebalanced
- All attack wind-ups slowed down
- 4-attack combos removed
- 3-attack combos moved from second phase into third phase
- New 2-attack combo added to the second phase
- Damage of attacks reduced
- All attack wind-ups slowed down
- Tri-tip’s flaming uppercut rebalanced
- Damage reduced
- Rotation lock-on reduced
- Damage reduced
- Round timer countdown interval changed to real time
- The original round timer’s countdown interval was slower than real time (the game actually had ~10 minute rounds). This was not intended.
- All saved “best times” were increased to reflect this change. Your best time will now accurately represent real time.
- Rounds now last 6 minutes.
- The original round timer’s countdown interval was slower than real time (the game actually had ~10 minute rounds). This was not intended.
- Tutorial tweaks
- Shortened tutorial
- Broke the tutorial into two parts: dodging and blocking
- The blocking part of the tutorial can now be skipped.
- Added “additional info” tooltips to blocking section of tutorial
- Adjusted wording for dodge tooltips in dodge section of tutorial for more clarity
- Shortened tutorial
Other Changes
- Fixed an issue that allowed players to block Tri-tip’s flaming uppercut
- Fixed some instances where it was possible to “trade” punches
- Fixed some instances of characters getting stuck in hit animations
- The game should now recognize left/right hand assignment properly when you load it up
- Removed lens flare
- Added a skip button to pre-fight tips
- Miscellaneous bug fixes and optimizations
Thank you all for your continued support! We are continuing to read all of your feedback as we work on future updates.
Community Update: 2/9/2017
Just wanted to give a quick update about the stuff we are working on for our next patch. The focus of the patch is on three main things: enabling training drills, character re-balancing, and dodge consistency tweaks. As always, we continue to read all of your feedback, and appreciate it very much. Hopefully you are all looking forward to this update, and future updates, as we continue to push towards our full release!