Hey everyone! Bit overdue for an update, but I've been pretty busy these past couple months! Thanks to the efforts of the 1st Light Brigade, I've been able to iron out some priorities, so it's about time I filled y'all in.
Matchmaking/Dedicated Servers Alpha
Light Strike Array is complex & ambitious. It takes a lot of brainpower to learn—which means I can't be having players wasting precious neurons on coordinating a match. To remedy that, I've been working on a new dedicated server system which enables players to queue for matches without the need for peer-to-peer hosting. You can even play around in the single-player Trials modes while you wait for the queue to pop!
In fact, if you check out the Light Strike Array alpha channel right now, you can try it out! For now, only the 1v1 Duel (formerly known as Deathmatch) is available. Please bear with me as I get the other modes working!
Check out the Discord if you need someone to play against. As long as you queue for the same mode & overlapping regions, you should be able to find each other pretty quickly! Please let me know in Discord if you encounter any problems.
The alpha branch also features leaderboard support! The leaderboards track your Skill Rating in ranked matches, plus your fastest completion times for each Target Rush & Salt Run map. Best of luck!
Fanime 2018 Diary
If you haven't seen it already, I showcased LSA off at the Fanime Gaming Hall! Check out the diary here.
The Road to Release
LSA's getting closer and closer to full release, but I'm not likely to hit the "6 to 9 months" estimate I posted to Steam. More realistically, 1.0 should be out by the end of the year. The last critical tasks are in converting the existing modes to play nice with matchmaking, and in giving LSA the marketing push it deserves.
I've been looking for teammates to help out with this ambitious journey, but my low budget limits my options drastically. (I'm not a fan of making people work for free.)
Regardless, I'm in this for the long haul. Every vote of confidence from friends & fans renews my faith in Light Strike Array and keeps me pushing forward.
So with that... see you on the other side!
--CrimsonZen
Patch Notes for June 2, 2018
Gameplay
New Mode: Deathmatch
Players: 1v1. 6 minute time limit. Highest KO count at the time limit wins. If score is tied, a 60-second overtime engages, spawning a Death Shroud which forces players toward the center.
New Deathmatch Map: DM_Cleave
New launch options for running Deathmatch LAN 1v1's using 3 PC's. "-dmdemohost", "-dmdemoleft", "-dmdemoright" should be run on the server, blue player, and orange player PC's respectively. Will automatically launch DM_Cleave.
Results Screen
Added a Results Screen at end of match. Breaks down player performance with a new grading system.
Cleavage: Offense. Based on damage dealt and shatters over time.
Tenacity: Defense. Based on ratio of damage taken to damage blocked and times shattered per minute.
Luster: Agility. Based on number of blinks & quality of each catch.
Streak: Duty. Depends on game mode. In Heartbreak, Streak is awarded for collecting Salt and dealing damage to the enemy Heart. In Deathmatch, it simply counts shatters.
Torchwave
Adjusted blink mechanics to be more forgiving on whiffed catch.
Removed silence penalty for missed catches. (was 0.4s/1.2s for near-miss/whiff)
Torch creation cost increased from 3 to 6 (implicitly affects the cost of Light Bombs as well)
Maximum cost of blink miss catch (total whiff & near-miss) decreased from 8 to 6
Torch "near miss" distance is now calculated client-side (this should reduce energy loss for players with high ping)
Adjusted Torch path prediction logic to minimize potential for rubber-banding. (Blink will still be aborted if the Torch is intercepted mid-flight.)
Light Bombs
Made Light Bombs easier to throw (requires ~0.06s over 2.5m/s instead of ~0.09 over 3m/s)
Light Bomb activation state is now calculated client-side (this should make throwing Light Bombs more consistent for players with high ping)
Sword
Increased velocity of high-density Blade Beams
Adjusted the appearance of the Sword Blade Beam targeting assist
Rod
Increased Rod reload cost from 35 to 70
Misc
Menu button must be held for 0.5 seconds to open menu
Added new launch option "-disablelowlatency". Disables low-latency rendering updates on controllers. May cause controllers to appear further behind than they actually are, but eliminates rubberbanding under high CPU load.
Spectator camera now automatically follows target's facing direction if mouse left idle
Improved spectator camera follow logic to not chase whiffed Torches too much
Pawns no longer fade-out at end of game
Bugfixes
Light Strike Array Patch Notes for 4 May 2018
Gameplay
Shards now drop Tears when shattered
Reworked Light Bomb activation and homing
Rebalanced Meditation
UX
Bugfixes
Other
Early Access Starts Next Friday, and the new LSA.gg is up!
Hey everyone! We've been hard at work prepping LSA for next Friday's launch, and we've overhauled the website with a deep dive into LSA's unique mechanics.
Come by the new LSA.gg. We've got an all-new Gameplay section with a bunch of new Mixed Reality clips, and we've added a FAQ, too.
