Hello everyone! I hope you've all been staying safe.
As it'll likely be a little while before I do more serious content updates, I wanted to try to get the game's balance in a better place for those that are playing online on a regular basis.
After reading a lot of feedback on the Discord, I thought that the best move going forward would be to temporarily open a beta branch so we can try a lot of different changes to characters.
Since I don't want to split the playerbase between the "proper" game and a rapidly changing beta for too long, my goal is to only have the beta open for a few weeks at most. Hopefully I can make some progress towards having a well balanced game in that time.
To access the beta branch:
Right click the game in your Steam library
Click "Properties"
Go to the 'Betas' tab
Select 'Beta' from the drop down menu
Again, while the beta is running, many of the game's regulars might be on the beta branch, and thus their lobbies won't be visible on the main branch. If you're having trouble finding a match online, the place to look for opponents is in the Discord!
https://discord.gg/mns
Also, since the Beta branch will likely be in constant flux, I won't post the patch notes here (as they'll likely just be out of date all the time). I'll keep accurate patch notes in the Discord, and post the finalized patch notes once all the changes are done.
Hope to see you online!
1.0.2.0 Update, and Future Content Plans!
Hi everyone! I present to you... a minor bug-fixing update!
Well, there are a few new things.
Selectable skill levels! Feel free to warn people of what they're about to get into by taking you on. Or to convey how terrible you are.
With that out of the way, let's talk future content!
My original plan with Maiden & Spell was to gradually introduce new costumes and characters over time. You might have seen a little bit of a preview of this; if you've checked out the Art Gallery or been hanging around the game's Discord.
Like this one! Look at how cute it is!!
Buuuuuut, as you might have heard, there are going to be quite a few exciting games coming out over the coming months! And if the plan is to bring new attention to the game, maybe small updates over time aren't the way to go.
So, change of plans! Instead of making tiny updates every few weeks or so, I'm going to put everything I want to add in the game into one big update, and release it a few months from now. That will likely happen late summer/early fall.
Costumes, DLC characters... who knows what the future holds? We might even... switch things up a bit.
I'll let you all know a little in advance what's coming, so stay tuned for that. Stay safe until then!
There are still a few pesky bugs I'd like to fix in a minor update, most notably the crash that occasionally happens when you exit a netplay lobby. I believe that this is happening because of a flaw in the Gamemaker Steam Lobby API, which means it's difficult for me to nail down the cause. If you see any random updates that don't do anything, it's probably my attempts to fix this! If you have any info on the conditions for this crash happening, please contact me and let me know.
One more thing before you go! If you're reading this the day it's posted, then Bandcamp is giving 100% of revenue to artists today! It's a perfect time to pick up the bonus OST tracks from Hagane's Bandcamp if you haven't already:
-Added an adjustable "skill level" to player profiles -Added additional bullet transparency option to the Battle Options -Added Turkish and Romanian flags -Added separate keybind for chatting in the lobby -Alt-tabbing out of the game will now mute game music, except for in the Music Room. You can disable this functionality in the Sound Options
-Chat log now stores messages for longer; additional messages can be seen by opening a text window -Chat log now includes messages when someone:
Joins a lobby
Leaves a lobby
Challenges someone
Spectates a match
-Adjusted visibility of Silent Redhood's kunai -Adjusted visibility of Stormbeast's clone -Added a visual effect to Royal Arcanist's basic attack
-Fixed issue where Filipino flag was upside-down -Fixed issue where game would occasionally crash when the host disbanded a lobby -Fixed issue where Stormbeast's Flashstep would have a full cooldown timer when interrupted -Fixed issue where being stunned or Time Stopped would prevent certain actions from happening, such as Butterflies firing or Paralyze activating -Fixed issue where you could move your character with the control stick in Training Mode or online lobbies even if you had a menu open -Fixed issue where "ghosts" of other players or challenges would linger for people in a lobby -Fixed issue where, during online matches, bullets would be erased on one player's screen but not the other -Increased the time that spectators have to connect to matches, to prevent disconnections
The MAIDEN & SPELL Official Soundtrack is available now!!
MAIDEN & SPELL's OST is now available for purchase! (Sorry it took so long!)
Includes all of Hagane's great tracks from the game in high quality format! Feel free to listen to your favorite song on repeat for as long as you'd like.
Hagane has also commissioned a few members of his circle to do special bonus arrangements of the tracks! They'll be included on his special version of the CD that you can find here:
So if you want some really cool extra tunes, be sure to pick that up!
Character Balance Patch + Training Mode Update!
Hello Maidens and others!
Ever since the game launched I've gotten a lot of feedback, replays and discussion of the character balance right now. In addition, I've gotten the chance to fight a lot of different people online!
I had predicted that there would be at least one unwinnable match-up or broken move at launch... yeah, there were a few.
So the patch to fix some of those imbalances is coming tomorrow. The game's testers and I have been working hard on this, and hope that it makes the game a little more playable.
Here are the preliminary balance patch notes! Times are in milliseconds, distances are in pixels at 1080p resolution, speeds are in pixels per frame at 60fps, and angles are in degrees, unless otherwise stated.
Lat Dark - Bullet spawn radius 75px > 140px - Combo length 250ms > 1000ms (the time until you do the first part of the spiral rather than the second) - Movement speed while firing .55x > .65x - Attack length 280ms > 240ms - Bullet speed 7.5px > 9px
Novi Starfall - Bullet scale .9x > 1x
Arcane Magic - Adjusted delay to be slightly less dependant on distance
Novi Life - Increased number of times it erases non-invincible bullets
Swordplay - Direction lock .3x > .4x
Swordstorm - Direction lock .3x > .15x
Dodge Roll - Invincibility Time 550ms > 350ms - Move speed boost - Duration 100ms > 200ms - Speed 1.7x > 2x - Attack Lock 0ms > 300ms - Direction Lock Length 200ms > 350ms - Now slows your movement by .4x for 400ms after execution (Can be canceled by using a different attack)
Bolt Strike - Can now be charged for longer and grow larger
Discharge - Fire delay 0ms > 160ms - Bullet spawn radius 0px > 150px - Effect added - Fire time is now the same on doppel and player, instead of being delayed
Unfocused movement speed 11px > 12.5px
Sniper shot - Arrow maximum speed 25px > 22px - Minimum angle 15° > 12° - Fixed arrows 'appearing' faster than bullets locally - Fixed bug where arrows would not rollback properly
Bind - Shape of bullets has changed to be tighter, number of bullets increased - Magnus Damage 15/tic > 10/tic
Knife Juggle - Now cancels MoveLock and MoveSpeedMult - Speed of knives increased 12px > 14px
Vanish - Speed during invisible 1.3x > 1.6x - Speed reduction on appear .2x > .4x
Lat Water - Bullet speed reduced 6px > 5px and 4px > 3.5px
Saphire Flare - Maximum combo decreased 7 > 4 - Angle now becomes shallower as button is held -Total angle goes from 60° > 30° - Distance increase with each combo increased - Direction Lock .1x > 0x - Direction Lock can no longer be canceled with focus - MoveSpeedMult .2x > .15x
Lat Holy - Bullet sprite adjusted so that the time it doesn't have a hitbox is more apparent - Time for the attack to have a hitbox 400ms > 500ms
- The cooldown time when a cast is interrupted is now half the normal cooldown, instead of the full cooldown.
You'll also be able to see these values for yourself in the updated Training Mode!
These are some of the numbers working behind the scene to make the moves what they are. It's kind of like a character's frame data!
You can see there's 9 little timers counting down when you do moves. They determine things like how fast you can move while attacking, or when you're able to attack again.
They are, left to right top to bottom:
-Move speed mult: Your character moves more slowly while this timer counts down. -Move lock: Your character is unable to move. -Direction lock: Your arrow tracks the opponent more slowly. -Attack lock: Your character is unable to use most Basic/Wide attacks. -Spell lock: Your character is unable to use most Offensive/Defensive Specials. -Action lock: Your character cannot use any other attacks. -Invincibility: Your character is impervious to damage. -Cooldown Hold: After this timer counts down, a move that's waiting to go on cooldown (Like Dreadwyrm's Garnet Flare) will go on cooldown. -Combo: Combo moves will do the next move in the combo, rather than starting from the first move.
Hopefully that's not too confusing! There's lots of numbers on the backend.
The patch will hopefully drop Wednesday at around noon. I'm still doing some last minute bug fixing, so depending on that it might be a little bit earlier or later!
Please look forward to it!
MAIDEN & SPELLBINDERS: the First Official MAIDEN & SPELL Online Tournament!!
I hope everyone's been enjoying the game so far!
Personally, it's been a very, very exciting week of bug fixing. Hopefully I've got most of the kinks out of the game.
Just in time for....
The first official tournament, run by the community's own Azure Valkyria!
For more info, please join the Discord. We're organizing the tournament there. https://discord.gg/mns
Hope to see you there!
NOW AVAILABLE
Maiden & Spell is now available for purchase!!
The price is 13 USD, but it's on sale for 11 right now. I made it under 15 so that you could buy your friends copies, so do that! ːsteamhappyː
Steam lobbies are also up, ready and running right now! So let's get those matches going!
Have fun in the game, and hope to see you in a lobby soon.
Art Countdown!
SOON!!
NETPLAY BETA IS LIVE! (and netplay F.A.Q)
THE NETPLAY BETA IS LIVE LIKE RIGHT NOW!
Update the demo, and you should be able to play!
Of course, everyone opened ports like I said to do in yesterday's post, right? Right? Cause if you don't open ports you won't be able to play!!
Q: I am trying to connect to a lobby, but it won't connect. What's wrong? A: The person you are trying to connect to likely hasn't opened their ports. If they are a friend of yours, tell them to consult the this post on how to do so: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=459573674
Q: I'm challenging someone to a match, but then it says "no response from opponent" and kicks us back to the lobby. A: Again, someone hasn't opened their ports. Open your ports! UDP and TCP both!
Q: I have found a bug. Where do I report it? A: Thanks! Bug reports are welcomed and encouraged. Feel free to reply to this post with your bug report, or post it in the Discord: https://discord.gg/mns
Q: How long is the Beta going to last? A: The Beta is currently planned to last until Tuesday the 11th at noon EST. After that, I'll be turning off the lobby list server until the game proper comes out.
Q: Me/my friend started a private lobby, but I/they can't find it in the listing. A: Private lobbies are only view-able when you search for them. Search for your friend's name (not case-sensitive), it should appear.
Q: I have a question or comment about something else. A: If you need an immediate response, try the Discord! https://discord.gg/mns
Again, I'd like to apologize for not getting the Steam API totally set up before this, as port-forwarding can be a bit confusing to do. Hopefully all of that will be sorted out for the release on the 25th! Hope you get some good games in!
We're having a netplay beta! Starting TOMORROW!
I promised you all a netplay beta!
And we didn't get it in January, but we're getting it now!
Current plan is to run the beta from 12PM Saturday, February 8th to 12PM Tuesday, February 11th. The beta will have two characters playable online: the Royal Arcanist and the Lich of Flowers.
But real quick, SOME IMPORTANT INFO: Maiden & Spell does not yet have the Steam Multiplayer API implemented. I wanted to try to get it finished for the beta, but it wasn't done in time, so it'll have to wait for the full release.
What does that mean for you, beta participant? It means you have to forward a port on your router!
Here's a little guide on how to do that: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=459573674
If you don't forward a port, people will not be able to join any lobbies you create! So take note!
Anyway, that's all! Look out for a demo update tomorrow, and see you in a lobby soon!
Maiden & Spell is Releasing February 25th!!
Maiden & Spell is releasing February 25th!
This announcement comes combined with a cool new trailer! Give it a watch: [previewyoutube="qyiyL2MkT9U;full"]
In other news!
If you played the demo already, you might have seen that part where I said there would be an Open Beta of the online netplay.
Things did get delayed a bit (January didn't happen), but I'm happy to announce that it's currently planned to happen the weekend of February 8th-9th.
Hopefully you'll only have to update your demo here on Steam to participate, but if anything goes wrong and you have to do something else, I'll be sure to let you know!
