You may be wondering, who's the guy on the poster? That's Sensei Bob. He runs Greenville's only karate dojo, although he is techically a master of Bob-Kyu, a martial art he invented himself. He claims to have won some kind of secret underground tournament in Southeast Asia back in the 70s or 80s, but we're not sure if that's true or not.
Revamped Tutorial
In this update, Bob replaces the disembodied narrator of Tutorial mode, which has a new HUD and support for glyphs representing game actions and dynamic hotkeys which respond to your actual key/button bindings and choice of controller.
Lesson Select has a new look and some extra flavor text.
Bob now appears in Arcade Mode's Smart Tips (now Sensei's Tips) to remind you of important game mechanics. He'll offer some encouragement if you lose in Arcade Mode, at least the first couple times. These tips only appear once each, but you can reset them in the options mode at any time.
Improved Rebinding Menu
The Rebinding menu has a new look which includes the same new Glyph system as the Tutorial. In Character Select, the menus can now be opened or closed independently on a per-player basis (so Player 2 can adjust their settings while Player 1 is customizing their controls, or vice versa).
Observe that A, B and C attacks now have proper names: Light, Medium and Spicy. (C attacks, while slow, tend to be "tricky" rather than "heavy" attacks.)
Expanded Localization
Several more text fields, including the full tutorial, have been set up for localization and mostly translated into Brazillian Portuguese thanks to community member Stealphie. (To play the partially translated portuguese localization type -language=pt-BR into the Steam launch options) Other languages are not as far along, but this work will help future translations.
Other System Changes
The game has been updated to a newer version of the Rewired Input Manager plugin, which manages game inputs and controller support.
Various text fields have been moved over to TextMeshPro from UI Text
Bug Fixes
Fixed some problems with controller navigation of the Online menu
Fixed an issue where a B attack would not combo at some ranges
Fixed an issue where Billy's armored attacks would sometimes excessively push Billy
Compete in the special 2nd Anniversary Edition of our online league!
The Mega Knockdown League is a friendly online competition that can be played at your own pace. Free to enter. No region restriction. Players must be on the Mega Knockdown Discord to receive communciations.
Prize: First place gets a minimum of $100 USD via Matcherino, contributed by the TO. 2nd/3rd may get a payout if Matcherino raises beyond $100.
Format: Round Robin. Participants will be divided into groups. Once the tournament begins, you will have roughly 1 week to play a match with everyone else in their group. Matches will be played either over the in game Lobbies. The top 2 players of each group by Match Wins will enter into a finals bracket. The winner of the finals bracket will win the league.
Disqualification: If a scheduled match is not played by the end of the month, it is either a draw or a win, according to TO's discretion. It is understood that some player matchups may not be possible due to scheduling and time zones.
Online Lobby Fixes In Online mode, fixed a Null Reference Exception issue preventing players from readying up after returning to lobby. Fixed a bug forcing player 2 to play as Jerma in online mode.
True Colors Update (Colors Update Part 2)
Surprise! The last update was great and all, but we had a few loose ends to tie up.
Completed Full Color Sprites for Billy
A few of Billy's animations and sprites that were not yet ready for the last update are now finished, most notably his ground throws and throw techs. All of his art is now at a finished level of quality, though we might make some minor adjustments and fixes as Early Access continues.
Billy now has a proper visual effect for when his Iron Will of the Otaku armor passive triggers, when using his finished sprites.
Nick will be the next character to get an art update, and work has already begun on his final sprites. We may finish him by the end of next month, if all goes well.
Other Updates and Fixes
The achievement "Is That Jeremy?" now requires starting a match with the legacy art style turned on.
Fixed a rare issue that would occur when a jumping A attack collides with a jumping C attack at a far distance
Fixed some pixelation artifacts in Paul's idle pose
In the demo, you can now unlock the legacy art style by beating the shortened demo arcade mode
In the demo, changed the appearance of the "lock" icon in char select
If you have comments or encounter any issues, you can press F8 to notify the dev at any time. Your feedback will ensure that this patch will launch as smoothly as possible. You can also hop on the discord ( https://discord.com/invite/bGVftKK) to find matches and discuss the new update.
Colors Update & DLC Release
Full Color Sprites for Billy
About 90% of Billy's animations have been revamped with finished art, with the exception of a few throw-related animations. We plan to finish the rest this week or so.
The next character to get final-quality art will be Nick, who should be finished in about 2 months.
New Alternate Palettes!
Every character now has five color palettes to choose from in addition to the legacy green screen and abstract art styles, the latter you can now "unlock" by completing Arcade mode for that character.
If you activate the Green Screen Jeremy DLC, which has been available for free since launch, the legacy art styles will all unlock for you immediately.
We plan to add many more color options to the base game in the future, and the game has robust palette modding capabilities--see this guide to learn more about how to make custom colors:
Character Select has been rebuilt from the ground up with a new design and more functional UI.
Char Select has a new submenu for easy selection of character color, timer settings, "Strife" mode, as well as stage & music when in Versus mode.
A few visual improvements are planned to this screen (such as enhanced portraits), but this is a starting point.
Added Random Select to offline play.
Favorite color is now remembered per-character.
The rebinding menu within char select has a new look, and it is now a small submenu for each individual player instead of a fullscreen two-player menu. These submenus can be opened or closed without affecting what the other player is doing in character select.
Supporter Colors DLC
In addition to the 5 initial colors we've added to start for each characater, a 6th palette per character is available for owners of the new Supporter Colors DLC. This is a small cosmetic perk we're selling to raise money for further development of the game. It's five bucks adjusted for your region, and you can grab it here:
Online lobbies have full color selection just like offline, though stage and music options will come later to online.
Making a Private lobby is now done via a button instead of toggling a hotkey before making a lobby.
More menu strings have been set up for future localization.
Several minor improvements have been made to the functioning of the Options and Arcade menus
System Changes
Replays will now remember your chosen colors, stage and music.
If you select one of the legacy art styles, the AI will pick that too, otherwise it will default to the new art style.
If both players pick the same color (except the legacy art styles), player 1 gets priority and player 2 will be switched over to Color 2 or 3.
Certain keys such as L3 and the Function keys, which used to be "protected" to control certain menus, can now be bound to other things.
Billy and Paul's air moves now (mostly) travel in a more parabolic arc. Other chars will get this enhancement with their new art.
As you progress through Survival or Paul Zone, the color of opponents is now randomized in the higher stages.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where certain types of throw wouldn't push back during a tech.
Fixed some very rare and specific hit detection issues
Version 0.9506 Update (Hotfix)
Fixed an issue where a wakeup throw would sometimes be out of sync with the opponent's reaction to the throw, causing unnatural looking movements.
Fixed a problem where imported custom palettes would sometimes not map to the correct colors in-game.
Fixed the position of character move lists in the Training mode pause menu.
June Update (Version 0.9505)
Gameplay and Balance Changes
Lewis' forward and neutral throws now side switch, and his back throw leaves him on the same side.
This is somewhat for flavor, but it is a buff when Lewis is cornered, and a nerf when Lewis is in the corner. In recent patches I have been working on toning down the oki situation off neutral throws. Lewis still gets great oki off a throw, but a side switch is not always desirable.
Lewis max hp reduced to 1350 (from 1400).
Piledebunker damage/chip reduced to 350/75 from 400/100.
Pile is a risky move but at far ranges where it is often used, the risk reward seemed to favor Lewis a little too much.
Lewis 4A, Lewis 4C and Paulcano now have extra whiff disadvantage from an extra square away.
This makes blocking a little better as a callout for these moves, even a little past round start distance
Nick now does extra chip to Lewis. The amount depends on the attack, but it's usually 25 more chip than lewis would take from other characters
Previously, Lewis and Nick's chip related passives did not stack.
Billy's air throw is now untechable.
Billy's 5T now does a wallbounce when close-ish to the corner, though the rebound is rigged to leave the opponent 1 space away each time, as before.
Billy's throws have all been reduced in damage by 50 each. 5T can still do 500 with a wallbounce, otherwise "just" 450 (Still a lot).
Billy's throws are really strong because of the oki situations they create. It'll be harder than ever to get up from a KD now that you can't even air tech him, so I'm reducing the reward of his throws a bit.
Visual Changes
Characters now do unique variations of their throw when doing a back throw. Some of these are works in progress.
Billy now has an alternate P2 palette for the mirror match, and moddable palettes. See our recent guide on how to make custom palettes.
Manual color selection and full color sprites for Billy are coming later this summer. Your patience is appreciated as our artist is hand drawing hundreds of images.
Online and Leaderboard Improvements
Fixed issue where sometimes the host would move to the next round before clients are ready, messing up replays and probably other things
Fixed an old bug where a joining player messes up online win counts
Fixed syncing of win counts to players joining an in progress match
Fixed how survival high scores are submitted. If you have an old high score that isn't showing up right, launching the game should fix it automatically.
Note, some of these online mode improvements have not gone through extensive testing. If you encounter issues, please press F8 any time when in game to send a bug report.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a visual bug related to blocking a meaty jab
Fixed a rare issue leaving Noel in the wrong square after a blocked plant followed by a whiffed air throw
You can now see the opponent's special move list in single player when you pause or show guide
Fixed too-low position of the special move guide popups
Fixed another rare situation where characters would face the wrong way after a side switch
Fixed training menu not remembering your choices re: HP recovery and attack data if you open and close the menu
Version 0.9501 Update (Hotfix)
If the mouse controls overlay is open when you beat Arcade mode, it should now correctly disappear while the story scene plays.
Fixed a typo in the online lobby menu
Updated Version text in main menu
Added additional Brazillian Portuguese localization (To play the partially translated portuguese localization type -language=pt-BR into the Steam launch options)
New Era Update
Full Color Sprites for Paul
Full overhaul of every single Paul animation. This was a massive undertaking as it required finishing over 100 hand drawn sprites split into lineart and fill layers with palette swap support.
Currently only the default palette is avaialble, or a special alternate palette during mirror matches. We plan to add support for maual color selection in character select later this summer.
In the meantime, we've opened up Paul's character palette to modding. See the Steam Guide for documentation on how to make your own custom character colors.
This is a whole new way of handling sprites in-game, so there might be some issues we haven't caught in testing. We may also continue to fine tune Paul's anims, but likely nothing drastic.
The next character to get final-quality art will be Billy, we're aiming for late summer or so.
Balance Changes
Paul's throw now does push, except in the tutorial. There are now only 2 characters that can do a midscreen throw loop with N+T: Lewis and Nick.
Overall I'm trying to phase out midscreen frame 0 throw loops for most of the cast, and this change is consistent with that.
Firepaul is now -20 at a distance of 2 spaces (was -10) and -10 at round start range (was +10). Beyond this distance it is still +10.
Paul could noncommitally rack up a lot of chip and be at advantage if the opponent blocked his projectile at round start spacing, a really common situation. Now the opponent gets initiative at this range at the cost of some health. Racking up 150 damage in exchange for being -10 at a very safe distance is still a pretty good deal for Paul honestly.
Lewis slide is now safe (-20) at max range, but its chip is reduced.
Stand blocking at max slide distance is not the hard callout it used to be now that 5B is -20 at this range. This change is intended to make Slide more fun and less frustrating to use. Although the opponent doesn't get a free punish at max distance anymore, with 20f of point blank advantage they do get to put Lewis in a tricky spot.
Lewis slide now hits 10f earlier vs other late moving moves (e.g. Lewis specials, Noel flurry).
Lewis' slide startup depends on the spacing between him and the opponent, this is an adjustment of this calculation. Now this move will sometimes trade in situations where it would almost always lose.
Nick now has 50 more HP to reflect how sturdy and strong he is. And to help him make maybe one more mistake or take a little more chip in executing his basic gameplan.
Nick currently needs a little help balance wise as the recent 5B nerf was not great for him. He may see other buffs in the future.
Billy's max Shiko Slam damage is now a flat 350 (was 400 at point blank, which was uncommon). The move's chip was reduced slightly to 175 (from 200).
Shiko Slam is a plus on block low that does a massive amount of damage on hit or block. Billy does need it, but this is in line with recent reductions in chip damage across the board.
Billy loses side switch protection since he has an option to chase down retreating opponents (jump C).
Previously billy could not travel 2 spaces and was vulnerable to timer scams. Now he has a risky option to get back in if the opponent runs away.
Jump C can now hit adjacent air opponents, has 5f faster startup and some character specific properties. Billy, Paul and Nick have vertically traveling jC's that don't reach as far, but do some chip and are -20 on block. Noel and Lewis have more horizontal jCs that do less chip reach a little further on the ground, and can be up to -10 when spaced. Marv still has his unique jC that is plus on block and evades N+B attacks.
Previously jB was the only really consistent jump in and jC was a hard callout to get a knockdown on side switch. Now jC should be more useful in more situations.
Jump B is now -10 when used on wakeup or if your forward movement is totally blocked.
This is meant to reduce the potential reward of jumping while already in someone's face to avoid throws and "beat" blocking. jB is still +10 when used at any other spacing, which is most of the time.
If you are more than 5 spaces away from your opponent (e.g. out of range of all normal attacks) with 10 seconds remaining, the clock will tick at half speed. This is to discourage very passive runaway play with the life lead, which theoretically could be a problem in some matchups.
New Stage
Noel has a new (draft) stage, the Greenhouse. This was a safe haven for many exotic and endangered plants before it was ruined by Montero's thugs. The plants that survived have become twisted and overgrown.
Paul mirrors now take place in the Dojo, because it's a nice looking stage.
Visual System Changes
Adjusted delays and timings of attacks so that many interactions should look more natural. This is an ongoing process and there will be some things that still need to be cleaned up.
The maximum height at which characters can be juggled has been reduced.
Sweeps now have 5 fewer active frames across the board to look better with hitstop
Total duration of some moves such as jA, jC and Firepaul have been reduced slightly by reducing the number of recovery frames. This is a cosmetic change not affecting block advantage, intended to help the flow of the game.
Jerma Paul's throw now hits multiple times. This is a cosmetic change with no effect on gameplay.
Paul's Paulcano dragon punch now does 2 hits. This is a cosmetic change as it does the same amount of total damage even in the rare/unlikely situation that only 1 hit lands.
Improved Localization into Brazillian Portuguese
Under the hood, more menus are now ready to be translated.
Community member and 10+ time tournament winner Stealph is helping translate the game into Portuguese. Paul's story mode and most of the menus are now available in pt-BR. To play in portuguese type -language=pt-BR into the Steam launch options.
We still need to get the in-game text boxes and tutorials ready for translation and that will come in a later update, hopefully this summer. When the game is more or less fully translated, we will make the localization option easier to get to in-game.
Miscellaneous Changes and Fixes
Further optimized the game by packing menu and stage images into atlases to improve filesize and loading times. The filesize went DOWN in this patch to 740MB (from 830MB) despite the many new Paul sprites.
Better console logging during F8 bug reports
jC will no longer play the "switch" animation if the game detects that you will be hit out of it.
The online lobby can detect certain kinds of disconnects better and will respond accordingly, preventing "ghost" players from staying in a match in rare instances.
The Versus screen pops in sooner after character select.
Paulcano is now listed in the training menu as 5f to match its actual startup (it previously said 1f). No gameplay or visual difference here as it is still fully invincible on startup
Revised the wording of the "Different Types of Throws" mission
Fixed bug where you could change characters during the versus screen popup
Fixed a bug where jB was -20 on whiff at some spacings
Fixed a bug where sometimes you get the wrong Tutorial mode opponent
The tutorial mode opponent now lets you hit him in situations where he used to block.
New Era Update Now In Beta
Our next patch has a full overhaul of Paul with color sprites and several system and balance tweaks. Why not try it out and give us some feedback?
Right-click Mega Knockdown in your library and click Properties
Navigate to the Betas tab. Select the Marv Beta.
Launch the game. You are now playing the beta!
If you have comments or encounter any issues, please press F8 to notify the dev. Your feedback will ensure that this patch will launch as smoothly as possible. You can also hop on the discord ( https://discord.com/invite/bGVftKK ) to find matches and discuss the new update.
