This update introduces some important Story Mode QoL fixes that should give players a better time on lower difficulty levels. We're also introducing the first round of improvements to online play in preparation for EVO Online!
Story Mode
General
Basic tutorialization for combat and overworld systems has been added to the cave section in chapter 1, which includes revisions to some dialogue.
You now receive healing between boss phases in Beginner and Intermediate difficulties.
There is now a checkpoint between the two climbing trials in the Highlands.
When you enter the wardrobe menu (in story mode), you now start on the hat page instead of the inventory page.
Bugfixes
Overworld
Various typos and layering issues all around Story Mode have been fixed.
Fixed the background-darkening overlay not going away if you skipped a cutscene while a cinematic art panel was onscreen.
Fixed an issue that caused fireflies to persist across maps.
Fixed an issue that would crash the game if you left story mode during a scripted fight that had a checkpoint immediately afterwards.
Combat
Fixed several occurrences where it was possible to use player's 2 inputs during boss fights, causing them to behave strangely.
Fixed an issue where Arizona would sometimes slide during in-fight dialogue sequences.
Fixed an issue with chapter 1's two scripted non-miniboss fights (the bait orb in the caves and the bridge predators in the temple) not KOing the player properly if you lost to them. (This was causing an issue where the player would be able to walk around with zero health and not actually die until they entered a fight.)
Canyon
Fixed being able to pause the game during the Snake boss's first phase to wait out the time before you're allowed to proceed.
Reine
Fixed an issue that would cause the camera to bug out if you performed a level 2 super during the Velvet boss fight.
Fixed Cashmere removing your hat after talking to her with no salt.
Fixed some minor layering issues and tileset glitches in Reine.
Highlands
Fixed a missing checkpoint if you left the map where the Paprika fight takes place then reentered.
Fixed an issue during the Paprika fight where sometimes her emotes would end early.
Temple
Fixed Oleander sometimes being able to use her hyperblast finisher during phase 2.
Gameplay
General
We've altered the frequency that CPU characters block attacks and supers at lower difficulties in all modes.
The difficulty selector menu for Arcade Mode, Versus CPU, and Story Mode has been redesigned for better clarity.
Official Pixel Lobby servers now have a designation for skill levels: "Beginning" and "Advanced". Right now it's just the name of the server and nothing else. This feature will be expanded in a future patch.
There is now an option on the Pixel Lobby pause menu to disable the voice chat system.
The option for "voice volume" is now called "character speech volume".
The button for "voice chat" is now called "push to talk".
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue with button configuration on keyboards where player 1 was not allowed to map keys that were on player 2's keybinds. Now, you can "steal" keys properly.
Fixed an issue in the tutorial where Arizona's lasso would sometimes not work properly during free play sections.
Fixed an issue in the Salt Mines where CPU-controlled Predators could jump into the background.
Fixed an issue in training mode where the game would crash if you loaded a save state while the AI was active.
Fixed several cases where players attacking their opponent (hit or block) would trade with a projectile on the same frame and go through no hitstun. There may be more of these left, so please report any you run into!
Post-Launch Development Update #1
It's been almost two weeks since the release of Version 1.0 and Story Mode Chapter 1. Now that the dust has settled (and a much-desired break has been taken), I'd like to offer up our thoughts on how we feel the release went and what's next for TFH.
First of all (for those who missed it) we recently did a Story Mode commentary stream (in which I already announced much of what I'm about to say in this post). Check it out:
[previewyoutube="d5TIs0CtH-8;full"]
So then! Checking around, reviews for Story Mode have been positive overall and we're getting a large influx of new players. If you're new to TFH, welcome! Now that 1.0 has been released, there's a whole lotta post-launch content we've got planned that we're very excited to talk about. But before I get into it, it's important that we go over our plans to address the #1 piece of criticism we've received about Story Mode so far: the difficulty.
Story Mode Difficulty
A lot of players have been telling us that Story Mode combat encounters (mainly bosses and bird enemies) are just too hard (to the point of frustration) on lower difficulty settings. We're releasing a patch this week that should help with that.
First, the AI needs to be easier to hit. We're altering the frequency that AI blocks attacks and supers at lower difficulties.
Second, and more importantly: Story Mode does not currently teach players anything at all about TFH's combat mechanics. From our perspective, this is the greatest contributing factor towards entry-level player frustration (over anything the AI is doing): not knowing how to fight.
Both AI tweaks and mechanical instruction are necessary to bring this all in line, because at the end of the day, we're still a fighting game. Even if we gave players millions of health and the AI did only one attack, people are still gonna get tossed around if they don't know how to block or what their most effective moves are.
We believe we've succeeded in teaching movement mechanics through the platforming trials, but conveyance of basic combat systems (how to anti-air, simple combos, and high/low blocking) is most definitely missing. To be completely honest: we had planned to include small combat tutorials in Story Mode with the original release, but they didn't make it in time.
Brief tutorialization of fight essentials will be added into the earlier parts of Chapter 1. Emphasis on brief. We're confident these expanded segments won't interrupt the flow of things too much. We just want to offer a starter kit, so Tutorial Mode isn't a prerequisite to wrecking face in Story Mode.
Post-Launch Plans
Now, here's an overview of where our priorities currently stand for post-launch development. Including, but not limited to:
Fulfillment of Crowdfund Rewards
Check this post for instructions on how to redeem rewards, and to view a roadmap of our current progress: https://forums.themsfightinherds.com/index.php?threads/backer-rewards-production-roadmap.2266/
If you need to update your shipping address, you can do so from Backerkit: https://them-s-fightin-herds.backerkit.com/
Linux/Mac Ports
These were promised during our crowdfund and are also the first step on the road to consoles. Windows and Steam-dependent things in our code must first be genericized to give TFH the flexibility it needs to exist on other platforms. We've already done a lot of this work before the 1.0 release, and it's now the engineering team's highest priority.
Console Ports
We have started researching the process to get TFH to consoles, but our Linux/Mac work must be further along before we can start production here.
Online Play Enhancements
We're working with Mike Z to bring his improvements to the existing GGPO netcode in Skullgirls to TFH as well, which will make online matches even smoother than they already are. While we're at it, we're taking another pass at our Pixel Lobby spectating system, and adding a few quality-of-life features like password-protected lobbies and fight request blocking.
Training Mode/Combo Trials Menu Restructure
Yup, it's a mess! We're tackling this one as soon as we release the improvements for online play listed above
7th Character: Goat
The time has come for goat development to begin! She'll be receiving near-full attention from Nappy (our combat design director) from here on out, with a design reveal and progress streams (while she's still cardboard) happening as soon as we get things working at a base level.
Game Balancing
There are existing balancing issues and bugs we'd like to address, and goat will inevitably create new ones. These will be worked on in tandem with her development. Some will be patched before and some as goat releases.
Level 3 Supers
Development is already a decent way along in this area (check out our preview steam here), but as the saying goes, "the last 10% takes 90% of the work". We need extensive balance testing before level 3's are ready to roll out. Our aim is to begin work in this area after most of goat is complete so we can release it all at the same time… BUT... that is very definitely a best-case, blessed-by-the-great-priestess, S-rank, platinum-plated, rolled-a-20, 360-no-scope plan. Please understand, it's still way too early to tell. Be prepared for us to make the call that goat is releasing before level 3s, depending on how development goes.
Story Mode Chapter 2
Preproduction on Chapter 2 (featuring Velvet) has already begun with Anu and I working out the specifics of narrative, overworld, and scenarios. Because Nappy will be needed to finalize the fight side of things (and he'll be working on goat), goat will be released first. Afterwards, he'll join the rest of the Story Mode squad to help finish things out.
Future Development Updates
As we shift the team into the drastically less-crunchy post-release period, we now have time to return to regular development updates and progress streams. It will take us a week or two to discuss and agree upon a schedule, but we're committed to providing detailed, frequent, transparent updates on how things are going as best as we can.
If we didn't mention something in this update it's because it isn't maximum priority right now. As we get further into the big stuff and as time allows we'll be looking at all the other things we've expressed an interest in adding to the game. Please continue to offer feebdack!
Whew! That's all for now. Until next time, watch for the upcoming patch!
Aaron Stavely President, Mane6
Patch Notes - Version 1.0.2 (05/5/20)
As Story Mode spends more and more time with more and more people, we're discovering and squashing bugs. At the moment we're focusing mostly on stability and overworld interactions, but rest assured there are quality of life features and bugfixes coming to the combat side of things in the coming days.
Story Mode: Chapter 1
General
Fixed a bug that would cause a crash for some players when going into story mode.
Fixed a whole bunch of little typos across various dialogues.
Fixed a number of collision issues across various maps in the Canyon Caves and Alpaca Temple zones.
Fixed various issues where boss pre-fight cutscenes were not fading to black properly.
Canyon
Fixed a bug in the Caves where the "bait" orb would remain active but invisible after you stomped it, left the room, and came back. It remains gone now.
Reine
There's now a winter sprite that comes and collects the milk after you complete the gate quest. By extension, this means that your hat is no longer removed when you enter the city a second time.
The door to the basement now has an interaction. You can actually use the key you're "given".
The door to the upstairs couple now has a small interaction.
Fixed a visual issue with the cinematic panels shown during the museum relic inspection. The spotlight wasn't in the right place for the first and third panels.
Fixed a bug in the museum where the bowler hat would disappear if you left the room and came back, locking you out of acquiring the collectible for that savefile.
Temple
There is now a checkpoint in the third room, after the broken bridge.
Fixed a bug where the chest awarded after the bear arena fight would disappear if you left the room and came back.
Fixed a layering issue in the block puzzle room to the left of the main entrance.
Revised dialogue for Ari in the final cutscene as she reacts to the monolith for better clarity.
Oleander no longer says "on hand". What are hands?
Patch Notes - Version 1.0.1
NOTICE
At the time of this writing, the version stamp that appears ingame for this update will show as 1.0.0.
Story Mode: Chapter 1
General
Fixed a critical bug causing the health boost from lower difficulties to not apply in sections past the Canyon.
Renamed the lower two difficulties to better frame expectations and boosted the amount of bonus health the player gets.
Narrative is now "Beginner" and grants 80% bonus health (up from 50%).
Casual is now "Intermediate" and grants 40% bonus health (up from 30%).
Fixed a ton of various collision, layering, and visual glitches in all maps.
"Secrets" are now called "Collectibles" on the pause menu.
Fixed a bug where throwing predators with either regular throws or Ari ropes as new predators come in would speed up the new predator and potentially crash the game.
Reine
The basement quest-giver in District 1 has revised dialogue.
The basement dungeon below District 1 now works a little differently. You fully heal when you return to the surface, but all the predators on the path to the boss will reset.
The miniboss in the west wing of the basement dungeon now spawns shadow orbs (which drop health) in the overworld when you defeat it.
Fixed a bug that allowed players to use "skip cutscene" during the game over sequence of the Velvet fight to skip straight to the third section.
Fixed an issue where one of Velvet's ice sprites would still have coffee if you skipped the velvet pre-fight cutscene. She said Gingerbread, darnit.
Fixed the basement/sewers arena fight stage having bookcases in the background.
Highlands
Fixed a bug that was causing the camera to remain in the previous scene if you skipped the cutscene before the first bird trial.
The cutscene before the first bird trial now becomes skippable sooner.
Temple
We dropped you a hint for the final collectible.
Fixed the arena gate remaining closed if you skipped the cutscene while it was still closed.
Fixed a bug where Fred could stay summoned past Oleander round 2, potentially breaking round 3.
1.0 Release Now Available!
It's finally time. After 2 years (and change) of Early Access, the 1.0 release of Them's Fightin' Herds is finally here! But before we get started with the patch notes…
Notice
All options/button configurations have been reset! Please take a moment to reset your preferences before you start playing.
We intend to reset casual ranks at some point soon after release, but not for this update.
Dev Commentary Stream
We will be streaming a runthrough of Story Mode Chapter 1 with commentary on the development process. The broadcast goes live on Friday the 8th at 3pm PT on our Twitch channel: twitch.tv/manesix.
Alright! Now check out this fancy new trailer, followed by a list of the items included in the 1.0 update. [previewyoutube="LEBOSUOLTXM;full"]
Story Mode: Chapter 1
The beginning chapter of story mode (featuring Arizona) is now available!. Our story mode is a unique blend of fighting game, RPG, and adventure. It's certainly been a long time coming, and we're very excited it's finally ready to play.
Pixel Lobby
Pixel lobby controls have been rearranged so they are more in parallel with Story Mode.
There is now a health bar chaser for the overworld HUD (Damage taken in battles show as red health)
Green (partnered) Pixel Lobby servers can now grant online unlockables such as Shadow Palettes.
There is now a sound effect when you enter the pause menu.
Fixed a casual rank bug that would overwrite your rank with the rank of the player you were spectating. This is why a lot of people were jumping up to max rank inexplicably.
General
Fixed a ton of minor bugs that are too numerous to list.
Versus CPU Mode is now available.
All characters now have animated crouch idles.
Fixed an issue that caused the manual button icon display toggle on button config to not affect anything.
The AI has been revised overall. You should see a lot more intentional behavior.
Fred has new tutorial portraits.
Fixed a number of typos in the tutorial.
Arizona
Fixed a coloring issue on the back of her head when she turns away from the camera in various animations.
Cross Canter now costs the correct amount of super meter(!)
Oleander
Oleander's command list now shows that Fred attacks can be held.
Tianhuo
Tianhuo now has updated fire effects on many of her moves.
Predators
The panther has new swipe animations.
Online Merch Store Live Now!
Huge news, everyone! We are pleased to announce the grand opening of the official online merch store. It's live right now! Check it out:
Gaming Generations has been handling our marketing materials and merch production since we started going to major events. Recently, they offered to help us with online distribution as well, so they're the ones hosting the store website. They are awesome folks and we adore them!
Since this is all very new to us and we have no idea what kind of numbers we'll get, all the items currently for sale are for pre-order only. Items will ship in late May.
We are also offering international shipping, but please keep in mind that shipping costs and times may vary, due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this moment, the online store has just the items we've sold at prior events: pins, t-shirts, and stickers. However, depending on how things go you might see additional items added to the catalog before the pre-order period is over. We'll make an announcement if that happens.
If you need technical support for the online store or have questions about shipping, please email support@gaminggenerations.com.
For more general questions about the catalog itself, please email support@mane6.com.
Thank you all for waiting so long for us to get this sorted out. Enjoy the swag!
Oh, and we're shipping our 1.0 release tomorrow with the first chapter of story mode You should probably check that out too.
1.0 Release Delayed by One Month - Now April 30th
Last night we submitted our draft build of Story Mode to a small closed community testing group. Long story short, they uncovered a number of major gameplay issues that need to be addressed before we feel Chapter 1 is ready for release.
We have a plan to get everything up to the standard of quality we’re looking for, but we’re going to need more time to do it. One more month, specifically. So, the launch date for our 1.0 release (and Chapter 1 of Story Mode) is now April 30th.
All the pieces of content we set out to create for Chapter 1 are finished and working. This extra month will be used to tweak numbers, ensure edge cases are handled, and squash bugs. Expect us to ramp up posting of spoiler-free Story Mode snippets on our social media accounts to provide a window into how things are shaping up while we work to bring this chapter to a completed state.
I also wanted to address the question of whether or not the current global situation has been affecting development. The short answer is yes. The same real-life disruptions happening to everyone else in the world are also happening to us. Thankfully, no one in our development team is sick (right now), but many of us are responsible for the care of family members that are at high risk. While not a primary contributor to the reason for our delay, it is certainly, most definitely not helping any.
Thank you all in advance for your understanding. We'll continue providing the latest info up until our new release date.
Aaron Stavely President, Mane6
Early Access Hotpatch #25.3
We're pushing out a decently-sized hotpatch that adds new palettes and addresses some issues with hitsparks. There's also now a distinction between P1 and P2 gifts for Paprika mirror matches. Please verify files to ensure your game is up-to-date!
General
Counterhit hitspark now displays at the proper size.
Arizona
Fixed an issue with 6A that allowed it to launch Pom's dogs into orbit. This same issue was also causing it to launch players if the hit was a KO.
Oleander
New palette: Shades of Grey (custom palette from Snivian Moon)
There is now a new hitspark when Shadow Spark hits.
Fixed an issue with 2B that also allowed it to launch Pom's dogs into orbit. This same issue was also causing it to launch players if the hit was a KO.
Paprika
New palette: Ten-Ton Magical Paca
Fixed a color error on Paprika's shadow palette.
All of Paprika's gifts across all palettes are now exactly the same color (that includes Shadow and Tennis Shoes).
Player 2's gifts now have a different line layer color (based on palette) during a mirror match.
Pom
New palette: Shigefumi Steed (custom palette from Yoshimon1)
New palette: Tenderfoot
There were two previous hotpatches released shortly after EA#25 that we posted about on our forums but not on Steam, since they were very small. Here is a list of those changes for reference:
Hotpatch #25.1 (02/22/2020)
Updated the hitspark on the last hit of every character's super.
Updated the hitspark on Oleander's 3C when Fred is out, as well as her j.2C.
Fixed a bug that caused strange knockbacks if Arizona's 6A or Oleander's 2B triggered JD on a grounded opponent.
Hotpatch #25.2 (02/26/2020)
Reverted a change that unintentionally affected special move input leniency.
Fixed a bug that forced the training dummy to always block after enabling and then disabling AI, regardless of the Blocking setting.
1.0 Release Date, New Website!
Most of you have heard by now: the release date for version 1.0 of Them's Fightin' Herds is April 2nd, 2020!!
We first made the announcement during our Story Mode Preview stream last Friday. In case you missed it, here are the links to the VoD:
To commemorate the occasion, we're making a formal post about it. But first, surprise! We just launched a... BRAND. NEW. WEBSITE. You can check it out right now: https://mane6.com
Some notes about the new site:
themsfightinherds.com still works, but it redirects to mane6.com (for now).
manesix.com/presskit is no longer a thing. We rolled all that content into the new site across the Media, Team, and Contact pages.
The Book of Lore has been archived, but it is still accessible from the footer menu. Please remember that it is no longer considered canon!
Now that the confetti has settled a little bit, we'd like to take the time to provide some facts about what this release is, and what it isn't.
TFH has been on Steam for Windows PC in Early Access for a little over two years and has since reached a feature-complete multiplayer experience including online play. Version 1.0 ships with only one additional major feature: Chapter 1 of Story Mode.
What is Story Mode?
Our Story Mode features a unique combination of four types of gameplay. For demonstrations, follow the links to be directed to specific points during our Story Mode Preview (still a work-in-progress).
Exploration Navigate through settlements and dungeons in a top-down retro-style overworld. Scavenge for secrets to achieve 100% completion.
Conversation Chat with NPCs about... whatever you want to talk about! Our conversation system features dynamic, branching dialogue to allow players to breeze through or stay awhile to dig into the lore.
Minigames and Challenges Tackle a variety of platforming courses, overworld minigames, and dungeon puzzles.
Boss Fights Unleash everything you've learned against "ascended" boss versions of predators and cast members.
The narrative will move in (mostly) chronological order with each chapter focusing on one member of the cast at at time. In Chapter 1, you play as Arizona. Chapter 2 (when it is released) will feature Velvet. We'll reveal which characters are in what order for future chapters at a later date.
What's Next?
We consider version 1.0 to be TFH's graduation from "Early Access" into "Full Release", but this does not mean the game is "Done". We still have a huge list of improvements to make, new platforms to port to, features to add, and post-launch content to produce (like new characters).
At the moment, we're focusing absolutely all of our efforts towards the completion of Chapter 1. Nothing else. Here is a list of the things we will NOT be working on until AFTER 1.0, including, but not limited to:
Linux/Mac ports (though we're already a decent way through it).
Console ports (we'd like to be on consoles, but we can't start until after 1.0 is out).
Additional characters (#7 is still a goat).
Additional chapters of Story Mode (just chapter 1 is in this release).
Physical backer rewards (will be a few months to produce).
[insert game feature here] (sorry, chapter 1 is getting everything we have right now!)
And there you have it! Time to lock ourselves back in our caves while we continue working on the release. See you all next month.
M6
Story Mode Preview Stream - This Friday
The time has come to announce the date for our latest story mode preview stream (teased during the last development update). Join us this Friday, March 6th at 3pm PT on twitch.tv/manesix to see our latest progress on the road to 1.0.
Spoiler warning! We're deliberately saving the juiciest bits for the actual release, but certain plot points, gameplay features, and NPCs will be revealed, then made into memes. It is inevitable.
After the story mode preview, we'll be making some pretty huge announcements. Ones you won't want to miss. But don't worry, if you can't make it to the stream we'll be posting a summary afterwards.
We are very excited to be able to finally share our last few month's worth of work with all of you. See you at the end of the week.
