Hello, players! We had some bug fixes lying around, which we had not yet gotten around to uploading. So here you have version 1.1.6:

• Fixed rooms in the Factory that would not spawn normal enemies if a Big enemy had spawned already.
• Revert change that made FPS camera by default controlled with movement keys. It made playing using laser guns with gamepads difficult.
• Fixed an overlap in the tutorial with certain languages when playing in 1280x720.
• Fixed doors in many endless rooms not closing properly when returning from next room.
• [VoidInsanity] Slash Quest 2 chains disappeared if the player changed levels while the quest was active.

[ 2018-04-17 15:52:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello. Once again, we bring a small update (actually, two in one, as we discovered a small issue that we rectified before uploading the previous version). The most important bit is that now the first person camera used by specific equipment will, by default, be rotated with the camera controls, instead of the movement controls. That means, by default, with the mouse or the right analog stick. Another relevant change involves fixing the explosion sound of an attack by B-DSS and the Super Elite bots, which was not configured. We have also made some small changes to configurations and code, to improve memory management a little bit. The difference is not that noticeable, but should avoid some stuttering in low-spec PCs. And we leave you with the changelog: Version 1.1.5

• Fixed bosses briefly dissapearing during their intro animations.

Version 1.1.4

• Improved performance of animations.
• FPS camera is by default controlled with camera keys.
• Slight improvement to memory management, reducing ocassional stuttering.
• Fixed explosion sound in B-DSS and Super Elite.
• Adjusted the display of leaderboards, so the colours have better contrast and elements are easier to distinguish.

Cheers from the team!

[ 2018-02-28 19:55:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello. Once again, we bring a small update (actually, two in one, as we discovered a small issue that we rectified before uploading the previous version). The most important bit is that now the first person camera used by specific equipment will, by default, be rotated with the camera controls, instead of the movement controls. That means, by default, with the mouse or the right analog stick. Another relevant change involves fixing the explosion sound of an attack by B-DSS and the Super Elite bots, which was not configured. We have also made some small changes to configurations and code, to improve memory management a little bit. The difference is not that noticeable, but should avoid some stuttering in low-spec PCs. And we leave you with the changelog: Version 1.1.5

• Fixed bosses briefly dissapearing during their intro animations.

Version 1.1.4

• Improved performance of animations.
• FPS camera is by default controlled with camera keys.
• Slight improvement to memory management, reducing ocassional stuttering.
• Fixed explosion sound in B-DSS and Super Elite.
• Adjusted the display of leaderboards, so the colours have better contrast and elements are easier to distinguish.

Cheers from the team!

[ 2018-02-28 19:55:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey A small fix for an issue introduced in the previous one, making Slash unwilling to initiate combat in the tutorial or if you hit it in the city or later. Plus, a small fix for the leaderboard, which could get stuck if the connection to Steam servers failed. We hope you enjoy the game and these bugs did not cause too much trouble.

[ 2018-01-26 14:39:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey A small fix for an issue introduced in the previous one, making Slash unwilling to initiate combat in the tutorial or if you hit it in the city or later. Plus, a small fix for the leaderboard, which could get stuck if the connection to Steam servers failed. We hope you enjoy the game and these bugs did not cause too much trouble.

[ 2018-01-26 14:39:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is mostly a bugfixing patch, but we have sneaked a couple of improvements to enemy AI. As an extra, we've also made the encounter with COPGORE shorter. Now, three impacts should be enough to defeat it.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

We have introduced a couple of small changes to enemy AI which should help with the flow of combat. First, we have reduced their wandering a little bit, which reduces considerably the number of times enemies get stuck into stairs or handrails. This was more common on the Factory and, as a result, on Endless Dungeon. Second, enemies will now stop being aggressive if they are not able to reach the player. This was a common problem in the second and third levels, in which robots would remain aggressive eventhough a wall or being in different platforms prevented them from attacking the player.

BUG FIXES

Thanks to some of you, we have been able to track and fix some issues. We're also fixing things we broke in the last update. Here is the list of fixes:

• Character models were not displayed in the character selection screen of Story.
• [@Dettadeus, Nono Ohno] Added missing colliders in B-DSS and FRANK-Y rooms. Fixes HEART going through walls and camera getting stuck behind walls.
• Reduced number of hits COPGORE can take from 5 to 3.
• [Nono Ohno] Recycling a head while jumping would break the camera.
• [Blaise] Completing arenas while using rocket cam lock-on broke camera.
• [Nono Ohno] Slash quest 3 dialogue repeats and can cause an overlap.

[ 2018-01-25 10:19:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is mostly a bugfixing patch, but we have sneaked a couple of improvements to enemy AI. As an extra, we've also made the encounter with COPGORE shorter. Now, three impacts should be enough to defeat it.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

We have introduced a couple of small changes to enemy AI which should help with the flow of combat. First, we have reduced their wandering a little bit, which reduces considerably the number of times enemies get stuck into stairs or handrails. This was more common on the Factory and, as a result, on Endless Dungeon. Second, enemies will now stop being aggressive if they are not able to reach the player. This was a common problem in the second and third levels, in which robots would remain aggressive eventhough a wall or being in different platforms prevented them from attacking the player.

BUG FIXES

Thanks to some of you, we have been able to track and fix some issues. We're also fixing things we broke in the last update. Here is the list of fixes:

• Character models were not displayed in the character selection screen of Story.
• [@Dettadeus, Nono Ohno] Added missing colliders in B-DSS and FRANK-Y rooms. Fixes HEART going through walls and camera getting stuck behind walls.
• Reduced number of hits COPGORE can take from 5 to 3.
• [Nono Ohno] Recycling a head while jumping would break the camera.
• [Blaise] Completing arenas while using rocket cam lock-on broke camera.
• [Nono Ohno] Slash quest 3 dialogue repeats and can cause an overlap.

[ 2018-01-25 10:19:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy new year from the aheartfulofgames team! We want to apologize for the bugs we introduced in the endless dungeon update. We focused a bit too much in that part of the game and the test runs we made of the story mode were subpar. Making things worse, we had already seen most of those problems when releasing Heart&Slash in other platforms, but thought they were either platform specific or affecting more recent versions of the tools we use. We were mistaken and your game experience was affected by that. We're sorry. This release includes Win64, Win32 and Linux. Mac builds will be uploaded once we return to our normal lives.

BUGFIXES

Now, into the bugfixing, which has taken a little longer because most of us were far from a dev machine for the holidays.

• Fixed potential memory leak involving camera shake.
• Fixed walls and floors the player could go through in sewers.
• Fixed some instances of Z-fighting in factory level.

These are not all the issues we've seen reported, but the problem with collisions in the sewers required a quick fix. We'll try to have the rest fixed in the coming weeks.

IMPROVEMENTS

We have also introduced a small improvement for people playing in low spec machines and another quality of life change.

• Ambient color is 30% brighter in all rooms, by using a 30%-100% random distribution.
• Dynamic resolution can downgrade several steps at once if perfomance degrades significatively.

[ 2018-01-02 08:20:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy new year from the aheartfulofgames team! We want to apologize for the bugs we introduced in the endless dungeon update. We focused a bit too much in that part of the game and the test runs we made of the story mode were subpar. Making things worse, we had already seen most of those problems when releasing Heart&Slash in other platforms, but thought they were either platform specific or affecting more recent versions of the tools we use. We were mistaken and your game experience was affected by that. We're sorry. This release includes Win64, Win32 and Linux. Mac builds will be uploaded once we return to our normal lives.

BUGFIXES

Now, into the bugfixing, which has taken a little longer because most of us were far from a dev machine for the holidays.

• Fixed potential memory leak involving camera shake.
• Fixed walls and floors the player could go through in sewers.
• Fixed some instances of Z-fighting in factory level.

These are not all the issues we've seen reported, but the problem with collisions in the sewers required a quick fix. We'll try to have the rest fixed in the coming weeks.

IMPROVEMENTS

We have also introduced a small improvement for people playing in low spec machines and another quality of life change.

• Ambient color is 30% brighter in all rooms, by using a 30%-100% random distribution.
• Dynamic resolution can downgrade several steps at once if perfomance degrades significatively.

[ 2018-01-02 08:20:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi, all! Today we are finally releasing the Endless Dungeon mode of Heart&Slash. Follow Slash in its eternal struggle to escape from QUASSY's grip. It might be a never ending fight, but doesn't mean you can't have fun trying! This new mode is available to all players, and will pitch you against a maze of rooms, filled with ever stronger enemies and less and less equipment to support you. The deeper you get, the more scarce your resources. Use every trick and exploit every weakness, and climb to the top of the rankings! This mode will be released on consoles soon, so all our fans can expect to enjoy it in the future.

Nintendo Switch version released today, too

To celebrate the release of the Endless Dungeon, we're releasing Heart&Slash on Switch today, too. Continue you adventures on the park or on the subway! take Heart with you when you meet your family during the holidays! Or simply enjoy it in your TV screen. Have fun and enjoy the holidays!

[ 2017-12-22 16:49:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi, all! Today we are finally releasing the Endless Dungeon mode of Heart&Slash. Follow Slash in its eternal struggle to escape from QUASSY's grip. It might be a never ending fight, but doesn't mean you can't have fun trying! This new mode is available to all players, and will pitch you against a maze of rooms, filled with ever stronger enemies and less and less equipment to support you. The deeper you get, the more scarce your resources. Use every trick and exploit every weakness, and climb to the top of the rankings! This mode will be released on consoles soon, so all our fans can expect to enjoy it in the future.

Nintendo Switch version released today, too

To celebrate the release of the Endless Dungeon, we're releasing Heart&Slash on Switch today, too. Continue you adventures on the park or on the subway! take Heart with you when you meet your family during the holidays! Or simply enjoy it in your TV screen. Have fun and enjoy the holidays!

[ 2017-12-22 16:49:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're publishing a small update to fix an issue with the leaderboards: the first time they were opened, they could stall indefinitely when requesting friends information. It should work properly now. And also, a reminder that once the Endless Dungeon mode comes out of beta, we will reset the leaderboards. There have been a few ups and downs in difficulty, so it's fair to start with a clean slate. Have fun!

[ 2017-12-21 22:22:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're publishing a small update to fix an issue with the leaderboards: the first time they were opened, they could stall indefinitely when requesting friends information. It should work properly now. And also, a reminder that once the Endless Dungeon mode comes out of beta, we will reset the leaderboards. There have been a few ups and downs in difficulty, so it's fair to start with a clean slate. Have fun!

[ 2017-12-21 22:22:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

New update for the Endless Dungeon. Mainly, the leaderboard is much easier to understand now. We've also adjusted difficulty a little, actually making the hardest enemies, Heartless, less common. In detail, this is the changelog:

• Improvements to rankings display, specially for the top 3.
• Removed Heartless enemies from all transitions minus the loop one in Endless Dungeon.
• Added new, hardest versions of the Heartless encounter in Endless Dungeon.

[ 2017-12-19 19:59:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

New update for the Endless Dungeon. Mainly, the leaderboard is much easier to understand now. We've also adjusted difficulty a little, actually making the hardest enemies, Heartless, less common. In detail, this is the changelog:

• Improvements to rankings display, specially for the top 3.
• Removed Heartless enemies from all transitions minus the loop one in Endless Dungeon.
• Added new, hardest versions of the Heartless encounter in Endless Dungeon.

[ 2017-12-19 19:59:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

After quite a long time since the previous update to the game, we're here to upload a new build of Heart&Slash' endless dungeon, and confirm its upcoming release outside the testing branch. For the time being, if you want to be part of the testing team, enter the code 4eWasASk8terBoy in the Beta tab of the game and then select the endless_test branch. In this patch, we've worked on fixing bugs and improving balance and stability of the mode. If you read the changelog, you'll see this:

• By default, camera speed is set to 50%, instead of 100%.
• Set Slash's theme as soundtrack for Endless Dungeon.
• Added new enemy Heartless on Endless Dungeon.
• Fixed rooms in Endless Dungeon which would not open after completing the combat.
• Fixes to Endless Dungeon rankings.
• Meat Cleaver no longer spawns in Endless Dungeon.
• Balance changes to Endless Dungeon.

We've still got some minor changes in the pipeline, but we expect the next update to be published on Dec. 22, to accompany the release of Heart&Slash on Switch. For the time being, the Endless Dungeon will only be available on Steam, while we add leaderboard support for other platforms and go thorugh their respective certification periods. We are also working on some fancy extras for a future update. But for the time being, enjoy the adventures of Slash before meeting our dear Heart. Have fun!

[ 2017-12-18 19:33:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

After quite a long time since the previous update to the game, we're here to upload a new build of Heart&Slash' endless dungeon, and confirm its upcoming release outside the testing branch. For the time being, if you want to be part of the testing team, enter the code 4eWasASk8terBoy in the Beta tab of the game and then select the endless_test branch. In this patch, we've worked on fixing bugs and improving balance and stability of the mode. If you read the changelog, you'll see this:

• By default, camera speed is set to 50%, instead of 100%.
• Set Slash's theme as soundtrack for Endless Dungeon.
• Added new enemy Heartless on Endless Dungeon.
• Fixed rooms in Endless Dungeon which would not open after completing the combat.
• Fixes to Endless Dungeon rankings.
• Meat Cleaver no longer spawns in Endless Dungeon.
• Balance changes to Endless Dungeon.

We've still got some minor changes in the pipeline, but we expect the next update to be published on Dec. 22, to accompany the release of Heart&Slash on Switch. For the time being, the Endless Dungeon will only be available on Steam, while we add leaderboard support for other platforms and go thorugh their respective certification periods. We are also working on some fancy extras for a future update. But for the time being, enjoy the adventures of Slash before meeting our dear Heart. Have fun!

[ 2017-12-18 19:33:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

After quite some time, we've finally managed to lock the endless dungeon mode down to something we think is close to our original idea. It's still in development, of course, so we'll keep updating the beta branch with changes and fixes, until it works as expected. In this first update we're introducing a new type of enemy (not yet in the codex): Heartless, a version of Heart which does not feel the same way towards Slash. They will be special enemies found regularly, with varied equipment. We've also tweaked the length of sections and adjusted the difficulty. The number of enemies and their speed scales a little slower now, so a whole cycle is relatively achievable. We've also fixed a couple of issues which might cause a room to remain shut after all enemies were defeated. In future updates we intend to introduce a finished version of the Heartless challenge room, further tweak stuff and teach Dogbot how to climb a set of stairs. Translations will come at a later time. Heartless also needs to be a little easier, or appear in lower numbers, but we need to do further tests. And, of course, if you find any issue, let us know. We'll create a thread in the forums, so you can report problems and propose ideas.

[ 2017-05-26 13:40:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

After quite some time, we've finally managed to lock the endless dungeon mode down to something we think is close to our original idea. It's still in development, of course, so we'll keep updating the beta branch with changes and fixes, until it works as expected. In this first update we're introducing a new type of enemy (not yet in the codex): Heartless, a version of Heart which does not feel the same way towards Slash. They will be special enemies found regularly, with varied equipment. We've also tweaked the length of sections and adjusted the difficulty. The number of enemies and their speed scales a little slower now, so a whole cycle is relatively achievable. We've also fixed a couple of issues which might cause a room to remain shut after all enemies were defeated. In future updates we intend to introduce a finished version of the Heartless challenge room, further tweak stuff and teach Dogbot how to climb a set of stairs. Translations will come at a later time. Heartless also needs to be a little easier, or appear in lower numbers, but we need to do further tests. And, of course, if you find any issue, let us know. We'll create a thread in the forums, so you can report problems and propose ideas.

[ 2017-05-26 13:40:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

The long awaited, Kickstarter final stretch goal, ENDLESS DUNGEON MODE is almost here! We are just adding the finishing touches to the score system and fixing bugs with well, the endless dungeon generation. We've also added leader-boards, so you'll be able to compete with other players to reach the top (currently held by our very own ELIDEB). More details coming soon!

[ 2017-05-17 23:51:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

The long awaited, Kickstarter final stretch goal, ENDLESS DUNGEON MODE is almost here! We are just adding the finishing touches to the score system and fixing bugs with well, the endless dungeon generation. We've also added leader-boards, so you'll be able to compete with other players to reach the top (currently held by our very own ELIDEB). More details coming soon!

[ 2017-05-17 23:51:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy New Year 2017 Today we're releasing a patch with changes to the game's ending, high resolution improvements and other improvements. We hope you like it!

ENDING

Now, once SLASH is present at the final encounter, it can be defeated as usual, getting you the "bad ending." We have also made some changes so that it's a bit easier to guess how to achieve the "good ending."

HIGH RESOLUTION FIXES

We have also fixed some issues we found in high resolutions. The most important is automatic font scaling. When playing at higher resolutions (1080 and up), the fonts are scaled almost linearly. It will be specially noticeable when playing on television sets. The other resolution related fix affects cutscenes, which were not properly letterboxed.

BUGFIXES

And then there are a series of fixes:

• Fixed respawning when falling off the level for a second time.
• Fixed issue with dialogues which might lock the game at very low resolutions.
• Fixed overlaps with cinematic sequence black bars in non-16/9 resolutions.

[ 2017-01-02 15:57:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Quick patch! Thanks for all people who have reported the errors in the third level. We have finally managed to find the root cause of the remaining issues, so we expect no more serious issues in that regard. We have also introduced a quick fix for the UI, which did not render properly in very high resolutions (4K and such). Have fun!

[ 2016-11-10 22:14:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hell-o to all of you! We bring a new patch today, featuring a couple of smaller fixes and a request from our players.

HALLWOEEN REMINDER

But before that, a quick reminder: an extra character can be unlocked during this and the next week. It comes with its own achievement, but it still cool nonetheless! So remember to run the game and try it out!

LOCKED FRAMERATE

Regarding the patch, it brings some minor improvements, but the most relevant change is the addition of a locked framerate option. If you're PC is beefy enough, you're probably running Heart&Slash at 200+ frames per second, unnecessarily turning your system into a small scale heater. Now, by default, Heart&Slash runs at locked 60fps. That should be good enough for most users, but those interested in higher (or lower) framerates in tandem with v-sync, you can modify the framerate by editing the video settings file and adding or modifying a line: fpsLimit:30 to set the framerate to locked 30fps. If the line is not present, you can change any video setting, exit the game to make sure the new value is saved and then open the settings file. Of course, we don't recommend setting the framerate to anything below 30fps, because the game will run much slower than desired and the dynamic resolution system will kick in.

OTHER FIXES

In the patch we've included other improvements:

• Updates to the Simplified Chinese translation
• COPS blockade no longer obstructs passage through doors in the second level
• Dynamic resolution could fail to activate because of a misconfiguration

Enjoy the game during these special days. We're preparing some more content. Once we have something to show, we'll let you all know! Thanks for playing and keeping up to date with us!

[ 2016-10-30 18:53:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to a new patch. This time, we're doing mostly bugfixing. The most important affects level 3, to which we have mda some modifications, trying to solve issues affecting modules which never appeared after an arena, or the current module going away, taking the player with it. We have used the chance to tweak some rooms, making them easier to navigate. We have also fixed an error cause by the water in the second level. It lead to some leaked memory, which might be the cause behind some player's having the level failing to fully load. We're still investigating if there are any other factors at play. The full list of changes is:

• Fixed Boomerang and American Shield floating away when hit enemies were destroyed.
• Fixes to the third level.
• Fixed null refs in sewers.
• Fixed water and vegetation shaders, broken in patch 1.0.2 (only affected Linux players which got the patched version)
• Fixed Z-fighting in first level.

And, since patch 1.0.2 was only released for Linux, and extra fix for Windows users:

• Beatstick hard attack broke character animations if used in two different levels.

We will release updated MacOS builds tomorrow. Thanks for the support!

[ 2016-09-07 21:00:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Another week, another patch. This is a small one, only affecting Linux. We have managed to find and fix the cause of the crashes many players got when starting the game. We're very grateful to all testers who helped reporting the problems and testing the different fixes we attempted. This patch also includes a small fix for the Beatstick, which will be propagated to other platforms as soon as we fix a serious issue currently affecting the third level of the game. Until the next patch is up, we recommend not using the beatstick if possible in Windows or MacOS X.

[ 2016-09-02 19:58:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

We have just uploaded a new patch for Linux and Windows. The most important changes are fixes to the third level. The events in which geometry vanishes, making it impossible to continue progressing, should be fixed. We have also enabled support for 21:9 resolutions (and others), increased the safe zone for people playing on TV sets and fixed some issues with the minimap. We have some pending issues regarding the third level and crashes in Linux. We're looking into them and will release a new patch when they're fixed. MacOS X builds will be uploaded when we can. Thank for your support!

[ 2016-08-31 00:10:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! The first time Heart&Slash went public, it was to ask our fans for help in bringing this dream to reality. We did a crowdfunding campaing through KickStarter, which we completed successfully. As part of the campaign, we had several rewards for those willing to participate, one of them being a digital artbook. We are starting to work on it and the aim is to show how we've moved from our original ideas to the final version of the game you are playing now.
But since the release of the game we've seen such great fanart on twitter, Steam, mail and other channels that we came up with a new idea: why not include some of it in the art book? If it's supposed to show how the game has evolved, our players' interpretation of it is the final step. How you view Heart, Slash and the other characters is a part of this journey. And a very interesting one, too: we've seen re-imaginings of our robots that we never even considered a possibility, but loved the moment we saw them. If you want us to include your fan art in the book, send it to us. We'll select our favourites and include them in it. Those we select will receive the artbook, even if they did not take part on the crowdfunding campaign, and a Steam key. If you don't have the game, you will be able to enjoy it for free. If you already have it, you can send it as a gift to a friend or do as you please. What are you waiting for? Send your best hi-def Heart&Slash fan art to info@aheartfulofgames.com, indicating that it is for the Artbook. Thanks to all those who participate! Legal notice: As always, there is some legal stuff we need to be careful with: by sending the artwork to us, you grant us permission to reproduce it in the digital artbook. You also grant us permission to feature it in social networks or webs. Everywhere it is used, however, we will make sure you are acknowledged as the author. If we think a change in the wording or the legal requirements is needed, we'll update this announcement. Also, we will send you a confirmation mail, so we can make sure we're using the artwork with your consent. And, finally, those who send us art are declaring themselves as authors of said art. Any legal issues that might arise regarding authorship will be directed to whoever sent the art.

[ 2016-08-29 22:19:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

The time has finally come. Two and a half years since we officially started working on the project, Heart&Slash is released on PC. It's been a long journey, including a successful Kickstarter, lots on iteration on the different ideas on how to properly tell Heart's journey and, most of all, lots of work. The release comes with the addition of the soundtrack as optional DLC. We are very proud of the final form the game has reached. Thanks to the feedback from our backers and Early Access players, we think we have managed to reach a level of polish we wouldn't have otherwise. So far, the Steam reviewes are there to back this impression. We hope it will remain the same and new players will enjoy it as much as we have creating it.

WHAT'S ON VERSION 1.0.0

For the official release we have implemented several fixes and improvements. These stack on top of the releases of the last couple of weeks, which introduced a new version of the third level, Super Elite versions of bots with randomized weaknesses and resistances and a refactor of how the heads worked. The most important changes coming in 1.0.0 are:

• Chances of getting a piece of equipment are greater if seen less often than others.
• COPGORE encounter improvements, including speed, collisions and difficulty.
• FRANK-Y encounter can be completed faster with physical equipment. But FRANK-Y is also a bit more vicious in its attacks.

And bugixes implemented:

• Recycling heads with a target locked no longer breaks the camera.
• Steps sound in third level fixed.
• Disco Bomb plays in the music channel.

Also included is a present for hardcore players who were trying to unlock all achievements. In the enemies encyclopedia you can now see how many enemies of each kind you have defeated, making it easier to plan your runs.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE

We still have a Kickstarter goal to complete: the Endless Dungeon mode. We will start working on it now. It should be ready in a few weeks and will be released on a beta channel before going live. We also have to work on some rewards for Kickstarter backers. We will get in touch with you as things progress. And, of course, we'll keep fixing bugs and making small improvements gradually.

FOR PLAYERS OF OLD BUILDS

If you were an Early Access player but have not played for some time, be adviced that some configuration files have changed in recent versions of the game. We recommend removing the settings files (and purging Steam's cloud sync for Heart&Slash) before playing again. Check the pinned discussion for information on how to do it. And that's all. Thanks for the journey and enjoy the game! Best wishes from the aheartfulofgames team.

[ 2016-08-09 16:28:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi. Quick update with fixes implemented during the weekend.:

• Fixed arena in third level that triggered from below.
• UI adjustments: cutscenes SKIP is visible again, map is hidden when returning to main menu, UNLOCK DESCRIPTOR is not shown at the start of each level.
• Old shooter camera no longer breaks boss cameras.

And some improvements we've done, too:

• Chasm rooms in the Factory's first section always have fences.
• Camera no longer gets inside walls on B-DSS encounter.

KNOWN ISSUES

Recycling a head while targetting an enemy breaks the camera. Make sure you haven't locked a target when recycling a head until a fix is in place.

[ 2016-08-07 12:58:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

A new update, in preparation for Tuesday's Early Access end. This time, we bring a much needed review of how heads work, some changes to COPGORE and balance improvements.

HEADS REVIEW

For some time, we had planned on consolidating how heads work. The idea was for all of them to share a common basic mechanic, apart from whatever made each unique. That basic mechanic is the ability to mark enemies as targets, and have the camera automatically track them. Now, finally, this vision has come to fruition and we can proudly say that the ability to lock targets is in the game. By tapping on camera action (Tab, Middle Mouse Button or Right Analog Stick Button, in most cases) you can re-centre the camera. If an enemy is nearby, it will be selected as target. Once a target is selected, the camera will follow them while they remain close enough. To switch targets, move the camera left or right. Tapping camera action again will deselect the target, returning you to the normal camera. Some heads, like B-DSS Head or COPS Head, had a special attack triggered by tapping camera action. Now, that special action will be triggered by holding down camera action, instead. Although simple in appeareance, this change has required extensive modifications on how heads are implemented and configured. So we've decided to use this opportunity to further improve the heads that most needed it. In particular, we have modified extensively the Rocket Head. Its missile platform ability is now enabled by default, so you can fire missiles from the get go. That used to be the third update, so it has been replaced by a cool new one: the ability to target the same enemy with more than one missile, plus two extra missiles. The destruction power of this piece of equipment has increased considerably. We have also changed how the Mecha Head special ability works, providing a wider window in which its missile deflection power is active. It should be easier to use, but still require precission. Other changes and improvements won't be as noticeable, but will result in more consistent behaviour. And, as a plus, because we've spent so much time checking missiles, we have decided to change one small aspect of their behaviour. Now, if a deflected missile cannot find a target, instead of continuing in a straight line, it will fly randomly until it collides with something or it runs out of fuel. We hope you like this piece of visual flair.

COPGORE

The fight against COPGORE had two problems which made it last much longer than initially expected:

• If the COPS bots were destroyed fast enough, COPGORE could be trapped in a loop in which it did almost nothing besides dropping more bots to replace the defeated ones.
• The Big Missile collided with the space lift tether quite often, depending on how people preferred to face it.

We have made some changes to the probabilities of each COPGORE attack, so that it is less focused on dropping new enemies unto you. Also, it will fire the Big Missile a little bit more often than it used to. And to fix the second issue, the Big Missile will try to avoid the tether cable if possible. It can still be tricked into hitting the pillar, but it has to be a much more concious choice by the player.

BALANCE

There were a couple of enemies which were a little too hard to fight against. These were the DOGBOTS, missile turrets and Big Grunts with chainsaws. DOGBTOS dash legs now tend to evade a little less, so it is easier to trick them into evading and move in for the kill. Their knife attack is also easier to evade. It used to do damage too late into the animation, when players had already finished their evasion movement. Now they move a little slower and do not track the player so much, so in general that attack is easier to avoid. But it is still quite dangerous, if you let more than one enemy surround you. Missile Turrets will now fire less missiles (4, instead of 6) in the city and the space lift. Returning their own fire should be somewhat easier, but still risky. And, finally, the chainsaw slash attack. It was a little too fast, and did a lot of damage. Standing close to a Big Grunt with such a weapon was a sure way to lose a couple of hearts. That was not the original intention, so we've made the attack considerably slower. Now you'll have time to cancel fast attacks before you're hit. But should you get too greedy, be warned: this attack now does more damage. It was required to even things out. You won't be destroyed in one hit, but you should be careful if you're low on hearts.

BUGFIXING

And, as usual, a couple of fixes got in the mix, too:

• Smoother COPS mortar target movement.
• Reduced volume of Green Chasm rooms when spawning enemies.

[ 2016-08-06 01:11:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi. With yesterday's update a bug crept into the input system. We didn't notice because it was settings dependant, and our settings were, unfortunately, correctly set. A fix has been uploaded for the issue and should be live now. In the changelog, present in the installation directory, it should be listed as version 0.9.5. However, some settings will still lack some of the new configurations, making menu navigation harder than it should be. We recommend removing the game's settings file for the controllers you're using. They are located in: The files to delete are:

• input[NameOfController].brw
• input[NameOfController].brw.bak

You might also want to delete these files if you still have issues:

• inputSettings.brw
• inputSettings.brw.bak

Afterwards, start the game again and configure the input from the settings menu.

Windows

C:Users[useraccount]AppDataLocalLowaheartfulofgamesHeartnSlashSettings Notes:

• Depending on the language, Users might be Usuarios or something else.
• [useraccount] should be the name of the Windows account you're currently using.
• AppData is a hidden directory. You might have to enable system or hidden folders to see it. Other option is to simple append AppData in the folder address bar.

Linux

/home/[username]/.config/unity3d/aheartfulofgames/HeartnSlash/Settings [username] should be replaced with your Linux user name.

MacOS X

The latest version is still not available for MacOS X, but once it is the same changes will apply. /Users/[UserName]/Library/Application Support/HeartnSlash/Settings or /Users/[UserName]/Library/Application Support/aheartfulofgames/HeartnSlash/Settings

[ 2016-08-01 12:58:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, all. The date at which Heart&Slash will be released is close now! We have come a long way since we started the Early Access, and lots of things have improved. We hope you enjoyed the journey. Heart&Slash will come out of Early Access and be officially released on PC on 9 August 2016. The moment the game is released the price will drop to $15. As we have explained in the Early Access info, the current price was set to remain fair to our Kickstarter Beta backers, but it was never intended as the final price. If you want to play the game, but not RIGHT NOW, you can wait a little more than a week and get it cheaper. Together with the game we will release the Soundtrack, composed by Michael Chait, for $10, and a Heart&Slash + OST bundle for $20. All of these will have a one week discount of 10% starting the day of release.

LEVEL 3 CHANGES

After asking for feedback and watching player's reactions to the previous version of the third level, it was clear that it is less than ideal. We've dedicated some time to come up with new ideas and ways to mix them with the current system's, without breaking anything.
After much thought, lots of work and even more testing and fixing, we have a new version ready. It is less claustrophobic now, which should help with combat, and has some more variety. We hope you like it! Currently, it has only received internal testing, so there might be some issues to uncover. Please, help us find them! And if you have feedback on the new version, please let us know.

Other changes

As always, we've used the time to also fix some bugs and balance equipment and enemies. Some more changes are coming before release date, so stay tuned. Heart&Slash 0.9.4

• Enemy spawning is a little bit more random, allowing less difficult combinations to spawn a little more.
• Dogbot dash is done less frequently. Reduced knife attack tracking.
• City spawners adjustments.

Heart&Slash 0.9.3

• Minor improvements to tutorial.
• One per Cent Body upgrades now cost 6 crates each. instead of 3. Total upgrade cost is now 18.
• One per Cent Arms only have two upgrades, instead of 3, and their cost is 3 crates, instead of 2.
• Combo Sword can spawn in the second level.
• Combo Sword upgrade 4 costs 2 crates, instead of 1.
• Combo sword icon reflects combo ratio, instead of combo time.
• Skip is only activated by actual button and key presses.
• Poison Dagger can be equipped as main weapon.
• Poison Dagger damage boost upgrade effect and cost reduced.
• Poison Dagger backstab boost cost reduced.
• Fixed memory leak.

Heart&Slash 0.9.2

• Fixed bug in which slash console in quest 3 would disappear.
• Freeze modifiers no longer stack.
• Players should no longer get stuck on a fall. A double jump is forced if too long on a fall without moving.
• Fixes Axes hard attack cancelling into jumps.
• Fixes misplaced particle in Slash attack.
• Fixes hard lock bug with Missile Launcher.
• Fixes typo in grenade weapon description.
• Fixes water splahes over concrete in Herbie's room.
• Fixes many holes in the city.

This changes are available right now for Windows and Linux builds. We'll update the MacOS version in the next couple of days.

[ 2016-07-31 18:25:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, today we are bringing the first significant patch that resulted from us releasing to consoles. As you might have noticed, console release brought in our first press reviews. While we are happy with the overall reception (we are a very small game and accept our limitations) there were a couple points that almost every reviewer raised, even those who really liked the game. Moreover, now we have a larger playerbase to receive feedback from, and some of the players' complaints overlap with those of the reviewers. Thus, we've been rushing through some sorely needed fixes to those issues, in the hope of bringing up a new patch that addresses (but doesn't cancel) some of those issues.

CAMERA

Perhaps the biggest, most commonly raised issue, was the camera. Here there's little we can say except that we really thought it wasn't as bothersome as it turns out it was. We grew used to the way it worked and didn't see it clearly or objectively. It's taken us giving extra visibility to the game to realize what we had done. Namely, we tried to be too clever. Cameras in third person action games are tricky, specially at the speeds Heart&Slash moves. We though we had a couple of interesting behaviors that improved the camera, but in the end those attempts at automatic compensation took too much control away form the player. Now, the camera is simpler, and easier to use. Also, we added the ability for the camera to allow certain smallish objects to obscure the player, thus keeping the camera much more stable overall in combat, without losing much awareness, we think.

PROGRESS BREAKERS

We also discovered, thanks to the recent console launch, that we still had a couple of critical bugs that would glitch the game to the extent of losing the whole run. We have addressed the most prevalent of these (one related to the Thunder Hammer and another related to the Clockwork Lens). We've also made it less likely for you to fall through the second level world, and made it so the game restart if you do indeed fall through.

THIRD LEVEL IMPROVEMENTS

We've also added a couple minor surprises to the third level, making it harder and less predictable.

BUGFIXES

Finally, we have fixed as many issues as we could during this time. The full changelog since the last update last week is: - Added options to disable camera shake. - Vertical camera movement is more directly linked to camera sensitivity. - Reduced default camera speed. - Very fast taps of Camera Action now properly centre the camera. - Camera does no longer close up when a small or transparent element is between it and the player. - Added random weakness/resistance for elite soldiers in the third level. Changed their graphical representation to indicate that. - Made it so that if you fall through the world in the second level you respawn. - Made it more unlikely to fall out of the world in the second level. Fixed subway collisions. - Fixed Clockwork Lens conflicting with level 3 camera. - Fixed Morningstar recycling. - Fixed weapon recycling while in alternate weapon selection mode. - When first entering the weapon room, the doctor dialog doesn't dissapear until the player hits the computer. - Fixes animations sliding when switching weapons. - Changed how hearts recovered from recycling are displayed when picking up a weapon. - Camera should not go through the floor on Franky’s intro.

TESTING

Finally, one request to all of you. One of the reasons we released with so many technical issues on consoles was lack of testing. Being a two/person studio, we are really struggling with having enough QA, and mistakes slip through unnoticed too often. Please, test this patch and let us know if everything is working correctly. Don't be afraid to report a bug if you see something that looks like one... We think the patch is solid, but it's a big one and something not trivial might have broken in some of the code changes. Also, we are very interested to hear what you think of the new camera behavior. We really hope you enjoy the changes. Juan

[ 2016-07-07 00:38:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, all. We have recently released the game on other platforms. This is great for us, but also good for you. New issues have been brought to our attention, which will help us improve the game. For starters, we bring a series of adjustments and fixes for the game. A difficulty balancing for the first section of the game and the City is the most noticeable, but there are other improvements under the hood.

Difficulty balancing

Apparently, the first section of the factory is a little too hard for new players, creating a barrier which stops people from discovering what's beyond. Because of this, we have made some changes in there:

• There are less spawn points for enemies in its rooms. At most, 5 enemies at once, and only in one or two specific versions of big rooms.
• Increased difficulty rating of biggrunt's chainsaw, flybot's laser and smallbot's flamethrower, missile launcher and shield. They won't spawn until a few rooms into the level.

These changes are specific to that first section. General changes to the game are:

• COPS units are now weak to physical attacks, instead of resitant to every kind.
• Smallbot's kick attack is now 33% slower in all variations, except on the Elite troops.
• Flybot's missile launchers only fire three missiles now.

Recycling

Another aspect of the game many players seem to miss is the possibility to recover hearts by recycling equipment. This is one of the core mechanics players need to take into account, when playing, because Heart is, in practice, a walking first aid kit. To help with this, for the time being we have added an explanatory message when the recycling option is selected on the upgrade menu. We plan to add a quest to teach players about this, but it will take a little longer.

Bugfixing

And, regarding bugs, we have some important fixes coming, too:

• Improved framerate when lots of particles are present in the scene.
• Thunder Hammer electric explosion attack would lock character in place if used after changing scene.
• FPS counter no longer visible.
• Moved Pickup menu explanations out of the monitor overscan zone.
• Weapons should not become invisible because of an in-attack switch.
• Fix city lights when reached in a second consecutive run.

If you think there are other things we should fix, let us know in the forums. Enjoy the game!

[ 2016-06-30 16:44:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

As many have already noticed, Heart&Slash has been recently released on consoles worlwide. Obviously, that triggers some questions regarding PC and why it is still not out of Early Access. We'll try to answer some of those doubts with this post.

Is the console version more polished than the Steam Early Access?

The version released on consoles is pretty much the same as the one in Early Access. There are some platform specific changes, but the overall game remains the same. We are releasing a patch on consoles which fixes some bugs discovered by our new players, and these changes shall be part of our next PC update.

When will the PC version of the game be released?

We are aiming for a late August/early September release date. There are still details to decide, and as always, things might not work as expected. We'll try to meet that date as best as we can.

Why was the game not released on PC at the same time as consoles?

There are several reasons. The main one is that the Steam Summer Sale was planned to start one day before our release date. We didn't think it would be a good idea to release the game in the middle of the sale, so we looked into delaying that date. There are also some secondary reasons. Although we consider the game to be completed, it is still missing some of the content we announced on our Kickstarer, including the infinite dungeon mode. We'd rather have that as part of our PC release, along with the custom tailored version of the game for $100+ backers.

Will that content be PC exclusive?

Once we finally release the game on PC, we'll release a patch for the console versions, adding all improvements done to the game and the new game mode. However, things like custom tailored builds will not be available on consoles, simply because backers get access to the PC version, not the consoles.

Will Heart&Slash be released in Steam only?

Currently, Heart&Slash can be bought from other stores, but only to get Steam keys. We're trying to have Heart&Slash available in other PC stores, but we cannot announce anything now and, probably, not here. If you have any other questions, please ask us in the forums, to the game's twitter account (@heartnslash), on TIGSource (https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=34470) or to our info mail address (info[at]aheartfulofgames{dot}com).

[ 2016-06-28 15:07:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi! Today we are bringing an important update to Heart&Slash. For a long time, the layout of the city & sewers level has not been completely to our liking. The city part felt too long, boss placement was too arbitrary and there was not much sense of progression in the level. We were always thinking of ways to fix these issues. However, we were also afraid of implementing any of those fixes while we were making other considerable modifications in the rest of the game. Things could break, and the cause might not be evident if we had too many moving parts in the game code and configuration. But the game is a lot more stable now and we are focusing on bugfixing, so we had the opportunity to try different things out. After a week of tests, modifications, crashes and head scratching, plus a couple of weeks of internal testing, we are confident that the new version is a lot better. So, what have we changed? For starters, the general layout is now closer to our original idea. The city and sewers are built in smaller sections of under and overworld. Once each section is completed, it can connect to the next set, which can be, once again, under or overworld. What this means is that, in order to progress through the level, you are more likely to have to go into the sewers and back into the city from time to time. And we have a little more control over which rooms are generated as you progress. The second improvement is that the chances of getting to fight either HERBIE or COPGORE are pretty much the same. In fact, it is quite common for both to spawn in the same level. Previously, COPGORE rarely spawned, because of how it's connections were configured. With the new sections approach, their rooms work exactly as FRANK-Y and B-DSS's in the factory level. Another important change is that there are now a lot less big city "rooms", so navigating through it is less repetitive. We have also made a better selection of which rooms appear in each section. The other big change is that the stat upgrade pickups that could only be found in the city are pretty much gone. We have left a couple floating around, but only those most significative. The number of crates spawning in the city and sewers has been reduced, too. You can still find lots of new equipment, but not as much as in the previous builds. You will have enough to recover hearts and optimize your build, but not as much as to always get exactly what you want. We think this changes make the city level much better, but we'll still look for ways to improve things. Let us know your opinion on this update! P.S.: Of course, there are some bug fixes in. The most important is that the repeater gun has been fixed and does no longer auto-fire when reloaded. We are also working on having Heart&Slash available in more languages and regions, but we cannot say anything else for the time being.

[ 2016-06-08 10:58:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi. We have a good list of updates for today. We delayed this update in an attempt to include a couple of extra improvements, but they will take a bit more than planned. But they'll be ready for the next update. Regarding this one, we have a fix for excessive friction against walls, a few text fixes, upgrade balancing and input improvements.

Friction

Trying to fix another issue, some time ago we introduced a different one, which made walls feel too sticky. Going through doors and navigating areas with obstacles was harder because of that. Friction has now been reduced to a sensible value, which means that getting closer to walls should no longer be problematic.

Input improvements

Xbox One gamepads were not properly configured out of the box. The View button is now configured to work as an Xbox 360 gamepad Back button. That means that the menu should be accessible without needing to reconfigure the input. This, however, means that people who have already configured their Xbox One gamepads in the game will need to either reset it to the default values or reconfigure it.

Upgrade costs

Some of the more powerful weapons were too easy to fully upgrade. That includes daggers, special swords and heavy weapons. Some very good upgrades were very cheap, too. So we have increased the costs of all or some upgrades in Power Ax, Combo Slicer, Ice Sword, Cunning Dagger, Poison Dagger, Vorpal Dagger, Vorpal Sword, Electric Hammer, Morningstar, Rocket Hammer, Electric Shield, Riot Shield, Knuckes and O&S. Upgrading them is still feasible, but fully upgrading two or more of them would now be a considerable investment.

Text improvements

We have corrected some translations and fixed some missing character problems in Spanish and French. Spanish has also been slightly improved, with some dialogues being corrected or clarified. Also, we have corrected how line wrapping is applied to Asian languages. This one affects mostly to Chinese players, who would find that some lines would start with invalid characters under very specific circumstances.

Screenshots

The game has the ability to capture screenshots. However, the screenshots were stored inside the game installation directory. It has now been changed, so they are stored in relevant OS specific directories. Pictures in Windows, ~/aheartfulofgames in Linux and the personal folder in MacOS. We have also changed how screenshots are captured in MacOS. Instead of F12, you should use F5 now. If you play from Steam, those keys should be overriden by Steam, so screenshots would be stored in your Steam configured directory.

[ 2016-05-18 14:40:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello again! Today we bring even more improvements: better memory efficiency (again), fixes to gamepad configurations and a much needed fix to how the combat camera behaved. Let's check them one by one.

MEMORY IMPROVEMENTS

We've discovered another problem with how we managed memory. This one comes from the old prototype code and, although we knew there was a potential issue there, we didn't realize how bad it was until we made some calculations on how much it was costing us. Turns out, in 64bit systems we were wasting from 500MB up to more than 1GB. In 32bit systems the improvements are a little less extreme, saving from 250MB to 700MB or so. We've modified how that part of the game is managed and, as a result, we think the game might run in systems with as little as 2GB of RAM. We'll contact players who were having issues with such setups, so they can test the game now. Together with the improvements brought from the previous update, we've reduced our memory budget in more than 1.5GB. That's hard to top. On Linux 64bits, for example, the game used 1.5GB and about 2.5GB in Update #40 when loading the Factory and Sewers, respectively. Loading a similar level now, those numbers are at 700MB and 1.3GB. We've been unable to surpass 1.5GB in our test runs with this build. On Windows 64bit, the gains are more noticeable, because the base usage is higher all around. From 1.7GB and 2.6GB, approximately, we've gone down to 1GB and 1.5GB. So, if you had problems because we ran out of memory, please try the latest build. It might just work now.

CAMERA

We were aware that the combat camera had issues. Our attempts to make it predict the right direction to look at, taking into account movement, walls and nearby enemies, worked from a technical perspective, but failed gameplay-wise. It moved in what would seem the wrong direction when there were enemies close and made running away from them harder than it should. So, after considering our options, we have decided to simply drop the predictive part of the camera. The combat camera is now a lot more stable and will not move on its own, except to slowly position itself behind the player after it moved for a while. We feel gameplay is much smoother now and combat involves more enemy reading and less camera fighting. Let us know how you think it works now. Also, because of this change, the special cameras we used throughout the third level are now redundant. Those customized cameras were created to avoid the combat camera issues in that level, where they were particularly problematic. Since those cameras were causing some hard to locate bugs and their reason to be was no longer valid, we've simply removed them. Except for a couple of special moments, the third level is managed with the default cameras, which should make things a lot easier.

GAMEPADS

After a long time, we have managed to acquire a couple of problematic gamepads, which we've used to, we hope, once and for all, resolve the issues we had with gamepads unknown to our default configurations. We have now created a default configuration for unknown gamepdas, which should map the first 4 axis and 8 buttons in a way that should let you, at the very least, navigate the menus. In many cases, going into the configuration should not even be needed. The other big issue was that, even if you managed to reach the controller configuration screen, configuring the axes did not work. We've reviewed the code used for that and fixed a couple of issues with axis mapping. Now, if the game detects the gamepad, it should be possible to configure it as you like.

TRANSLATIONS

Finally, in this release we have pretty much all languages translated. We might add one or two extra languages in the future, but the 7 languages we had promised to support are in: English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian and Russian. That's a huge percentage of the world's population, so we hope most of you, players, should be able to play Heart&Slash in your mother tongue. We would like to thank all who have helped us with this huge undertaking. Friends, players and professional translators alike.

BUGFIXING

And, as usual, a barrage of bugs have been fixed. Let's see them:

• Black planes visible in 3x3 4 doors factory rooms
• Translators added to credits
• SpaceLift pause menu progress meter
• Some weapon issues
• Check that the five security stations spawn
• Gopgore is bugged
• Thunder Hammer weird issues
• Incorrect marble room configuration
• Remove wings from QUASSY's satellites
• Last boss has issues
• Saved data backup in Win, Linux, MacOS
• Main menu is not painted sometimes
• Slash can be defeated in tutorial before ROBOLUTION
• [TiZ] White water (fixed on PS4, but could never reproduce on PC)
• Slash triggers weird particles in tutorial
• Reduce the XP multiplier in Space Lift
• [The Almighty 404] Camera goes out of lift.
• [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Ricochet stars dissapear eventually...
• Fix tutorial loop - After beating the tutorial, go to Factory right away

[ 2016-04-20 23:11:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ok guys, so, along with the usual small bugfixes adn QoL improvements, for this update we bring a fix a nasty memory leak issue we were having that was increasing memory requirements of the game for over 1GB. This was found during the porting process to consoles, that are more fickle than PCs and thus allow us to see problems much more clearly. It's the perfect example on how the process of porting is helping improve the PC version till the final launch!!!! This means the game should be now much more stable in systems that just meet our recommended specs. The game caps at about 2.6GB of RAM at the highest we have seen, so 3 free GB should be more than enough to avoid fatal issues now (before the fix, we could go up to 3.6 and maybe even touch 4GB in rare occasions). Other than that, we bring several bugfixes. Below I list most, but not all of the fixes:

• [Tutorial] Lowest set of stairs has collision issues bug
• z-fighting in sewers entrance bug
• Herbie intro audio plays with a few seconds' delay bug
• Remove platform central pillars in Marble rooms task
• BDSS much, much harder to stun-lock
• Blockers in Elevator collide with player blockers bug
• Steel slicer air hard down attack stood still over Biggrunt's shield bug
• Water cannon turret attack is wrong bug
• Fire Blades strong attack cycling animations are misconfigured bug
• Turrets don't sound when they hit the ground bug
• Funny turret placement in 8-Square_Room enhancement
• Null ref on water particles bug
• Equipment can spawn twice (or thrice) in a run enhancement
• Fix chinese Tutorial translations on PC bug
• Missiles rotate in weird directions bug

[ 2016-03-08 08:53:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello again. Some users were reporting issues playing our latest Linux builds. We haven't been able to replicate the problem, so we've tried generating new builds from a different development machine. Hopefully, this should fix the issues. Also, since this Linux build has been generated from our most recent development code, it comes with a few changes and improvements. The most evident ones are that we now display our publisher's and aheartfulofgames' logos at the start of the game. Also, to adhere to console requirements, we have removed the PRESS START text. We're very sorry, but having that co-exist with the console development would have been a considerable headache. And, for the same reasons, cinematics can now be skipped pressing any button. This change is quite minor. If Linux builds still fail to run, please get in contact with us. We've tested them on a Debian Stretch machine.

[ 2016-02-10 21:46:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

GENERAL PROGRESS

We keep progressing with the porting. Hopefully, for our next update the first two of the three console ports will be done. The QA requirements of the consoles mean a lot of changes are done to our backends (savegames, unlocks... etc) and those changes are getting ported to the PC version as soon as they are implemented.

ENEMY BEHAVIOUR

The most significant gameplay change in this build is a change on how the combat director organizes enemy attack patterns. Before, enemies where assigned an aggressive ticket that moved them into attacking distance and allowed then to actually attack. However, those tickets were held for a long time, making many enemies unable to get their own tickets unless you either attacked them or killed the aggressive enemy. Now, once an enemy attacks, it loses its aggression ticket and allows other enemies to get one. This results in less enemies being passive, but also in a moderately higher amount of attacks against the player, significantly changing the difficulty of the game. We'd love to hear your feedback on this.

BUGFIXING

-Volume options now affect all sounds -Sounds pause during menus now -In game text should not overlap menus anymore -Enemies should attack much more frequently. -Enemy kills are processed much faster now. -Heart no longer hasa black screen on its face for one frame when switching weapons -Linus build shoud be working now -Slash second Quest laser are not deafening anymore -Factory elevator sound behaves more sensibly -Flybots cast longer shadows and are easier to localize in space -Heart does no longer look SD in the equipment menu -Not having Steam on should no lnger make the game unplayable.

[ 2016-02-09 11:24:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ok, so after the holidays, we have been busy with the ports and further polishing bugfixing. The known issue list is getting smaller, although we still have a couple of outstanding issues we are having a hard time reproducing...

CHINESE IMAGE TRANSLATION

Chinese version of the game now has the game title and most of the visual HUD indicators translated. Equipment names are not translated, since we don't have the resources to do so, but we are talking to some partners that might help with this.

WIN 64

We have at last introduced Win 64 builds of the game. Since these have not been as thoroughly tested, there might be unknown issues with this version. However, it seems stable and should provide a small performance boost to compatible systems.

INTROS AND FADES

For a long time the game has been showing some garbage on the screen when switching scenes and going back to the main menu. We have revisited all our fades in and outs to make the game a much smoother experience. Yes, this sounds minor, but for us it's an important step in the polishing process.

BUGFIXES

• [TiZ]Reduced maximum fog in the city so Copgore fight doesn't become too much.
• [TiZ]Fences in city should be more visible now.
• [TiZ]Normal Shinken base attack should have less delay.
• [(ISIG]Ezekude]Electric guitar should not crash anymore
• [[Agartha]H.T.W.F.] robnin should work now...
• [Leudic] Explorer hat should be able to be repicked
• Start is no longer a confirm button (except in the keyboard where enter remains one)
• You can no longer exit the first room without an effective weapon equipped
• Flybots will fly more stable now, and won't drop to the fllor while firing.
• [morgankitten] can't access menu before initial cutscene anymore
• When killing flybots laser sounds should go away faster now

[ 2016-01-19 09:34:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

As we keep marching on with the ports, we are finding unreported bugs, and fixing them as fast as we can. Of course, we are also looking hard at those bugs you guys report here and fixing those as well. So this is primarily a bugfix update. Below is the list of bugfixes (most of them, some fixes might not be listed, since there were a lot):

BUGFIXES

• Fixed visual error in sewer cross room
• Fixed Quassy stairs collision
• Fixed 2 Slashes appearing when being gratuitously violent
• Fixed Flybots quickly dropping to ground level when spawned
• Updated Chinese translation
• Fixes boomerang and american shield getting stuck
• Fixed missile launched HUD icon not disappearing
• Fixed Wind Wand particles staying on
• Fixed Combo katana description and behaviors
• Made Madbat stronger
• Rebalanced Pan
• Fixed Stiletto infinite air attacks
• Fixed collision meshes in first room
• Fixed collision meshes in second room
• Fixed potential crash bug with kinetic accumulators
• Fixes Bdss equipment, which was somehow broken in a previous update
• Fixed [morgankitten] COP security screen not possible to be destroyed
• Fixed hole in FRANK-Y's room
• Fixed some bugs in Level 3 that sometimes made it fail when reaching the top
• Updated Spanish translations.
• Fixed some typos in English text.
• Removed Beta Warning screen
• Fixed [BADLAND] Problem when picking a gun as the first thing you pick
• Fix nullref when disabling rooms and destroying rooms, caused by an undesired update of the minimap icons.

[ 2015-12-23 13:11:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello. As is the norm now, the new builds of Heart & Slash include several bugfixes, of diverse severity. Also, as usual, the MacOS build will have to wait a little bit longer.

LANGUAGES

We have included 3 new languages for the game: German, Italian and Russian. The previous ones available were English, Spanish and Chinese. All languages but English are still missing some translations and will have errors. We are working on getting the whole text completely translated and reviewed. We will not mark the builds as having these languages available, however, until the Mac builds are up.

LINUX

In order to solve several problems that plagued our Linux builds, we have updated the version of the engine. The most important issue fixed is a problem with menus becoming unresponsive to the keyboard after pressing a couple of keys. Another important issue that was solved some time ago, but we hadn't tested thoroughly yet, is support for integrated Intel graphics cards. The latest families of their chips (Intel Grpahics HD 4000 and above) should display all graphics effects without issue now. Performance won't be wonderful, however, so we recommend keeping a modest resolution and disabling most video options. There are some crashes that have been potentially fixed, too, but we cannot be sure if that's the case for all of them, since many were machine or distribution specific. If the game still crashes after this update, please try running the game outside of Steam, from its installation directory (./heartnslash will select whether the x86 of x86_64 version of the game is the appropriate for you). After reproducing the crash, please send the file Player.log (located in /home/[user name]/.config/unity3d/aheartfulofgames/HeartnSlash) to admin {at} aheartfulofgames {dot} com. Please, also include all information you might consider relevant about the crash and how to reproduce it.

BUGFIXES

Other issues fixed in this build include:

• The screens in the first weapons room were not rendered.
• [danielpal] Freeze when using Steam Overlay and returning
• [MJRMasqu3rade] HERBIE intro out of sync
• FPS Counter might stops appearing after playing for a long time
• [morgankitten] Improve lifebar (clockwork lens) visuals
• [The Almighty 404] [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Copgore Issues
• [TiZ] Mesa driver with Intel integrated cards disables everything

[ 2015-12-06 15:02:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

We were expecting this to happen, but even then it doesn't make it better. The shift to Unity 5 introduced another blocking bug that was deemed major enough to merit a hotfix. We managed to fix some other less critical issues too.

BUGFIX

-Fixed bug that was breaking Copgore's fight and not allowing progress -[morgankitten] Improve lifebar (clockwork lens) visuals -Fixed HUD appearing briefly after level load -Fixed issue when skipping dialogs -Fixed misplaced asset on streets-2 -Fixed many audio errors on bosses -[MJRMasqu3rade] HERBIE intro out of sync bug

[ 2015-11-23 20:20:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, As you know from our previous update, we were expecting a couple nasty bugs to rear their head now that we moved to Unity 5. We have already fixed some of these bugs, so we are uploading a small hotfix. Linux seems broken in Unity 5, we are looking into it. Also, no Mac build yet. We will upload it tomorrow.

BUGFIXES:

-Spanish typo -Some collision and visual errors on crashed ship room on level 2. -Mortar shot projectors no longer make everything dark. -Made Doors, laser, spawners and missiles to use volume settings -Fixed: [morgankitten] BDSS is too easy to stun lock -Boss music now loops properly -Fixed: [XKirby] BDSS falls out of room -Fixed: [Morgankitten] Falling through geometry due to quest screens... -Fixed: [Morgankitten] Level music stops after Slash fight

[ 2015-11-22 15:16:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all. Steam ate my previous post, so here we go again... It's been a long time since the last update, but that's because I didn't want to do another update until I could say that we are now CONTENT COMPLETE. That means the game is finished, and now looks very similar to how it will look in release (it's lacking bugfixing and polish). Of course, it's been a while, so we did work on many other things. So let's go through today's update:

CONTENT COMPLETE

The game is now content complete. The last music tracks and cutscene art is integrated and in the game now. Your reward for beating the game and getting the true ending is no longer a black screen!!!

SOUND WORK

Most of the sound is done. Many, many changes since the last update. Still a couple of missing and not quite right sounds, but getting very close to the finish line here.

CHINESE AND SPANISH

Both translations are now in-game and selectable.

UNITY 5

Up until now the game had been built in Unity 4.5. Because of *reasons*. Now, because of other *reasons*, and because the game is complete, we can port it to Unity 5, and have done so. Expect some very minor performance improvements. More importantly, this fixed some long standing bugs (but brought others in, see bellow). It will also make the game easier to maintain moving forward.

BUGFIXING

Plenty of bugfixing. A week ago the Windows version of the game entered QA, so we managed to catch a lot of new stuff. Also, the port to Unity 5 created new bugs and resurfaced old ones, since the way physics are handled has changed a little. It also meant keeping track of bug fixed between this release and the last is impossible. The alt-tab bug is fixed, though. We think we are pretty stable now, but surely there will be some new issues due to the port. Please, let us know what you find.

MOVING FORWARD

It's all polish and bug-fixing now. And porting. We might want to get some minor extra content in before release (Eclipse second ground attack comes to mind), but the game should be considered feature locked. we have plans for expansions/DLC, but we need to see how well the game is received before committing to anything. Also, after the ports are finished we will start working on fulfilling KS rewards (strategy guide, art book...). This will be early next year. It's been a very long journey. Thanks for sticking with us!!! Now, let's just make a final push...

[ 2015-11-19 20:58:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, I know it's been a long time since the last public build, but I didn't want to do another update until we had all the game content in. That is, we got the final pieces of music and cutscene art into the game! The game is not looking very similar to how it will look at release, except for bugfixing and polish work, which is still needed. So, what's in this update?

NEW MUSIC AND CUTSCENES

Now, when you beat the game and unlock the true ending you will get a better reward than just a black screen! Also, Michael Chait has provided music for the space elevator, Quassy, and the end credits, so now we have a full soundtrack.

PLENTY NEW SOUNDS

Lots of sound work since the previous build. The game should now sound much better. Still a couple of effects we could improve, but we are pretty close to being done with this.

CHINES AND SPANISH

Both Chinese and Spanish translations are complete (there might be typos, still not proofread). Language selector now works in the game.

UNITY 5

We ported the game to Unity 5. This will bring tiny performance differentials (the game should be slightly faster for most people) plus it will allow us to move to a 64 bit executable soon. Things should also be more stable now. HOWEVER, this means there will be some new, unexpected bugs popping up. Unity 5 has a slightly different physics system and there might be some inconsistencies here and there. Let us know what you find.

BUGFIXING

The Windows version of the game entered QA last week with Badland Indie (our publishers) so we took care of many, many bugs (specially, the alt-tab bug should be fixed now). However, because of the big amount of bugs we fixed, and because of the shift to Unity 5 (which means no continuity in the bug tracking, some disappeared just because of the change and some resurfaced for the same reason), we don't have a concrete bugfix list this release. But the difference should be significant... As stated above, the port to Unity 5 might have introduced new bugs (we caught plenty, but there might be more). Let us know what you see...

THE WAY FORWARD

From now on we will focus on implementing new translations, bugfixing, polishing and porting the game. Some minor content additions might be made (I want to get Eclipse second ground attack animation in before release), but content should be considered fixed. Also, once porting is done we will start working on some Kickstarter rewards we need to create. We also have plans for expansions and DLC, but we will need to see how well the game is received before we can commit. It's been a long way, but we are now nearing the end... Thank you all of you who are hanging around! your encouragement means a lot to us.

[ 2015-11-19 20:26:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi all, Today's update it's pretty big in many ways, so let's get started on what's new.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND CLOUD SAVES:

Starting today, in-game achievements will be linked to Steam's achievements for the game. All 71 of them. Also, we have enabled cloud save. It should work, but our testing (due to just having two development computers) has been limited, so please report if you find issues here.

CUTSCENES

the first interstitial cutscenes (when you finish the tutorial) is in with final art. There are still more to come, but it's good to finally see how these are going to play out.

SOUND WORK

Many new sounds, all over the place. There is still work to do in this area, but the game is sounding better (and more) than before.

THIRD LEVEL REVAMP

There has been a decent rework of the third level's pace and generation. Should play much better now, and we killed many bugs in the process of building it. Please, let us know what you think!!!

CHINESE LOCALIZATION WIP

Not yet in game, but Chinese text is working and we only need to change the (already translated) text strings. More languages will start appearing very soon.

BUGFIXES

Many, many bugfixes. A partial list:

• Eclipse doesn't work.
• Electric guitar special attack has misconfigured priority/type.
• XP particles move faster than the player
• Franky's hitboxes are small
• Nimblebot rocket does not hit Heart
• Player does not fall from sewer
• Improve level loading feedback, times and memory consumption
• Air drop attacks on top of quest screens pushes Heart out of room
• Vampire sword recovers life on enemies friendly hits
• [EclipseHusky] Baton cops first attack
• [EclipseHusky] Typo
• [Abomination Jones] Frankie legs bug out when scrapping
• [Abomination Jones] Floating stop signs
• [Abomination Jones] Wall can be walked through in city
• Settings must be saved soon after they are edited
• [(ISIG) JDEzekude] Ricochet stars dissapear eventually...
• Implement audio player for cutscenes
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Should save using Persistent data path
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Equipment keeps displaying in pickup menu when scrapped
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Camera zoomed in too far
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Almost Invincibility and Copgore armor buffs staying without copgore armor
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Quassy invincible to melee
• [Bro. S= Frostymm] Problem with last slash quest on level 2
• [K-BIT] Sometimes the door of the first weapon quest does not open.
• Improve alarm sound in First Weapon Room
• Explorer hat remembers upgrades between runs in the same session

...and many more that where not listed and fixed as found. But since this is a hefty update on many internal structural issues, we might have introduced a few new or previously unknown bugs. Please, keep reporting everything you find to us. You guys have been awesome testers, and if the game is (finally) getting stable is thanks to you!!!

TO DO TILL CONTENT COMPLETE

Basically, we are still missing: -Level 3 music (almost made the cut for this build, but still not there). -Cutscene images for levels 1, 2 and 3. After that we would be content complete, although we will still keep polishing and improving some character/weapons as we progress on the ports. But this is what is missing for a build we consider as the first time the game was complete. So close....

[ 2015-10-22 19:20:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week we are showing the game at Madrid Games Week, so progress has been all right but not spectacular. However, we managed to fix a good number of the new bug reported since the last update went live, although the elusive armors flying away bug has not yet been fixed (it's a tough one to find, since it works in our tools OK, but not when we build). BUGFIXES: Among others we have fixed: -Fixed a probable cause of framerate drop on level one. There might be other causes, though, so the bug might persist. Please let us know. -[r.kachowski] Xbox controller not recognized on Macs -Heart's bodyparts tended to dissapear on death. -Ice sword now has less particles. Still looks cool, lags less. -Lifter laser head keeps laser aim active when killed -[Abomination Jones] Backstabbing teleport -[Abomination JOnes] Some broken dialog (names being replaced by code strings). -[Eclipse husky] BDSS equipment needs to reset rotatio -[Abomination Jones] [Winter is better] Weapons still have visual issues when deactivating (weapons tended to appear when not held) -[Abomination Jones] Mech body pickup texture. -[Abomination Jones] Upside down sign in the city -Franky made less weak to elemental attacks. -[Abomination Jones] issues with Slash last Quest not working Anyway, we are back of to MGW to keep showing the game. We'll be back next week with the final pass to the third level. After that, we are planning on entering testing this month for PC!

[ 2015-10-02 19:03:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello there! This weekend's is one of the last big updates left for Heart&Slash. We have released the two final extra characters, fixed lots of issues with QUASSY's final encounter and many other bugs. We've also added a new option to the graphics configuration to adapt resolution dynamically if framerate drops too much.

CHARACTERS

The two characters from our Kickstarter backers that were pending integration have been finally included in the game. Let me present you Robnin and Eclipse:

• Robnin is a wandering samurai robot which refused to accept its time had passed. By remaining faithful to its swords, it has mastered their use and can tackle any obstacle without hesitation.
• Eclipse is the final version of another HeartTech prototype. This robotic dog has a limited set of moves and weapons, but can deal lots of damage in non-standard ways.

Unlocking them won't be easy, but those who achieve it will be rewarded with two very different combat styles.

QUASSY

The battle against QUASSY has seen many improvements. Some heads had trouble with it, it moved a little too randomly and during the fight it might not be clear how to fight it. There was also a bug which froze the game during one of its intro dialogues.

DYNAMIC RESOLUTION

From the VIDEO OPTIONS menu you can now enable Dynamic Resolution. It is something we recommend for computers near the minimum requirements. If enabled, the game will automatically reduce resolution if framerate drops below 30 frames per second. This reduction is applied to horizontal resolution and steps down progressively until it reaches half the resolution you are running the game at. Once the framerate recovers, resolution will gradually increase. This should help those who would see framerate drop to 20-25 frames per second from time to time. Also, if your framerate is good enough but you had to disable some video options, this might let you run the game smoothly with those options enabled.

PROGRESSION

We have reviewed the experience given by enemies in each level and made the bosses release experience too. We're still trying to figure out the correct balance, but things should be better now. Another thing we've modified is the balance of the first level, removing all arenas from its start section, but adding more to the final ones. This should make things easier for first timers, but require a better understanding of the game mechanics to get to the second level.

CAMERA

The bug which made the camera turn suddenly during combats has been fixed. It should behave smoothly in all situations. The camera itself still needs some tweaks, but it is a lot better now.

SLASH CITY QUEST

There was some confussion regarding the security terminals quest. We have now clarified in the dialogues that destroying all the terminals might require more than on run.

BUGFIXING

The list of bug fixes included in the build is:

• Fix camera shake
• Slash quest 2 (no evasion) music starts a little too late
• Maximap/Progress panel overlaps sub-menus
• Read and write saved data feedback
• [AbominationJones] Balance is off, game becomes too easy in the later levels/once you played a lot
• [AbominationJOnes] Copgore set is OP
• [AbominationJones] Ice Sowrd creates too much experience?
• [AbominationJones] Satelite bugs
• [EclipseHusky] XP feedback
• [EclipseHusky] Kinetic Repeller
• [EclipseHusky]B-DSS head laser shot got a bit weird when fighting Herbie, it aimed at the floor
• Quassy dialogue stops because of missing translation
• Clockwork lens upgrade texts are outdated
• Kamikaze nimblebot particles are misplaced
• Deflected missiles select dead enemies (turrets) as targets
• Improve Clockwork lens icons (same as stats) and behaviour
• Uncertaintifier effect remains active if player knocked
• Adaptive resolution
• [Abomination Jones] Slash security terminals quest might not be working
• Dog character
• Samurai character
• [Fernando Badlands] Bug with first Doctor quest
• [Abomination Jones] Combat feedback
• [Abomination Jones] Slash events
• [EclipseHusky] Zaber hits Quassy
• [Alzola] It is not clear how to beat Quassy
• [Alzola] Camera in Quassy fight does weird things
• Tutorial displays spacelift intrussion indicators
• Quassy can be hit twice in a row
• New equipment improvements
• Combat Pass 1

[ 2015-09-19 15:41:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello there! This weekend's is one of the last big updates left for Heart&Slash. We have released the two final extra characters, fixed lots of issues with QUASSY's final encounter and many other bugs. We've also added a new option to the graphics configuration to adapt resolution dynamically if framerate drops too much.

CHARACTERS

The two characters from our Kickstarter backers that were pending integration have been finally included in the game. Let me present you Robnin and Eclipse:

• Robnin is a wandering samurai robot which refused to accept its time had passed. By remaining faithful to its swords, it has mastered their use and can tackle any obstacle without hesitation.
• Eclipse is the final version of another HeartTech prototype. This robotic dog has a limited set of moves and weapons, but can deal lots of damage in non-standard ways.

Unlocking them won't be easy, but those who achieve it will be rewarded with two very special characters.

QUASSY

The battle against QUASSY has seen many improvements. Some heads had trouble with it, it moved a little too randomly and during the fight it might not be clear how to fight it. There was also a bug which froze the game during one of its intro dialogues.

DYNAMIC RESOLUTION

From the VIDEO OPTIONS menu you can now enable Dynamic Resolution. It is something we recommend for computers near the minimum requirements. If enabled, the game will automatically reduce resolution if framerate drops below 30 frames per second. This reduction is applied to horizontal resolution and steps down progressively until it reaches half the resolution you are running the game at. Once the framerate recovers, resolution will gradually increase. This should help those who would see framerate drop to 20-25 frames per second from time to time. Also, if your framerate is good enough but you had to disable some video options, this might let you run the game smoothly with those options enabled.

EXPERIENCE

We have also reviewed the experience given by enemies in each level and made the bosses release experience too. We're still trying to figure out the correct balance, but things should be better now.

CAMERA

The bug which made the camera turn suddenly during combats has been fixed. It should behave smoothly in all situations. The camera itself still needs some tweaks, but it is a lot better now.

SLASH CITY QUEST

There was some confussion regarding the security terminals quest. We have now clarified in the dialogues that destroying all the terminals might require more than on run.

BUGFIXING

The list of bug fixes included in the build is:

• Fix camera shake
• Slash quest 2 (no evasion) music starts a little too late
• Maximap/Progress panel overlaps sub-menus
• Read and write saved data feedback
• [AbominationJones] Balance is off, game becomes too easy in the later levels/once you played a lot
• [AbominationJOnes] Copgore set is OP
• [AbominationJones] Ice Sowrd creates too much experience?
• [AbominationJones] Satelite bugs
• [EclipseHusky] XP feedback
• [EclipseHusky] Kinetic Repeller
• [EclipseHusky]B-DSS head laser shot got a bit weird when fighting Herbie, it aimed at the floor
• Quassy dialogue stops because of missing translation
• Clockwork lens upgrade texts are outdated
• Kamikaze nimblebot particles are misplaced
• Deflected missiles select dead enemies (turrets) as targets
• Improve Clockwork lens icons (same as stats) and behaviour
• Uncertaintifier effect remains active if player knocked
• Adaptive resolution
• [Abomination Jones] Slash security terminals quest might not be working
• Dog character
• Samurai character
• [Fernando Badlands] Bug with first Doctor quest
• [Abomination Jones] Combat feedback
• [Abomination Jones] Slash events
• [EclipseHusky] Zaber hits Quassy
• [Alzola] It is not clear how to beat Quassy
• [Alzola] Camera in Quassy fight does weird things
• Tutorial displays spacelift intrussion indicators
• Quassy can be hit twice in a row
• New equipment improvements
• Combat Pass 1

[ 2015-09-19 10:01:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

August has been a little slower than usual thus far, but still a very productive month.

NEW WEAPONS

The most obvious change in this build is the addition of 25 more weapons to Hearts arsenal. Some of these are variations of previous weapons (with 75 weapons you are bound to find some variations!) but some are very unique special weapons like the Disco Bomb. With this, all projected equipment has been integrated into the game!

LOADING SCENES

We also created story loading scenes for after the tutorial and after every boss. It should be clear the tutorial is over now (hint, it's ok if you die). These are (obviously) temporary, since we don't yet have the art to go with them, but they work and we think add a tiny amount of context to the flow of the game. Nothing major, but we are happy we have them.

CREDITS

We also implemented the first version of the game's credits! Now you can check who's everybody who has worked in the game thus far.

SLASH AND OTHER GUEST CHARACTERS

We also integrated a playable Slash (if you unlock him). He plays similar to Heart, but a little bit different (has less health, but a better land evade and an air evade by default). The framework is done for the last two unlockable characters (Robnin and Eclipse) to go in, and that's something we are thinking of focusing on for the next release.

BUGFIXING

We did a pretty hefty amount of bugfixing too. Bugs fixed in this update:

• Copgore doesn't drop enemies [fixed]
• Slash moved to white rooms [improvement]
• Combat Shortgun ignores armor and shields [fixed]
• Recycling the current weapon does not change iddle animation [fixed]
• Improved grenade behavior [improvement]
• Subway has wrong markers configured [fixed]
• Roborang is not visible when collectible [fixed]
• B-DSS equipment triggers pickup menu in other equipment [fixed]
• Duelist gun is hard to figure out [fixed]
• Enemy visibles in menu even when they shouldn't [fixed]
• Kinetic repeller sphere remains active when dropped [fixed]
• 1% legs feet where inverted [fixed]
• Some typos [fixed]
• Explorer hat indicator texture wraps [fixed]
• Frankie shots dissapear if far away [fixed]
• Reducing extra health and base health takes away health [fixed]
• Some unlocks are incorrectly configured [fixed]
• Factory chain boxes spawn weapons not available to player [fixed]
• Equipment without upgrades breaks menu [fixed]
• RocketCam target locking is bugged [fixed]
• HUD feedback improvements [improvement]

PROGRESS UPDATE

This is what reamins to a full content complete version: -Images for transition scenes -Music for level 3 (in progress) -Two extra characters Of those, the music and images are something that won't take any time at all to integrate once we receive them from the artist and musician. Only the two extra characters are left. We also want to improve the feeling of level 2, and (most importantly) level 3, which right now plays too loose. But that's not content, but polish and bugfixing! Also, we need to integrate the endless mode KS stretch goal. The design of the game has changed a lot since the KS, and we are not yet sure how we will integrate this (doesn't fit as well anymore). But we will, we just need to find a solution. But overall, the game is pretty much finished content wise. Since we have until December to finsih it off (tentative date) there's still plenty of time for bug catching and improvements. So overall, a pretty hefty update, we think. We are looking forward to the coming months!

[ 2015-08-21 20:12:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello all. Today we have a small update focused on fixing some of the bugs found in the last 2 weeks. This is what we have fixed:

• [Abomination Jones] Scavenger Queen Herbie parts don't have upgrade descriptions
• [Abomination Jones] Meat cleaver descriptions have typo
• [Abomination Jones] After completing the no evades quest, Slash's room fails to appear again.
• [Abomination Jones] Sticky legs allow you to climb city.
• [KCrossX] Bug: Enemies failed to shoot projectiles.
• [TiZ] Black screen if pressing start too fast on level load.

However, we haven't yet tested thoroughly Slash's quest progression, so let us know if there's any bug left there (the changes we did to fix the current bugs might have included new unforeseen ones...). PROGRESS UPDATE Since the last update, we have implemented 19 of the 25 weapons of the final batch, including the famous MUSIC BOMB. However, these weapons are not in the game yet (we'll release the full batch, hopefully next week). After that it's just level 3 balancing, music, sound and bug fixing. We've also made significant advances in the several ports of the games, which means we will have more time to polish (since we won't have to be worried about technical details). Therefore, we are still looking at late August for a content complete update (except for some extra unlockable characters, and of course extra polish bug fixing). We will keep updating you guys in case things change.

[ 2015-07-31 13:36:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey, The previous update included a bug with particle and shots pools. They would not appear and thus enemies would not shoot you (plus there where no ground particles). This was due to a strange bug (only happens in builds, not in editor) created during the pre Unity5 integration proccess. We have just uploaded a fix. Thanks!

[ 2015-07-16 15:10:37 CET ] [ Original post ]