[h1Free To Play Patch 7 Hotfix 1
We're releasing a small hotfix to a few minor issues identified after releasing Free To Play Patch 7. We'll continue to address major issues that affect Workshop, SourceMod or the Stats system, as well as any crashes that are reported to us. Special thanks to Prohorov Ilja for testing SourceMod support on his server!

Changes since Free To Play Patch 7

Changelog

• Addressed problem preventing multiple SourceMod plugins from working.
• Allowed Source engine server plugins to load on listen servers by default.
• Fixed Discord Rich Presence integration not displaying images in-app.

Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 7

Changes since Free To Play Patch 6

Changelog

• Restored support for using items from the Steam Workshop.
  • Added an option to automatically delete unsubscribed workshop content from disk.
  • Added support for previewing local workshop items in-game before they are published (other players see default items).
  • Masks no longer require the head bone to be their root bone, allowing for cosmetics attached to the neck and shoulders.
  • Updated to latest SteamUGC implementation.
• Re-integrated global leaderboard stats tracking.
  • Updated the duel intro box to display the players global rank and a nice shiny league icon.
  • Updated the scoreboard to show the players avatar more predominantly and to display their global rank.
• Changed the duel intro box to display the sword type rather than the sword name.
• Updated engine interfaces for improved SourceMod compatibility.
• Changed server queries to use Steam standards.
• Re-added the backdrop behind the loading screen logo.
• Added server-side console variables controlling whether duel replays and slow motion occur.
• Removed GSLT requirement on dedicated servers.
• Added support for binary PCF particle files.

• Fixed some unused internal texture system functionality eating video memory.

• Fixed a crash that would sometimes occur when scanning for voice chat devices.
• Fixed a rare crash that would occur when entering a duel.
• Fixed SourceMod HUD menu not receiving input.
• Fixed several warnings and notifications that would appear in the developer console.
• Fixed several bugs with multi-threaded model loading.
• Fixed the published workshop items page showing subscribed items too.
• Fixed the game entering an invalid state after editing a workshop item.
• Fixed text clipping with buttons on the character customization page.
• Updated SFML.

Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 6

Changelog

Changes since Free to Play Patch 5

• End of duel slow-motion now properly accounts for player animation speed.
• Added mouse-over effects to the web links in the menu.
• Hid the redundant Harmonious Prelude text at the bottom left of the main menu.

• Optimized a lot of cases where memory would be copied where it was unnecessary to do so.
• Solved a lot of warnings that would be constantly logged to the developer console, which could cause mid-game stutters.
• Optimized console variable management in the engine, providing a minor speed-up across the board.

• Fixed many bugs where memory owned by another part of the game would be written over. Causing crashes that wouldnt manifest until the affected memory was accessed again, typically when changing maps or closing the game.
• Fixed a crash when building lightmaps.
• Fixed a crash related to Discord rich presence integration.
• Fixed many instances of memory being used after it had been deallocated.
• Fixed a crash caused by the customization menu writing to memory used by other parts of the game.
• Fixed a crash related to BBTV playback.
• Fixed a crash when sending client info to a server.
• Fixed an oversight where players would move at their normal speed during the end of duel slow-motion.
• Fixed a bug where players could kick themselves from the game by scrolling the mouse wheel too fast over menu spinwheels.
• Fixed a bug where GUI spinwheel controls would randomly not scroll back to the beginning properly.
• Fixed a broken material on duel_winter.

Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 5

Changelog

• Disabled vscript, which should fix certain instabilities and provide a small performance boost.
• The Hammer editor no longer plays a MIDI tune every time it is started.
• Various under the hood changes.

• Fixed numerous material problems that created a lot of unnecessary warnings in the game console.
• Fixed textures and materials being completely reloaded upon map change, which should improve load times.
• Fixed several slow debugging features being enabled for release builds.
• Enabled general optimizations for several modules that previously had them disabled.
• Enabled an optimization to reduce the size of game binaries.
• Dedicated servers now use a multi-threaded logging system.

• Fixed character inverse-kinematics (IK) not being reset when changing stances.
• Fixed player avatars displaying white in the duel scoreboard.
• Fixed the courtyard center in Monastery using the wrong texture.
• Fixed a crash caused by vscript when unloading a map.
• Fixed a minor technical oversight in the physically-based rendering shader.

Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 4

Changelog

• Enabled texture streaming for Windows, Mac and Linux from the Graphics Menu. This texture streaming, pulled from CS:GO, replaces our custom texture-streaming implementation.
• Added support for running multiple instances of the game on a single machine via the -multirun parameter.

• Updated the Steam Networking implementation, resulting in better network performance and security.

• Fixed a large number of crashes due to memory corruption.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when the training menu was opened.
• Fixed a crash caused by building hash tables for VPK files that have no data.
• Fixed a crash due to not finding a valid animation model sequence.
• Fixed a crash caused by accessing out-of-bounds model data.
• Fixed the players volume setting for background music not persisting after game exit. (#7195)
• Fixed a camera flicker occurring for dead players that are viewing through a ragdoll body. (#7248)
• Fixed a massive amount of console warning messages due to missing impact particles.
• Fixed a localization error that was displayed during the Katana portion of the Tutorial (#7251)

We need your help to put the upcoming patch for Blade Symphony through its paces. Today, we will be reproducing known bugs, looking for new bugs, and testing the stability of the current development version of Blade Symphony. Free To Play Patch 4 is set to release this week. While it may not appear to be very bug, it contains over 200 memory fixes to Blade Symphony and the Source Engine. This should swat pretty much any crash that has occurred over the last 10 months! Come and join us on our Discord, and help the developers playtest the development version of the game on the Steam release_candidate branch! To access this special branch, right-click on Blade Symphony from Steam, go to the "BETAS" section, and select release_candidate from the dropdown:

Changes since Free To Play Patch 3

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Changes

• Enabled texture streaming for Windows, Mac, and Linux from the Graphics Menu. This texture streaming pulled from CS:GO, replaces our custom texture-streaming implementation.
• Added support for running multiple instances of the game on a single machine via the -multirun parameter.

Optimizations

• Updated the Steam Networking implementation, resulting in better network performance and security.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a large number of crashes due to memory corruption.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when the training menu was opened.
• Fixed a crash caused by building hash tables for VPK files that have no data.
• Fixed a crash due to not finding a valid animation model sequence.
• Fixed a crash caused by accessing out-of-bounds model data.
• Fixed the players volume setting for background music not persisting after game exit. (#7195)
• Fixed a camera flicker occurring for dead players that are viewing through a ragdoll body. (#7248)
• Fixed a massive amount of console warning messages due to missing impact particles.
• Fixed a localization error that was displayed during the Katana portion of the Tutorial (#7251)

Material Streaming is now available in the settings menu, and on by default for this Release Candidate build Lots of Memory Corruption fixes

Fighting Game Sale LiveStream

Hotfix Released

Crowdfunding Continues

Blade Symphony Free To Play Patch 3

Changelog

• Added support to SourceMod (https://www.sourcemod.net/) to Harmonious Prelude engine branch, huge thanks to their developers for working together on this!
• Added experimental Vulkan support. Can be toggled using -vulkan launch parameter
• Added support for new Steam Controller system
• Changed Classic Style to always be default
• Added new Round Replay that occurs after displaying the finishing blow
• Changed finishing blow to have a dynamic camera angle
• Added icons for Sword Glows in Customization Screen
• Improved appearance of Summary Screen
• Added new transition going from the end of a Match to the Summary Screen
• Added ticking sounds to alert players of end of round while on Summary screen
• Changed spectator music tracks to shuffle if the player did not click continue on the Summary Screen
• Improved appearance of Overgrown Mask, Skin and Attachments (Thanks Jester!)
• Improved appearance of waving Emblems by using specular maps and better shadows
• Added support for maps to have their own combat and meditation music
• Added jigglebones to Pure's Furious Mask
• Added intro cameras for duel_box and practice box
• Changed the reset time for combo attacks to be 2.5 seconds from 1 second
• Changed Pure and Vanguard's Heavy taunt to draw a heart
• Changed Matches with only bots to shuffle their Style if more than one player is in the server
• Changed Matches to use the player's Style if there is only one player in the server
• Increased FFA challenge timeout from 10 seconds to 5 seconds
• Increased chat font size and made it proportional for higher DPI displays
• Changed ".sw.vtx" models to be optional for workshop submission
• Increase maximum map file download size to 300MB from a server
• Removed warning message informing player of switching to Classic Style
• Added more language translators to credits
• Added exclusive capes for 2017 Autumn Winter Tournament and Patreon supporters
• Changed the Discord Rich Presence party size to be the size of the server, instead of 5
• Updated SDK to use studiomdl, vbsp, vvis and vrad from CSGO Danger Zone branch added staticpropcompile
• Updated SDK to include staticpropcompile
• Updated Hungarian translation (Thanks Tams!)
• Updated French translation (Thanks Charles and Alexander!)
• Updated Ukranian translation (Thanks Anatolii!)
• Added a community FastDL host as default for common custom community maps
• Move Round Win/Lose panel below the combo bar
• Reengineered end-of-duel slowdown to slow down only the current duel rather than the entire client
• Add small flash feedback effect on the final blow of a match
• Change FFA respawn time from 8 seconds to 5 seconds
• Added Discord lobbies to Blade Symphony
• Add feedback sound for outfit color, glow type, glow color, chat color, color picker and others on customization screen
• Added Steam Workshop support for legacy maps and client mods
• Disabled texture streaming to avoid crashes until new texture streaming system is finished
• Added self-illumination support to PBRStandard shader for content creators, use the alpha channel of the Albedo to modulate it
• Made game models load asynchronously, making things load faster
• Fix duel slowdown camera clipping through geometry or not looking correct
• Fix VPK not loading old file format properly while not breaking compatibility with the new VPK formats
• Added Steam Workshop support for legacy maps and client mods
• Made game models load asynchronously, making things load faster
• Fix bug where generic attachments would seem still selectable on entering Misc tab on customization screen while already having maximum count of generic attachments
• Added self-illumination support to PBRStandard shader for content creators, use the alpha channel of the Albedo to modulate it
• Fix transition effect not working on generic attachments in customization screen
• Skip duplicate colours on customization screen
• Add feedback sound for outfit color, glow type, glow color, chat color, color picker and others on customization screen
• Added Discord lobbies to Blade Symphony
• Fix bug where you would actually get readded to a queue if you unqueue and wait for duel timeout on summary screen
• Fix rare crash during duel introduction if player is not fully initialized or doesn't exist
• Fixed players being able to remain on duel even after summary screen timeout
• Change FFA respawn time from 8 seconds to 5 seconds
• Fixed dead players and players of other duels being layered inside player's emblem flag
• Make announcer sounds play at correct volume
• Fix server crashing when changing bb_duelbots_numbots while ingame
• Add small flash feedback effect on the final blow of a match
• Fixed sounds feeling "crackly" when slowdown effect is active
• Disable texture streaming to avoid crashes until new texture streaming system is finished
• Reengineered end-of-duel slowdown to slow down only the current duel rather than the entire client
• Fixed ghost hits and lag compensation issues
• Fix rare case where "Round win" bar would stay painted permanently
• Fix shurikens' tracer being blocked resulting in it shooting upwards
• Move Round Win/Lose panel below the combo bar
• Added a community FastDL host as default for common custom community maps

• Add engine fixes and changes from CS:GO Danger Zone update
• Improved network latency by not transmitting data of invisible players in the same arena
• Improved client FPS by reducing engine-level copy function time for various operations
• Improved accuracy of calculation of scoreboard ping
• Improved per-pixel motion blur and made it simulate HDR overexposure
• Improved rendering pipeline (Citation needed)
• Improved game initialization time
• Improved 'fastpath' rendering method to improve rendering of level models
• Improved physically based rendering (PBR) shader to appear better and render faster
• Improved the Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO) shader
• Upgraded to new Discord SDK for Discord Rich Presence
• Upgraded to Steam screenshot system when taking screenshots

• Fixed issue where all or some players would suffer decrease in frames when other players join a server.
• Potentially fixed "ghost" hits occurring when a player would hit their opponent, but damage was not registered
• Potentially fixed players and bots potentially falling underneath the level
• Fixed instance where Texture Streaming system could freeze the game
• Fixed crash when game client attempts to create a physics prop without a model
• Fixed occasional crash due to rendering Sword Glows
• Fixed occasional crash when playing the Tutorial
• Fixed players being able to change their duel Style even after map time limit has reached.
• Fixed "My Hero" achievement not being given even if conditions were met
• Fixed players being able to suicide during opponent's death animation
• Fixed rounds not ending in a draw if both players die at the same time
• Fixed Round ending in a draw if a player died due to the environment
• Fixed footstep sounds not playing for Pure when walking on metal materials
• Fixed voice icon for local player not appearing when player is using the microphone
• Fixed Conical Cantata sounds being played in other arenas
• Fixed player being unable to upload custom spray images to server
• Fixed not being to able enable Cascaded Shadow Maps (CSM) from the Video menu
• Fixed character outlines being rendered at times when they shouldn't be
• Fixed issue causing Pure's Furious Sword Scabbard not to show
• Fixed various visual issues occuring on Style Confirmation Screen
• Fixed not being able to deselect an Emblem when one is equipped on Customization Screen
• Fixed various visual issues occuring after selecting a new Emblem on Customization Screen
• Fixed various visual issues showing if the Summary Screen appeared while the chat box was open
• Fixed Emblem's waving effect appearing distorted on character intro scenes
• Fixed Emblem's waving effect not appearing at all on AMD graphics cards.
• Fixed combo notification showing for a split-second during character intro scenes
• Fixed Inverse Kinematics (IK) not working when player is doing stances or sheathing
• Fixed black shadows on duel_box
• Fixed being unable to close in-game Main Menu after changing video settings
• Fixed being unable to go back to the previous menu on confirmation menus or the Video menu
• Fixed external Main Menu buttons for Discord, Forums and Steam not appearing while in-game
• Fixed missing lock icon texture when joining password protected servers.
• Fixed misaligned text in duel spectator menu if there is only one player in the duel
• Fixed various issues on Credits screen
• Fixed Discord automatically launching when client is started
• Fixed various issues with Discord Rich Presence
• Fixed the Crash Reporter's background not appearing and not wrapping text
• (Mac only) Fixed the need to double click on Main Menus
• (Mac only) Fixed disappearing cursor while using in-game or out of game menus
• Removed debug messages shown when sliding on walls
• Removed debug messages about clamping level of detail change speed
• Fix console input not working on Linux and macOS
• Fix duel slowdown camera clipping through geometry or not looking correct
• Fix rare case where "Round win" bar would stay painted permanently
• Fixed ghost hits and lag compensation issues
• Fixed sounds feeling "crackly" when slowdown effect is active
• Fix server crashing when changing bb_duelbots_numbots while ingame
• Fixed announcer sounds playing at incorrect volume
• Fixed dead players and players of other duels being layered inside player's emblem flag
• Fixed players being able to remain on duel even after summary screen timeout
• Fix rare crash during duel introduction if player is not fully initialized or doesn't exist
• Fix bug where you would actually get readded to a queue if you unqueue and wait for duel timeout on summary screen
• Fix transition effect not working on generic attachments in customization screen
• Fixed bug where multiple colors of the same kind could appear in customization screen
• Fix VPK not loading old file format properly while not breaking compatibility with the new VPK formats
• Fixed Lightmappedgeneric shaders rendering incorrectly in duel_temple and free_temple
• Fixed Water Rendering
• Fix bug where generic attachments would seem still selectable on entering Misc tab on customization screen while already having maximum count of generic attachments
• Fix shurikens' tracer being blocked resulting in it shooting upwards

An upcoming patch for Blade Symphony is coming, and we would the help from the community to test it out. Come and join us on the "Release Candidate" branch of Blade Symphonyto give it a shot! We'll be in the official Puny Human Discord, and can help everyone out with obtaining this update. Looking forward to seeing you!

Gather with members of the community on the official Puny Human Discord server to play pick-up matches of Blade Symphony!

In addition to the exclusive Furious item set for Pure, offered to those that originally purchased Blade Symphony (premium owners,) weve added the Overgrown item set for Judgement. Also included in this patch, is an exclusive cape for all of those that have helped us during the time we have used Patreon, which weve decided to stop utilizing.
We need all the help we can get, so please help put bugs into our GitHub Tracker and discuss with us on our Discord!

Changes since F2P Patch 1

Changes:

• Added Overgrown item set to the game for premium owners.
• Added Patreon exclusive cape.
• Added the Icarus Ensemble sword replacing the broken duplicate item some players received during the transition to free to play.
• Changed the name of the exclusive item set for Pure to Furious.
• Translations:
  • If you would like to help us translate Blade Symphony, find out how here! Updated Chinese, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, and Turkish languages
  • Added partial Ukranian translation
• Changed the way jumping is handled to take into account the length of time that the player pressed the jump key.
• Slightly changed the way wall sliding works to feel more fluid.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a crash when shaders were set to high, and models set to low.
• Fixed an issue where if the user moved their mouse to the left or right fast enough during an attack, a side attack would be performed even if the side keys were not being pressed.
• Fixed an issue with the players emblem not showing on the Customization Screen if they were on the Main Menu.
• Fixed numerous issues on free_district with assets popping in and out.
• Fixed the Furious sword using the wrong scabbard model.
• Fixed the Furious helmets size not matching Pures head size.
• Fixed the Style Select Screen appearing when players paused the game.
• Fixed players being trapped in the ground.
• Fixed character skins showing incorrectly when the player died.
• Fixed the shader for background emblems improperly stretching.
• Fixed characters reverting to their default skin when players changed equipment in the Customization Screen.
• Fixed characters having skins equipped from another character.

While we're hard at work on bringing F2P Patch 2, with more crash fixes, quality of life changes, and performance optimizations, we're announcing our next title. Check it out when you can, and look forward to more Blade Symphony updates! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cttUWmi0Xts

Zero Day Website Facebook Twitter

Hey everyone! We've been extremely hard at work since the Free To Play release to make as many fixes as possible. If you're not on our Discord, I've explained there that this is the priority of our work at the moment: [olist]

Everyone, I wanted to send out a quick announcement for those that didn't read our last news post.

"... items for those that purchased the game are coming. In total, 10 exclusive items will be given out to owners of the premium game. We hope we won't have to stop there."

After a year and a half, Blade Symphony is now free-to-play. We didnt want to do this for lowering complexity (although, it is much easier to develop for now.) We didnt want to do this for money (theres only 4 items for sale.) We didnt want to do this to manage overhead (even if were now offloading all inventory stuff to Steam.) We wanted to do this, so that this game could be more accessible, and have a longer life. The game deserves to be tried out, even if its approaching 5 years of age, and started development in 2007. So here it is, and thanks for playing. As for the changes in this release; theres new unlockables in town! As players progress up the level chain, they will either be given the existing items that you may know and love, or new items that weve put into the game. In total, 48 new items have been added. Weve added this to encourage trading and purchasing, we hope you enjoy the new items! Here's a sneak peak of all of the new items!
For those of you with performance issues, weve significantly improved asset streaming. Its also a toggle in the video settings to turn it on or off. Please try and play with it, because we know we could stream more aggressively, and want to work on this feature more. Were also doing our best to improve general performance, so bear with us! Weve completely rebuilt duel_castle from the ground up! Castle is a favorite of many, but we wanted to get its performance updated, which involved starting from scratch. Many thanks to Karo, the original author of the map, for allowing us to give it some TLC. Weve added a Find Duel option to the Main Menu. There are parameters that can be toggled, but this should help players quickly get into the fight. Finally, we do want to mention that items for those that purchased the game are coming. In total, 10 exclusive items will be given out to owners of the premium game. We hope we won't have to stop there.

Changelog since Patch 7

Changes

• The game is now free.
• Added new unlockable path B to items system.
• Added new version of duel_castle
• Added a toggle to turn Asset Streaming on or off in the Video settings menu.
• Added a Find Duel option to the Main Menu, so that new players can quickly join a server.
• Added notifications for when a player levels up
• Changed bb_feint_cancel_amount to 0.35 from .51
• Changed bb_feint_cooldown to .75 from 1.5
• Changed bb_feintcancel_cooldown to 1.0 from 2.3
• Changed Katana base damage to .85 from .90
• Players now unqueue from a match when a duel is lost.
• Controller button mapping now uses built-in Steam controller mapping.
• Replaced Player Level with Time Played in Server Details screen.
• Added a notification to alert the server when players level up.
• Added new menu scenes to the main menu.

Optimizations

• Significantly improved asset streaming.
• Removed expensive water from duel_monastery and free_monastery.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed duel style image showing the local players emblem when receiving a private duel request in free for all maps.
• Fixed various issues with emblem shaders and layering system, so that emblems are displayed correctly during a match introduction.
• Fixed style button disappearing on spectator controls.
• Fixed players to be able to attack after a duel has ended or draws have taken place.
• Fixed players seeing white summary screens.
• Fixed notifications showing with garbled text when joining a server.
• Fixed an issue where the game would crash after a player received an item.
• Fixed a variety of crashes (big thanks to Liam Dawe, Prohorov, Unno, and several others)
• Fixed reflection issue on various textures in ffa_community

Lets get this out of the way, because this is what everyone has been asking us for two years. Blade Symphony is going Free-To-Play on March 7th. Yes, this is soon. We know. Why? Well, in some ways, Blade Symphony has been ready for Free-To-Play for a time already; its stable on all platforms and offers the right functionality for obtaining in-game content. The only barrier has been the price. Removing that barrier should, hopefully, mean more players to help us identify issues to solve and test new features. This is going to be a difficult next month for us; lots of last-minute content creation, testing and and fixing bugs. Were going to need all the help we can get, so please help put bugs into our GitHub Tracker and discuss with us on our Discord! We really appreciate everyones patience, and were excited to put our best foot forward for this effort. This isnt a sprint, its a marathon, and we intend to be supporting Blade Symphony well after it goes free to play. Were releasing a small patch that includes experimental asset streaming and controller support, as well as some bug fixes and quality of life changes. The Source Engine is 15 years old, but with asset streaming, you should see much faster load times. This is only experimental, but look forward to even more optimization improvements in the days to come.

Changes since Patch 6

Changes:

• Added a Free to Play countdown timer to the Main Menu.
• Added experimental asset streaming.
  • To utilize this feature, right click on Blade Symphony in Steam, go to Properties, and set your launch options to include: +r_particle_streaming 1 +mat_texture_streaming 1
• Added experimental Controller Support.
  • This includes both Steam Controller and regular game pads. We dont have tons of controllers laying around at our office, so any testing you can perform is welcome!

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed polygons and vertices sticking out from characters in-game and in-menus.
• Fixed skins not properly updating in the customization screen.
• Fixed the Infiltrator skins phong value to make it less bright in game.

We hope youre enjoying the Steam Lunar New Year Sale, and the 51% off discount on Blade Symphony. This is a pretty great time for us to throw down another patch, especially for those awaiting optimizations! When we updated the engine that Blade Symphony uses last year, it was a big step forward, but also meant that some performance diminished. Weve been listening to the communitys feedback, and have made numerous optimizations. Were happy to see recorded gains of 30 - 50 FPS on various maps, but join our Discord server and give feedback so we can continue to improve! Additionally, we heard your feedback about emblems, and have implemented a new type of shader to create a waving flag effect on the Customization Screen or during a match introduction. Finally, weve added some favorite items from the community; the Holo-armor, Infiltrator and Wakizashi attachments for Vanguard.

Changelog since Patch 5

Changes:

• Emblems now have a waving effect when on Customization Screen and during the Intro Camera.
• Added Holo-armor Arm and Leg attachments for Vanguard
• Added Katana Wakizashi Back attachment for Vanguard
• Added Infiltrator Skin and Mask for Vanguard
• Team gameplay modes now have glow for team color and enemies based on distance and visibility.
• Map change will take place if the only match that needs to complete is between bots, so that players no longer need to wait for it to finish.

Optimizations:

Hopefully youve been enjoying the beginning of 2019, we know we have! Not long after Patch 4s release, we got to work on addressing a lot of the issues that are out there. Patch 5 is a big step forward in getting Blade Symphony into great shape for the future. Weve also made a lot of progress toward getting more user generated content into the game, and will be pushing lots of great items in Patch 6. We're celebrating this release with a Steam discount on Blade Symphony, so tell your friends. Tomorrow at 10:00am US Pacific time, it's 40% for a limited time! In addition, weve done a lot of listening and discussion with the community, and fully admit that there are issues with performance in Blade Symphony that we want to address. While it may run pretty well on a lot of modern computers, or even computers from 2 - 3 years ago, its not running as well as it did before we moved to a new version of the Source Engine. We went back and looked at the first time we had Blade Symphony running in this version of the engine, and found that it was like someone flipped a switch. For that reason, we are committing all of our available time and energy to ensuring that Patch 6 has a large number of optimizations and improvements to increase framerate, reduce load times and stuttering.

Changelog since Patch 4

Changes

• Added Barcarolle Ballad to the game. Returning players might recognize it as Hydraphobia, a sword created by community member Zaelux.
• We changed the way colors work so that all characters receive the same colors as they level up. The colors have more pop and make unlocking acolor picker much more exciting!
• Added names for the colors to identify them in Steam inventories
• Added new Vanguard charge animations in Patch 4, but we left it out of the changelog. These are ongoing, and right now look like modifications of Pures. More work is coming!
• Added a Queue / Unqueue button to the tab menu in duel mode.
• Added the following tracer and script changes courtesy of Sader and Niki
• Classic Style
  • Swapped Vanguards Fast Left Tier 2 with Tier 3s animation
  • Swapped Vanguards Fast Left Tier 2 with Tier 3s animation
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 1 locktime from 0.7 to 0.65
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 1 damage from 22 to 20
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 2 locktime from 0.8 to 0.77
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 2 damage from 22 to 24
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 3 locktime from 1.07 to 0.65
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 1 Tier 3 damage from 28 to 34
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 2 Tier 2 locktime from 0.9 to 0.8
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 2 Tier 2 damage from 22 to 26
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 2 Tier 3 locktime from 1.5 to 0.85
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 3 Tier 2 locktime from 0.8 to 0.75
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 3 Tier 2 damage from 23 to 26
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 3 Tier 3 locktime from 1.2 to 1.1
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 3 Tier 3 damage from 32 to 38
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced String 4 Tier 2 locktime from 1.0 to 0.9
  • Increased Vanguards Balanced String 4 Tier 3 locktime from 0.9 to 1.55
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced Left Tier 2 locktime from 0.85 to 0.8
  • Reduced Vanguards Balanced Right Tier 2 locktime from 0.9 to 0.75
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy String 1 Tier 1 locktime from 1.35 to 1.28
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy String 1 Tier 2 locktime from 1.2 to 0.7
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy String 1 Tier 3 locktime from 1.3 to 0.85
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy Left Tier 1 locktime from 0.85 to 0.82
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy Left Tier 2 locktime from 0.95 to 0.93
  • Reduced Vanguards Heavy Left Tier 3 locktime from 1.0 to 0.97
• Classic Style and Arcade Style
  • Increased tracer uptime of Ryokus Heavy String 1 Left Tier 1
  • Increased tracer uptime of Ryokus Balanced String 1 Tier 2
  • Increased tracer uptime of Ryokus Balanced String 2 Tier 1
• Translations:
  • If youd like to help us translate Blade Symphony, find out how here!
  • Added partial Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmal, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian and Turkish translations
  • Updated German and Hungarian translations

Fixes

• Fixed queue order in matches so that players are not being skipped when they are queued to duel.
• Fixed 2 vs. 2 and 2 vs. 1 duels not respecting the friendly fire setting
• Fixed 2 vs. 2 and 2 vs. 1 duels playing the final blow slowdown
• Fixed players receiving duplicates of certain colors
• Fixed players not being able to unlock attachments
• Fixed server time limit not accurately representing the time remaining
• Fixed maps not changing on a server after the server time limit reaches 0
• Fixed user settings not persisting after a duel has been completed.
• Fixed bloom making it difficult to see swords or characters on the Customization Screen
• Fixed equipped emblems not resetting when changing characters
• Fixed players being put into the match they were viewing, instead of the match they selected to join
• Fixed the Honorable Steam Achievement not saving progress toward unlocking
• Fixed player level being cut off on the customization screen
• Fixed Server Details screen not accurately showing player information
• Fixed portions of Docks so that the player cannot get outside of the bounds of the map
• Fixed Pure having two unlockable color pickers, and only having four unlockable colors
• Fixed Judgements character portrait missing in the Summary Screen
• Fixed misalignments when unlocking a new level in the SummaryScreen
• Fixed a bug where players style choices were being reset after aduel in FFA mode.

Hey there everybody! Christmas is right around the corner, and before leaving for break, we wanted to give the gift of a Blade Symphony update! Much has happened since Patch 3, and were still working hard with the community to fix problems, and improve where we can. As a result, Patch 4 contains lots of great bug fixes, re-skinned items, and lots of behind-the-scenes changes. So Happy Holidays to you and your family, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of your year!




Changelog since Patch 3 Changes:

• Added custom sounds to Dyssonance, Minecraftian Minuet, Tone Death, Serrated Serenade, and Jade Octave.
• Added a difficulty setting to the Bot setup menu when fighting an AI Opponent.
• The killing blow slowdown effect is back! The last hit on an enemy will slow down time, and now has proper sound and animation fixes.
• Added Conical Contata, Lionsflame Lament and Pentatonic Phase blades to the game.
• Cardboard Tube is an unlockable item again, those who have bought it previously will receive the Conical Cantata automatically.
• Flame Song is an unlockable item again, those who have bought it previously will receive the Lionsflame Lament automatically.
• Resonant Phase is an unlockable item again, those who have bought it previously will receive the Pentatonic Phase automatically.
• Added five unlockable emblems for each character, visible on the Customization Screen and during the start of a match.
• Merged in Valves Panorama system from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DotA 2, replacing VGUI, so that UI changes are easier in the future.
• Modified how experience is gained, resulting in more reasonable leveling.
• Merged in a new sound-mixer from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to improve the overall audio experience.
• Added a Physically Based Rendering shader, used for the new Conical Cantata, Lionsflame Lament and Pentatonic Phase.
• Modified lighting on Customization Screen and items with reflections for better aesthetic.
• Added the various community translators to the games credits.

• Fixed a crash caused by pressing Alt+Tab.
• Fixed a crash caused by checking a players stats during a match.
• Fixed crash when hosting a match with bots with less slots than bots available.
• Fixed lag compensation not being performed correctly for grabs.
• Fixed announcer sounds having a low volume.
• Fixed players being able to skip other players already waiting in queue to fight.
• Fixed players not being able to call vote non-Control Point maps.
• Fixed maps not changing when the time limit reaches 0.
• Fixed shurikens flying straight up into the air, based on tracking players in other arenas.
• Fixed corpses from other matches in the same arena, appearing in the wrong match.
• Fixed some improper text within various Settings menus.
• Fixed players not being able to change a bots weapon within an AI Opponent fight.
• Fixed issues causing audio to crackle at various times.
• Optimized multiple references regarding console variable references, dramatically increasing performance.
• Fixed cartoon-like outlining appearing for players on MacOS and Linux.
• Fixed the ShapeShifter achievement being impossible to achieve.
• Fixed various localization strings appearing incorrect.
• Fixed default button not being clickable in options.
• Fixed walls and tiles flashing bright and having a pink checkerboard-coloured pattern in practice_box and ffa_community.
• Fixed lightmapped models having incorrect UV in them.

Patch 3 this week is a very small one. Most of the team are busy with some vacation and personal commitments. This past week, however, I did spend a good amount of time querying the old item system, organizing and cleaning the owners of cape items, and giving out Capes to the original owners. With this patch, you should now have all the Capes you did prior to the Harmonious Prelude update!

Changelog since Patch 2

Bug Fixes

• The code for queuing to matches has been refactored entirely, which should address issues we've seen with queued spectators not getting into a match properly, and multiple bots spawned in the wrong matches.
• Fixed some mask items not being properly colored after selection on the Customization screen
• Fixed a problem with the berimbau.exe process staying open after exiting the game.

Harmonious Prelude Patch 2 Released! Heya everyone! We've just released a new update for Blade Symphony! We expect to continue this trend of releasing updates every Monday. Changes since Patch 1: Bug Fixes:

• Fix FFA duels forcing to Classic Style in serverside, regardless of client option. Fix matches not ending when map timer was zero.
• Remove ragdolls of players that are spectators within a match.
• In workshop previews, don't show character model when previewing a mask.
• FFA scoreboard shows the correct value for duel victories.
• Greatly improved lag compensation.

• Added Festive Ryoku Kabuki mask
• Added Krftig Konzertmeister Longsword
• Added Kobushi Key Item
• Added Ryoku Backward Cap
• Added eastern skin for Pure
• Standard Ryoku Kabuki returns as a free unlockable item.

A little more than 12 hours ago, we released a nice big Patch to the Harmonious Prelude update. I also went into detail about what is going on with the Item Store, Workshop and the future of Blade Symphony development. Check it out here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/bladesymphony/announcements/detail/1690432065523584769 Additionally, we just pushed a small hotfix that should hopefully address one of the known issues in those patch notes with regards to ragdolls appearing from other arenas. We're still constantly working to improve the game, so if you feel so inclined, jump on our Discord to give feedback if you can!

Hey there everyone, First, I wanted to say thank you to thepeople whosupported us andthe release of the Harmonious Prelude update for Blade Symphony. It was a stressful,albeit fun, week of last minute testing and patching. Were very fortunate to have had the turnout we did, and arehappy the update is finally out. Before I delve into the the release of Patch 1, I want to address a few topics. These are things that I really should have provided more clear information on prior to release, but I got caught up in the work leading up to the release.

What the Harmonious Preludewas and wasnt.

• Prior to this update, the workload required to create models, textures, and load them into the game was not conducive for adding lots of content. As we know, a Free-To-Play title has to have lots of free andpurchased content to be successful, and a variety of options for players. As a result, it must have a pretty fantastic pipeline for artists and developers toaddthis content.
• Additionally, we were using ourown item service which was a massiveheadache to work with, as it was very old. We switched over to using Steams Inventory Service, which meant a ground-up rebuild of how we handled items.
• We also had a poor build and deployment system, by modern standards, which meant we couldnt rapidly release builds as much as we wanted to. The benefit to this meant that we could also create a build pipeline conducive for more platforms, which is why we have Mac and Linux.

What is going on with the Item Store

Workshop changes, andreturning to normalcy

Whats happening now

Patch 1 Release

• Added Style Selection button when in the Free-For-All (FFA) game mode. This can be accessed by holding the Tab button.
• The challenged player will be forced to play using the Style ofthe challenger for the duration of the duel. After the duel, the Style of the challenged player will return to what it was prior to the duel.
• When not in a duel, the symbol representing the Style that a potentialprivate challenge opponent is currently in will show below their name.
• Bots will now automatically accept challenges in FFA.
• XP can now be gained from privateFFA duels.
• Added convar bb_queue_bot_discrimination. When set to 1,bots will not immediately leave a match when a player joins it.
• Added Italian Translation! Thanks Alixey!
• Updated French, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Korean and Japanese translations.

• The map now no longer immediately changes ifplayers voted to change the map. The server will wait for all duels to end.
• Shurikens damage players in FFA properly, regardless of the player being in a private duel. Shurikens do not lock on when not in a private duel.
• Ragdolls should no longer be drawn if the player is a spectator
• Players can again suicide while in Control Point or Free-For-All mode, unless during a cut scene or intermission in a private FFA duel.
• Reverted earlier attempts at misguided lag compensation. This should address some issues high-latency players are seeing.
• Bots should no longer go between ready and unreadystates at inopportune times.
• Made changes to the slowdown to hopefully correct itoccurring at the wrong time. Unfortunately, for now, we have to reduce the time the slowdown occurs for.

• Queuing to a match still does not perform correctly if there are more than 2 players queued in a single match.
• Ragdolls from other matches are being showing in the players arena, but should disappear whenthey are despawned.
• Players bodies are disappearing when they ragdoll in Free-For-All.

After three years of hard work, learning, and a lot of mistakes, the Harmonious Prelude update to Blade Symphony is out NOW! And to celebrate, we're having a FREE WEEKEND to invite everyone to play. We're so happy for the results, and will be doing weekly updates, we can't wait for you to try it!

• New Level Progression!
  • Gain XP by playing in duels, your performance determines your gain
  • Move up levels to unlock new items to add your character, or show off in the scoreboard.
  • Rewards unlockable via Level Progression:
    • Swords
    • Masks
    • Character Skins
    • Armor Attachments
    • Armor, Chat/Scoreboard and Glow Colors
    • NEW! Intro-screen background Emblems
    • NEW! Sword glow types like Fire, Toxic, Pulsating and Velocity

• Multiple Matches per Arena
  • Multiple duels can now take place within the same arena. Players can can queue to fight or spectate in any match.
  • Each match has its own Style set (Arcade or Classic,) when crated.
  • Previously, only one duel could take place per arena, for six players dueling per server. This means that for larger players, ten or more players won’t have to spectate.
  • Matches can be created and joined by holding the TAB key.

• Arcade Style
  • Arcade Style is a more accessible way to experience Blade Symphony, resulting in a better learning experience for new players, too!
  • Arcade Style uses one sword type, attacks are one string per stance, charge tiers use the same animation, and there is no side canceling.
  • The traditional style of play available prior to this update has been named “Classic Style.”
  • Style Indicator
    • Colored Kanji representing the style is shown behind the stance indicator
    • When not playing inside a duel, there is an indicator in the bottom left of the screen to help remind you what mode you are playing in or watching https://i.imgur.com/cZks7Yx.gif
    • All indications are hidden during a duel, so as to ensure a minimal HUD
  • Players are prompted when joining a server, to select their Style https://i.imgur.com/oA7YIIG.gif
  • The choice of Style within the scoreboard affects the Style of any match the player creates.

• Bot Incentive System
  • As incentive for players (especially new or those in uncommon time zones) to join servers, bots will spawn upon connection. Players will be able to duel bots while waiting for more players.
  • Fighting a bot will result in ¼ of the normal XP gained by fighting human players.
  • Number of bots that spawn when player joins can be changed using bb_duelbots_num_bots, with default as 6.
  • Spawned bots randomly choose Arcade or Classic Style when creating matches, which can be changed by server owners or selected in Offline Training.
  • Spawned bots will leave the server as more players join, which can be toggled on or off using bb_duelbots_proportional, with the default as 1


• Final Blow Slowdown
  • The killing attack on an opponent results in a 2 second time slowdown. This helps emphasize how the duel was ended, and makes for very endings!

• Notification Area
  • Various notifications like players leaving and joining the server were cluttering up the text chat, so they’ve been moved to a special Notification Area.
  • Duels starting and ending show in the Notification Area.
  • Notifications are contextual to the duel the player is watching or playing in. If a player is queued to fight, or currently within a duel, any notifications regarding other matches will be hidden.
  • Unlockable player chat colors are respected in Notification Area
  
  
• New Tutorial
  • The Tutorial has been rewritten from scratch to account for Arcade Style, and more includes more readability and text changes.
  • Tutorial now displays large full-screen popups upon ending a Chapter, so that the player can save their progress and come back later.
  • The end of the tutorial now has easier bot difficulty for new players.
• Larger and uniform Arenas
  • Monastery, Winter, District have had their arena’s flattened, made to be slightly more square, and expanded in size. This should make for a more even experience on every map.
• Bot appearance and difficulty
  • Bots now select their own names, masks, swords, avatars, and armor attachments.
  • Bots now have multiple difficulties that can be selected by the player using the convar bb_force_bot_difficulty.
    • 0 – Dummy, the bot does nothing
    • 1 – Easy, the bot will not throw shurikens or charge attacks.
    • 2 – Normal, the current state of the bot
    • 3 – Hard, this is the same as normal, but we’re working on it!
  • Bot difficulty can be forced to be easy with
• Players can start a vote to change the map
  • Call vote option to change the maps is presented in the UI, navigable by pressing ESC and going to “Play Online” and selecting Call Vote.
  • Maps are presented in an ordered list, populated based on the player’s own maps.
• New in-game music
  • Faction specific music plays while in the Customization Screen, that corresponds with the faction of the player’s character.
  • Meditation music will now play when players sit in a duel or FFA.
• New loading screens
  • Backgrounds of loading screens use the Steam Trading Cards art, and feature the animated Blade Symphony logo. These pieces were too cool not to show off!
  • Loading screens now show detailed information about loading, such as “Downloading files,” “Changing connection”, etc. to ensure that players are never without perceptive output.
  
  
• New graphical improvements
  • For players that want a more saturated and vibrant experience, we’ve added a custom tonemapper that is on by default.
  • Players can turn the tonemapper off by pressing ESC, selecting Options and toggling “Tonemapping” in the Video menu.
  
  
  
  • Added Cascaded Shadow Maps, which allow for lighting in more complex situations
  • Many rendering system optimizations, hopefully resulting in higher framerates!
• Accessibility for everyone!
  • Added 32-bit and 64-bit game client and game server. Both are accessible for 64-bit uses, due to any extenuating computer configuration.
  • Added Linux 64-bit game client and game server.
  
  
  • Added MacOS 64-bit game client.
  
  
  • Added language support for 9 new languages! To help us complete localization for all Steam supported languages, click here.
    • Dutch
    • French
    • German
    • Hungarian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Portuguese
    • Russian
    • Spanish
• New game engine
  • Rebuilt from the ground up in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive branch of the Source Engine. Previously, it ran on the Portal 2 branch, which makes for a 7 year difference!
  • Characters can no longer change active stance (but can change desired stance) while charging.
  • Networking Changes:
    • New priority layer for players origins, both local and external players.
    • Player origins are no longer rebuilt using cell bits
      • Increased accuracy and update rate of player position
    • Completely rewritten lag compensation system
    • Fixed numerous prediction errors in hitting and jumping
    • Affects both player movement and sword tracers
    • Tickrate has been increased to from 60 to 64 ticks per second
      • Interpolation values have been changed and much improved to reflect this.
      • cl_updaterate & cl_cmdrate updated to 64 also.
      • Moved to the Source 2 networked sockets system
    • Game servers use half tickrate for simulation.
    • Max and default rate has been increased to allow for more players on a single server
    • Added ratelimiting for usercmd and string commands to help prevent bad/ddosing clients.
  • Performance Optimizations:
    • Threaded world building
    • Players’ bones are cached and only setup once per frame instead of multiple times per frame.
    • Multiple changes to Winter, District and Monastery for better rendering performance.
    • Tracers and FX are not simulated when not rendering.
• Fixed a bug where some achievements that were based upon consecutive actions would not reset when that consecutive action was not performed.
• Fixed sword and scabbard position being 1 frame behind - very noticeable on lower framerates.
• User Interface
  • Removed GetSatisfaction link
  • Added Discord link
  • Modified forum link to point to the Steam forums
  • Text for in-game performance profiler is now larger
• Discord Rich Presence
  • Show what character you’re playing as, and in what arena you are in in each map with cute little pictures!
  • Join people straight from Discord! (Ask to Join)
• Crash reporter
  • Let us know what went wrong easily by using this handy tool that autostarts when you crash, and automatically sends us all the info we need to debug your crash!
  • You can, if you choose, give a description of what you were doing when you crashed which may help us.
• Software Development Kit
  • We've included an SDK for Blade Symphony! Get access to everything you need to make levels and models at the click of a button!
  • Includes Crowbar model compiler. Thanks ZeqMacaw!
  
  

This is an incredibly busy week for us, putting final touches on the build, for this week's release of the Harmonious Prelude update! What better way to encourage people to play Blade Symphony, than with a Steam Free Weekend! Alongside this Thursday's release at 10am US Pacific Standard Time, Blade Symphony is taking part in a free weekend to celebrate the update! Get a look at our latest work on the Beta, since we've released our second-to-last Release Candidate (before "gold master,") on Steam. Update now to get the latest, the changelog is below. Finally, WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP! If you're a very detail oriented person, with experience in spreadsheets, large text files and Regex, OR you're someone who knows a non-English language very well, we need help with putting Blade Symphony into as many languages as possible! Slowly, more languages are being imported from our translation tool to various Google Documents located here. Anyone can view, but not anyone can edit. If you would like to help in some form or fashion, please talk to us on our Discord! The more languages we have, the more inviting this is for a broader audience.

Changes since Release Candidate 5

• Bot Population System
  • As incentive for players (especially new or those in uncommon time zones) to join servers, bots will spawn upon connection. Players will be able to duel bots while waiting for more players.
  • Dueling a bot will give 1/4th the XP normally gained from fighting a player.
  • Number of bots that spawn when player joins can be changed using bb_duelbots_num_bots
  • When the player joins a server, a bot will leave the server within any match that the player joins, freeing up space for more players. All bots should be gone when the number of players in the server is greater than or equal to bb_duelbots_num_bots. This can also be turned off by using bb_duelbots_proportional
  • The bots are displayed on the server browser, so that the player knows they can duel bots.
  • In the future an XP bonus will be given players that stay around for more players to join.

• Final Blow Slowdown
  • The finishing blow on a player, will now result in a small 2 second slowdown for emphasis on how the character was killed. This is really cinematic and cool!

• Single Player Pause System
  • If the player is in a listenserver (localhost server,) and presses the ESC key to bring up the main menu, the game will pause. Bots will not move.
  • As it applies to listenservers, this means that it will apply to the tutorial.
• Changed XP bar to display XP for current level and next level, instead of overall XP
  • 0 - Dummy, the bot does nothing
  • 1 - Easy, the bot will not throw shurikens or charge attacks.
  • 2 - Normal, the current state of the bot
  • 3 - Hard, this is not implemented yet
• Stance and Style Indicator
  • The colored Kanji lettering that represents the style is now shown behind the stance indicator
  • This symbol only appears when readied in or spectating an empty match, or while spectating a duel
• Spawned bots now choose between Arcade Style and Classic Style at random when creating matches
• Players can now start a vote to change the map on the server. The maps are presented in a fancy way, and the list is populated based on the player’s own maps.
• Scoreboard now no longer displays the player's character level while in spectate
• Vanguard can temporarily not switch stances while charging. Vanguard is receiving charge animations, and this change will be reverted upon their completion.
• Shurikens no longer track to targets on 2 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, and Control Point modes
  • Unfortunately, a situation could occur where one player could sit back and endlessly shuriken while another attacked.
• Friendly Fire is now enabled by default on 2 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, and Control Point modes
  • Having this disabled caused the parry system to be held back, since the player could just throw numerous balanced and heavy attacks, to stun their opponent when their opponent parried.
• Modes that are not duel will now default to Classic Style
• Style overrides on game servers (using bb_tactical_server_override) will now be shown on the client
• The join match button should be disabled when in a match now
• Changed Style Screen descriptions to be more accurate.
• The last hit of a round is played in slow motion (bb_duel_last_hit_emphasis)
• You can now pause the game fully, and take a break without risk of being murdered several times while playing the tutorial and when fighting bots in singleplayer.
• Classic Style
  • Increased Katana damage to 0.90 from 0.85
  • Reduced Phalanx’s Balanced String 2 Tier 1 damage from to 20 from 24
  • Reduced Phalanx’s Fast String 1 Tier 1 damage from 9 to 6
  • Increased Phalanx’s Fast String 1 Tier 2 damage from 14 to 15
  • Decreased Phalanx’s Fast String 2 Tier 1 damage from 15 to 9
  • Increased Phalanx’s Fast String 2 Tier 2 damage from 14 to 15
  • Decreased Phalanx’s Fast String 3 Tier 1 damage from 14 to 9
  • Decreased Phalanx’s Fast String 3 Tier 2 damage from 18 to 11
  • Decreased Phalanx’s Fast String 4 Tier 1 damage from 10 to 9
  • Increased Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 1 locktime from 0.28 to 0.33
  • Increased Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 2 locktime from 0.28 to 0.33
• Classic Style and Arcade Style
  • Increased Feint cancel percent from 0.35 to 0.51
  • Increased Feint cooldown time from 0.75 to 1.5
  • Increased Feint cancel cooldown from 1.0 to 2.3

• Fixed a Windows crash when changing resolutions
• Fixed a Linux crash when the multi-hit indicator was displayed
• Fixed escape menu staying up after selecting a style on the Style Select screen
• Fixed sword tracers casting shadows
• Fixed ragdolls sometimes appearing in other matches
• Fixed not being able to cycle between spectators when spectating a single playerFixed stance indicator to be covered up by scoreboard
• Fixed level overlaying on top of player names, long player names now receive ellipses
• Fixed chat bubbles being leftover from players leaving a match, or by invisible players
• Fixed issue causing voice communication to not function correctly
• Fixed numerous issues related to scoreboard display and match destruction
• Fixed screen going black during duel introduction
• Made Control Point score be kills / death temporarily. Will instead be score / kills in the future.
• Fixed style toggle button not properly scaling in nonstandard resolutions
• Fixed Vanguard and Phalanx having their experience swapped
• Fixed issue causing player’s outfit colors to be set, and then fade out.
• Fixed a bug that caused the user to connect to a server if ESC was pressed with a server highlighted in the server browser.
• Implemented multiple changes for upcoming transition of Workshop items to Marketplace items
• Fixed an issue causing links from the Main Menu to display while in a server
• Fixed Left and Right click not changing players or arenas while spectating
• Fixed Ctrl not switching view type while spectating
• Fixed the counter not being reset for achievements requiring actions to be completed consecutively.
• Fixed a bug where if you performed no actions in a duel you would gain -2147483648 XP.

We're coming to you with a special update today. Not only another Release Candidate update, as we're two weeks since the last one was released, but a teaser trailer as well! This video is hopefully the first of many, to show changes we've made in the Harmonious Prelude update over the last two years. Expect more in the coming weeks that will explain these changes. Check out the trailer below for the Release Date for the Harmonious Prelude update to Blade Symphony! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMSe71sn5Y Come join our even today to help playtest!

Changes since Release Candidate 4

• Classic and Arcade Style screen
  • Screen shows when joining a server, allowing the player to set their intended style
  • Screen shows only for those that do have bb_player_seen_confirmation_screen set to 0
  • Clicking "Do not show again" checkbox will set bb_player_seen_confirmation_screen to 1
  • The choice made on this screen can be reversed by opening up the scoreboard

• Scoreboard Style Toggle
  • Style toggle moved to the lower left, from being a small button at the upper left.
  • Features the Kanji lettering and coloring to represent the style
  • Style toggle is now shown in the lower left while spectating duels

• Stance and Style Indicator
  • The colored Kanji lettering that represents the style is now shown behind the stance indicator
  • This symbol only appears when readied in or spectating an empty match, or while spectating a duel
• Notification System
  • Notifications are now contextual to the player's duel. If a player is queued for or fighting in a duel, notifications about other matches will not display.
  • Fixed a bug causing notifications to stack to greater than the default of 4 messages
  • Player's chat color now appears in notifications and disconnect messages
• Crash Reporter
  • Added a crash reporter to send crash dump files
  • In the future, the crash reporter will allow the user to add description about what they were doing before the crash
• Classic Style
  • Reduced Ryoku's Fast String 3 Tier 1 damage from 18 to 14
• Player's level now shows in scoreboard
• Made +showbudget panel larger for performance evaluation

• Fixed various buttons in the Main Menu disappearing while in a server
• Fixed player's level always showing as 1 during a duel's introduction
• Various changes to ensure less crashes related to ragdolls
• Fixed fixed issue allowing the player to walk through tables and chairs in duel_monastery's Library arena
• Fixed intro camera on duel_monastery's Courtyard arena
• Fixed missing textures on duel_practice_box
• Further performance optimizations on free_district and duel_district

We're throwing a hotfix out there for all you lovely people, because we want to make sure our super awesome Linux Mint, Ubuntu and other Debian/Ubuntu based distro friends are supported. There's also a few other changes that we managed to get in over the weekend that we're sharing with you.

RC4 Hotfix Changelog

• Fixed crash on start-up for Ubuntu or Debian based Linux distributions
• Fixed disappearing buttons on the Server Browser
• Fixed positioning of several UI elements
• Fixed error messages displaying using Windows 98 style dialog
• Fixed additional bone attachment issues
• Fixed miscellaneous camera issues

Release Candidate 4 is here! Not as quick as the span between RC2 to RC3, but the hunt for the ghost hit issue and the networking rewrite took quite an effort. Keep up with our shenanigans and on Discord, or follow us on Twitter. Need to sign up for the beta? Do that here! Changelog since Release Candidate 3Changes

• Networking has been completely overhauled:
  • Based heavily on the more accurate CS:GO networking systems.
  • New player movement and sword prediction and lag compensation.
  • Players shouldn’t feel much delay against 500ms+ ping players.
  • Deprecated previous lag compensation system.
  • Lots of miscellaneous improvements for accuracy.
  • Removed lag interpolation option from main menu.
• NEW notification system!
  • Replaces player/leave join in chat, keeps it clean


• Added match style icon to the backgrounds of matches to symbolize if a match happens in Arcade/Classic.
• Added checkbox to only show Summary Screen after leveling up.
• Classic/Arcade button is now hidden on non-duel game modes.
• Sword type is now hidden in Arcade mode.
• Removed shadow on spectator menu, to match Harmonious Prelude branding.
• Updated bot cape functionality: Bots now only wear capes that can be unlocked.
• Optimizations to District for better framerate in Alley and Rooftop.
  • More changes are coming, there’s always room for improvement!
• Removed Subtitles from settings menu.
• Tutorial Script:
  • You can now do cvars in the tutorial script without being in a bot context.
  • You can now do multiple arguments to a cvar or command
  • Added clientcvars for commands/cvars to change on the client (restricted to approved convars/concommands that are also limited by point_clientcommand)
  • Add sword keyname convars (value is itemid):
    • bb_tutorial_longsword, default: 2
    • bb_tutorial_katana, default: 6
    • bb_tutorial_foil, default: 22
    • bb_tutorial_scimitar, default: 16
    • bb_tutorial_jian, default: "14"
• Tickrate has been changed from 60 to 64
  • Interpolation values and formulae have been updated to reflect this.
  • This also matches cl_cmdrate and cl_updaterate
• New alert for customization screen for unviewed new items.

• Fixed ghost hits when playing in a high latency server.
• Fixed bone and animation interpolation issues which butchered transitions.
• Fixed misc. bone problems where the player’s legs could be messed up.
• Fixed bots always joining a match in the last arena, if all arenas were occupied.
• Fixed crash that occurred when players ready up for duels.
• Fixed player duel stats: stats have been reset.
• Fixed gravity networking (causing lots of prediction errors, even in live.)
• Fixed usercmd issues causing prediction errors.
• All classic/arcade changes now reflect on UI regardless of how they were changed.
• Fixed footsteps being super loud.

Not even a week after putting Release Candidate 2 update into your hands, we've got another! Mostly this week, we spent time working to get networking and prediction to feel as good, if not better, than the current version on Steam. As always, please provide us feedback and help us hunt down bugs, by joining our Discord server. If you haven’t signed up to try the Harmonious Prelude update, then head here!

Changelog since Release Candidate 2

Changes

• Arcade Style
  • Updated Pure Fast Tier 1 lock duration to 0.60 from 0.50
  • Updated Pure Fast Tier 3 damage to 25 from 23
  • Replaced Ryoku Fast Tier 2 animation
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Tier 2 lock duration to 0.65 from 0.28
  • Replaced Ryoku Fast Tier 3 animation
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Tier 3 lock duration to 0.56 from 0.70, and damage to 28 from 30
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Tier 3 lock duration to 0.56 from 0.70, and damage to 28 from 30
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Tier 3 lock duration to 0.56 from 0.70, and damage to 28 from 30
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Left Tier 2 lock duration to 0.60 from 0.95, and damage to 16 from 20.
  • Replaced Ryoku Fast Left Tier 3 animation
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Left Tier 3 lock duration to 0.70 from 0.44, and damage to 28 from 22.
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Right Tier 1 damage to 15 from 12.
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Right Tier 2 lock duration to 0.60 from 0.95, and damage to 20 from 16.
  • Replaced Ryoku Fast Right Tier 3 animation
  • Updated Ryoku Fast Right Tier 3 lock duration to 0.70 from 0.53, and damage to 25 from 22.
• Bots now have unique names, unique mask, item, skin and sword choices, matching avatars, and show BOT instead of a 0 ping.
• Made Hammer DPI-Aware
• Added red line to Harmonious Prelude logo to match branding
• Flattened more brushes and added playerclips to areas on Monastery's Courtyard arena so the player would not hitch or get stuck
• Temporarily disabled CSM on Duel and Free Monastery in order to sort out rendering issue

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a large number of prediction and networking problems. It SHOULD be much better! Please let us know!
• Fixed various selections on Game Settings, Audio Settings, and Video Settings not properly saving
• Fixed the scoreboard showing empty arenas if a player was kicked or left in the middle of a match.
• Fixed being able to hear death sounds from other matches in your arena
• Fix sword and scabbard position on lower framerates
• Fixed issue potentially causing players to receive the wrong item when unlocked
• Fixed a number of localization string issues
• Fixed compiles in Hammer not starting
• Fixed various brushes and models on District from rendering in and out
• Fixed one remaining control point indicator on Docks not updating
• Removed extra area of space by the barrels in the Deck arena on Winter

Hot on the heels of the initial Release Candidate update for the upcoming Harmonious Prelude update, is another Release Candidate build! Hop in our Discord server if you’re looking for opponents or want to get information on the latest changes. If you haven’t signed up to try the Harmonious Prelude update, then head here!

Changelog since Release Candidate 1

Changes

• Classic Style:
  • Updated Phalanx’s Fast Forward String 3 Tier 1 tracer for 12.5% uptime reduction and starting slightly later
• Arcade Style
  • Updated Phalanx’s Fast Forward String 1 Tier 1 tracer for 12.5% uptime reduction and starting slightly later
  • Reduced Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 1 lock duration to 0.28 from 0.55
  • Reduced Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 1 damage to 12 from 17
  • Reduced Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 2 damage to 16 from 20
  • Reduced Ryoku’s Fast String 1 Tier 3 damage from 28 to 22
• Changed Classic Rapier guard default convars:
  • bb_guard_obb_length set to 65 from 50
  • bb_guard_obb_width set to 15 from 5
  • bb_guard_recovery_heavy set to 0.55 from 0.85
  • bb_guard_knockback_fast set to 450 from 500
  • bb_guard_knockback_balanced set to 450 from 400
  • bb_guard_knockback_heavy set to 450 from 250
• Spectating a single player in an arena defaults camera to chase mode.
• Bots have been given random names fitting their emblem theme.
• Smoothed the floor in many areas of Monastery’s Antechamber and Library.
  • Player/environment collision is now incredibly accurate in the Harmonious Prelude update. Let us know if you get stuck on even the smallest of things!

Bug Fixes

• Numerous bugs fixed involved with player data table, interpolation, networking and prediction.
  • We’re always staying cognizant of the feel of the Beta. Our work never ends here.
• Fixed “ghost” hits.
• Fixed crash when two fullscreen confirmation boxes were shown at once.
• Fix crashes related two callvoting.
• Fixed player items being reset when joining a server, selected items are persistent again.
• Fixed player sometimes not receiving items.
  • There are still issues with players receiving items and proper XP. We’re investigating.
• Fixed footstep and jumping sounds not playing.
• Fixed players not showing on server info details screen.
• Fixed missing capture point on cp_docks and wall indicators not updating.
• Fixed broken materials on Community.
• Can no longer customize your character during the tutorial.
• Fixed spectators showing the wrong label viewing a match.
• Fixed various spectator menu button state issues.
• Fixed IK stuttering when sheathing a sword.
• • This has revealed a new issue; character feet are not firmly planted during the sheathe animation. We will take a look at this.
• Fixed Discord Rich Presence connection failing and not launching Blade Symphony.
• Sword tracers and FX will no longer continue receiving updates when not rendering.
• Endcaps on particles bound for immediate destruction will not be played.
• Hammer will no longer close if the Puny Human SDK launcher is closed.
• Removed various debug information for previous “one dot” connection issue.

The first Release Candidate for the upcoming Harmonious Prelude is out! This is the first step on the long road to transition Blade Symphony into a free-to-play game. Read about it and Sign up for the Open Beta here!

I am posting this sad news on the behalf of urinal-cake who I hope is getting some well-needed sleep. I feel it is better to do it this way than for me to produce my own version of the newspost. I’m typing this out after two days of no sleep, so please excuse if my stream of consciousness is not very well formed. The Harmonious Prelude update is the pre-cursor to Blade Symphony going free-to-play. It is intended to be an update that will transition the existing game toward the goals of the free-to-play release, by including a Mac and Linux version, more translations, a separate SDK, management of all items through the Steam Inventory service, and many new features that will strengthen the release. Unfortunately, it will not be coming out today. I won’t make excuses and state that this is the result of somebody else’s work or lack of it. This is my fault. I have not done a good enough job at prioritizing my work and those that work with me. I have not hired a large enough team to reach this ambitious milestone in a timely manner. I became involved in feature-creep. I became complacent with our progress. I underestimated our remaining work. This is an extremely embarrassing blow for not just me, but this entire company. In my 9 years of helming this studio, we have never had to delay a significant release in this matter. This is also something that is demotivating and depressing, but I am going to do my best to not let you down. Over the next three weeks, we will set out to accomplish our original goals as we had put them together, by doing the following:

• Finding an additional programmer to assist with source development.
• Having a release quality candidate available on the Blade Symphony Beta;
• Windows 32-bit game, dedicated server and SDK, 64-bit game SDK, OSX 64-bit game, and Linux 64-bit game and dedicated server.
• Open up the testing of this release quality candidate to a wider audience. Those active in our Discord and on our forums.
• Completely re-compile shaders and solve crashes preventing full re-compiles.
• Finishing the summary screen (end round,) to a degree that matches the original concept and offers a positive experience.
• Recompiling all maps and fixing brush related issues.
• Fixing sword, character and item materials that were broke due to the engine migration.
• Integrating the proper translations for the game.
• Transitioning the workshop into a vote-based system for item curation.
• Transition specific quality workshop items to curated items.
• Implementing item pictures for color items, emblems and unseen character masks.
• Properly testing the free-to-play API and backend.
• Properly testing the Win/Linux dedicated server and shipped tools.
• Properly testing the game client across all platforms.
• Complete the Harmonious Update release trailer.
• Finish the Discord RIch PResence integration.
• Properly market this update.

I broke my own rule by not keeping our community updated often. Given some recent changes to our plan and the game, it's a great time to update you.

What Hasn't Changed

• We have to part ways with the stats system on this website. While it's an impressive system and has lasted 5 years with minimal updates, it's costly to run, has numerous bugs, expensive to maintain, and crashes often. We'll try to provide a data dump of statistics, but no guarantees it will be immediate.
• Ladder ranking and leagues will be replaced by a level progression system, that allows players to earn experience based on various factors during the duel and receive rewards at certain levels. Some rewards are things not previously in-game, like background emblems, sword glow types and glow colors.

• Blade Symphony is still releasing for Windows 64-bit, Linux and Mac OSX. These have all proven to run extremely well on our test systems, and we're pretty excited.
• This new version will release releasing with more languages than just English, Japanese and Russian. We really need help with translations, however, so please lend a hand if you're multi-lingual. Here is our current status:

What's Changed

• We've implemented a multi-match system. Currently, if there are three arenas to a map, then only six players can play at once. This is a little silly, considering some servers may have another 10 - 12 players, sitting and spectating. This new system will allow for multiple duels to take place in the same arena. We do this by hiding the characters, effects and sounds of any other players in the same arenas you and your opponent. You can hold Tab and choose the arena you want to duel in or spectate:

• Heaps of animation, network and interpolation fixes. Not only were there numerous issues noticed and fixed prior to the engine update, but updating to the CS:GO version of the engine allowed us to improve things even further.
• Faction specific music that has been shipped with the game, but never hooked up, will play on the customization screen now.
• We've replaced the loading screens with the art we use for our trading cards. So, along with minor UI tweaks, adding loading information, we felt like this art was too awesome not to show off:

• We've had a lot of trouble with compiling shaders for this update. Along the way, though, we made Blade Symphony feel a bit more saturated and colorful in bright areas, and low-light in dark areas. Much of the current color palette is leftover from the "visceral, shaded" feel that both Half-Life 2 and Dystopia had. We feel this gives Blade Symphony a bit more of a unique palette.

• We've enlisted a fantastic local artist, to create an exclusive item set for owners of Blade Symphony. Here are some screenshots, still very work-in-progress, not in-game, so material properties haven't added to make it pop. In total, a skin, mask, four attachments, sword and sheathe, and cape all need a name. Feel free to suggest one for the set.

What's Left

Release Plan

• Generate a little more revenue before free-to-play. Revenue will be put into more items that will be unlockable or paid, once the game goes free-to-play.
• Have a much larger pool of available testers to help us find bugs. At the moment, only Patreon Supporters have access to the game, but we need more players.
• To break down the stats system and prepare a new website for Free-To-Play.
• Work with translators to put the game in more languages, we REALLY need more help with this!
• Allow fan made maps and items to be recompiled or fixed for the new engine version, and play with the new separate SDK.

Community Help

Release Date

Happy Halloween to everyone, stay spooky this weekend. The BS Active Playas group is having an event tonight, come and join them! Connect to the server here: 95.172.92.168:25017 to meet up and play with other gud-bois!

Come check out the grand finals and losers bracket of the Blade Symphony Autumn Tournament, happening today! Big thanks to everyone who has put this together and volunteered to cast over Twitch! Congratulations to all participants and winners!

Click here to check out the live stream!

The Active Blade Symphony players group is having their weekly Friday session.

Come join their game and check out their group here!

This is the official announcement; Blade Symphony is going Free-to-Play (F2P.) We just recently solved some major problems with developing this, so I figure it would be a good time as any to actually talk about it. What all of this means is that a game that is currently sold for $4.99 on Steam and Humble Bundle, will be reduced to $0, and we'll need to make money in other ways. Before I begin this diatribe of information for all of you, let me preface it with this, our goal is not money, it is players. I'll check back with you at the end, and see if that point sticks out enough.

When We Started

Who's Working On It

What's Changing

What's Not Changing

When's It Releasing

Playing Free-To-Play Early

How You Can Help

To celebrate the release of new achievements and bug fixes, Blade Symphony is 80% off during the 2016 Winter Sale!

Blade Symphony Steam Store Page

Patch Summary

Achievements

• Added 25 new achievements.
• See the complete list and descriptions.

Capes

• Added Summer 2016 North American Tournament cape (Created by Jester)

Fixes

• Fixed infamous “air stance” bug. Please let us know if you see this again.
• Fixed bug allowing a listenserver host to be kicked
• Fixed bug allowing player to feint twice.
• Fixed bug causing players to not block shurikens when facing attacker.
• Graphical fixes to loading bar on the loading screen
• Graphical fixes to buttons on the main menu

Misc

• Added convar sv_one_hit_kill to allow deaths in one blow.

Blade Symphony is -85% off in the Humble End Of Summer Sale! ːbsymː: ːkabukiː ːninjastarː ːriotː https://www.humblebundle.com/store/blade-symphony ːbsymː: ːkabukiː ːninjastarː ːriotː Spread the news!

Hi all, a quick deviation from Blade Symphony (I'll be bringing patch news as well as news of a competiton for Blade Symphony soon). Galacide + DLCs are now on sale -80% off. We recently released the soundtrack for Galacide composed by Tom Stoffel (the same composer for Blade Symphony's sound track). If you haven't played Galacide why not give it a spin and if you're a big fan of Tom's work, the game + soundtrack is well worth it!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/356790 http://store.steampowered.com/app/500910 http://store.steampowered.com/app/395290

Congrats to Gritzenizer (Muffin) winner of the NA Summer '16 Tournament!

Please check up in the group chat and say "Here". Then we'll know you're here. A little bit change of plans. The beach summer map occurs to be too buggy for us to use. So we are going with duel_box. Here are the brackets http://challonge.com/BladeSS2016 Here is the stream. http://twitch.tv/igno1 Tournament starts at 4 pm eastern time. LETS GET THIS TOURNAMENT STARTED!

Choose your fighting style

• Phalanx, a fencer gladiator hybrid, attacks with long range stabs and a versatile array of side attacks
  
• Judgement, a knight crossed with a samurai, uses hard hitting forward attacks and wide strafing attacks
  
• Ryoku, a vagrant street ninja, attacks with break dance moves and a signature reverse blade style
  
• Pure, an acrobatic wushu style assassin that attacks with flips, cartwheels, extremely mobile
  
• Vanguard, a quick-footed champion that uses leaning plunges to push opponents into her blade

Choose Your Sword

• Katana, cause massive damage when parrying your opponents
  
• Longsword, a well-balanced, hard hitting and adaptable sword
  
• Rapier, a piercing, high damage forward thrusting weapon great for parrying
  
• Scimitar, a weapon based on turning and performing as many cuts as possible
  
• Jian, an agile, responsive weapon great for combos

Tactical Sword Fighting

Advanced Character Customization

Fight as a Team

• OS: Debian. Ubuntu. Linuxmint or other common distributions
• Processor: 3.0 Ghz P4(+). Dual Core 2.0(+) or AMD64X2(+)Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: DX9.0c Compatible 256MB VRAM. NVIDIA Geforce 7600 Series / ATI x1600 SeriesDirectX: 9.0cHard Drive: 5 GB HD spaceSound: DirectX 9.0c CompatibleOther Requirements: Broadband Internet connection