Introduction

In this Development Update #3 we're summarizing the news conveyed at the end of our most recent stream ManeCast #7, which broadcasted today. You'll see repeats of older info so we can bring the items from our previous post forward, but of course there's some cool new stuff to talk about! Now that the Training Mode Update has been released, we're turning all of our focus towards 2.0. The biggest piece of new info is that we are currently working on our match replay system for release in 2.0. We're putting in many of the things that have been on our own wishlists for fighting game replay systems for awhile, like rewinds, timecode bookmarking, and almost all of the advanced info displays from Training Mode, like hitboxes and center line guides. More info below! Let's begin.

Happening Soon

Physical Crowdfund Rewards

Here's another reminder that physical rewards are currently in production. That's the movelist postcards, physical game copy, and physical soundtrack. If you're a backer and you're getting one of these, please ensure your shipping address is up to date by logging into Backerkit: https://them-s-fightin-herds.backerkit.com/ We posted a digital mockup of the physical game copy and soundtrack on Twitter to give you an idea of what to expect: https://twitter.com/mane6dev/status/1324076477621669895 Learn how to redeem digital rewards and view our current status of all reward fulfilment here: https://forums.themsfightinherds.com/index.php?threads/backer-rewards-production-roadmap.2266/ If you get stuck or have a question, email us at contact@mane6.com.

Linux Port (Game Version 1.5)

Our Linux port is "done"... and what we mean by that is it's functionally working (as far as we're aware), but has yet to complete its "in the wild" testing. So far so good. It's only a matter of time. We'll start working on the Mac port once Linux is released and we're confident it's stable. Not a whole lot is different about a Mac port from a Linux port other than some Apple particulars, so while we don't anticipate the Mac port will be too far behind, this is a bit of unknown territory for us. We'll keep you posted. Technically, players have already been able to play on Linux and Mac thanks to third-party emulators like Proton and Wine, but true native ports will offer far better performance and stability. It will be worth it. The Linux, Mac, and Windows versions on Steam will all be part of the same application. No additional purchase is needed, every OS will be capable of crossplay with each other. Native Linux and Mac ports were promised during our crowdfund campaign and are also a vital first step on the much longer road to console ports. We're future-proofing now, but it's going to be a while before we can actually look at it.

Major Upcoming Patch: The 2.0 Update

New Character: Shanty

Development on Shanty is still going. There's animations to complete, moves to test, and theme music to dynam-ify. We have no release date to speak of yet. However we are happy to announce that a voice actress has been selected! In fact, we've already completed the recording session. A future announcement will be posted when we're ready to introduce her. When Shanty is released, players will be able to unlock her by purchasing a DLC package that also includes her stage and Pixel Lobby avatar. All of our crowdfund backers will receive the Shanty DLC for free as a reward for helping us attain the stretch goal that made her development possible. Regardless if you own Shanty or not, you'll still be able to play against her online if your opponent has her, and she'll also show up in arcade mode. And, if you haven't already seen our initial Shanty gameplay reveal stream, check it out here: https://youtu.be/gYaGEUEwZac

Balance Changes & Gameplay Bugfixes

TFH will be receiving a balance update to coincide with the release of Shanty. In 2.0, all characters and even a few universal systems will be adjusted.

New Pixel Lobby Map: The Woodlands

Oleander's home turf (in Pixel Lobby form) will be included with the 2.0 update. Along with a new map, there will also be new hats!

Introducing: The Match Replay System

AT LAST... match replays are coming to TFH in 2.0! You're in for a real treat, because our playback system is gonna be packed with cool features like rewinding, skipping, bookmarking, and training mode displays. Super awesome. No doubt you have questions, but the feature as a whole is still in development and we want to wait for something more final before showing it off. We plan on doing a full breakdown of our replay system and what it offers in the 2.0 post-patch stream. Although, there might be some things we can talk about now if you hop in our Discord server and ask: discord.gg/tfh

For Consideration Later (In No Particular Order)

Level 3 Supers (Game Version 3.0)

Development on level 3s is on hold until after 2.0 ships. We're already a decent way along with them visually (check the preview stream here), but we'll need our combat director's total focus to make sure the numerous interactions and edge-cases are ironed out.

Story Mode: Chapter 2

Preproduction on Velvet's chapter is currently underway. When our combat team is finished working on level 3s, they'll join the rest of the Story Mode squad to script out the boss fights and close things out.

Ranked Play

Ranked systems are very hard to get right, so we are taking our time on this one. We're still in the research phase.

Console Ports

Though we're still far away from this, we did want to mention that work on Linux/Mac ports (cleaning up code and such) will help console port development later on.

Conclusion

This is all the big stuff we wanted to mention, but it's not an exhaustive list! There are plenty of little things that will go out alongside each of these updates. As Shanty and other immediate features move along we'll be sharing more about them. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!