Hey, Duelists!
It's been a while since we've done one of these status updates, but that's mainly because we've been focusing on a lot of more secrety stuff since releasing Lance. Between writing for Story Mode and creating content for the 0.10.0 update, we've been quite busy! But now it's time to show you what this update has in store, starting with the brand-new fighter we've just unveiled...
Stylish Master of Karate and Barbering, Master Locks!
That's right! Duels of Fortune's 21st fighter is none other than the fan-favourite karate-instructor-slash-hairstylist, Master Locks, finally making his playable debut!
Master Locks has a fairly balanced playstyle, though slightly more geared towards offense, using his versatile hair-manipulation Aspect to play neutral from a distance, and his expert martial arts skills to challenge the opponent up close... all with his own signature brand of Locks Dojo stylishness! His moveset features lots of unique twists on familiar concepts, including a projectile that can be steered left and right at will, a leaping attack with multiple possible follow-ups on the way down, a ranged hitgrab that can immobilize the opponent, and even a command grab Super that can reach all the way across the screen! Despite his free-spirited and jovial attitude, Locks isn't playing around -- he's here to demonstrate his absolute mastery of his fighting style!
Locks is likely the single most highly-requested character to join the playable cast, and we couldn't be happier to finally have him there! Truth be told, we've been planning him in secret for some time -- a couple years back, we realized just how much certain parts of the Story Mode would benefit from having him playable. But that's a discussion for later!
We hope you're all excited to school your opponents with Master Locks, when the 0.10.0 update drops on December 29! Now let's get to talking about some of the other additions in the update...
New Costumes!
In case you missed it, we'll be releasing quite a handful of costumes for existing characters in the update, as we tend to do. Let's take a look at them!
This time, we're giving some love to several alt costume characters, by giving them costumes of their own! Casual Shin (Shoto), Burglar Roy (Guy), and Pharaoh Rag-Z (Derrick) all bring fresh looks to these beloved second-fiddles. These three costumes will each be unlocked by beating Arcade Mode as the costume character in question.
And last, but not least...
Chef Lumina is cooking up a storm! We've been neglecting to give Lumina as many costumes as we probably should, so hopefully this very silly one will make up for it! Really gives a whole new meaning to "putting them in the blender".
Of course, Master Locks will also be getting some costumes of his own, but we'll reveal those at a later date! Follow us on Bluesky or Twitter, or join our Discord Community to keep up to date on every announcement we make!
This last announcement is regarding a feature that's been asked for a lot, and something we've admittedly been slacking on for far too long...
Tutorial Mode!
Yep, we're finally giving Duels of Fortune a proper in-game tutorial! Not the most exciting announcement, we know, but we do plan to do some very interesting things with it! The tutorial mode will be hosted by none other than the new fighter, Master Locks, who is very excited to teach you all the ins and outs of fighting!
When going through the tutorials of other fighting games, we personally often find they're either too minimal to give you a solid enough understanding of the mechanics, or so long-winded that the only thing you learn from them is how to fall asleep at your computer. With Duels of Fortune's tutorial, we hope to strike just the right balance on this front, letting you get through things quickly while not spending too long on the nitty-gritty details (at least while you're still learning the ropes).
The tutorial will also be split into three sections: Basic, Advanced, and Character. Basic and Advanced will both focus on game-wide mechanics, where Basic will teach you the fundamentals, and Advanced lets you tackle the more difficult mechanics and learn the intricate details of certain systems. The Character section, on the other hand, is comprised of lessons breaking down each character's moves and unique mechanics -- which will even be narrated by the character themselves! Note that you will have to complete the Basic section before moving on to Advanced or Character tutorials, just to ensure you can understand everything being shown!
There is one thing to note: THERE IS NO GUARANTEE TUTORIAL MODE WILL BE ADDED IN THE 0.10.0 UPDATE. It's something we've been working on pretty on-and-off, so we currently have no idea if it'll be ready in time for Master Locks' release date. And even if we do finish it in time, it won't release with everything right off the bat -- the Advanced section will be absent, and at most there will only be a few Character tutorials to start off. Advanced and Character lessons are something we plan to add slowly over the course of multiple future updates, until we're fully caught up on everything. Getting the Basic tutorial done and released is our absolute priority.
Regardless, we hope many of our newer or more casual players will appreciate this addition to the game! We want Duels of Fortune to feel inviting and accessible, even to those who have never touched a fighting game before, so this should help bring us a bit closer to that goal!
Our Plans for 2025
2024 has been a great year for Duels of Fortune! This was our first year on Steam, and because of it, the game has reached way more people than we ever thought it would! We've even managed to faintly catch the attention of some pretty notable figures in the fighting game community (BIG shoutouts to those who've been submitting DoF clips to Will It Kill!). Perhaps most importantly, though, is that we managed to hit tons of personal goals for the year! Once Locks is out, we'll have released 4 new characters, all of which are needed for Story Mode! It feels like we've made some real progress!
Speaking of characters, let's take another look at that roadmap to see who you guys can expect to join the roster in 2025!
The first fighter of the new year will be a brand-new guest fighter! It's been quite a while since Johnson and Ember were first added, so it's about time we introduce a fresh face to the guest character club! Like the previous two, this character will come from a fellow indie game... but of course, our lips are sealed on their exact identity! Who do you think it'll be?
After that, it's the long-awaited Miko Starfinder! Him and his partner Mira were originally part of the closed beta, being first added all the way back in December of 2020, but soon enough this cosmic power couple will be ready to make their proper debut! They'll be followed shortly after by another mystery fighter, and this is one we've been holding onto for even longer than Master Locks!
Beyond that, we're not yet entirely sure who will be next, but we have a much bigger goal for 2025 anyway: Story Mode! We are going to do EVERYTHING in our power to make sure that at least the first few Story Mode chapters are released by the end of next year. The script is nearing completion at this point (about 3/4 done), and once it's finalized, we'll waste no time getting to work on the mode itself.
From the very beginning, Duels of Fortune's story has been our top priority. So, while we'll try to keep up the usual pace of our playable character releases, know that they might end up taking a back seat for Story Mode when we're ready to work on it!
And that's all we have to share for now! Hopefully this post has given you lots to look forward to for the end of the year and beyond! Duels of Fortune has been around for a painfully long time by now, but we can assure you that the real fun is just getting started! Have a happy holidays, Duelists! We'll see you next year!
- Ben and Kaleb