I wanted to give you guys a quick update on how things have been going since the launch of the game, especially with the announcement of online implementation about a month ago. I will also go over future plans for the upcoming Version 1.100.
Status of online matchmaking
To summarize the progress of online, it is going great. Much has been done to progress this mode, including testing the online from one state to another. The results were very satisfactory. Issues are present and I am working on dealing with these issues, but I can confidently say that online can be implemented into the game around next month. It's going to take that long because this stage of getting the game online is just the first of two stages. This first stage is setting up the online infrastructure for the game. The objective of this first stage is to simply get a connection between to game sessions. Here's how it works using screenshots of the current online alpha:
The idea behind online for Touhou Volleyball Danmaku is that a player hosts a lobby and 2 or 4 players can join in.
Once the game detects that all players are ready, you will be sent to the lobby where you can chat. At this time, you are assigned predetermined position but the complete version will allow you to select which position you wish to be in.
And then you enter the game proper. Though at this time, I haven't actually tested the actual game online, just using some test dummies who can only move. And this actually works. I managed to make the characters move on two machines, both locally and from another state. I am confident enough that this system can work on the actual game, I just need to look at a few issues before I proceed to stage 2.
Stage 2 is translating the gameplay tomake it viable to function on a network as directly as it does locally. What that jargon means is to make sure every little thing actually behaves the way it should over the internet. Here's how it technically works. When a player makes a server, they are the ones handling all the data going in and out, including from the player they are playing as. All other players are simply sending their data so the host can distribute it to everyone. So the host is handling everything: the players positions, when and which button a player is pressing, the ball's position, the UI, every little projectile that comes out, everything is being handled by the host to makes sure that their data reflects that on the other player's screen.
I'm willing to give it a shot and make sure every character's specials and shots are one to one in the game, but if it becomes too difficult to actually do so for a particular type of projectile or special move, I'm going to have to make some changes to some characters special moves. While projectiles, bombs, and desperation of any design are no real problem on a local game, going online presents the challenge in that creating a projectile requires a lot of configuration that the host needs to process. A simple projectile has data for their position in the screen, how fast they are going, what angle their trajectory is, etc. This all has to be processed by the game in real-time and if some of the special moves become too cumbersome, then changes will have to be made to that special move both online and locally. But if such changes were to happen, then perhaps now is a good time as there will be a big update for the game coming to version 1.100.
Version 1.100 changes
After weeks of the game being out and spending time making micro updates, I got around to watching other players time with the game as well as playing it myself. I haven't had a chance to simply play my game, which I manage to do for a few days. I thank everyone who has been patient with the game but for sure, from what I have experienced, changes need to be done. I am planning on balancing the characters, making needed changes to the difficulty curve of the campaign, and add more modes to the game that I didn't have time before the launch. While I'm still planning these out, I will give a brief bullet point on what I am planning doing for the release of Version 1.100
* Fix/replace the dynamic difficult of the story campaign
* Decrease the prices of the store and have sales more frequent
* Make point distribution more abundant
* Add arcade mode
* Make the events challenges in campaign available on the main menu
* Include a character information screen on the main menu to learn how the play
While many players managed to get through the campaign just fine, I feel that it is unbalanced for others, particularly those who did not play the demo, which I admit never came to mind. I didn't figure people would buy the game before trying it, but if that is the case, I will be putting consideration for those players.
And a quick note for those who sign up for a custom fairy, I will be working on that as the final task for version 1.100. I haven't forgotten about your fairies, but you will have to wait a bit longer before they appear in the game.
Quick update and online beta
Before version 1.100 is released, I will be releasing another smaller update. This smaller update will fix some of the issues I listed above, mainly those that can be implemented easily. I will also be uploading a beta branch which will contain an online test version that will be tested with a few characters. As I said earlier, online will require extensive planning to account for all the players special moves, so I'll probably be using the first four characters, Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, and Remilia for this beta to test out how to implement online for all characters.
That is all I have to report. Thanks for your patience and support. The game's development continues.