This update to Fantasy Strike is live now.
We've continued to fix various issues with online play, added several bits of graphical help to make the game more understandable here and there, improved the snow stage's look, did a few balance changes, and made it so if you mash jump you'll get out of special throws just as well as if you hold jump. ;)
ONLINE PLAY FIXES
--When someone sends you a challenge then cancels it, we no longer show a popup, and we immediately hide the notification.
--When someone declines your challenge, we only show a popup if you're not playing online.
--If you somehow accept a challenge that was just canceled, the challenge is now just dropped, rather than accepted.
--Local P2 controls no longer accidentally control the remote player's rematch menu in a friend match.
--Fixed a bug that could sometimes cause players to be instantly disconnected when rematching online, and could also cause seeing “Player 1” and “Player 2” as the usernames of players. It’s possible that these bad things could still happen (please report if they do) but at least several cases of this problem are now fixed.
--Fixed a bug that consistently caused a desync if Midori got hit on the first frame after he transforms to a dragon.
CHARACTERS
GRAVE
--His cloud meter (used with air C) has been redrawn. Now shows an X if you try to use it before it’s full. Also has a new visual effect for the moment it becomes full.
JAINA
--Jaina's ground super, the cinematic that triggers on hit is now correctly invulnerable until the end (so that she can block projectiles she happens to land in).
--When you take 1 self-damage from doing ground C, a “-1 HEALTH” message now appears on screen, to better communicate what’s happening.
--Fixed a bug that could cause Jaina’s self-damage from her ground C happen multiple times for no reason if she’d take the damage at certain frames of the opponent’s super flash.
ROOK
--If the opponent has flashing life from block damage, hitting the opponent with long-range air C to knock them down no longer heals their flashing life.
VALERIE
--Her yomi counter now has text saying “YOMI COUNTER!” like other characters do.
--The graphics for her rainbow trail during her air C have been implemented a different way. Before, the trail could wobble around and change position by a large amount during the move. Now it better stays in place, so it looks more like an actual trail behind her, rather than a thing attached to her. (Imagine an airplane leaving a trail of smoke behind it; if the plane moves around, the older parts of the smoke trail shouldn’t move in lockstep to new movements of the plane.)
--Fixed a bug with her C that was introduced last month accidentally. This move was always -1 on block, but for the last month, it was +0 even though the in-game frame stats incorrectly stated that it was -1. Now it’s really actually -1 frames on block again.
--Air C frame stats adjusted so that it’s often -1 on block also, to match the ground version. It can be made +0 or +1 depending on spacing and timing.
Fixed a similar bug that affected her ground C that also affected the second hit of her B, B sequence. It now has 1f more recovery and matches the in-game frame stats, even though for the last month it was missing that 1f accidentally.
SETSUKI
--Double palm (f+A) has less hitstun / blockstun.
--The version of the divekick you cancel into from ground C and air C has more startup.
--The C -> C throw has been moved to the command “hold the C button.” Now the second press of C -> C does Flying Fox.
--Fixed a bug that made her A attack to be missing 1 frame of recovery even though the in-game frame stats reported that that frame was there. Now it has the extra 1f it used to and matches the in-game stats
--Updated the graphics for her smoke cloud during her intro animation before a game starts and also during her yomi counter..
--Fixed a bug (we think??) on Mac that caused Setsuki’s model to be corrupted and crazy looking sometimes. Perhaps this is now fixed or perhaps it’s still possible but very rare. If you see this bug, please report it. If it happens to you, you can restart the program repeatedly and it will eventually load properly.
Developer’s Note: The Setsuki balance changes aren’t really an attempt to nerf her, but rather to make her mixup from ground C make more sense overall. Before, when doing Starlight Tumbler (C button), two of your options were throw and divekick. They could jump out of throw but not divekick. That makes sense except for the part that divekick then lead to f+A, C, divekick again. This lockdown felt too oppressive and could sometimes go on too long vs characters who don’t have a reversal other than their super. Now, the reduced blockstun from f+A and the increased startup from the divekick means that it’s easier to jump out. But there is now a new option of C -> C (Flying Fox) to easily hit jumpers. It’s just that if you choose this option and they block instead of jump, you’re at disadvantage, rather than in a position to repeat the whole loop.
GEIGER
--His gear meter (used with ground B, ground C, and air C) has been redrawn to look cooler. Now shows an X if you try to use it before it’s full. Also has a new visual effect for the moment it becomes full.
DEGREY
--Neutral A first punch of the 2-hit series is now +1 frame advantage on block, rather than +5.
--Air B (first hit of the sequence) has more recovery. It’s now about -1 on block when done from close but can be made plus on block if done from farther.
--In practice mode, if the dummy has 0 life, the ghost will no longer fail to grab them.
--Fixed a bug that made DeGrey’s air ghost do nothing if he was at the very edge of the stage, jumped back, then called her during his jump.
--Fixed a bug that showed incorrect frame advantage after air super is blocked.
--His practice animation (on the score screen after online matches) now has him punching with the arm he winds up with, rather than the other arm.
MIDORI
--Sound effect adjusted for dragon transform.
--In practice mode, if the dragon is set to “reversal” after blockstun or wakeup, he will do back+A tail swipe (his fastest ground move) instead of doing nothing.
--Pre-jump frames 4 -> 3, so it’s the same as other characters. Also, graphics for these pre-jump frames adjusted to look more like you’d expect.
--In practice mode, ground B now shows correct frame stats for frame advantage on block and on hit.
--Fixed a bug that made his flurry attack (A then A again) to be missing 1 frame of recovery even though the in-game frame stats reported that that frame was there. Now it has the extra 1f it used to and matches the in-game stats.
STAGES
--Snowy Mountains. The lighting has changed so that the snow is more white and the shadow colors make more sense. The buildings in the far background have been remodelled. Some artifacting on the sky near the moon has been fixed. Also, the ground has been slightly altered to fix a subtle problem that made it appear too low under characters’ feet sometimes.
--Dojo stage’s ground also slightly altered not appear too low under characters’ feet sometimes.
MISC
--Jump now buffers like the other buttons, meaning it repeats its input for 8 frames. The practical use of this is make it so that if you mash the jump button as you’re getting up, you will jump on the first frame you’re up. Holding down the jump button used to (and still does) make you jump at the earliest possible time, but pressing it rapidly did not (now does!).
--There is a new on-screen message that says JUMPABLE! if you get hit by a special or super throw that you could have jumped out of. It’s a general, game-wide mechanic that your pre-jump frames are immune to special and super throws, and this better helps communicate that to new players.
--Max volume of the game is now louder. We found this was necessary at trade shows because even with volume set to max, using good external soundbars also cranked to max, left our game a bit too quiet for the noisy environment.
--Super meter now has a visual effect the moment it becomes full.
--When a player wins a round, the blue round-win icon now has a visual effect for the moment it appears.
--The dust effects by characters feet (seen when they move left or right) now correctly appears behind characters rather than in front in cases where it obviously should be behind.
--Fixed a bug that caused the main menu to have an all-black or partially-black background if you got to it from quitting gameplay during a super or yomi counter.
--Fixed a bug on lowest graphics settings that caused the CPU to still compute cloth physics for the shadows of characters on the ground, even though their shadows are disabled and replaced with blob shadows on lowest graphics settings.