Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.
Time for another beta update! There are some big changes in this one.
First off, if your hook force dropped like a rock in the March 23 beta update, and you feel it should be higher, please reach out to me and let me know. That update included a mechanic to detect high velocity but low force hits and reduce their mass to bring their damage down to a sane level. This was meant to help with "arm whip" hits with low body movement, but it seems to also be detecting a false positive for legitimate hooks for some people. This update includes some small tweaks to that system, and also shows a new value on the punch read-out UI by the punch type when an arm whip is detected. If you're experiencing problems with this and get can a third-person recording of punching the dummy or heavy bag so I can see your form as well as the new number that's showing up, that would be extremely helpful.
Now, for the fun stuff!
The trainer has a new model! The new trainer has been made in the style of the original trainer the game had when the game launched. Now that his look is complete, I plan to have some voiceover work done for him soon!
Next up, there are new punch animations across the board. I'm not 100% happy with these yet, but they solve a lot of problems that existed with the old punch animations. The punch animations before this update had a lot of forward lean. This caused the opponent to get too up close to your face while they were swinging. This also caused their heads to move out of the way of the player's fist if the AI counter-punched, leaving the player with no impact and appearing to be a problem with hit detection. The new punches should fix both of these problems.
Another big change is that the lunging punches have been removed. Instead, the AI will quickly step in to punch. The old AI behavior felt a little too much like jousting, and the huge lunge often positioned the AI in weird spots if the player stepped forward at the same time. The new behavior should feel much more dynamic.
As always, let me know your thoughts in the feedback thread here or by emailing me at [email protected].
Players that had trouble with the arm whip detection in the March 23 patch are currently using the rollback branch to avoid that problem, so I'm not putting the March 23 patch on the rollback branch yet.
Thanks!
Update Notes:
- The trainer has a new model!
- Punch animations have been updated. Opponents should no longer lean into their punches while counter-punching, making the player's swings miss.
- The AI no longer performs huge lunging punches.
- The distance the AI chooses to stand from the player has tweaked for the new punch animations and lack of lunges.
- Adjusted cross/hook/jab definitions for the punch result UI on the heavy bag and boxing dummy.
- Increased the chance that the AI will reflexively block where they've been hit last.
- Improved the accuracy of the block check for the player hitting the opponent's guard, and reduced the size of the player's fist slightly so that it can fit better through openings it should be able to make it through.
- Added more icons to the main menu.
- The heavy bag and boxing dummy should no longer count for calibration, so that you don't change your multiplier while experimenting on the training equipment.
- The physical movement and sound volume from the heavy bag and boxing dummy no longer factor in your multiplier for their calculations.
- Made some changes to the speed bag physics and sound effects.
- The speed bag is now angled slightly so that you can hit it while facing it from the horizontal center of your play space. This was done to improve the ability to hit the speed bag in small play spaces.
- Adjusted jab body mass credit.