Introduction
It's the first Monday of 2021, and Mane6 is back in the office after a holiday/new year break! In Development Update #4 we're discussing a variety of topics, including the new merch we released a few months back, plans for the Linux port, and the status of Shanty and the 2.0 patch.
This will be a mix of new and old info here. If this is your first time reading one of my Development Updates, know that I've brought some basics forward to ensure the most common questions are answered. So, let's begin!
Merchandise News
Physical Crowdfund Rewards
Physical crowdfund rewards are still in production, but they've been taking longer to manufacture than we'd like. We've hit a number of logistical slowdowns due to the complexity of the order, timing around the holiday season, and selecting for quality... all on top of the pandemic. Please bear with us while we continue to wrangle this up!
Here's a digital mockup of the physical game copy and soundtrack to give you an idea of what to expect:
https://twitter.com/mane6dev/status/1324076477621669895
If you're a backer and you're getting physical rewards, please ensure your shipping address is up to date by logging into Backerkit:
https://them-s-fightin-herds.backerkit.com/
Learn how to redeem digital rewards and view the current status of all reward fulfilment here:
https://forums.themsfightinherds.com/index.php?threads/backer-rewards-production-roadmap.2266/
If you have a question about crowdfund rewards, email us at [email protected].
New Merch Status
The new character t-shirts we launched in November have arrived, so they'll be shipping out to customers starting this week! Thanks to everyone who made a purchase during the preorder period. There's more to go around so head over to our official merch site to get yours!
We also recently partnered with Eighty Sixed for one more new cast t-shirt. Check it out here:
https://www.eightysixed.com/collections/thems-fightin-herds
The Velvet statuette production goal was reached (and then some) with a total of 340 sales to date and counting. We're now looking at doing more characters and even other types of collectibles, too! Thanks so much for your support!
If you ordered any other items along with your Velvet statuette, we'll be splitting the orders and shipping out the on-hand items later this week.
EDIT: The above statement was given in error. We decided to return to the original plan, which is to hold orders that included additional items until the Velvet statuette is in stock.
Please see this post on our forums for more information.
Development News: The 2.0 Update
Linux Is Now A Part Of 2.0
The good news is: the Linux port is done. Actually done. The bad news is: we need to change our plans to ship it by itself as a 1.5 update.
Long story short, the general codebase is too far ahead of what's currently on "live". After months of rigorous 2.0 development, we're past the point where those changes can be cleanly rolled back to make everything match up. The best thing for us to do in order to ensure a more efficient, stable release is hold back the native Linux port until it can go out safely alongside 2.0.
Meanwhile, we've been working on the preparation steps for the Mac port. That's not expected to ship with 2.0, as we want to give the Linux port some time in the wild first, which the Mac port will be based on.
Some basic info about this: The Linux, Mac, and Windows versions on Steam will all be part of the same application. All three will have crossplay and no additional purchase will be necessary.
New Character: Shanty
A lot of progress has been made on Shanty since her last public appearance. Check out this gif of her stand idle! Her combat is mostly worked out but there's still more animation, effects, and sound polish to do. We're excited to reveal it all, but the new year has only just begun! We need more time to settle in and take stock of things before we'll feel ready for a showcase.
As stated in the previous Development Update, a voice actress for Shanty has been selected and we've already recorded all her lines. An introduction is coming, but we feel like we should do something more special for it, so we're keeping it confidential for now.
More basic info: Shanty will be released in a paid DLC package that also includes her stage and Pixel Lobby avatar. The price has not been announced yet. All crowdfund backers will receive this DLC for free as a reward for helping us attain the stretch goal that made her development possible. Thank you!
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 show up in arcade mode. She won't be selectable in any modes unless you have the DLC.
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 an all-around balance update and bugfix pass to coincide with the release of Shanty. 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!
The Match Replay System
A match replay system is coming to TFH in 2.0, packed with cool playback features like rewinding, skipping, bookmarking, and advanced training mode info displays. The replay files will be super shareable, and we'll have plenty of options for auto-saving, manual saving, or not even being asked to save at all!
We're in the polish step here, that last 10% where we're quality-checking and tweaking little things all around. We don't anticipate doing a showcase of the replay system until our full breakdown in the 2.0 post-patch stream, but we'll see!
For Consideration Later (In No Particular Order)
Here's what we intend to work on after 2.0 ships. To our regulars: there's not really any new info here. We're just reposting for all the new people!
Level 3 Supers (Game Version 3.0)
Development on level 3s is decently far along, but we put them on hold until after 2.0 ships. We'll need our combat director's total focus to make sure the numerous interactions and edge-cases are ironed out. Check the preview stream here to see where we left off.
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
We'd like to look at progression systems across the board in TFH. Not just ranked. There are many ways to do ranked play but they're very hard to get right, so we're taking our time on this one. We're still in the research phase, and it may be awhile before this rolls out.
Console Ports
Though we currently have no plans for console ports, we want to acknowledge that we definitely want to do them if we can. Thankfully, our work on the Linux & Mac ports will make it easier if we ever get the opportunity.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! While this should provide a good overview of all the big stuff we're working on, it's not an exhaustive list. If you have questions about anything in particular, please join our Discord server (discord.gg/tfh) and ask us devs directly!
Tomorrow morning our Holiday event ends, so last chance to grab the new hats from Cap'n'Cash before they go in with the regular rotation!
Finally, wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Let's make 2021 a good one. Talk again soon!
Aaron Stavely
President, Mane6