Exciting Announcement!
Mane6 (that's us), the development team behind Them's Fightin' Herds, has been acquired by publisher Modus Games!
What Does This Mean For Us? (Mane6)
It means that our team is growing. We're still us, but now we have "real jobs". Being a part of Modus makes it possible for us to fulfill our complete uncompromised vision for TFH and continue to projects beyond.
Practically speaking, it takes a lot of resources to make a successful video game. With all the additional help we're getting, we'll be filling out the roster, releasing Story Mode chapters faster, at looking at ways to expand to more platforms. TFH is about to reach new heights.
What Does This Mean For The Players? (You Guys)
New Characters
We're expanding the roster, and now that we have more than one combat dev we can develop new characters and Story Mode chapters simultaneously. Who are the new characters? What species? When are they releasing? How to get them? We'll be sharing more information about specifics in the coming months.
Story Mode
Barring any unfortunate circumstances we are confident that we can finish all main chapters (starring each member of the base roster plus a “final” chapter) before the end of 2022, still released as free updates.
Console Ports
Console ports are something we're still very interested in doing, and with the help of our new partners at Modus it's more likely to happen than ever. We'll be evaluating the possibility of extending to other platforms and will announce any developments.
Localization
We are making arrangements to localize TFH so we can expand to a truly international playerbase. The translations will be text only (we currently do not have plans to localize the voice acting). Subtitles will eventually be added to infight dialogue so the English voice acting can be understood by a global audience.
What Are We Working On Now?
Crowdfund Rewards
We’ve kept certain reward tiers (like physical rewards) in limbo for a long time. Now that we’re a part of Modus, we finally have the logistical power to get the rest of the crowdfund rewards fulfilled. The wait is coming to an end.
Physical reward earners, if you need to change your mailing address, head over to our BackerKit ASAP! It'll still be a few weeks at least before anything ships, but the wheels are turning!
Lunar New Year Update
To celebrate the new year, we’ll be releasing an alternate version of Tianhuo’s stage (called Spring Festival) at the start of Steam's Lunar New Year event, from Jan 27 to Feb 3. The alternate stage will be instantly unlocked as a free update.
As for the Pixel Lobby, Cap 'n Cash have cooked up a mini set of seasonal accessories which will be stocked in the shop until the Lunar New Year event ends. Afterwards, they'll go in with the regular rotation.
The Lunar New Year update will also contain a few new character palettes and some small codefixes. Please enjoy!
Level 3 Supers
Level 3's have been a long-awaited feature and our new talent will be helping us across the finish line. We've shown off (much) earlier versions of them before and they've come a long way since. The wait will be worth it. Then, we start working on new characters.
Level 3's and a new set of balance adjustments will arrive in game version 3.0, release date to be announced.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 (starring Velvet) is in production and the extra Modus resources will help us accelerate development. We’re also working on improvements to Story Mode in general such as smoother difficulty curves, a HUD update, more enemy variation, and reworked health mechanics.
Chapter 2 will be released in the next major update after version 3.0.
Offline Events
Pandemic notwithstanding, Mane6 wants to attend more offline events in 2022. The circumstances are always changing and we're playing it by ear right now, but however things shake out we want to make the competitive scene bigger this year.
Reminder that Mane6 will be attending Frosty Faustings from Jan 28-29. Top 8 will be streamed on Saturday at 11am CST on Twitch (we'll provide the link when we're closer to the date).
Conclusion
It’s been a wild ride, and we're looking forward to great things in 2022. Thank you all for believing in us! The stampede cometh!
Aaron Stavely, Mane6 Dev Team