Whelp, we did it gang. Online multiplayer for Mythlink is available NOW on the latest Steam update!
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's rewind a bit with some bad news. My primary tester has still not returned from his obligation! I grow increasingly nervous about the overall polish/stability of the game as it stands, but as I've stated previously I can only think of so many different ways to debug. This problem goes double for online play. Adding networking features is no joke and making them work smoothly is even more of a challenge, so I must yet again apologize in advance. I really wanted to get this networking build available so that, for the first time ever, people could play Mythlink and actually battle each other online. I just hope it works as well for others as it does through my endless testing.
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New Features
Battle Room
Online play is now available! From the battle room you now have the option to select playing an unranked match against an online opponent. For now, all players are limited to using the demo loadout. The details of the loadout can be found in the April update post.
Custom Battle Colors- A color menu can be accessed from the battle room. The color menu you allows to customize the appearance of both the player and the opponents. The lock on functionality will also be adjusted to the color you select
"Practice" battle modes have been renamed to "Offline".
Training Room
A new strength game is available- Punch Junction. In this game, players will try to get high scores and hard punches on a set of surrounding targets. Be careful! The units will occasionally shoot out flames. If you're in the way of the flames, you'll take damage. Keep your head on a swivel, keep your feet moving, and dish out some massive damage!
General Game Changes
In the never ending struggle to make things look better, light shaft effects have been added to the dorm and training rooms.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a problem where the colliders weren't matching up with the left hand accurately.
Fixed a problem with the battle arena's "Quit" button.
Fixed a number of small other bugs.
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So, what's in store for next month? Well, I was fortunate enough to temporarily get my hands on an Oculus Quest and want to take advantage of the situation. This means that I will forego the majority of Steam Mythlink development and instead see what it will take to port Mythlink over to Oculus Quest. Of course, any major bugs found in the Steam version will take precedence over everything else.
This new project could go a few different ways...perhaps investigation will begin and I will quickly come to the realization that it's going to take far too much effort, in which case I will temporarily drop the idea and return to proper development. What I believe will happen is that it will take a modest amount of effort and can be achieved within the month, in which case I will do my best to create a port. Please note that even in the case of a successful Oculus Quest version, Mythlink will not have any online multiplayer on the platform for the foreseeable future.
It's a month of experimentation, so let's see where it goes!