Rivals of Aether - Official Thread

[4nace]

Yeah. Let me jump in on my official stance on the fan-submitted characters and ideas.

I have no intentions of doing any fan characters in the initial roster. All the character slots are pretty much designed at this point (Element and Role - Rushdown, Zoner, Balanced, Tank, etc.) We are also working on our schedule to make sure we'll be able to hit the number we want or if we'll want to reduce in order to get more features (single player content, online multiplayer, etc)

I would not be opposed to doing DLC characters and a possible Fan-Voted character after release. But there are no official plans for that and the game would have to be successful in order for that opportunity to open itself. Currently the engine won't make it ridiculously easy to add characters after release but it wouldn't be impossible either.

I do like reading ideas and seeing concepts but just because I compliment or raise issues with a design doesn't mean the character will get in or that you should abandon polishing the design. I also don't have a ton of time to dig into characters right now (in terms of giving feedback) but I think a good amount of playtesters know what a Rivals character "feels" like at this point so other players can share their thoughts too. But don't be offended if your design gets stepped on by an official character. (in terms of gameplay style).

I do like the idea of moving the fan character discussions elsewhere though as it would be nice to be separate from general game discussion. Especially that way people could keep updating their ideas and comment on just those, while this could remain about the official game. As @ Sol_Vent suggests, reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/RivalsOfAether/) might be a good temporary spot where each topic could be about a specific design and then new posts for updates to those designs. Flag them [Fan Character Concept] or something like that so passerbys know that these are ideas that are being developed! You could also share a post here then you made a character design and link to the subreddit page to get discussion over there. Also a category on Smashboards would be great but we would likely need a bit more popularity to reach that point (I'll do my job to make the game as polished as can be )

I know that the content trickle is a bit slow from me (basically nothing new since early December) but remember that we all took 2 whole weeks off for Xmas and we are all working as hard as we can behind the scenes. So hard that we plan to have a January Playtester build ready before the end of the month. This will have lots of updates and fixes. We will also be sending this build out to new applicants, expanding our current playerbase.

And with that I leave you this gif of Wrastor smacking people from the Trailer:

Thanks,
Dan Fornace

 

[akf09]

i cannot wait for the next build of ROA, will it contain a new character?

 

[4nace]

Nope. No new characters in the January build. Lots of polish and balance adjustments. (And a Random Button, woohh!) We're working on characters and stages but they aren't quite ready to show yet.

-Dan

 

[dquarius]

kraggs rock pillar glitch lvld up lol jk
i wanted to see if it worked on other characters it did but second time i did the invincibility frame wouldnt show and even after crouching and attacking as zetter he was still invincible

 

[Boss N]

I'm aware of the weird juxtaposition of an aerially-inclined earth character, but I think that having one "particularly strange" character in that vein is far from out of the question. It makes for good in-element variety, and like you yourself said, gameplay design comes before characterization.

As much as I don't exactly agree with the idea of making characters as distinct as possible just for the sake of it, I actually really really like the idea of using a float. I won't go into detail on what I'm thinking of here, however. And the reasons for that are explained below.


This is entirely fair. I felt very awkward posting my very lengthy fan character post immediately after a matchup analysis, but I didn't want to just sit on it either.

And I know you weren't saying this specifically about me, but I'd like to take this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that I have no intention of putting any pressure on Dan or anyone else in any way. I'm not going to lie and say that the idea of a creation of mine being a large part of an awesome game doesn't excite me, but I understand the nature of what I'm doing here.

Although the characters don't necessarily have to be officially included to be playable...

But more to the point, how would my fellow fan character designers feel about moving discussion of them to a thread in reddit.com/r/RivalsOfAether? Not only would it allow this thread to serve as a bit more for gameplay discussion and speculation, but it would also make more sense organizationally.

I can understand the logic of having a "particularly strange" addition be characterized like that, especially since he's a character not meant to be taken seriously in the first place

Im not expecting any of my ideas to make it in, it's just for fun, as is the back story stuff. Though that in particular is only for people who are interested, thats why I asked how to make spoiler tags because I didn't realize what a giant wall of text I had created and even I was overwhelmed by it. (these things seem much shorter to describe in my head than in text) but it was already all typed up so I didn't wanna get rid of it.

So anyways, lets take a break from our walls of fan-fic texts to talking about a DIFFERENT wall of text, Matchups!

 

[akf09]

well i do hope a new stage is in the next build because currently 3 stages gets old quick. not that i really care but didnt we have a stage in the august build that wasnt in the december build?

 

[akf09]

idea for single player. when you lose all your lives and it says CONTINUE!?!?!? instead of asking if you want to continue it should show your character falling in hades and you have to fight a large grim reaper computer character that if he beats you then you have to restart the story mode haha. i think it would be a unique feature.

 

[arcticfox8]

idea for single player. when you lose all your lives and it says CONTINUE!?!?!? instead of asking if you want to continue it should show your character falling in hades and you have to fight a large grim reaper computer character that if he beats you then you have to restart the story mode haha. i think it would be a unique feature.

Seems a little out of place imo.
It's a cool idea and all but it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the game.

 

[RoA_Zam]

well i do hope a new stage is in the next build because currently 3 stages gets old quick. not that i really care but didnt we have a stage in the august build that wasnt in the december build?

That stage had to be refurbished by Johan. The January build still only has 3 stages. The next build about a month or two after will hopefully have both a new water stage, possibly a finished redone Aetherian Forest stage, and maybe even a new character?

 

[Xanthus]

Had a tournament at Lanwar (www.lanwar.com). Here's the results page with videos: http://lanwar.com/forumsh/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39588

Grand finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcoP9ap2dqQ
Losers finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e2y9Pwdumk

 

[Comeback Kid]

In what ways is the puddle teleport going to be balanced in future updates?

Positional advantage is important in this kind of game and Orcane seems to be able to negate this completely.

 

[JayTheUnseen]

In what ways is that puddle teleport move going to be balance patched in future updates?

Positional advantage is important in this kind of game and Orcane seems to be able to negate that completely unless I'm missing something.

If they can predict,it's a bit tricky on the timing of the hitboxes but quite punishable regardless.

 

[RoA_Zam]

Once the new update drops, I'll be making a text + image tutorial on a special feature of the January release of Rivals of Aether. Those of you in the Skype Group will already know what this is, but not how to do it. I'll make my tutorial as detailed as I can.

 

[DakotaBonez]

What rock have I been living under? How long has this been in development!?!

I loved Vaporeon's moveset in smash land, and it looks like some of her skills got transferred over to Orcane, found my future main.
It blows my mind that such masterpieces can be crafted in Gamemaker. Dan Fornace you are my hero!
I hope Yoyogames makes a deal with nintendo for Gamemaker to WiiU export.
(although if I had an Xboxone I'd totally buy it there too)

 

[JayTheUnseen]

What rock have I been living under? How long has this been in development!?!

I loved Vaporeon's moveset in smash land, and it looks like some of her skills got transferred over to Orcane, found my future main.
It blows my mind that such masterpieces can be crafted in Gamemaker. Dan Fornace you are my hero!
I hope Yoyogames makes a deal with nintendo for Gamemaker to WiiU export.
(although if I had an Xboxone I'd totally buy it there too)

Don't hesitate to sign up to be a playtester if you haven't!
I don't know what their standards are,but they accepted me,so...

 

[Boss N]

Does anyone know if the game will be playable on mac? Or if the next build will be playable on macs? I really want to submit an application but if it isn't even playable on my device, it might be problematic. (Plus I REALLY don't wanna resort to getting an Xbone just for this game)

 

[Sol_Vent]

Oh crap, a mod's in here now... There goes all the stuff I was planning on getting away with.

Also, random question that I may have already known the answer to at some point:
Can you tech (ukemi) in this game? And if so, can you do it off of walls and ceilings?

 

[Burnsy]

Oh crap, a mod's in here now... There goes all the stuff I was planning on getting away with.

Also, random question that I may have already known the answer to at some point:
Can you tech (ukemi) in this game? And if so, can you do it off of walls and ceilings?

You can tech off walls and the ground, definitely. Just press dodge/parry before making contact, the leniency seems similar to melee. Not sure about ceilings.

 

[Sol_Vent]

You can tech off walls and the ground, definitely. Just press dodge/parry before making contact, the leniency seems similar to melee. Not sure about ceilings.

Ah, I see. Thanks.

Actually, the reason I thought to ask the question was because I was wondering whether it would be possible to extend a juggle with Kragg's utilt by being underneath one of his blocks if it's on a platform, or if the opponent could escape by teching off of the block in that situation.

But then I realized I wasn't 100% on teching being in the game in the first place, so I expanded the scope of the question.

 

[TheHorniestLobster]

Hello there.

I've been play testing with some friends for a month now.


So far, we really enjoy the game and think it has a lot of depth. The balance, so far, is really 64 like and we hope it stays this way.

One thing we noticed that may need some adjusting is Kragg's Forward B. The super armor on it is really, really good. If Kragg goes high, he can recover pretty much for free. A possible solution would be to weaken/eliminate the super armor if its used in the air so someone edge guarding could at least trade with it.

 

[Xanthus]

Hello there.

I've been play testing with some friends for a month now.


So far, we really enjoy the game and think it has a lot of depth. The balance, so far, is really 64 like and we hope it stays this way.

One thing we noticed that may need some adjusting is Kragg's Forward B. The super armor on it is really, really good. If Kragg goes high, he can recover pretty much for free. A possible solution would be to weaken/eliminate the super armor if its used in the air so someone edge guarding could at least trade with it.

You can parry it and punish his parry-stun after he gets out of side-b.

 

[Hylian]

Played this game for the first time with Sethlon/Strong Bad earlier. It's really fun :D. Here's some gifs .

 

[JayTheUnseen]

Cool to see this come to the PMDT's attention.

 

[Yurya]

Cool to see this come to the PMDT's attention.

Hylian is a mod as well and essentially created the location for this thread. But it would be interesting to hear the PMDTs thoughts on Rivals.

 

[RoA_Zam]

Played this game for the first time with Sethlon/Strong Bad earlier. It's really fun :D. Here's some gifs .

I always think that there is a clear tier list in place but then gif's like this happen and i realize just how close every character is to eachother and how you can't make a good list yet.

 

[Xanthus]

I always think that there is a clear tier list in place but then gif's like this happen and i realize just how close every character is to eachother and how you can't make a good list yet.

People are sleeping on Orcane man. You need to use some different tools but he's so damn good; and I like to see somebody else using him well. Also I don't like that people are trying to force tier lists on this game. Tier lists are seperated into groups based on significant differences in ability/performance at the highest level. And I don't think Rivals really has that, not yet. They're all the same tier until one character's best options mostly beat out anothers ability to win the game.

 

[Burnsy]

Every character in this game is super good and has tools that are actually sharp, which in my opinion is a big part of why the game feels so good to play.

 

[RoA_Zam]

Update on texture designing. I replaced Black and gold with Black and Cyan:

 

[Puppyfaic]

Update on texture designing. I replaced Black and gold with Black and Cyan:

Replace that Cyan with more of a turquoise and you'd have a bit of Miku action going on there.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Wood Raccoon UPDATE

^ Latest version of Darenuki. Changes marked with "UPDATE." Though there are a few minor changes in word choice and concept explanation that are unmarked.

Whew... Not exactly the best post in which to learn reddit formatting...

 

[DakotaBonez]

Played this game for the first time with Sethlon/Strong Bad earlier. It's really fun :D. Here's some gifs .

Was that a wavedash in the first gif or a perfectly timed roll or what?
plz explain, sorry if I'm a bit late for the aether tech train

 

[RoA_Zam]

Was that a wavedash in the first gif or a perfectly timed roll or what?
plz explain, sorry if I'm a bit late for the aether tech train

The game has wave dashing yes. He does two of them in the first gif right after eachother. Orcanes is crazy fast when done perfectly. Rolling is an option too, but much slower and punishable just like in melee. You can cancel a dash with any smash attack also by using C-stick while dashing and holding c-stick to charge your attack while you still have dash momentum. You see that a few times in the gif also.

 

[4nace]

Rivals of Aether January 2015 Playtester Build​

Information:
This is the LAST major playtester build to be coming out. Moving forward, the development team will be focusing on new content and trying to get all the features that the game needs to be successful. That means that this build will be the standard for all balance and engine discussions going forward. I will be taking all feedback into consideration down the road after we increase the content. Builds after this one will only be sent to select people to be featured on streams or to get specific feedback.

The access to this build was sent out via email! If you did not get an email from roa.game@gmail.com and have been a playtester in the past, then please email us at the same email. If you feel like you really want to become a playtester, then sell yourself well and shoot an application to the same email address.

Updates from December:

General:

• A Random Character Select Option has been added.
• Character Info has been added to the Character Select Screen. This is useful for Conventions and Tournaments.
• A Random Stage Select Option has been added.
• Music has been added to the three stages. Bask in some of Flashygoodness' magic.
• All Sound Effects have been revamped and updated. Hits are punchier and effects match their elements all the more!
• Music Options added to Stage Select.
• Bug Fix: Tap Jump to Up Special should no longer remove your Double Jump.

Zetterburn:

• Burnt Strong Attacks have had their base knockback reduced but their knockback scaling increased. This turns Zetterburn from killing at 50% to killing closer to 100% and then guaranteeing a kill all the more at 120%+.
• Zetterburn's Up Special now deals 8 damage when moving to help him break through pesky rocks.
• Zetterburn's Strong Attacks had their friction reduced during charge frames to allow him to slide into combos out of dash more effectively.

Orcane:

• Orcane Forward Strong Attack Hitbox was reduced to now match the visual.
• Bugfix: A puddle being destroyed while Orcane attempts to Up Special toward it should not cause a crash report.

Wrastor:

• Wrastor no longer loses momentum in the air if you perform a Strong Attack without charging it. You can tap the stick and let it go to utilize a moving Strong Attack.
• Wrastor's knockback scaling was increased on his standard aerials while the hitstun was reduced. We removed the increased DI when getting hit by one of Wrastor's aerials.
• Wrastor Up Special now has more horizontal knockback when hitting with the wing. Can be punished while recovering and call also be used for a risky off stage KO.
• Wrastor Side Special can now be hit by projectiles or attacks! The attack will continue placing the current but will lose its hitbox.

Kragg:

• Kragg Rock Pull time increased.
• Kragg Rock Break spread decreased (rocks now shoot out at a smaller angle)
• If you perform an Up Special before hitting ground, Kragg's Pillar will break apart and Kragg will get a small hop then enter a fall state.
• Kragg can no longer pull a Pillar out beneath the Air Armada stage.
• Kragg can no longer pull multiple rocks by initiating a pull on top of a rock while running off it.
• Bug Fix: Kragg can use Pillar after respawning even if he couldn't use Pillar when he died.
• Bug Fix: Kragg's Rock now longer push players when hitting the ground and instead move themselves around players.
• Bug Fix: You can no longer use a pillar near a jumpthrough platform to cause issues with rolling and attacking off the pillar.

 

[Kasado-Bit]

Whew! Finally got my login info sorted out. Anyways, I just got accepted into the playtester thing. I can't seem to change my nickname, but I'm Zalno. I'll make sure to download this new build and give it a go...after I try to regain some sleep lost due to a panic attack last night. >_<

EDIT: I tried to download the latest build, but Chrome says the file is malicious, so it was blocked.

 

[Sethlon]

For people that want to see our gameplay, Hylian uploaded the twitch archive onto his youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmmwLAPPPyI
There's a part one as well, but this was SB/Hylian's first time playing, and Hylian in particular took quite a while to get used to the game and using a 360 pad.

...But it would be interesting to hear the PMDTs thoughts on Rivals.

I've actually been part of the beta for a while now, since like May of last year. I worked a good amount with 4nace in the early builds of the game. Technically I'm a "Game Design Consultant", not a playtester (*flex*), though PM and the pro smash life keeps me pretty busy.

But, yeah. As you might have guessed from me sticking around for that long, I rather like RoA. It captures whats interesting about the Melee-style movement/speed/improvisation, while still putting a rather new spin on things (with stuff like parrying instead of shielding, overall ease of play, no ledges, and interesting elemental interactions).

 

[Boss N]

Now don't get me wrong, great discussion here as always, and stoked to see this game getting attention from mods, and Im really sorry if I'm being a nag about this but no ones still answered my question,

IS THE GAME COMING OUT FOR MACS OR IS IT A PC+XBOX EXCLUSIVE??

I'm guessing the answer's no but it would be nice to know. Out of curiosity from a developers standpoint, what is it about macs that make it hard to make games for?

 

[Yurya]

I'm guessing the answer's no but it would be nice to know. Out of curiosity from a developers standpoint, what is it about macs that make it hard to make games for?

Apple doesn't cater towards gaming that much (or 3rd party software development in general) so those that do make such a move do so when they are sure to bring a reliable monetary profit. e.g. IOS has less apps available than Android but developers make more money on IOS. It also helps that Windows and Xbox are owned by the same company with intentions on connecting the two.

 

[Burnsy]

Dat January test build music :O :O :O very nice

 

[Kasado-Bit]

I checked to see if Dropbox itself was hacked by trying to download something I put into my own account. I was able to download my own files just fine, but the RoA file was still flagged as being malicious by Chrome. Again, should I just ignore that warning or did something happen to the file?

 

[JayTheUnseen]

Super hyped to try it.