Rivals of Aether - Official Thread

[JCOnyx]

EDIT: I just realized you quoted that post that was made nearly 6 months ago. Dear lord, that isn't even relevant anymore. Please ignore this post.

 

[Paquito]

Don't try to argue things you don't fully understand. I know people who have never touched abother smash game besides melee and still play 4 player FFAs with items on. Never wavedashed in their lives. Just because melee has competitive merits doesn't make it a game casuals can't enjoy. For heaven's sakes.

Who are you responding to? The point I was making was that Melee is a competitive game that casuals do enjoy.

Speaking of wave-dashing, the one aspect of it that I really miss from Brawl and Sm4sh is the ability to reposition myself backwards without changing directions or short-hopping. It really opens up a bunch of tactical options. Is there something like that in this game?

 

[Conradical]

Hello people (again),
I have also started posting a couple of Rivals of Aether videos on my channel. If you don't have the playtester build and you REALLY want to see some gameplay, don't hesitate to pass by my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqwx5m9eDtK6BpyXEoFEzMw/feed?view_as=public

 

[JCOnyx]

Who are you responding to? The point I was making was that Melee is a competitive game that casuals do enjoy.

Speaking of wave-dashing, the one aspect of it that I really miss from Brawl and Sm4sh is the ability to reposition myself backwards without changing directions or short-hopping. It really opens up a bunch of tactical options. Is there something like that in this game?

I was responding to the guy you quoted, but realized shortly after its futile since it's a 6 month old post. Also, you can accomplish repositioning yourself backwards without turning around by perfect pivoting in Brawl/S4. It might be faster too with the quicker shield dropping and being able to act instantly out of a pivot.

 

[Conradical]

Hello people (sorry for the third post today),
I have found another "glitch" in the game. This one happens when you "wavedash" when on the spring in the air armada stage. What happens is that your jump is lowered. Now, I know what you may be thinking. "This is because you're air-dodging right after, thus, making you stop in the air". This is not the case since you can air-dodge AFTER you perform this. I hope you find this useful.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWEnlzV7BPo&feature=youtu.be
Sincerely,
Conradical

 

[Sol_Vent]

Something else I found with Wrastor's side-B, not sure if it's intentional or not.

I got hit out of the startup and neither the projectile nor wind current came out, but I still couldn't use the move for the normal recharge time. It's highly specific, and probably won't happen often, but it's pretty goshdarn disappointing when it does happen.

 

[Paquito]

Also, you can accomplish repositioning yourself backwards without turning around by perfect pivoting in Brawl/S4.

Awesome!

 

[CupOfTar]

Speaking of wave-dashing, the one aspect of it that I really miss from Brawl and Sm4sh is the ability to reposition myself backwards without changing directions or short-hopping. It really opens up a bunch of tactical options. Is there something like that in this game?

This game has melee-like airdodges, so wavedashing and wavelanding are back in all their glory. And they're easier to execute than before!

 

[RoA_Zam]

Something else I found with Wrastor's side-B, not sure if it's intentional or not.

I got hit out of the startup and neither the projectile nor wind current came out, but I still couldn't use the move for the normal recharge time. It's highly specific, and probably won't happen often, but it's pretty goshdarn disappointing when it does happen.

It's a glitch. I've noted it and been able to recreate it several times. I've added it to my list of things for dan to fix.

 

[Charmilio]

Got accepted into the most recent playtester build, and I've been streaming it every day since and uploading a few videos here and there on youtube. I can't really say/add anything at this point that everyone else hasn't already stated, so I'm going to give myself a week or two and try to write up as comprehensive of a document as I can to go over my thoughts on the game. Might upload it to youtube or something and put it over gameplay footage. If there's a place where I can find more information on the game (ATs, full character movesets, other misc. info like BKB and the difference between Vector DI and Normal) I'd love a link to it, else I'll just join the Skype group (though I don't use Skype much these days) and chat with other playtesters to gather information.

Someone in the thread previously mentioned using BetterDS3 in conjunction with their mayflash- I use my PS3 controller as well, but I'd highly advise against DS3. I used it for about 3 years in the past until I found out about the SCP Server, and I haven't looked back since. For any players currently using a PS3 controller, get rid of BetterDS3/Motioninjoy and check this out.

 

[Voodoo Moon]

Been playing the game for quite a bit, I don't feel I've been playing it long enough to give me full opinions on the game yet, however I would like to say my initial thoughts after around 6 hours of play. This is coming from someone who hasn't learned the game completely yet, so my opinion is likely to change, oh and sorry if a lot of this has been said before!

• This game is FAST, and that's awesome, plenty of combo's, all so so satisfying! I can't give my full opinion on the mechanics yet, but from the get go, very fun.

• Character design is great, everyone seems unique and different and all have a learning curves meaning putting effort into the character is a good idea.
• Music is kickin', love listening to it. Tracks are lively and suit the stage comfortably.
• Sound effects are pretty good, some don't feel like they have a true kick to them however, It would be awesome if the stronger attacks had a bit more of an oomph to them, as well as the parry sound (sometimes I don't notice I've parried/been parried).
• One thing which I got used too but still feels odd is the platforms in the game, or the surfaces you can jump under then land on. It feels odd that I can jump through from underneath but can't do back down (like how the platforms work in Smash). Probably not anything major, but I feel like this might add some more flow to the game?
• Visually, game is really cool. Love the style, everything's nicely detailed, can tell what things belong to each specific character, overall very nice off the bat. Havn't seen anything major which I have had a problem with, apart from the UI on the Pause screen not being too clear on how to Quit.

Wanted to finish with a little bit on my favourite character from this build, Wrastor!

• Really interesting, the advantage in the air is awesome, love the speed and combo potential of this character.
• All his aerials are great, They flow well into each other, plenty of combo power and have some good setups into the Smashes. One thing I don't see myself using at all however is Wrastor's Down Air, feels quite useless. The damage and knockback direction are pretty much identical to his upair, being at around 6%, sending the enemy behind you in most cases, could this be changed to make it a more unique move? Same could be done with up air of course.
• Specials are overall fine, though I feel his Neutral special isn't very practical, enemies escape it very easily and there's some lag after it's finished.

Some interesting things I've found (someone may have already found these of course):

• Side Special's passive effect also increases the distance of the Down Special and Neutral special, it's neat.
• You can cancel the Down Strong Attack by jumping in the very first frames.
  Seen here, it keeps the hitbox too, not sure if it's intended but it's useful, can cancel the charged version too!
• Canceled Strong: https:// gfycat.com/ChillyAnnualGiraffe Canceled Charged: https:// gfycat.com/IndolentBronzeGorilla

Thanks if you read this, will remove this once I get my full thoughts and everything! Hope I could be of some help in some way.

 

[RoA_Zam]

Jan 2015 RoA Alpha Build: Texture swapping tutorial!

Disclaimer: No pictures. I got a bit lazy as I wanted to get this written before I'd forget about it. Keyboard Warrior-type post incoming.

I've you've been watching the custom character textures I've been posting on this thread to show off recently, I have a surprise for you. They're not just Photoshop edits. They're actual in-game screenshots of custom textures that are fully playable and able to be edited.

No I haven't been hacking the game or anything like that. In this update, it's actually a built in feature of the game, that Dan neglected to include on how to do in the email sent out to those who received the next Alpha build of the game. So I'll be showing you how to!

General Idea behind how texture replacing in GameMaker: Studio works:

///Zetterburn colors
//Body
global.zet_colors[1,3] = 122/255;
global.zet_colors[1,4] = 90/255;
global.zet_colors[1,5] = 78/255;
//Hands
global.zet_colors[1,0] = 220/255;
global.zet_colors[1,1] = 203/255;
global.zet_colors[1,2] = 105/255;
//Body Shadow
global.zet_colors[1,7] = 84/255;
global.zet_colors[1,8] = 54/255;
global.zet_colors[1,9] = 52/255;
//Flame_Yellow
global.zet_colors[1,10] = 255/255;
global.zet_colors[1,11] = 253/255;
global.zet_colors[1,12] = 0/255;
//Flame_Orange
global.zet_colors[1,13] = 255/255;
global.zet_colors[1,14] = 107/255;
global.zet_colors[1,15] = 0/255;
//Flame_Red
global.zet_colors[1,16] = 170/255;
global.zet_colors[1,17] = 0/255;
global.zet_colors[1,18] = 0/255;

Each of the above lines of code not starting with a // represents a variable that is used for determining the color value as the game actively replaces colors on each texture, instead of having loads of sprites for every individual color value. Every set of 3 array variables represents a R G B value between 0 and 255.

Boring, right?

Every texture you're able to replace follows a pattern:

//Character comment
//color comment
R
G
B
//next color
R
G
B
//next color
etc

Reading the values is dependent on the line they're written on. So shortening the amount of lines will screw up how the game reads the file. You can edit the comments or anything to your own liking, as long as the file still has all 192 lines there in order for the 8 textures that are editable.

Certain colors are un-editable for all characters. Mainly these are black outlines, white/yellow on eyes, Wrastor's beak/feet yellow, Wrastor's goggle color grey.

You might notice that there's no indicated value in the above quote for the RGB's of the Body Shadow for Zetterburn. The reason behind this, as explained by Dan the Man himself, is:

[1/7/2015 11:23:43 PM] Dan Fornace: its based on how close the colors are to each other. i originally had more colors like that (body and body shadow) but that was not picking up correctly so i decided to swap the body color with a hard swap.
[1/7/2015 11:29:01 PM] Dan Fornace: if two colors are close enough then i can plug in 1 and just open up the tolerance a bit (so it grabs nearby colors while preserving the value of said colors on the replace)

What this means in a simple way is that as long as the values entered for Zetterburn's Hands are different enough from every other color on the texture, the shading is done automatically and wont get confused with any other colors of the texture.

Places where this occurs:

Zetterburn's in-game sprite on Hands/Face
Zetterburn's Character select portrait on Hands/Face
Kragg's Character select portrait on Skin (Turns more greenish and darker in different shades to add detail)
Orcane's in-game sprite on his "white" color
Orcane's Character select portrait on his "white" color
Wrastor's in-game sprite on Hands (wings)
Wrastor's Character select portrait on Hands (wings)

Projectiles and certain effects of moves are tied to colors:

Zetterburn Side Special is determined by the three Flame textures.
Kragg Neutral Special, Up Special, and his shell are determined by the four Rock textures.
Orcane Neutral Special and Puddle are determined by Body and Body shadow textures.
Wrastor's Specials are all determined by the two Scarf textures.

The file must be placed on your computer at the following location:

C:\Users\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether

The quickest way to get to this location is to open the Run program (search from the start menu), and type in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether and hit OK.

Once you have the file in the right spot, open up Rivals of Aether and hit the 0 (Zero) key on your keyboard. If you're hovering over the 5th or 6th slot of a character when you press 0 to update the textures, you may have to Press L or R get it to show on the character select screen. The change is not permanent, and you will have to Press 0 every type you reset the game with Q or exit out and reopen the application.

I use Gimp color picker for my RGB values, but I'd recommend a simple site like this to use for coming up with the RGB's http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/color_slider/rgb_hex_color_slider.phtml

I think that covers pretty much everything you need to know. The rest should be simple to figure out by just looking at the "colors.ini" file that I will be linking, which includes pre-made White/Purple and Black/Cyan textures for the last two texture slots on each character. You can just open it up in something simple like Notepad.

Enjoy!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ftsg8dt107bmu5r/colors.ini?dl=0

If you come up with a color design you want to see me stream with, feel free to message me and show me your designs!

 

[Boasting Toast]

I've just found a glitch, unaware if anyone else has found this, but as Kragg, if you position a pillar so that it covers the majority of a platform, then get Orcane to shoot a puddle onto the platform, the puddle will clip inside the pillar and overlap it, which is normally not possible. Teleporting to the puddle causes Orcane to get pushed to the edge of the platform. I've tested this, it is applicable on any surface, platform or not.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiutEaDjoHM

 

[likiji123]

I just started playing the new playtester build and i noticed that when you pause the character sprites (the character, effects and the small icon image) they shift (move) up one pixel, i would show you an example but i cant take screenshots

so i just figured out how to take screenshots so here's what i was talking about
NORMAL

WHEN PAUSED

also i found out a sprite issue when in the result screen for zetterburn

Notice the red part next to the belt

 

[T00nbink]

Jan 2015 RoA Alpha Build: Texture swapping tutorial!

Disclaimer: No pictures. I got a bit lazy as I wanted to get this written before I'd forget about it. Keyboard Warrior-type post incoming.

I've you've been watching the custom character textures I've been posting on this thread to show off recently, I have a surprise for you. They're not just Photoshop edits. They're actual in-game screenshots of custom textures that are fully playable and able to be edited.

No I haven't been hacking the game or anything like that. In this update, it's actually a built in feature of the game, that Dan neglected to include on how to do in the email sent out to those who received the next Alpha build of the game. So I'll be showing you how to!

General Idea behind how texture replacing in GameMaker: Studio works:


Each of the above lines of code not starting with a // represents a variable that is used for determining the color value as the game actively replaces colors on each texture, instead of having loads of sprites for every individual color value. Every set of 3 array variables represents a R G B value between 0 and 255.

Boring, right?

Every texture you're able to replace follows a pattern:

Reading the values is dependent on the line they're written on. So shortening the amount of lines will screw up how the game reads the file. You can edit the comments or anything to your own liking, as long as the file still has all 192 lines there in order for the 8 textures that are editable.

Certain colors are un-editable for all characters. Mainly these are black outlines, white/yellow on eyes, Wrastor's beak/feet yellow, Wrastor's goggle color grey.

You might notice that there's no indicated value in the above quote for the RGB's of the Body Shadow for Zetterburn. The reason behind this, as explained by Dan the Man himself, is:

[1/7/2015 11:23:43 PM] Dan Fornace: its based on how close the colors are to each other. i originally had more colors like that (body and body shadow) but that was not picking up correctly so i decided to swap the body color with a hard swap.
[1/7/2015 11:29:01 PM] Dan Fornace: if two colors are close enough then i can plug in 1 and just open up the tolerance a bit (so it grabs nearby colors while preserving the value of said colors on the replace)

What this means in a simple way is that as long as the values entered for Zetterburn's Hands are different enough from every other color on the texture, the shading is done automatically and wont get confused with any other colors of the texture.

Places where this occurs:


Projectiles and certain effects of moves are tied to colors:


The file must be placed on your computer at the following location:

C:\Users\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether

The quickest way to get to this location is to open the Run program (search from the start menu), and type in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether and hit OK.

Once you have the file in the right spot, open up Rivals of Aether and hit the 0 (Zero) key on your keyboard. If you're hovering over the 5th or 6th slot of a character when you press 0 to update the textures, you may have to Press L or R get it to show on the character select screen. The change is not permanent, and you will have to Press 0 every type you reset the game with Q or exit out and reopen the application.

I use Gimp color picker for my RGB values, but I'd recommend a simple site like this to use for coming up with the RGB's http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/color_slider/rgb_hex_color_slider.phtml

I think that covers pretty much everything you need to know. The rest should be simple to figure out by just looking at the "colors.ini" file that I will be linking, which includes pre-made White/Purple and Black/Cyan textures for the last two texture slots on each character. You can just open it up in something simple like Notepad.

Enjoy!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ftsg8dt107bmu5r/colors.ini?dl=0

If you come up with a color design you want to see me stream with, feel free to message me and show me your designs!

Thanks for taking your time to write this tutorial! I'm gonna try this for myself right now.

 

[T00nbink]

I made a monster

 

[likiji123]

Jan 2015 RoA Alpha Build: Texture swapping tutorial!

Disclaimer: No pictures. I got a bit lazy as I wanted to get this written before I'd forget about it. Keyboard Warrior-type post incoming.

I've you've been watching the custom character textures I've been posting on this thread to show off recently, I have a surprise for you. They're not just Photoshop edits. They're actual in-game screenshots of custom textures that are fully playable and able to be edited.

No I haven't been hacking the game or anything like that. In this update, it's actually a built in feature of the game, that Dan neglected to include on how to do in the email sent out to those who received the next Alpha build of the game. So I'll be showing you how to!

General Idea behind how texture replacing in GameMaker: Studio works:


Each of the above lines of code not starting with a // represents a variable that is used for determining the color value as the game actively replaces colors on each texture, instead of having loads of sprites for every individual color value. Every set of 3 array variables represents a R G B value between 0 and 255.

Boring, right?

Every texture you're able to replace follows a pattern:

Reading the values is dependent on the line they're written on. So shortening the amount of lines will screw up how the game reads the file. You can edit the comments or anything to your own liking, as long as the file still has all 192 lines there in order for the 8 textures that are editable.

Certain colors are un-editable for all characters. Mainly these are black outlines, white/yellow on eyes, Wrastor's beak/feet yellow, Wrastor's goggle color grey.

You might notice that there's no indicated value in the above quote for the RGB's of the Body Shadow for Zetterburn. The reason behind this, as explained by Dan the Man himself, is:

[1/7/2015 11:23:43 PM] Dan Fornace: its based on how close the colors are to each other. i originally had more colors like that (body and body shadow) but that was not picking up correctly so i decided to swap the body color with a hard swap.
[1/7/2015 11:29:01 PM] Dan Fornace: if two colors are close enough then i can plug in 1 and just open up the tolerance a bit (so it grabs nearby colors while preserving the value of said colors on the replace)

What this means in a simple way is that as long as the values entered for Zetterburn's Hands are different enough from every other color on the texture, the shading is done automatically and wont get confused with any other colors of the texture.

Places where this occurs:


Projectiles and certain effects of moves are tied to colors:


The file must be placed on your computer at the following location:

C:\Users\%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether

The quickest way to get to this location is to open the Run program (search from the start menu), and type in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether and hit OK.

Once you have the file in the right spot, open up Rivals of Aether and hit the 0 (Zero) key on your keyboard. If you're hovering over the 5th or 6th slot of a character when you press 0 to update the textures, you may have to Press L or R get it to show on the character select screen. The change is not permanent, and you will have to Press 0 every type you reset the game with Q or exit out and reopen the application.

I use Gimp color picker for my RGB values, but I'd recommend a simple site like this to use for coming up with the RGB's http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/color_slider/rgb_hex_color_slider.phtml

I think that covers pretty much everything you need to know. The rest should be simple to figure out by just looking at the "colors.ini" file that I will be linking, which includes pre-made White/Purple and Black/Cyan textures for the last two texture slots on each character. You can just open it up in something simple like Notepad.

Enjoy!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ftsg8dt107bmu5r/colors.ini?dl=0

If you come up with a color design you want to see me stream with, feel free to message me and show me your designs!

This is an awesome tutorial
but i cant seem to load the game file in game maker

I made a monster

Dat Blue do

 

[T00nbink]

Hey @ RoA_Zam , I think I found the real Abyss mode!

 

[Charmilio]

@ RoA_Zam

Great, now I'm gonna spend all day remaking SSBM palettes. THANKS.
EDIT: Curious, are we able to add a third, fourth, etc palette by just copying the syntax?

 

[RoA_Zam]

@ RoA_Zam

Great, now I'm gonna spend all day remaking SSBM palettes. THANKS.
EDIT: Curious, are we able to add a third, fourth, etc palette by just copying the syntax?

No. 5th and 6th colors only.

 

[Boasting Toast]

New Orcane AT I found. Unsure if already discovered. I call it "Dubble Bubble". Achieved by firing a puddle right on/next to your already existing puddle, using down B to detonate your first puddle before the second one lands, then detonating the second one right as it lands, dealing a total of 39%, 45% if you manage to hit with the first puddle + all possible bubbles. Allows for very early kill setups. It's also possible to land your second puddle on a platform above the first one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS4M4Xf3OYA

 

[Charmilio]

No. 5th and 6th colors only.

Good to know, thank you. I'll post the finished product over on the subreddit or something on Monday. Great tutorial, very easy to follow. Customization is a winning point with me so this was a pleasant surprise.

 

[CupOfTar]

Hi guys! I made some Kragg Warrior skins and thought I'd show them to you.


Here's the RGB values if you want them:

//Kragg Skin 1 (Iron)
//Rock Light
210
210
210
//Skin
94
41
0
//Rock Darkest
70
70
70
//Armor Light
230
230
230
//Armor Mid
160
160
160
//Armor Darkest
80
80
80
//Rock Second
140
140
140
//Rock Third
130
130
130

//Kragg Skin 2 (GLOD)
//Rock Light
235
215
0
//Skin
233
155
85
//Rock Darkest
235
145
0
//Armor Light
235
215
0
//Armor Mid
235
180
0
//Armor Darkest
235
150
0
//Rock Second
235
170
0
//Rock Third
235
145
0

 

[Boss N]

There should be a master post of glitches people found to prevent treading over old ground.

Speaking of which, I apologize in advance if this was already covered but hows the off-stage game? I imagine it's radically different since no there's no edge grabs

 

[JayTheUnseen]

A relative of mine's reaction to the music:

Fire Capitol: RPG music
Air Armada:Megaman Music
Rock Wall: Megaman/RPG music

I guess she liked it?

 

[Boasting Toast]

Speaking of which, I apologize in advance if this was already covered but hows the off-stage game? I imagine it's radically different since no there's no edge grabs

Offstage game is extremely volatile. The lack of ledges leaves very little room for error, one right/wrong move can be the entire stock for either player, but at the same time you don't go into freefall after airdodging, allowing for an incredibly interesting new offstage game.

 

[[TSON]]

good lord the stages in this game are adorable

 

[ItsRainingGravy]

I decided to make an original character concept of my own over at reddit!

http://www.reddit.com/r/RivalsOfAether/comments/2tn2hv/fan_character_concept_silverback_the_metal/

Silverback, the Gorilla King with metal powers! I am open to suggestions, comments, criticisms, buff/nerf ideas, and more for the character! However, to keep the Smashboards RoA topic mostly about the actual game/balancing and playtesting RoA, send your comments to me via reddit or Skype!


I plan on doing more matchup data sometime soon, hopefully. Been kind of busy recently so I haven't had the chance to. Sorry about that!

 

[SmashChu]

Smash Brother's Melee is a competitive fighter. Melee did not splinter the fan-base. i.e. Gameplay physics and input options that make for a strong competitive game do not detract from the casual experience.

Casual players like Smash because 4 player free-for-all and items that really mix up the game play.

Further, there are things that you can do, outside of nerfing the game's physics and input options, to keep both types of players happy. The "omega" versions of stages that Nintendo introduced in Sm4sh is a perfect example of that.

You can't think that everyone is on their own island. Decisions the designs make in how they make their game effects everyone who plays it and it will detract players. Look at the Street Fighter series. As time went on, the games became more and more complicated. Sure, you could easily say "Oh, all this stuff doesn't affect 'casual' players. They'll just spam hadokens anyway." Unfortunately, Street Fighter has sold less and less. This is why it took about 10 years for 4 to come out. If you make the game focused on combos (i.e. how the player is suppose to play the game), then it will get unfun unless you dedicate a lot of time to it. I can tell you a lot of people don't have time to invest in a video game, so making the skill ceiling higher and higher only helps a small minority of players. Removing barriers is more inclusive.

Again, this is all talking about sales. If you don't care, then it doesn't matter what you make. But if you want to sell, it's best to make the game accessible. Remember: Smash became a success because it was easy to pick up and play. The game design a lot of Smashboard people want is not that.

 

[Puppyfaic]

I get that it's only in Alpha right now, but RoA feels very lifeless as it is. The characters ... don't actually feel like "characters". Just a jumble of pixels that you can make do things. Which, I get that's what they are, but some sort of connectivity between the player and their character is a must for almost any game.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel like voice acting could provide a much-needed boost to RoA in the future. Especially if you plan on having a Story Mode.

 

[Boasting Toast]

I get that it's only in Alpha right now, but RoA feels very lifeless as it is. The characters ... don't actually feel like "characters". Just a jumble of pixels that you can make do things. Which, I get that's what they are, but some sort of connectivity between the player and their character is a must for almost any game.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel like voice acting could provide a much-needed boost to RoA in the future. Especially if you plan on having a Story Mode.

When I first started reading this, I disagreed heavily, but the more I think about it, the more I agree. While I love this game with a burning passion, and adore everything about the gameplay, it does feel a little empty, as far as the characters go. I feel as if voice acting would do a great job at fixing that. I also think the characters need a little bit different physics from eachother, their movement and tech skill all feels the same, which does allow for an easier transition from character to character, but they all feel a little too similar. Maybe longer/shorter jumpsquat, more/less friction, maybe some faster falling on Zetter to make him similar to how the space animals feel.

 

[4nace]

Voice Acting is sadly a bit out of our scope
We do plan on a story mode but there won't be any voice acting in it.

Also while trying to record footage this weekend, my brother and I ran into an old Zetterburn bug that used to plague the game terribly. I thought I had fixed it. The bug is that people can get hit out of a strong attack and the burn won't consume. I fixed it in one way and thought it was gone. But on all 3 strong attacks, if you get hit by the the attack on the last frame the hitbox is out, it would not consume because the recovery window beginning would override the consume.

So I finally fixed that issue by extending the attack window one frame without increasing the hitbox time. I think this should fix it for all of his strong attack directions. For those who are playtesters, the build is updated with a 1.25.15 date on the same link that was sent out via email.

I haven't had a chance to review the bugs listed here but keep them coming. I will be doing a pass in a month or 2 after getting more content in.

-Dan

 

[Boasting Toast]

New bug find. If Kragg throws a rock at another Kragg while he's using his side B, it hits multiple times before breaking, but if you throw it at him while he's rolling under the crates on the Fire Capitol stage, the rock freezes in midair, and Kragg freezes in his ball until you cancel it. I'll screw around with this and get some footage in the morning.

 

[ItsRainingGravy]

I get that it's only in Alpha right now, but RoA feels very lifeless as it is. The characters ... don't actually feel like "characters". Just a jumble of pixels that you can make do things. Which, I get that's what they are, but some sort of connectivity between the player and their character is a must for almost any game.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel like voice acting could provide a much-needed boost to RoA in the future. Especially if you plan on having a Story Mode.

Voice Acting is sadly a bit out of our scope
We do plan on a story mode but there won't be any voice acting in it.

-Dan

One thing that could possibly be done to make the characters feel more life-like, in the final product of the game, is to add achievements and unlockables that can be obtained either by playing through story mode with the different characters, getting a specific combo number in training mode, or various other means.


Example: Unlockable "comic book" pages. The more you play a specific character, the more pages you unlock for their specific "comic book". Which could go further into detail about a character's backstory (things that story mode wouldn't be able to cover), their lore, personality, how they obtained their powers/fighting styles, why they chose to fight, things they do whenever they aren't fighting such as their personal lives, more emphasis and detail about the places where they live and the people that inhabit those places, their culture in general, concept sprites/art/data that didn't make it into the finished product of the game, and more. These comic book pages could have a sprite/drawn picture on one side of the page, while having text explaining said picture on the other side of the page as you "flip" through them.

You could even go into further detail, such as how one character things about another character/why they fight them/if they hate them or like them/what they think about their fighting style/etc. Or, during story mode, having specific Rival Matches in which a rival opponent would be designated to the character you play as, either as the final battle or the second-to-last battle. Such as Zetterburn vs Orcane and Wrastor vs Kragg, though I feel as though the "Rival Matches" part is already planned lol

Or heck, have a comic book going through the whole story of Rivals of Aether in general, and why there is currently so much conflict and why the characters are fighting to begin with. Though this could also be explained in story mode (and probably will be), having more unlockables would not only tell the player more about the lore/characters, but would also make them feel rewarded and therefore possibly more interested in discovering more. And, hopefully, wanting more in the future.


The best part about the comic book idea? It would be easy to make, and implement without having to do much with the characters themselves. But yeah, this is just one possible idea that could be done to give the characters more life to them. I am pretty sure other cool ideas could be made if we think creatively!

 

[Boss N]

Are there taunts in the game yet? That could be something to add a bit of personality to the characters

 

[Boasting Toast]

Are there taunts in the game yet? That could be something to add a bit of personality to the characters

I wish. I'm sick of attempting to taunt every time I get an amazing kill, for my character to do nothing.

 

[Boss N]

Im sorry, I'm truly and sincerely sorry for double posting but I can't contain my excitement cuz I GOT THE GAME!!!
Gonna try to get this bad boy to work after classes

 

[Boss N]

So Dan, is voice acting out of the question because that would be too much data or because you don't have the budget to hire anyone? I can offer my talents for free, I've been in numerous play productions, made films and doing voice acting in my own game project. Not much of a resume I know but I can also send ya a scratch tape if needed.

 

[SgtFunShinebear]

I've had this game for roughly a week now, and I'm obsessed with it. I love all of the characters, I love the art, I love the free flowing combat, and I love the stages. I've played the game with my roommates constantly, and I'm going to be taking my WHOLE DESKTOP to locals tonight to stream a Rivals side event during our smash night. I'm streaming the game all the time, and I'll soon be producing video guides for each character, as well as game guides to discuss the mechanical differences. Now, with all of this being said, I want to call attention to something that's been bugging me.

Zetterburn is a fantastic character, especially for me as a post Project M Wolf player. He's the character I recommend to smash players who just want to feel out the mechanics. Indeed within the first week he seems to be the most powerful character, but I think I have a reason for this: While the other characters are very mechanically interesting, and require exploring, Zetterburn is very pick up and play, his mechanic being almost passive.

I don't dislike this about Zetterburn, in fact I think it's wonderful, but I think that Zetterburn needs SOME sort of interaction with his mechanic in order to open him up to more interesting and diverse gameplay. My suggestion: give one of his moves a "detonate" ability. Extra knock-back when hitting an ignited opponent. The first thing that comes to mind is b-air.

I suggest B-air because as of right now, I'm using the move very little. There are far better ways to ignite an opponent, the hitbox on B-air is one of his smallest, and smash players will already be familiar with the concept of B-air being used to knock the opponent a significant distance away as it's a pretty common theme in smash. What are your thoughts/suggestions with this?

 

[SgtFunShinebear]

As a side note, I don't have the means to properly test it right this moment, but can you just short hop, d-air on Orcane repeatedly, or does the opponent have a way of getting out?