Rivals of Aether - Official Thread

[RoA_Zam]

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?

Chrome is stupid. It falsely labels many things as malicious. The same happened for me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the file.

 

[DrMister]

Same here. Internet Explorer worked perfectly! I really liked the random button since I first tried it out, especially since I never use the same character twice. Also, I'd like to say ILOOMINOOTI. That is all.

 

[Boss N]

So I probobly will never get a play tester build, so I'll just creep on everyone's streams

Now this is purely from a spectator's view, but watching Sethlon & Hylian's stream, something seems off with the UI, like the icons on the bottom. I get they're designed to try and compartmentalize as much info about the fighters in a small space, but them seem a bit too small, they're tiny compared to the largeness of the stage and screen so they seem way out of the way when they should be easy to glance over and know exactly what you need to know in milliseconds. It's like everything else on screen is trying to squish the player icons off the TV.

Speaking of which, I found myself staring at the % meter much longer than I would in smash. Only for 1 second, but in a game that's supposed to be really faced pace we all know how much of a difference that 1 second can make, and even if you're watching you might miss something amazing just trying to understand where they are health wise.

I realize that the reason why you can still quickly glance at a % meter in smash bros is because the numbers are color coded and change hue as they rise. That's how I know I'm still at a healthy percent, not because I memorize the exact range but because my numbers are still whitish, (or yellowish in Sm4SH) and if my numbers start going red that's how I know I should be more careful. And that goes for my opponent as well, I keep an eye out for when he starts going red instead of calculating how much damage i need to do before he gets to kill percentage.

For a lot of people, we're not mathematical thinkers, and not all smashers are going to be relying on frame data or whuzzits, a lot of us rely more on visual ques, and having something as simple as colored numbers really helps make a difference.
I don't know how hard something like that would be to code, or if Dan is already in the process but just something I'd thought I contribute (or maybe I'm just johning like a *****)

Anyways I think I'll leave this neat little video for everyone, not for dan cuz I know he's better at this game makin thing than I am but for everyone else while on the subject of UI design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cchlIyO_IU

 

[JayTheUnseen]

The new music is stellar.I probably won't be able to comment on the balance changes for a few days,though.

 

[Yurya]

Chrome is stupid. It falsely labels many things as malicious. The same happened for me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the file.

Same here. Internet Explorer worked perfectly! I really liked the random button since I first tried it out, especially since I never use the same character twice. Also, I'd like to say ILOOMINOOTI. That is all.

All this talk about browsers and nobody mentions the great Mozilla! /s

In the little I've played of the newest one: Love the music, UI improvements are all pluses and that up-b reversal KO with Wrastor I got was so satisfying. In general play felt better and I liked a lot of what I saw on the change-log as well. More feedback to come...

 

[Streetwize]

Sorry I haven't been posting on this thread. I'll keep trying to test when I get time, but as I stated on the Skype group my laptop's battery shorted out so I can't go anywhere with it anymore until I get my external battery.

I'll start planning a little video tutorial soon on CC'ing if that has been finalized. So far it seems jabs and overall weak hits can do an infinite amount of punishment. I'm liking how easy it is to hit out of crouching otherwize.

 

[4nace]

@ Boss N ,

Did you apply already? PM me your email. I am trying to make sure those active on the forums are sent the build.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Puppyfaic]

Music really does help make a game.
This build just got 100x more funner. Orcane's bubbles are really abusable, at least against the AI, lol. Shorthop forward airs can lead to near-infinite combos eventually ending in a solid up or back-air.

So, question: What are you going to do with this game's OST? Is it going to be sold? Or is the music going to be provided for free? Or what? Because some of these tracks(namely Wrastor's theme) are absolutely incredible.

 

[JCOnyx]

Flashygoodness usually puts his works up for sale, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a little RoA OST going up sometime after the release.

 

[spykes_fox]

As a disclaimer I want to start off by saying that I have not read through all of the forum posts, so some of this might be repeat information.

The Good (what works well)
1. Hits feel satisfying (juicy combos). Finishers feel amazing to hit (Zetterburn's down b is sick)
2. Early experimentation with the 3 di styles shows a lot of promise for each
3. The combo system can be technical and flashy, but without having to worry about extra inputs like l-canceling novice plays can still put together a two or three hit combo
4. Recovery without a ledge is surprisingly a lot of fun, especially Zetterburn's multipart recovery mixups (up-b cancel any direction into up-b into wall-jump up-b)
5. The effect used in the selection of cpu character is really cute. For easier readability though, maybe a hover-over animation for the cursor

The Bad (what feels janky and possibly limiting to competitive depth)
1. HUD: Readability is everything for the in-game HUD. In melee you can take one quick look at the number of heads to know stock count. In RoA you have to hunt for a number (I understand that the layout is unfamiliar and will become more natural the longer), but the boxes seem to contain too much information). The information is a little arbitrary, too. For instance, it lets you know if you have an airdodge, but not if you have a wall jump. Confining the HUD to the black bar at the bottom of the screen forces the information to be laid out horizontally, but if it were done floating (think smash style) you could vertically orient the life count and damage in the center of the visual
2. Vertical KO's feel unnatural since there is very little space off screen above.
3. Knock back scaling on certain moves need to be improved (characters seem either reliant on vertical ko's comboing near the top and a handful of grounded ko moves amongst the cast)
4. PLEASE allow the special button to also act as BACK
5. Getting spiked by Zetter's up-b is a little dumb, but we're living

The Ugly (glitchy weird stuff)
1. Can't toggle on full screen when paused (toggle to windowed mode while paused is not an issue)
2. 3 player game crashed and came back on with 1p fighting 3 cpu's (working on recreating this)

The Nitpicky (things I think are erroneous)
1. Attack sounds don't stop when you pause (the sound continues to play for a short time)
2. Menu's are very slow (cursor speed) + you can't interact with it with a mouse
3. Understanding the need to not have an instant respawn, I would rather have an animation play for reerntering the stage (even somtething as simple as fading in onto the platform) that I know I cannot cancel instead of making the character wait on a platform stuck
4. Running and stopping doesn't slide much at all making the game feel less fluid (sort of)
5. Random stage is not default (can't mash start to start a match)

 

[T00nbink]

I made a small video showing of my playtime with Wrastor in this build. (I only played for 1 hour so not much footage). I just wanted to make a video so that is why I made it.

 

[Natethepipkin]

Hi I am a play tester and let me just say that Orcane's mechanics are the most original I've ever seen. Not only is each character unique and bring something new to the table, but there does not seem to be a single over powered player. I play with a 360 controller and the game plays flawlessly so far. I invited my friends over and we had amazing times and we came to the conclusion that this game could be on the same level as smash itself. Thanks 4nace for being an inspiration and bringing this marvel to the world of gaming. More feedback on the way!!!

 

[T00nbink]

Umh... Am I the only one who thinks the sound effect from Zetterburn Dair sounds a little bit... Weird? Or is that just me?

 

[Puppyfaic]

I agree with the HUD complaints @ S spykes_fox stated. I can't really add much to say, but just that I second it. However, I do like the "black bar at the bottom of the screen" approach; I just think it could be done better.

 

[MrTurner]

The new music and sound effects are godlike. (Rock Wall and Air Armada music Kreygasm )

Rip Kragg's Rock, you will be missed by some maybe.

I'm really liking the new Wrastor changes, especially the knockback scaling change and the Strong Attack change. It makes his attack link in more fluidly and less automatically, and finally his finishers feel less wonky.

Don't see anything to complain about except for the reduced knockback for Zetter's Fire Smashes, but those were kinda silly anyways and I see why they're gone

 

[Puppyfaic]

With music finally in place, and balance reaching a point I am happy with, I can honestly say I have no complaints about this game, minus the UI. The % just needs some sort of indicator for when someone is getting hit. It shouldn't just rise up without a graphical effect; there's nothing to draw the player's attention otherwise.

Other than that, I am 100% happy with how this game is turning out. Keep it up, Dan. This will definitely be a day 1 purchase from me.

TBH though I'm kind of sad that the music for Air Armada was just a stage theme. I was hoping it would actually be RoA's main theme, because GODDAMN IT'S SO GOOD

 

[Xanthus]

Loving it so far! I like the varied sound effects now :>

BUG: Red Team Doesn't seem to get crowns for winning. edit: Sometimes the blue team. Seemed like i had to remove / add players for one team to register properly

 

[PabloTheDinamic]

Already sent my application. I'm nervous and hyped at the same high level!

 

[Kasado-Bit]

Okay, so I've played around with RoA for a little while. Here are some of my general thoughts on what I played. Bear in mind that I'm not a competitive gamer, so take these comments for what they are.

Zetterburn's my favorite character so far. And I'm not just saying that because his moveset is almost identical to one of my favorite Brawl characters and that fire's my favorite element...okay maybe it is. But the fire mechanic itself is really well executed. I find it a bit odd that Zetter's back-air burns the opponent, though. I was under the impression that his special moves were the only way to set someone on fire. Not that I'm against it or anything, but it just seems odd.

If you have a default setting for the controls, why is it automatically set to veteran? I can adapt to a new control scheme. It's what I've been using to play the game.

I still need to get used to the parry system. It feels like a mix between the counters and spot-dodges in Smash Bros, and also kind of like combo breakers in Killer Instinct, if that makes any sense. It's a really neat mechanic, to be sure. Also, wavedashing is MUCH easier in this game than in Smash Bros. And by easier, I mean that I can actually wavedash. Still need to figure out what I can do with it.

Orcane and Kragg's recovery moves are ridiculous. Orcane's is a little more risky if you aren't careful, but Kragg seems to be kinda broken. They're unlike anything I've seen in Smash Bros, so they're really cool.

I like how Wrastor can charge up Smash attacks in mid-air, taking Robin's mid-air Smash thing to its logical conclusion. His side special (which I'm just going to call the Windy Thing) is a neat way to give him some more ground movement. I'm not really feeling his up special, though. Maybe you could give him a move that functions kinda like Robin's up special, where he flaps downward and shoots a big gust of wind beneath him? It'd be a pretty effective spiking move, too.

The music is pretty damn good in all three stages. Can't wait to hear what the menu track will be like. Also, what's the plan for voice acting in this game? Is it just going to be an announcer VO, or will the characters have voiced attacks?

One thing I noticed is that all the characters thus far are dudes. Any chance that there are going to be some female characters in this game? I don't want the game to be a sausage-fest here.

That's all I can think of right now. I'll try to get this build to a local Smash Bros tournament here in Charlottesville as soon as I can so that I can get some better feedback.

 

[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

Also i love the addition of the info button and the music and hit SFX sound great :D

 

[PoTheDragonSlayer]

Well, submitted my playtester application, here's hoping I have a chance to play it! The game looks amazing by the way. I love how you're able to manipulate the battlefield a lot more than other smash games. I'd love to start playing and giving feedback. Keep up the awesome work guys!

 

[RoA_Zam]

I'll be working on replicating any glitches and compiling a list of bugs/glitches and ideas for improvement of the game for easy access for Dan the Man. As more come along, please be as specific as you can with describing them, or provide image or video evidence to support the description.

And playing the game of course. I think my stream date will be set on Wednesdays since Monday's are for going to xanthus' place, and since other days will be used to do HW/see gf and all that. I have a rather reliable stream setup and a ton of people now who could play with me. I think Dan will start advertising my streams on Twitter now too, so go follow me and him (@ Zetterburn & @ danfornace) to keep updated. If for some reason I can't stream on a given day, I'll try to notify in advance on Twitter & Skype and also try to make a YT video to make up for it since I still play daily regardless of whether I stream or not.

Another reminder to anyone: We have a Skype group for Rivals of Aether! if you'd like to be added to it, please add me on Skype (@ clay.redmon) and then you can begin chatting with others about the game or make new friends! We encourage anyone to be able to join provided you respect other members.

Lastly: I hope you all enjoy the new update. I'll be making a video or a text post soon regarding a hidden feature that's programmed into the January update. If you've seen my stream you should already know what that is. You all will enjoy it

Play on, my friends!

 

[likiji123]

I'll be making a video or a text post soon regarding a hidden feature that's programmed into the January update. If you've seen my stream you should already know what that is. You all will enjoy it

WAIT WHAT
Would it happen to connect to the fact that there's 2 random locked slots on the character select or something else
Now i'm really exited to find out what this hidden feature is and i kinda want to see it now
Hopefully its not something disappointing.................

 

[T00nbink]

WAIT WHAT
Would it happen to connect to the fact that there's 2 random locked slots on the character select or something else
Now i'm really exited to find out what this hidden feature is and i kinda want to see it now
Hopefully its not something disappointing.................

Well, I was watching his stream and it is something really cool what the community has been asking for! Can't wait to see how he did it.

 

[RoA_Zam]

So, question: What are you going to do with this game's OST? Is it going to be sold? Or is the music going to be provided for free? Or what? Because some of these tracks(namely Wrastor's theme) are absolutely incredible.

I can't answer about the music being for sale or not, but what I can say is that the music is always subject to change at any point. So people shouldn't start to upload the tracks yet or anything unless they specify that it's from the ALPHA version.

I find it a bit odd that Zetter's back-air burns the opponent, though. I was under the impression that his special moves were the only way to set someone on fire.

If you have a default setting for the controls, why is it automatically set to veteran? I can adapt to a new control scheme. It's what I've been using to play the game.

I still need to get used to the parry system. It feels like a mix between the counters and spot-dodges in Smash Bros, and also kind of like combo breakers in Killer Instinct, if that makes any sense. It's a really neat mechanic, to be sure. Also, wavedashing is MUCH easier in this game than in Smash Bros. And by easier, I mean that I can actually wavedash. Still need to figure out what I can do with it.

Orcane and Kragg's recovery moves are ridiculous. Orcane's is a little more risky if you aren't careful, but Kragg seems to be kinda broken. They're unlike anything I've seen in Smash Bros, so they're really cool.

The music is pretty damn good in all three stages. Can't wait to hear what the menu track will be like. Also, what's the plan for voice acting in this game? Is it just going to be an announcer VO, or will the characters have voiced attacks?

One thing I noticed is that all the characters thus far are dudes. Any chance that there are going to be some female characters in this game? I don't want the game to be a sausage-fest here.

His back air swings his tail. His tail has a fire on it. It makes perfect sense to me. The range on it is something that's not abusable though.

Parrying is fun. And wavedashing is super easy in this game. I'd encourage anyone to learn how to use it.

Orcane's recovery isn't too good. If you're a Kragg and you know that the orcane HAS to use a puddle then you can just charge a forward strong attack. And you always have to be sure to have a puddle on the field. That's very important to Orcane play I think.

I personally think the game is fine with no voice acting but that's my opinion haha.

Not all of them will be male as far as Dan has shown me. The 5th character will be male, but the last 3 are up for debate.

 

[CupOfTar]

Hi! I've been playing the playtesting build for a bit (Thanks Dan for accepting me!) and i seem to have found a minor bug.
If you destroy one of Kraggs Up-B's, which Orcane's puddle was on, the puddle sometimes just floats around there! (Up-B-ing as Orcane when the puddle is floating just teleports you there and nothing special really happens)

So I tested around a bit and it seems to have to do with the background of the stage. It only seemed to happen if Kragg's Up-B is placed in front of the pillars on "The Rock Wall" (It works on both the "Aether" and the basic version.)
However, I tested it on the other stages as well and it does definitely seem to have to do with the background, as it also works in front of the crates on "Fire Capitol"

Pictures!:

Sorry if this is already known!

 

[TheHorniestLobster]

Normally when I do testing for games, the feedback I provide is to fix or change things. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find really anything I think needed changing, so my feedback thus far has been pretty limited. So, I am going to make a post about all the things I like about RoA so far, as positive feedback is just as important.

Background:

At the time of this post, I've been playing Melee competitively for a little over a year. I also play 64 and PM casually on the side, and Smash 4 when I have more than three friends over.

As far as RoA goes, I've played about 20 hours worth of matches with competitive Melee/PM players, about two hours with my friends who are casually into Smash, and I've spent about 5 hours 'in the lab' finding/practicing combos, practicing tech, and studying hitboxes/frame data (with one of the people I usually play with).

Feedback:

• I know its low hanging fruit, and a lot of people say it, but the characters in this game are incredibly unique. A problem with some fighting games (Like Smash and Street fighter, for example) is that to someone new to the game can assume that characters are basically the same. (Ryu, Ken, Mario, Dr. Mario, Luigi, you get the idea). Having a small, super unique roster is a huge plus side. If you can manage to push out a few more unique characters it'll be a great roster.
• The balance of the game (so far) is interesting and enjoyable. It reminds me of a combination of 64 (the impressive yet not incredibly difficult combo game every character has) and Melee (the quick and diverse movement options).
• The lack of ledges turned me off at first, but after getting use to the game I loved it. When I play Smash I love watching people go off ledge for a nice knee, spike, or something disrespectful. While I don't have a problem with people grabbing the ledge, its definitely more fun to see people go off. If you want to edge guard in RoA, you have to edge guard or react (sometimes both) and its really rewarding. On the flip side, recovery is also fun. You have tools to mix up your recovery (air dodge, wall jump, alternate recovery moves).
• The three (four if you include the stage in the August build) are all simple (we really only play on Basic mode) but different, and that's a good thing. My biggest problem with Smash 4 is that there are a lot of really fun stages, but really only two stages that make sense (to me) in a competitive setting. Having the platforms with variable heights, lengths, position, all that junk makes stage choice important, while still keeping it 'consistent'.
• The music in the new build is incredible! Keep the fast pace style!
• As far as the toggles for wall jumping and DI type goes, I enjoy the default settings for both.
• I love being able to see hitboxes and slow the frames down, I hope this feature carries over to the main game.
• In the latest build, if you attack someone with an aerial and get parries you become helpless and fall straight down. This is interesting, as it means a Kragg can just camp far out, and it makes it harder to go take care of it. Not a huge deal, just something to consider.

TL;DR

• characters are unique, keep following this trend.
• Balance is fun, combo heavy, and fast. No one seems broken yet. Keeping a small roster will hopefully keep it this way.
• edge game is really different to get use to, but once you do it becomes very rewarding to both recover and to edge guard. Love it without ledges!
• Stages are sweet. Glad to see the "omega versions" aren't just final destination. Keep up this trend!
• Music = bueno!
• Keep wall jumping on and default DI for the future
• Keep hitbox and 10fps toggle in for release.

Other:

While studying how parry stun works we found something interesting out. It's one of those things where we couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

If you are attacking an opponent with an attack that has low ending lag (a jab for example) or you can jump cancel(Zetterburn's Shine) and they parry it, and then you jump, you don't get the effect of the parry. For a technical Zetterburn, this basically lets him wave shine with relatively low risk, as if he gets parried he just jumps, wave dashes, and shines again while his opponent is stuck in the parry animation.

Thank you for the opportunity to test RoA. It has been a lot of fun over the last couple months, and I look forward to continue testing the game.

To show case the game, and to provide information for those who are not as fortunate to test the game, I plan on streaming and uploading to youtube sets, hitbox information, etc. I'll post that on the subreddit though.

Best of luck with development, and keep up the great work!

 

[RoA_Zam]

Hi! I've been playing the playtesting build for a bit (Thanks Dan for accepting me!) and i seem to have found a minor bug.
If you destroy one of Kraggs Up-B's, which Orcane's puddle was on, the puddle sometimes just floats around there! (Up-B-ing as Orcane when the puddle is floating just teleports you there and nothing special really happens)

So I tested around a bit and it seems to have to do with the background of the stage. It only seemed to happen if Kragg's Up-B is placed in front of the pillars on "The Rock Wall" (It works on both the "Aether" and the basic version.)
However, I tested it on the other stages as well and it does definitely seem to have to do with the background, as it also works in front of the crates on "Fire Capitol"

Pictures!:

Sorry if this is already known!

Technically it is, AND isnt known. The same exact thing happens with Kraggs rock, which me and Xanthus had figured out in the past. So theoretically it should have been the exact same for orcane but we never thought to test it. Nice find! Adding it to my list of bugs found in the game...

 

[Boasting Toast]

I'm having a few issues ATM
I was recently accepted into the playtesting team (Thank you very much, Dan), and I've been trying to use my Mayflash Gamecube USB Adapter. At first I would press F5 and both cursers would just go straight to the bottom right, not picking up any inputs, until I went to my Game Controllers settings in the Control Panel, hit advanced and chose the 2nd USB Gamepad. Now, only the inputs for player 1 are being picked up, no matter which USB Gamepad I change the settings for. I've been screwing around with the USB Gamepad settings for 40 minutes and can't get anything to work for player 2. Any ideas on how I can solve this?
The few matches I've played against a CPU have been phenomenal, great feel to the game.

 

[CupOfTar]

Technically it is, AND isnt known. The same exact thing happens with Kraggs rock, which me and Xanthus had figured out in the past. So theoretically it should have been the exact same for orcane but we never thought to test it. Nice find! Adding it to my list of bugs found in the game...

Feels good to know that I'm helping! Also just wanted to confirm that this works on Zetterburns down-b fire as well.

 

[CaptainCrisb]

Ugh, I still need to get my controller to work, it's been acting up on me lately

 

[PabloTheDinamic]

I'm sorry, but, already sent a message for applying as a playtester (with the 200 words in the body), but then checked the ''frontage post'' mentioned here:

Apply by emailing us here. In the subject line, put your 'Playtester Application - Your Smash Tag' then in the body explain in 200 words or less why you are the perfect fit to be a playtester. If you already applied through our frontpage post then you are still on our list as we increase our numbers but feel free to re-apply and explain why you are the perfect fit.

And in the frontage post, is mentioned to awnser some questions in the mail...

Spoiler: Questions

In your application, please answer these questions:

• Name:
• Smash Tag:
• Preferred Smash Game: (64, Melee, Brawl, PM, Flash2, etc.)
• Years Playing:
• Favorite Character(s): (Max 3)
• Tournament Experience: (Never Gone, Local, Regional, National - Pools, Bracket, Top 16, Top 8, Top 4)
• Number of Opponents: (The number of local friends/family/roommates that you can playtest with)
• Previous Betas: (List any other games that you playtested or played in alpha/beta. Could be an MMO, Indie Game, MOBA, etc.)

You also need at least two Xinput controllers that you can use on PC to apply. These could be Xbox 360 Controllers, Dualshock 4 controllers or Dualshock 3 controllers.

But I sent a message with just the 200 words and didn't contained the questions... do I have to send a new one?

Sorry if I said something wrong.. I'm mexican....

 

[Streetwize]

I'm having a few issues ATM
I was recently accepted into the playtesting team (Thank you very much, Dan), and I've been trying to use my Mayflash Gamecube USB Adapter. At first I would press F5 and both cursers would just go straight to the bottom right, not picking up any inputs, until I went to my Game Controllers settings in the Control Panel, hit advanced and chose the 2nd USB Gamepad. Now, only the inputs for player 1 are being picked up, no matter which USB Gamepad I change the settings for. I've been screwing around with the USB Gamepad settings for 40 minutes and can't get anything to work for player 2. Any ideas on how I can solve this?

Had this issue myself with the two-controller adapter. I have two of them so I initially thought it was something wrong with the adapters. Even trying to plug in both adapters only makes one of them register, and it registers only one controller. Keep in mind that Xinput support is not exactly an intended feature of GameMaker Studio, so it will be problematic.
From my experience, my PS3 controller still registers Dinput when using BetterDS3 to make it Xinput. Both a GC and a PS3 controller will work together that way. There's still the two-controller limit though.

 

[Boasting Toast]

Had this issue myself with the two-controller adapter. I have two of them so I initially thought it was something wrong with the adapters. Even trying to plug in both adapters only makes one of them register, and it registers only one controller. Keep in mind that Xinput support is not exactly an intended feature of GameMaker Studio, so it will be problematic.
From my experience, my PS3 controller still registers Dinput when using BetterDS3 to make it Xinput. Both a GC and a PS3 controller will work together that way. There's still the two-controller limit though.

I see. That's rather depressing, gonna be hard to find anyone willing to use something other than a GC controller. If I can't find a fix, I'll see if I can figure something else out.

So far, playing CPUs, nothing interesting to report in the build other than the fact that this game is godlike. Have yet to play against another human being, I'll get as many comments/questions/concerns as possible.

 

[Sol_Vent]

Alright, so I've been playing this for a while now, and to get this out of the way: heyit'sgreatit'sawesometotallyamazingyeahyeahyeah. It scarcely needs to be said at this point.

Zetterburn is super easy to pick up. My Zetter grew miles ahead of the other three characters the moment I grasped the basics, not that the others didn't catch up.

Kragg is probably my least favorite rival, not that that's saying much. He flows pretty well, and is also fairly easy to pick up. Just doesn't suit my tastes as a player, but the fact that I'm saying that about a character that's this much fun says a lot.

I can't decide whether Orcane or Wrastor is my favorite. I love me some good air speed, but I do enjoy the setups... From the other side though, there is something about Wrastor that I think could be more transparent.

His side-b still looks dangerous when it's been clanked with. If anything, the dark coloration makes it look more so. Maybe lowering its opacity would work better? I'm not sure. Maybe it would be better if the whirlwind disappeared and the rest of the wind stream faded in all at once.

Also, I really appreciate not having to mash anything ever. I've always disliked that in games.

That's all for this time. I'll be trying to find more opponents over the weekend, so hopefully I can continue to get a better feel for the game. Huzzah!

 

[Cubelarooso]

This looks really awesome! I hope to see this game supported by Smash events and sites in the future.

I'd like to propose, though, if the game did not use "%" to symbolize damage. I've always had a problem with its usage, and it's prone to confusion:
"Percent of what? What happens when I reach 100%?"
"I'm over 100%? How is that possible?"
"Charging a Smash attack increases its damage by about 40%, while staling can reduce it by up to 10%."
etc.
Plus, it's sort of a Super Smash Brothers hallmark, and not using it could help with RoA's image as a "real" game, as opposed to "just" a fan-game (like SSF) or an incompetent knock-off (like Punch Time Explosion).

As alternatives, "D", "DAM", "DMG", or "Damage" could be used to represent damage. Or some acronym could be made up, like "DP" for "Damage Points" or "KBF" for "Knockback Factor" or "BB" for "Boo-Boos."
Or the space could be filled with some other random symbol with less significance, such as "!" to encourage excitement (maybe with more at higher damage, or "." at lower), or "#" to represent the "pounding" one's taking by way of expressing damage as a "number," or ">" combined with a horizontal sliding graphic when damage increases, or some new symbol that is lore-related or character-specific.
Or it could just have a vertical bar next to it that grows and changes colors.

Regardless, I'll be following this, and intend to get it on its full release!

 

[CaptainCrisb]

This looks really awesome! I hope to see this game supported by Smash events and sites in the future.

I'd like to propose, though, if the game did not use "%" to symbolize damage. I've always had a problem with its usage, and it's prone to confusion:
"Percent of what? What happens when I reach 100%?"
"I'm over 100%? How is that possible?"
"Charging a Smash attack increases its damage by about 40%, while staling can reduce it by up to 10%."
etc.
Plus, it's sort of a Super Smash Brothers hallmark, and not using it could help with RoA's image as a "real" game, as opposed to "just" a fan-game (like SSF) or an incompetent knock-off (like Punch Time Explosion).

As alternatives, "D", "DAM", "DMG", or "Damage" could be used to represent damage. Or some acronym could be made up, like "DP" for "Damage Points" or "KBF" for "Knockback Factor" or "BB" for "Boo-Boos."
Or the space could be filled with some other random symbol with less significance, such as "!" to encourage excitement (maybe with more at higher damage, or "." at lower), or "#" to represent the "pounding" one's taking by way of expressing damage as a "number," or ">" combined with a horizontal sliding graphic when damage increases, or some new symbol that is lore-related or character-specific.
Or it could just have a vertical bar next to it that grows and changes colors.

Regardless, I'll be following this, and intend to get it on its full release!

I agree with this so much. When I first played smash, the percentage thing was so confusing, and I think if you were to change it, it'd make a lot more sense for newer players

 

[Conradical]

Hello Dan,
I am a playtester for your game (as you may or may not know) and I found a couple of glitches (two to be exact). The first one happens in the stage: The Rock Wall. When Kragg uses his up-special when one of the pillars are broken (in the middle), his up-special stays there. The second one involves Orcane. When you hit him while he uses his neutral special, he can sometimes have two puddles at the same time. I hope this helped and here is a video showcasing both glitches (I couldn't find a website to store them): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UCzk2TylZc&feature=youtu.be
Sincerely,
Conradical

 

[FadeAmmo]

Man , I didnt get it...
Well,waiting a month and thats what happens.
Guess ill just be poking on the thread

 

[Paquito]

Now, more importantly, is do you plan to sell this to make money? If so, I would not designed it to try and be like Melee or, more specifically, what the competitive community wants.

Again, I want to preface this by saying: if money is your goal, then you need to care about your audience and, of course, sales.

The problem is a lot of games say they want to do both and tend to go no where. Actually, Play Station All-Stars is a great example of this. The game tried to be Smash BUT ALSO be a competitive fighter. The end result was neither worked and the game flopped.

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.