2017-11-10 16:18:00 (edited by CAE_Jones 2018-02-12 03:25:42)

EVERDARK CLASH

Heys, peoples...

While this game is not in its final form--most noticeably voices, sounds, and online still need work--it struck me as time to let it terrorize the public for a season.
So, without further ado, click here to download Everdark Clash beta 0.3.

What is this?

Short version: 2d Platforming Brawler.
Medium Version:
Walk around, use whatever's lying around (or your bare hands, whatever) to fight off the inordinant number of entities who apparently want you dead, maybe toss them over a waterfall or throw people into a crowd and watch them fall like dominos, occasionally climb onto a building or jump a ravine, wonder at how sanitary it is to eat a random plate of chicken you found in the trash...

Wait, so how do I do X?

If the tutorials and the manual aren't clear enough, please, explain, and we'll see what we can do.

Meh, I want the Pollished Version.

This is where I'd ask for money to pay for pro-quality voices and translations, but Patreon is giving me accessibility issues, so instead, I'll just say "All right, do as you will."

What Peripherals are Supported?

So far tested with several game controllers and a PM20 braille display. (Braille has not been tested with Jaws, but I'm pretty confident it will work, based on past games.)

Open Issues
  • Online multiplayer is just not going my way. This is near the top of the priority queue.

  • Some perplexing bugs here and there in Battle Mode. Specifically to do with victory announcements and starting positions behaving unexpectedly.

  • If you're standing atop a stack of 3 platforms, the top platform is below the area that appears in braille. This is annoying because the entire point of having braille is to get essential information. Ducking might bring the camera down enough, but it's not guaranteed.

  • Not all of the characters which can be unlocked for Battle Mode have in-game movelists. All of the initially playable characters do, however.

  • Sensitive joysticks might run into problems with menus. In addition, with at least the Playstation 4 controller, only the left analog stick (not the D-pad) works for directions.

  • There's a rare bug that I have not been able to reliably reproduce that relocks Battle Mode characters. This is annoying and I will be most grateful to anyone who helps solve this.


Latest Changes

Changes in 0.4b:

- The BGM goes back to normal after the encounter in tutorial 1.
- That combo that trips everyone up should be fixed.
- Keyconfig should now tell you what key a button is set to.
- Removed some debug cheats that controllers were accidentally triggering.
- Lan-Long should now make sounds while idle.
- There is now an extra message in the tutorial remix to emphasize that the qi button can be used to open doors.
- Should now be a sound to indicate when instructions or dialog starts.
- Expanded joystick deadzone a little.
- Hopefully fixed the bug where you could pick up a broken crate before it disappeared. This was making it very frustrating to pick up the items that fall out of the crates.
- Fixed an error in one of the secret levels which would cause the game to crash if you were airborn.
- You should no longer hear a knife on the ground if you picked up a second one.
- AI in 4-3 wasn't behaving as I wanted, so it's been tweaked a bit.
- Attempting more lag-reduction measures.
- The audio is no longer screen-locked. The Braille should still be framed correctly.
- Some minor changes to tutorial messages, mostly to add information such as the radar.
- A sound should play when dialog or instructions are finished.
- Hopefully fixed the problem where too much qi in the lower gauge allows some enemies to cheap you to death. Triads and Yakuza were especially bad about exploiting this.
- Set the points you get for defeating some enemies, who previously only gave you your last streak and nothing else.
- Changed the way the nostun flag works, so that enemies can be completely unstunnable. Hopefully this will make the Steel Rover more challenging, since that was how I originally intended that to work!
- There was a bug where ninjas who stole a defeated opponent's identity would sometimes move in very strange ways, teleporting and sliding through the ground and such, making them nearly impossible to hit. Hopefully, this has been fixed.
- Character select should now speak characters' levels and scores.
- The alternate endings should be properly separated, now. yikes
- The bug where certain important interactive objects stopped playing sound if they went off screen has hopefully been fixed.
- A ledge/slope detection sound should now be available. You can toggle it from the pause menu, if you'd rather turn it off. It plays when you hold forward to walk or run, but not on your first step, so be careful.
- It should now be easier to cancel out of a dash by crouching.

Changes in 0.3b:

- The game no longer crashes when you try to play online.
- A guest pressing down no longer registers as pressing C.
- Enemies no longer continue to target civilians after said civilians have escaped.
- In-game movelists added to the pause menu. So far, only story-playable characters are included, plus a couple for VS.
- More movelist tweaks. Mozuda now has knife combos.
- A tweak to one of the last bossfights, which should increase the difficulty.
- VS mode should no longer erroneously prompt you about skipping cutscenes.
- More scenery items added to VS arenas.
- Vigilantes could very rarely (as in, their AI hasn't changed in months and I saw it for the first time this morning) become invincible. Hopefully, this has been corrected without breaking their threat level.


Once again...

If you made it down here without downloading, and don't want to scroll all the way back to the top:
Click here to download Everdark Clash!


Happy Clashing!

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 16:25:18

Wait, do we need a joystick to play this game, or is keyboard an option?

"I've learned that this life's not just a game, just a line, between the pleasures and the pain." - Aaron Lewis

2017-11-10 16:43:49

Nevermind, lol. I just read the manual, this game sounds . . . . awesome! Wow, I'm going to go try it now.
Thanks for the game, and if you do sell it, I'm sure I'll buy it. lol

"I've learned that this life's not just a game, just a line, between the pleasures and the pain." - Aaron Lewis

2017-11-10 16:59:24

yay! for! C A E! yay! for! C A E! awesome person is, c! a! e! cool col cool, yes! was so waiting for it! your awesome cae!

2017-11-10 20:06:54

Hi,
So my first thoughts, even though I have been just using the menus:
In "Screen Reader mode", it plays the menu sound first, pops and then speaks. This is with NVDA and the protalker synth taht uses a combination of japanese and espeak for English reading.
Secondly, when assigning controls, I think it should say what the control is currently set to. I had to keep on on setting controls and remember what I was doing, because I kept on getting destractd b other stuff. So, after a control's description, it should say "currently set to <key name>."

2017-11-10 20:18:54

hi, how do you pass the third tutorial? I duck the chinese dude's attack, works fine. I jump his next attack, also works fine. Then I'm supposed to run left, which I do, but it doesn't seam to realise that I did it and just stays on that part of the tutorial. So I eventually reach the stage's end, so have to go back right. I tried going all the way to the right end of the stage then left again, but it didn't work.

I used to be a knee like you, then I took an adventurer in the arrow.

2017-11-10 21:00:28

You're not supposed to run left; you're supposed to backstep when he attacks. It isn't left or right, so much as it is the opposite of whatever direction you're facing. (I'd've made turning faster, but you'll be wanting this mechanic in bossfights.)

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 21:01:27

Any tips on the tutorial remix? Theres a thing on the right which is unpassable.

Hail, Daughter of Hatred. Creator of Sanctuary. Hail...Lilith.

2017-11-10 21:18:06

I'm not sure which thing you're referring to, heh. If you're referring to the water, there is a hint in the scene which explains the bird.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 21:22:02

Oh, was that a hint? Good to know smile

Hail, Daughter of Hatred. Creator of Sanctuary. Hail...Lilith.

2017-11-10 21:23:10

@Aaron: I'm not sure what you mean about the menu popping? I think I have an idea about what it might be, though.
Changing it say what key is currently set would be complicated, with how it works now. You aren't the first person to suggest this, though, so clearly it needs doing. hmm

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 21:30:35

@CAE: I can sort of see where you are coming from, because it would have to check the active profile and say what ke it's set to, but I think it should be doable.
I am also having the trouble with the third tutorial. So, do you backstep while turning? That's the confusing part. I also really struggled with the acrobatics tutorial and grabbing the bars, I somehow managed it. Also leaping to the other side of the secon river. I tap right arrow tice to start running, interestingly, walking and running speed seems to sound the same for this particular character.

2017-11-10 21:32:45

How can I attack? I type B to give my weak attack but nothing happens, I stand right infront of the mob I need to punch but nothing..

2017-11-10 21:49:10

Meh, still no success. I found that little platform above the water, but it ends before the part which i can't pass. There is a very deep water part, and at the end of that, there is a something which i can't jump across.

Hail, Daughter of Hatred. Creator of Sanctuary. Hail...Lilith.

2017-11-10 22:17:42

I am certainly glad that this is a public beta, I think there's a lot that needs polishing, and not just sound wise. Perhaps I'm spoiled, because I'm coming off the back of playing BK3 for the past few days, but even so, here goes:
Firstly, I like the concept of this game, a lot. But why, in the third tutorial, does it sometimes sound like I'm sliding near the edges of the stage? I don't think ramps should be taken into consideration at this stage in the game, this is supposed to be a basic tutorial, no wonder I'm struggling to hit my opponent. This is a combat tutorial, not a gymnast. It also seems like some of the stuff has way too strict timing for keyboard users, but more on that in a moment.
I think that in the dashing section, it should make clear that you can perform the command while turning. Because at the moment, to do a back dash, I'm turning to literally face backwards, and it wasn't until you gave the tip of just tapping back twice while an attack is going on ,, that it worked... until, that is, I jsut literally had another go before writing this post, and it took me far longer to do than I think it should. Seems really inconsistant.
Now, onto the part that is, at the moment, making me literally give up. I haven't tried a joystick yet, but I can't seem to do racing the dragon. I've tried b, b, up plus forward plus b, I've tried b, b, right right plus b, and I either don't jump, or just walk, and I'm trying to even do this just after I hit with the second punch, but every single time, I've dropped the combo. I have been at it for around 20 minutes now. For a first introduction to combat, this is more like one of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite's harder trials. A basic, three-hit, combo should not take 20 minutes to master. My only suggestion, in that case, is to perhaps let the inputs buffer. Yes, that'll be complex to code, but you do seem to be aiming for complex stuff, and it's honestly the only way I can see this working at the moment. I've literally tried everything in my power., and it does not help that the tutorial says b, b, up plus forward b, while the move list says b, b, right right b. This game does seem to have a lot going for it, and I do like the concept, but getting stuck on a basic tutorial, or seemingly ending up randomly getting through it as I managed to do with the acrobat tutorial by flipping, just doesn't seem right. In BK3, I'd argue the challenged ramped up around stage 5, so you felt like you had progressed a bit. But this, well I don't know what to say. I don't like acting negatively towards something, but I am not happy about being stuck on a seemingly basic area for around 20 minutes.

2017-11-10 22:20:53

@Aaron: It's worse than that, because it uses a menu object, and it's the same one for every profile, and it uses the same function as all the other menus until you tell it to set a button. So I'd have to get a key dictionary, and copy-edit the menu code into config... and also be sure that it distinguishes keyboard from joystick. Although, to be honest, trying to explain why it'd be troublesome here helped me work out a relatively painless way, so thanks for setting that into motion tongue big_smile

@caio: The buttons are named after buttons on a controller. The B button is not necessarily the b key on the keyboard; that's just a quick way to refer to the same command for any profile. If you're using the arrow keys, A corresponds to comma, B to period, and C to slash (/). If you're using A/S/W/Z, A is F, B is G, and C is H. Those are just the defaults, though, and you can change them however you want. I apologize if I've completely misunderstood the problem... hmm

@Arnold18: In the words of an ancient dungeon master, use qi to open doors big_smile

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 22:34:28

There are no ramps in the combat tutorial. The only ramp in the tutorials is in the grappling tutorial (you'll know it when you find it). If you hear yourself slide, but not fall, you're most likely just sliding to a stop. If you are hearing yourself sliding and falling, that's very strange and I'd very much like to know how to reproduce it smile
I conclude I wrote that combo wrong somewhere. Possibly several somewheres. Maybe B, B, B, forward+B? I will be looking into this one for sure.
Buffering would require a radical change in how input is handled. Also, there are some situations where it's simply not possible to rely on (B, B is different from B-B, as anyone who plays the prologue will soon discover).
Back-dashing might be poorly explained in the tutorial. This is exactly the sort of thing for which feedback is good, since I already knew how it worked when I wrote it, so might unwittingly fill in information in my head without realizing I left it out! Communication seems to be the biggest weakness in my projects, so I definitely want to hear where this needs improvement.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 22:50:39

Hi,
OK, if you've written down the combo wrong then that'll explain it, haha, so maybe buffering won't be needed. Well I've tried b, b, forward plus up plus b, and I've tried b, b, right right b, so maybe that's not right. I did manage a triple kick though, haha!

2017-11-10 23:00:39

I must say, Ukio knows how to really make a comprehensive tutorial. This one, not so much.
I think the only way to complete this tutorial is if you've played any of Cae's previous games. I've got the object viewer and I can see where I am, but I can hear crates on my right, character footsteps on my left. Shit, I've played mainstream fighters before that wasn't this complecated audio wise.

2017-11-10 23:26:55

I do not understand. Can you give me an idea of what you'd expect?

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-10 23:59:06

First, comma, which is supposed to be punch/attack 1, doesn't work to do that. Period is for kick, but there is a crate at -5 and I'm at 25 and don't know how to get down there to get at it.

Okay, nevermind, I was in the middle of typing this and figured it out, however is there a way to run with this game? Movement was way too slow. Also, I thought I was supposed to kick the crates? I went to the last crate at the very top of the stage and crouched on it which ended the episode. I had trouble with positioning mself to the left or right of it to crouch and kick.

2017-11-11 00:00:58

Hi,
I think you tap the movement keys twice to run, but it's a bit inconsistant for this version.

2017-11-11 00:14:58

When using screen reader for speech, is there away to repeat dialog?

Also, there is a bug with the tutorial messages. I did those three jumps in the tutorial, and after the jumps were complete, I got the three messages that I was supposed to get after each jump.

HTH.

2017-11-11 00:16:03

It's only inconsistent with Tomiko (She's faster to make up for it). Otherwise, double-tap and hold in the direction you're facing to run.
You were supposed to destroy the crates, yes. Technically, you just need to clear the area, and since that was the last crate, picking it up counts as clearing it.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2017-11-11 00:36:47

Hi, this game is awesome! I tried the online mode with a friend, but unfortunatelly it doesn't work. Was it implemented already or i'm missing something?