overview
There’s a lot to talk about this week!
Here are the main subjects we’ll be going over:
Announcement video
Development updates
Alpha Arena roll out
Plushie updates
Community pumpkin carving contest
Community stream updates
Initial Roster
One of the most common questions we get is, “Who will be playable in the Alpha Arena?”
Take a look:
PROGRESS
All of the combat arenas received major improvements this sprint, with new lighting, fog, and clouds being added to each. The Ruins arena is now complete, and the other two arenas are not far behind!
Status and crowd control effects are in now! The effects give Kinfolk new options for things like hampering the enemy’s movement and dealing damage over time. Each one also displays a little VFX animation above the affected kinfolk so you can easily tell what’s going on.
With all of these status effects, you’ll need a way to help get rid of them, so we've also begun implementing held items. There are several held items which you can select in team customization and (in certain circumstances) acquire in combat.
We wrapped up most functionality for the battle results screen. Now when you finish a match you'll see how many rounds you won and lost, which kinfolk were alive and died during each round, and your change in player score.
One of the most important tasks this sprint was improving hit detection in online matches. Accurate lag compensation is a particularly difficult aspect of this, but it's one we've improved on a lot this sprint. As it turns out, Kindred Fates’ gameplay is pretty challenging to implement netcode for! We’ll be listening closely to player feedback on this, and continue making improvements wherever they are needed.
Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy! We've honed attacks so that each projectile travels and collides more accurately. It feel more fair now when damage is inflicted, since collisions are more visible to both the attacker and attackee. We've also continued incorporating new attacks into each characters arsenal, so that each Kinfolk has some variety to choose from.
We spent a lot of time this sprint improving the stability of our servers. We were seeing cases where the servers would stay alive after a game had ended, which caused all the servers to fill up and not allow anyone else to join a game.
ALPHA RELEASE INFORMATION
In order to make the Alpha Arena launch as smooth as possible, we'll be rolling out the servers in waves. We’re expecting this to begin in late November.
Is this a public release?
Yes, this will the first time we're releasing a playable portion of the game to people outside of Skymill Studios.
How many waves will there be, and how many people will be in each wave?
Depending on how the servers perform, were expecting 3 to 5 waves. In the first wave we’ll send out 50 keys to Champion tier or higher backers. By the last wave we will have sent out keys to everyone who has access to the closed alpha.
How will people be selected to receive a key?A very small number will be close friends and family of the team, and the remainder are random players with alpha access.
Can we see it?
If someone who receives a key shares the footage, yes!
When will you roll out the next wave?
As soon as we've verified that the game/servers are stable and working in the current wave! We’ll keep you updated with more information on each wave closer to their launch.
COMMUNITY
The first batch of Awburn plushies will be shipped out next week! If you’re expecting a plushie but haven’t filled out your address info yet, be sure to do that in your Skymill account on our website! We’ve already compiled the list of addresses for the first batch, but if your address is in our system before the next batch (approx. 1-2 weeks after the first), it could be included then!
Pumpkin contest
'Tis the season for fear, scares, and large orange plants. As such, what better way to celebrate the times than with a pumpkin* carving contest! This ain't no ordinary pumpkin carving contest because you're allowed to carve any plant of your desire. Don't like to carve pumpkins? No problem! Try your hand at carving a watermelon, cabbage, eggplant, potato, apple, cantaloupe, etc. As long as it's a big plant and you've cut a shape into it. We're also allowing 3D models for those who just don't want to get their hands dirty all together. Just no 2D art. Now that you got the idea, here's everything you need to know:
Your work must be submitted by November 7th at 12:00 PM EST
Submissions must be either Kindred Fates or Skymill related
Your submission must be posted in #contest-submissions and contain 1 image of your work with your username written somewhere in the image.
1 Submission per user but you can edit or reupload your post (before Nov 7th) if you've taken down the previous post.
- No 2D art is allowed, but digital 3D models and physical carvings are allowed. Slight preference will go to physical carvings if there's a tie when judging.
(+100 points if you carve "Andrew is the best community manager and doesn't take bribes" into your work)
The winner will receive a Champion Package and the in-game Triumphant title for their efforts.
You lovely people will also vote for a community favorite who will be receiving the same rewards.
Our last stream, Kindred Talks 8 is available to watch on our YouTube channel! Give it a listen if you’re curious about other aspects of the game’s development, or if you just want to hear embarrassing stories from the creators’ childhoods.
Our next stream will be Chill With The Devs 8! Andrew has spent the past week modding Fallout 4 for Rob to play. Who knows what Andrew’s done? Not Rob! Tune into our Twitch channel on Saturday, October 31st at 3pm EST to find out!
Thanks for checking in with us! We’ll see you next time, on November 6!
