Community Newsletter: March 26, 2021
about 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 28, 2021 at 02:29:10 PM

PROGRESS

• We recently upgraded to the most recent version of Unity! This will be awesome in the long run because it dramatically reduces the time it takes our developers to create new builds. It also allows us to update to a more powerful version of NetCode, update our current UI, and create new UI more easily. However, it’s taken a lot of work to upgrade properly in the short term, so we haven’t been able to release a new patch to the Combat Arena as soon as we’d prefer. That being said, we’ve been doing a ton of work behind the scenes!
  
  -We fixed an issue with Dig and Quicksand interfering with each other, as well as damage numbers displaying on the client but the health bar not updating.
  
  -We also resolved some sound effect issues.
  
  -Our next patch is expected to be out sometime next week. There should be lots to enjoy!
  
  
• There’s been a renewed focus on art these past few weeks! We’ve made solid progress on  UI, new music, set piece models, and animations.
  
  -We’ve started applying UI from our new UI designer for the single player campaign! The first UI that we’re implementing is for the missions system that we’ve been building out.
  
  -The animators are working hard on animations for kinfolk that are exclusive to the single player side of the campaign (for now). Awburn got a remodel to improve the appearance of their animations too!

Otherwise it’s been a pretty quiet sprint focused on these big upgrades, so there isn’t quite as much news as usual. Thanks for checking in all the same! We’ll see you next time (likely with much more to share), on April 9!

Community Newsletter: March 12, 2021
about 3 years ago – Sat, Mar 13, 2021 at 02:52:47 AM

PROGRESS

• We’ve continued making improvements to the Combat Arena Alpha. As always, you can find the details in our Patch Notes, but here’s a summary of the big stuff:
  
  -We added passive abilities for Kodoki and Mechid!
  
  -We fixed issues with Spore Dance and Fire Spin inconsistently causing too much or too little damage.
  
  -Attacks now reliably are cancelled at the end of a round.  We also fixed problems with aiming attacks incorrectly displaying their reticles after the Kinfolk that spawned the attack had swapped out or died.
  
  -We fixed an issue with a Kinfolk not dying correctly if it was being healed by Angelic Ray.
  
  -We’ve made some adjustments to buffs!
  
  -We added collision VFX for melee attacks.
  
  
• Single Player campaign
  
  -The foundation for our NPC code is complete. Up next is to build out our behavior-based AI. It’s going to be a huge step in making the world of Kindred Fates feel alive, and we’re really excited to move forward!
  
  -Mission logic has come an insanely long way recently! We can now start and finish missions, and UI will be on the way soon.
  
  -We added a few new attacks specific to the single player version ;) We have some interesting new things in the works that have been a new challenge for the developers.
  
  
• Misc.
  
  -We’ve fixed a few issues with stability in the website’s account system.
  
  -Our team has added a new UI designer and PR assistant! We’re really excited to be working with them and they’ve already made some wonderful contributions!
  
  

COMMUNITY

• We had so much fun with the tournament last month and hope you did too! Congrats to Pexaan, Umberto Bjorn, MonsterTamerBloba, and all of our participants- everybody put up a wonderful fight! We can’t wait for the next one, and already have lots of improvements and additions in mind for the future.
  
  
• We’re planning to have another Kindred Talks stream in the near future! Keep an eye on our Discord and Twitter for more details.
  
  

Thanks for checking in! We’ll see you next time, on March 26!

Community Newsletter: February 26, 2021
about 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 12:48:39 AM

PROGRESS

• Improvements to the Alpha Combat Arena
  
  There was a big focus on bug fixes this sprint. We spent a lot of time fixing issues that people have reported during gameplay in preparation for the upcoming tournament, as well as fixes for a few UI related bugs.
  
  We worked on a bunch of UI changes and improvements for the team selection interface and keybinding pages.
  
  The dev team also started work on some new Passive Abilities, as well as another new Active Ability!
  
  
• Tournament prep
  
  Several behind the scenes changes were made to the account system resources to help with the tournament.
  
  The Game Details page on the account system was also finished this sprint. You can see it from the 'Game' tab where you can put in a Game ID directly (you get those on the results screen in game), or you can click directly into one of your last three games. There are a bunch of useful statistics on the page that can help you learn about your games and improve your strategies, so check it out!
  
  
• Single Player campaign
  
  The conversation system is now far enough along that we can test it internally, and quickly create expansive dialogue trees.
  
  Work is now underway on the mission system!
  
  We’ve also continued updating our codebase to allow for multiple party members to be on screen at a time instead of the 1v1 setup we have for the combat arena.
  

COMMUNITY

• Our Alpha Awakening Tournament is tomorrow!!
  
  There’s still time to register- We’ve extended registration to 12pm EST tomorrow, 1 hour before the start of the tournament.
  
  Remember that everyone who enters will receive a portrait badge that’s unique to this event (more information about the prizes here)!
  
  We’ll be streaming matches from the tournament and providing commentary on our Twitch channel. We hope to see you there!
  
  
• We’ve come out swinging with our next round of streams! You can watch the VOD of our most recent Kindred Talks on our YouTube channel, and the giveaway stream on our Twitch channel.
  

Community Newsletter: February 12, 2021
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 12:13:59 AM

TOURNAMENT DETAILS!

• The Kindred Fates Alpha Awakening tournament will take place on Saturday, February 27th at 1:00PM EST to wrap up our Kickstarter Anniversary celebration this month!
   
• Registration opens on Monday February 15th at 1:00PM EST and closes at 11:00PM EST Wednesday February 24th. The link to register will be posted on our Discord, Twitter, and Reddit pages.
   
• Any player with access to the Combat Arena Alpha is welcome to register!
   
• The format for this tournament is 1v1, best of 3 games, double elimination.
   
• Players may choose to adjust their team compositions after each game.
   
• With the Combat Arena still being in an alpha state, the potential for an unforeseen bug to alter the outcome of a match does exist. That being said, we’re doing everything we can to ensure things go as smoothly as possible. With all this in mind, we’re erring on the side of caution and keeping the stakes relatively low when it comes to prizing for this tournament.
  
  -1st place prize: Gold Alpha Awakening Portrait Trophy
  
  -2nd place prize: Silver Alpha Awakening Portrait Trophy
  
  -3rd place prize: Bronze Alpha Awakening Portrait Trophy
  
  -Any place prize: Alpha Awakening Portrait Medal
  
  See you there!
   

PROGRESS

• We focused a lot of our energy on improvements to the Combat Arena Alpha these past few weeks.
  
  -We updated our networking code and tuned its performance. Users should see a 20ms to 30ms improvement in their ping times across the board!
  
  -A handful of new abilities are in the works.
  
  -Internally, we added several improvements to the feel of combat that we think will help make everything feel a bit punchier and more satisfying.
  
  -More info on the amount of damage each ability deals.
  
  -We’re starting work on the training area with your feedback in mind!
  
  -Lots of bug fixes and improvements that we’ll discuss in depth in the next patch notes.
  
   
• We’re also deep into implementing some behind-the-scenes improvements needed for the single player side of the game that will, among other things, allow kinfolk to follow behind the player as they explore.
   

COMMUNITY

• We had so much fun putting together the Humble_Shepherd easter-egg and watching everyone work together to figure it out! Showcasing the first 3D rendition of a community-made Kinfolk felt like a great way to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the day our Kickstarter was officially funded.
  
   
• We hope you’re ready for tomorrow’s stream! See you at 3pm EST on our Twitch channel for the reboot of Kindred Talks! Rob and Andrew will be playing the Combat Arena Alpha on stream and taking questions from the community!
  
   
• Don’t forget that we’ll also be hosting an Alpha key giveaway stream next Wednesday, February 17th! If you’ve been hoping to get in on the alpha action but haven’t been able to yet, now’s your chance! You’ll even have a bit of time to practice if you’re planning to enter the tournament!
  
   

Thanks for checking in! We’ll see you again on February 26!

Community Newsletter: January 29, 2021
over 3 years ago – Sat, Jan 30, 2021 at 09:39:18 PM

PROGRESS

• We released a pretty major patch to the Combat Arena Alpha since our last newsletter! It covered a lot of different areas, and while it made improvements, there were also a few new bugs that were regrettably introduced. This was due in large part to most of the QA team being out of commission for health reasons. We’ve pushed back work on some new features to make sure these bugs get squashed.
  
  
• We’ve made some awesome progress on our dialogue system! The new system is node based, and should give us a lot of versatility in planning out conversations between the player and NPCs.
  
  -As a side note, we’re going to do our best to avoid creating situations where you are presented with two arbitrary dialogue options that both immediately lead to the same response.
  
  
• We’re continuing to build out the foundation of the single player mode. This includes refactoring some things in the Unity project, as well as sculpting the terrain for the overworld. It’s been a lot of challenging work (that’s admittedly very boring for most audiences), but it makes a huge difference in how we move forward!
  
  
• Thank you all for your well wishes for our team members recovering from COVID! Everyone who had it is feeling much better and will be able to work at a more normal pace going forward. Last weekend, another team member had a different medical issue that, while much less threatening, has definitely been a hindrance to our progress this week. We’re all hoping for things to be back to normal and for no more medical issues this upcoming week.
  
  

COMMUNITY

• We hope you enjoyed our progress video from yesterday!
  In case you missed it, here it is:
  

• As it states at the end of the video, we’re going to have our first official Combat Tournament at the end of February!
  
  -The tournament will take place on Saturday, February 27th. A fitting way to celebrate the anniversary of our Kickstarter’s closing day!
  
  -Registration details and prizes will be announced in our next newsletter!
  
  
• Rob will be speaking on a stream tonight at 7pm ET with Pwr^ Gaming Convention for their “Just Getting Started January” series! We hope to see you there :)
  
  
• We are very excited to announce that we’re bringing back our Skymill Twitch streams! The next one will be at 3pm ET on February 13th! This one will be a blend of our two previous stream formats (Kindred Talks and Chill w/ the Devs), so you’ll be getting the best of both! Rob and Andrew will be playing matches in the Kindred Fates Combat Arena and answering questions from the community.
  
  
• We’ll also be hosting an Alpha key giveaway stream on February 17th! If you’ve been watching others play the Alpha but haven’t been able to try it out yourself, now’s your chance!
  
  
• Since February is the anniversary of our Kickstarter and a very special month for our team, we have even more fun things planned for you! Keep an eye on our Discord and other social media so you don’t miss out ;)
  
  

Thanks for stopping by! We’ll see you again on February 12!