One problem I see that the left player always wins if you just pressdown the Jab button and nothing the computer or other player does that can stop P1 from smashing you with jabs. You don't need to let go of the button at the moment when the other player presses either jab, duck or cross the P1 character automatically delivers a jab with no counterplay. Other than that awesome game, keep it up!
Thank you so much for reporting this bug! Apparently this was also the reason why in cpu vs cpu, p1 would win 9 times out of 10, because it would lock player 2 for a frame and automatically make p1 counter. I was working on impoving the ai and was wondering why that was happening, then I aaw your comment and decided to investigate this first.
Thanks again, after fixing this, Cpu vs cpu is also now on equal footing! Shot 2 bugs with one stone!
Thank you for the good words. There was a bug that crippled the opponents when holding the jab, but this has been fixed in the last release. If you weren't pertaining to that and just want a tougher challenge -- I am also planning to improve the ai (although I'm experimenting with a few mechanics first, because I might have to rewrite the ai if the mechanics are implemented).
amazing update! I’m excited to see what you add next with the new mechanics and characters, arcade mode etc. also I had a little request that might add a little more punch to the gameplay lol. Maybe if you added new sprites for the characters getting punched for the different attacks, instead of having the same animation for each. I like the new effects but I just noticed the animation of getting hit is behind the actual punch. Not a big deal, just a suggestion great game regardless :)
Thank you! Those are great suggestions. I do plan on adding some more animations, but focusing on tweaks, gameplay, and bug fixes first. Animations took up the most time when I was working on the game.
Understandable! Can’t wait to see what is added next :) and remember this is your game! Feedback is great but we all also wanna see the game you wanna make 👍
Huh. My bad, forgot to test the linux builds. Going to try and check when i get back on the 20th, traveling and I don't have a computer or laptop on me. May I ask what linux distro you are using?
Thanks for the info. Should be easy to check since Mint is based on Debian, and my laptop is on Debian. I'll do it first thing when I get back. Keep you posted!
It seems to be working for me, on Debian. I'll investigate further, hopefully fix it for the next update. Would it be possible to get a screenshot of the error?
Sorry for the late reply. I tag the file "Toe II Toe" file as executable and try starting it with double click, but nothing happens. So, there's no screenshot. But the bug is different than last time I tried. It used to open a window that stayed black and closed again quickly.
Btw, when I unzip the file, the contents are not in their own directory. I think it would be more practical if the files would unzip in their own directory, so I don't have to create a new directory before unzipping.
You can say hello or send suggestions to to paololazatin+toe2toe@gmail.com if you don't feel like posting on here. I'll try to get back to you when I can.
You might have pressed outside the game and lost ffocus, hence the key presses won't registrr. Try clicking on the game window to make sure the game is in focus.
Found a QoL issue; I did a 100+ streak in survival mode, but when I finished playing I used the pause menu to exit instead of letting myself get beaten. As a result, the game never submitted any of my scores :C
Something about the slight delay on the knockout blow or the shatter of the shield break is just so incredibly satisfying, so glad that you're continuing to make this better and better
also one final thing, ill always appreciate more art of our main girl (the one on the naming screen, great work on that btw), who im just learning actually has a name
I'm so happy the update is finally here, and released one day before my birthday no less! It looks great, and I'm even more eager for the easier tweaks to come as a result of the overhaul. It looks like the core mechanics are kept mostly intact, and ducks feel faster to execute, but I noticed right away how much less responsive punches feel. At first I thought it was intentional, but it's probably just buggy. I guess that's inevitable with an update this big so don't get discouraged. The new features are mostly great but a few of them missed me. I was never a big fan of hit "sparks", but sweat and drool work well to the same effect. I'll dump my full feedback below.
Bugs: -When starting a match, my controls are disabled until I pause and unpause the game. This can go for several rounds until I fix it. -Even with music enabled, it will stop playing on the title screen if I do a match and return. -The UI for the options menu will reflect selections inaccurately, i.e. they appear enabled when they are disabled. -CPU vs CPU has like a 90% win rate for CPU 1. CPU 2 seems to just guard most of the time. -The input repeat speed is incredibly slow and inconsistent. Whether using gamepad or keyboard, holding an input, mashing, or just trying to string together fast combos results in random, intermittent timings between repeat punches. The game takes too long to register my actions and leaves my defenses open. With such brief windows of opportunity, the inputs should be precisely timed, especially to take advantage of guard breaks. I wouldn't mind a single action per input though, as long as it's honest and responsive.
[edit] I hadn't realized that the inputs were dropping because the opponent was blocking. I'd like to be able to keep punching during their block without having to mash the input though. That feature also makes the game drop my combos when I try to jab+hook. It's frustrating and kinda feels like training wheels. Any chance we can disable it in settings? [re-edit] Actually the game just hates when I queue my next punch during the current one instead of waiting for the animation to finish. It's probably to prevent mashing, but there must be some compromise there. I feel like I'm being punished for knowing what move I wanna do next. Feelsbadman.
Recommended tweaks: -Context-sensitive action speed. Repeat punches on the same arm should be slower than left/right combos. Jab-into-hook should flow together nicely. Whiffing a punch could add a slight delay to reward ducking and make it safer to do a follow up attack after a successful duck. -Punch stamina, as mentioned by Treblegne. This is more important than a guard meter IMO as it balances jab spam, whereas block spam is already punishable with chip damage. But to simplify, it could be a generalized stamina bar which is affected by blocking punches as well as throwing them. Maybe ducking also, idk. Maybe use stamina instead of action speed to balance mashing. Or both!
Thanks for all the care you put into this game so far! It's shaping up nicely. I'll save the rest of my input for another post below, as it's just my pipe dreams and I don't want to overwhelm/discourage you with expectations.
Idea vomit and feature-creep:
-Sprite damage. The nose, left/right eye and cheek could update with scuffs/swelling according to where the damage has been concentrated during the fight. Arm bruising too if blocks are being abused. This can be expanded to the torso with the addition of lows, or the jaw for uppers. It would be a nice visual cue for players to focus their defense and attack respectively. [The following ideas go together. Sorry for the length.] -Hold ducks / low punches. I've mentioned this one before. Admittedly it's tough to do with minimal inputs and touch compatible controls. I actually gave this a fair amount of thought, and wondered if instead of having a block button and duck button, you could instead have a standing block and a ducking block, and then have punches aimed at whichever zone you most recently blocked in. This removes the need to toggle stances, so quick ducks would still be possible. The duck button then becomes extremely versatile. Tap it once to dodge highs and change aim, hold it to block lows, let it go to start throwing lows, and when you wanna punch high again you can do a high block? IDK this one is really hard. -Context-sensitive aim. I don't like the idea of repeatedly whiffing highs when the opponent stays ducked. To combat duck spam, standing boxers could automatically punch down at ducked boxers after the initial dodge. -Context-sensitive punch animations. What if there were different animations for the punches depending on stances and aim? For example instead of hooks, boxers throw straights aka crosses by default until the opponent is blocking, after which they throw hooks/uppers to try getting around the block. Or when throwing hooks downward at a ducked boxer, it could instead do a body-upper motion. This variety would create the illusion of more technical boxing without complicating actual gameplay. It would make guard breaks more believable too. The guard break animation could even change depending on what punch animation caused the break.
First things first, belated Happy Birthday! Hope you had a blast on your day. Also, Glad you enjoyed the update!
Thanks for the feedback, it's a wall of text and a bit overwhelming, but it is always welcome. As a solo, these things are extremely helpful in tweaking/polishing the game as well as spotting bugs since I don't have a QA team.
Regarding the dropped inputs--yes, you are correct. It was by design for the last update, but a bad one, looks like. Jab spamming was an issue, and I was looking for a way to resolve it without complicating things. In the prior version, you could just hold the input to continue jabbing at the earliest possible time. I made it so that you can't just hold the key down, and precise timing (or really quick button mashing) is needed to launch a punch. I'll probably revert to the old one because the result is people lose inputs and think the game is broken.
For the other stuff, I'll need some time digest them and see what I can apply for the next or future updates!
I was super excited about this new updated you were working on as I saw in the comments you been busy last few months with it. I am pleased to say that the game is still amazing and all the new tweaks and additions are super welcome!
Really looking forward to some of the hinted features :) Amazing work and can't wait to hear from you next avout this.
Thanks for the feature rich update! If I may suggest possibly adding a toggle setting in options to turn off the white flash that happens during a guard break. On a bright screen when playing at night, it's a bit hard on the eyes. And if possible, a toggle to turn off the screen/UI shaking when landing a hook.
Looking forward to the improvements to the CPU. Right now, it seems that CP1 completely dominates CP2 9 out of 10 times whenever they are pitted against each other. CP2 tends to turtle up blocking and doesn't come out of block to fight back.
It would make sense to add punch stamina since there is a guard stamina mechanic in the game now. Someone else said it as well that jabs are overpowered from how spammable it is if not mitigated by limiting spam with a punch stamina bar.
But overall I'm loving the game and everything you've built into it so far. Thanks again!
I understand how the screen shake, flashes, hit sparks and other effects might not appeal to everyone...Thanks for reminding me. I'll add options to toggle those effects in the next update!
For the CPU vs CPU, yes, it still needs a rework. As mentioned in the dev log update, it was a carry over from the previous AI, which was meant for fighting against humans. I'll change it up and hopefully we can get more exciting fights in spectator mode.
YOOOOOO, THIS GAME WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY DOPE. SUCKS THERE WEREN'T ANY INSTRUCTIONS SO I HAD TO GET MY TAIL BEAT A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT ONCE I LEARNED HOW TO PLAY...ONCE I LEARNED A STRATEGY, I BECAME A GOD WITH THE HANDS
Awesome game man! Very fun in short bursts, has great sprites and is very smooth. Excited to see the future updates :)
Small suggestion: if possible or if you thought it could be a cool idea, maybe you could add maybe an uppercut or body shot attack? To add a bit more variety. Just an idea the game is amazing as it is!
Thank you. Glad that you made that suggestion, That's actually part of what I'm working on. It's just taking a bit longer because I'm also redoing the whole thing. Code is a mess since it was made for a game jam, where the priority was speed.
Now I'm doing things proper so that it will be easier to update in the future. As it stands, even I get confused with my code, it's taking longer to add major updates.
It's my first time hearing of Blades of Steel. Looked into the game and was confused for a second because it was hockey, until I saw the mini-fights. It does look similar! I'll try and play Blades of Steel.
to be honest I had fun playing this game, wish there was some way for me to play online with other players. the animations were pretty stellar and second to second micro play was fun, but I did run into an issue were by round 13 my inputs were not being registered and the CPU beating me I don't know if that was a soft block or a genuine bug but other than that I was having fun.
I'll try to look into the unregistered inputs, but chances are you clicked accidentally with a mouse or a key that made the game lose focus (ex: alt or the fn keys).
As for the online play, I'm still studying how to do that. I can't guarantee that it will be implemented but I'm trying to squeeze my brains to add that to the game.
For now though, my focus is to add improvements, most of which are suggested by you the people. Hope you stick around for the next update, it's going to be a major one.
This reminds me a hole lot of the toy where you had a red and a blue boxer, you had these buttons that made your guy punch the other guy. Honestly this is boxing nostalgia for me, loved to play that with my bro. nice game 9/10.
That coming from a boxing fan is awesome. I'm working on some major updates for this. After that, I can maybe create a sequel or a different game altogether.
FINALLY......... A FIGHTING GAME EVEN I CAN PLAY........ (The animations look so fricking good what the. AND THE SFX ARE GREAT, TOO. It's a fun little boxing match...) Thank you for making this!!
Welcome! That's one of the goals, create a simple but fun game that anyone can play. Glad you liked it! I'm working on improving the game further based on everyone's feedback. Hope you stick around!
There seems to be a problem with the apk version of the game, it never wants to install and just shows this in the pic below. I cant even get the play store version because my phone doesnt have google support
Pardon the late reply, life got in the way. I'll look into the issue. Are you able to play the web version without problem? What browser are you using?
the simplicity of the game reminds me of Yie-Ar Kung Fu on the NES except it's boxing :3 really cool tbh, can defo show this to some friends on get-togethers as a quick little game to play :3
Not really active on twitter. In fact I just posted my first tweet a few minutes ago even though my account was registered 2011 (people recommended I get on twitter and post this game and updates). Same with ig, but I do have some stuff on there.
Great game. Duck feels useless, block is op, but I like the simplicity. I think it can be solved by allowing to hold duck, and throw body punches while ducking. Defeats standing block and makes ducking useful without adding any inputs, and makes AI less predictable.
If I add a body punch, that means I have to add a body block. When I started the game, I was actually thinking of having a high and low level, but went with a single level to make it simple.
But you raise a good point about the duck. How about I add a damage boost for a successful duck, say double for every successful evasion until hit or a punch is unleashed (let's say jab damage is 10, successful duck 1x = 20, duck 2x = 40, duck 3x = 80, etc), would that be enough incentive to use duck over block? It can change the momentum.
I too would like body punching as it would discourage a defensive playstyle while balancing where to aim for where an opponent's defense is strong or weak at. The damage buff for dodging would be cool too, but you'd probably have to balance that out too by limiting how many stacks of buff can be stored.
I agree. Body punch and block would be nice too. The game would still be fairly simple in design as it would be high/low weak punch, high/low strong punch, and high/low guard. It would really flesh out the game while remaining easy to pick up and play.
Thank you for the insights. Hmm...although my initial plan for the game was to have a high and low level, I think for now I would like to avoid going that direction if possible because not only will it be more complex, I'll have to make adjustments to the controls too (might need to add more buttons, and for those on mobile, this might be too tight especially for pvp).
For now I'll make some tests while I gather inputs from people. Maybe 2 levels can work, and I'll end up going to original direction. We'll see. I hope you stick around long enough as I try to improve the game!
The multiplier is a cool idea that maybe you could add, but might warrent explanation as it would have a huge impact on gameplay without being mechanically obvious. I think that spoils the simplicity more than lows would.
But on that note, lows could actually be really simple as you don't actually need to add a low block at all. Duck could double as a low block (as long as a low punch isn't being thrown by the blocker.) The ducking sprite already appears to be blocking face and body, so no double inputs required there. You could also make it so standing without using block will automatically elbow-block body shots, but that would be slightly less intuitive. Players would have to think less about specifically blocking a punch, and more about changing stances depending on which zone offensive and defensive play is most needed. Either case punishes block spammers and rewards the long ducking animation handsomely.
The problem then becomes "why stand at all?" Simple answer there too, head takes more damage than body, maybe with a multiplier for dodging. Maybe a hit forces them to stand. Whatever feels balanced and intuitive/simple.
Good point on the multiplier affecting simplicity. Reminded me that much as possible I'd like to keep things simple--like anyone even a grandma can play it, and everything can be picked up fairly quickly without needing much explanation.
Regarding the auto-block, that could work in the way of simplicity as it might open up a button for level change, but it might promote turtling? Also, I don't know, I never got the hang of blocking without inputs, this was always my downfall with tekken. Never felt natural, maybe got used to SF.
A hit forcing the player to stand is an interesting concept. I'll see if I get anywhere with it. I'll continue to brainstorm and do some tests. Thank you so much for the feedback, these are very valuable to me.
Maybe I was slightly misunderstood, but I very much DON'T want the block input removed. My thought was that ducking is already an inherently defensive "move", so blocking while ducking would be redundant, but while standing it takes more effort. This is how it is in real boxing too, if you're standing upright, you must choose between defending your head or your midsection on the fly, but not while ducking and weaving since your center of gravity is low, and body is curled up and easily defensible, so long as you don't go on the offensive. Turtling isn't a problem as long as there's a way to defeat it.
Part of why I love this game so much is because even in its simplicity it feels more real than many high budget boxing games. There's no jank, no flashy fantasy effects, no tacky game mechanics, just a visceral and realistic 2D boxing match with a boxer that looks and moves like a boxer.
Ah yes, I re-read your comment and I realize I misunderstood. You meant auto parry body shots, I mistakenly thought for all. I will do some tests, try out your suggestions and also those by others, see what works well. Thank you for the feedback.
Also, thank you for the praise, I'm not sure I deserve it, but I am glad you loved my game so I'll take that win.
Yes please. That would be good to have. If the scorekeeping isn't possible, then that's okay. But the cpu vs cpu is a must have for this great little game. Thanks again!
The CPU vs CPU is now implemented! However, at the moment, AI is very simple and carried over from the last version, made for humans. I'll have to improve on it to make exciting matches between cpu and cpu! Also because I introduced guard breaks, which wasn't included before.
Thank you, I'm glad you had fun! I'm planning on adding extra characters, maybe 2, for an arcade mode. I'll see if I can have them available for player vs player, because that might require some balancing.
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One problem I see that the left player always wins if you just pressdown the Jab button and nothing the computer or other player does that can stop P1 from smashing you with jabs. You don't need to let go of the button at the moment when the other player presses either jab, duck or cross the P1 character automatically delivers a jab with no counterplay. Other than that awesome game, keep it up!
i also noticed that bug
Thanks @cookieroseta for pointing it out too. Fixing the bug fixed more than one issue, so that's great.
Thank you so much for reporting this bug! Apparently this was also the reason why in cpu vs cpu, p1 would win 9 times out of 10, because it would lock player 2 for a frame and automatically make p1 counter. I was working on impoving the ai and was wondering why that was happening, then I aaw your comment and decided to investigate this first.
Thanks again, after fixing this, Cpu vs cpu is also now on equal footing! Shot 2 bugs with one stone!
cool in concept but playing super aggressively and spamming the punches hard counters the AI opponent.
Thank you for the good words. There was a bug that crippled the opponents when holding the jab, but this has been fixed in the last release. If you weren't pertaining to that and just want a tougher challenge -- I am also planning to improve the ai (although I'm experimenting with a few mechanics first, because I might have to rewrite the ai if the mechanics are implemented).
amazing update! I’m excited to see what you add next with the new mechanics and characters, arcade mode etc. also I had a little request that might add a little more punch to the gameplay lol. Maybe if you added new sprites for the characters getting punched for the different attacks, instead of having the same animation for each. I like the new effects but I just noticed the animation of getting hit is behind the actual punch. Not a big deal, just a suggestion great game regardless :)
Thank you! Those are great suggestions. I do plan on adding some more animations, but focusing on tweaks, gameplay, and bug fixes first. Animations took up the most time when I was working on the game.
Understandable! Can’t wait to see what is added next :) and remember this is your game! Feedback is great but we all also wanna see the game you wanna make 👍
Great game!
Sadly, the Linux version doesn't seem to work.
Huh. My bad, forgot to test the linux builds. Going to try and check when i get back on the 20th, traveling and I don't have a computer or laptop on me. May I ask what linux distro you are using?
Nice! I'm using Linux Mint 21.1 Xfce.
Thanks for the info. Should be easy to check since Mint is based on Debian, and my laptop is on Debian. I'll do it first thing when I get back. Keep you posted!
It seems to be working for me, on Debian. I'll investigate further, hopefully fix it for the next update. Would it be possible to get a screenshot of the error?
Sorry for the late reply. I tag the file "Toe II Toe" file as executable and try starting it with double click, but nothing happens. So, there's no screenshot. But the bug is different than last time I tried. It used to open a window that stayed black and closed again quickly.
Btw, when I unzip the file, the contents are not in their own directory. I think it would be more practical if the files would unzip in their own directory, so I don't have to create a new directory before unzipping.
Thanks for your continuous efforts. Great game!
do you have any other way to contact you?
You can say hello or send suggestions to to paololazatin+toe2toe@gmail.com if you don't feel like posting on here. I'll try to get back to you when I can.
Thats ok, Thank you
I love your game, i donated and i hope this will help your work.
Yes, every little bit counts, so thank you for the love and support!
Amazing to play in class but when both people spam p1 wins
There was a bug that I missed, gave p1 an advantage. But it's fixed now, hopefully you can give it another try.
idk if its just me but im on laptop and the keyboard doesnt work for me
You might have pressed outside the game and lost ffocus, hence the key presses won't registrr. Try clicking on the game window to make sure the game is in focus.
You're incredible, keep it up!!!
Thanks for the love and support!
Found a QoL issue; I did a 100+ streak in survival mode, but when I finished playing I used the pause menu to exit instead of letting myself get beaten. As a result, the game never submitted any of my scores :C
Thanks for pointing that out, I will fix that in the next release! Totally missed that.
Holy hell its been a while since i last saw this and wow this is so good now lmao
Something about the slight delay on the knockout blow or the shatter of the shield break is just so incredibly satisfying, so glad that you're continuing to make this better and better
also one final thing, ill always appreciate more art of our main girl (the one on the naming screen, great work on that btw), who im just learning actually has a name
Noted. Yes, the star is Stella!
just one thing the controls seem to cut out from time to time and im not sure why
I'll look into it!
I'm so happy the update is finally here, and released one day before my birthday no less! It looks great, and I'm even more eager for the easier tweaks to come as a result of the overhaul. It looks like the core mechanics are kept mostly intact, and ducks feel faster to execute, but I noticed right away how much less responsive punches feel. At first I thought it was intentional, but it's probably just buggy. I guess that's inevitable with an update this big so don't get discouraged. The new features are mostly great but a few of them missed me. I was never a big fan of hit "sparks", but sweat and drool work well to the same effect. I'll dump my full feedback below.
Bugs:
-When starting a match, my controls are disabled until I pause and unpause the game. This can go for several rounds until I fix it.
-Even with music enabled, it will stop playing on the title screen if I do a match and return.
-The UI for the options menu will reflect selections inaccurately, i.e. they appear enabled when they are disabled.
-CPU vs CPU has like a 90% win rate for CPU 1. CPU 2 seems to just guard most of the time.
-The input repeat speed is incredibly slow and inconsistent. Whether using gamepad or keyboard, holding an input, mashing, or just trying to string together fast combos results in random, intermittent timings between repeat punches. The game takes too long to register my actions and leaves my defenses open.With such brief windows of opportunity, the inputs should be precisely timed, especially to take advantage of guard breaks. I wouldn't mind a single action per input though, as long as it's honest and responsive.[edit] I hadn't realized that the inputs were dropping because the opponent was blocking. I'd like to be able to keep punching during their block without having to mash the input though.
That feature also makes the game drop my combos when I try to jab+hook.It's frustrating and kinda feels like training wheels. Any chance we can disable it in settings?[re-edit] Actually the game just hates when I queue my next punch during the current one instead of waiting for the animation to finish. It's probably to prevent mashing, but there must be some compromise there. I feel like I'm being punished for knowing what move I wanna do next. Feelsbadman.
Recommended tweaks:
-Context-sensitive action speed. Repeat punches on the same arm should be slower than left/right combos. Jab-into-hook should flow together nicely. Whiffing a punch could add a slight delay to reward ducking and make it safer to do a follow up attack after a successful duck.
-Punch stamina, as mentioned by Treblegne. This is more important than a guard meter IMO as it balances jab spam, whereas block spam is already punishable with chip damage. But to simplify, it could be a generalized stamina bar which is affected by blocking punches as well as throwing them. Maybe ducking also, idk. Maybe use stamina instead of action speed to balance mashing. Or both!
Thanks for all the care you put into this game so far! It's shaping up nicely. I'll save the rest of my input for another post below, as it's just my pipe dreams and I don't want to overwhelm/discourage you with expectations.
Idea vomit and feature-creep:
-Sprite damage. The nose, left/right eye and cheek could update with scuffs/swelling according to where the damage has been concentrated during the fight. Arm bruising too if blocks are being abused. This can be expanded to the torso with the addition of lows, or the jaw for uppers. It would be a nice visual cue for players to focus their defense and attack respectively. [The following ideas go together. Sorry for the length.] -Hold ducks / low punches. I've mentioned this one before. Admittedly it's tough to do with minimal inputs and touch compatible controls. I actually gave this a fair amount of thought, and wondered if instead of having a block button and duck button, you could instead have a standing block and a ducking block, and then have punches aimed at whichever zone you most recently blocked in. This removes the need to toggle stances, so quick ducks would still be possible. The duck button then becomes extremely versatile. Tap it once to dodge highs and change aim, hold it to block lows, let it go to start throwing lows, and when you wanna punch high again you can do a high block? IDK this one is really hard. -Context-sensitive aim. I don't like the idea of repeatedly whiffing highs when the opponent stays ducked. To combat duck spam, standing boxers could automatically punch down at ducked boxers after the initial dodge.
-Context-sensitive punch animations. What if there were different animations for the punches depending on stances and aim? For example instead of hooks, boxers throw straights aka crosses by default until the opponent is blocking, after which they throw hooks/uppers to try getting around the block. Or when throwing hooks downward at a ducked boxer, it could instead do a body-upper motion. This variety would create the illusion of more technical boxing without complicating actual gameplay. It would make guard breaks more believable too. The guard break animation could even change depending on what punch animation caused the break.
First things first, belated Happy Birthday! Hope you had a blast on your day. Also, Glad you enjoyed the update!
Thanks for the feedback, it's a wall of text and a bit overwhelming, but it is always welcome. As a solo, these things are extremely helpful in tweaking/polishing the game as well as spotting bugs since I don't have a QA team.
Regarding the dropped inputs--yes, you are correct. It was by design for the last update, but a bad one, looks like. Jab spamming was an issue, and I was looking for a way to resolve it without complicating things. In the prior version, you could just hold the input to continue jabbing at the earliest possible time. I made it so that you can't just hold the key down, and precise timing (or really quick button mashing) is needed to launch a punch. I'll probably revert to the old one because the result is people lose inputs and think the game is broken.
For the other stuff, I'll need some time digest them and see what I can apply for the next or future updates!
I was super excited about this new updated you were working on as I saw in the comments you been busy last few months with it. I am pleased to say that the game is still amazing and all the new tweaks and additions are super welcome!
Really looking forward to some of the hinted features :) Amazing work and can't wait to hear from you next avout this.
Thanks, I'm glad to hear it! Hopefully I can find the time to add more stuff soon.
Thanks for the feature rich update! If I may suggest possibly adding a toggle setting in options to turn off the white flash that happens during a guard break. On a bright screen when playing at night, it's a bit hard on the eyes. And if possible, a toggle to turn off the screen/UI shaking when landing a hook.
Looking forward to the improvements to the CPU. Right now, it seems that CP1 completely dominates CP2 9 out of 10 times whenever they are pitted against each other. CP2 tends to turtle up blocking and doesn't come out of block to fight back.
It would make sense to add punch stamina since there is a guard stamina mechanic in the game now. Someone else said it as well that jabs are overpowered from how spammable it is if not mitigated by limiting spam with a punch stamina bar.
But overall I'm loving the game and everything you've built into it so far. Thanks again!
I understand how the screen shake, flashes, hit sparks and other effects might not appeal to everyone...Thanks for reminding me. I'll add options to toggle those effects in the next update!
For the CPU vs CPU, yes, it still needs a rework. As mentioned in the dev log update, it was a carry over from the previous AI, which was meant for fighting against humans. I'll change it up and hopefully we can get more exciting fights in spectator mode.
Love the update!!
Really fun game!! The graphics and animations are amazing
Brought memories of street figther when I was younger. This is awesome. Thank youu.
Thanks for the compliment! I love street fighter!
I'm here to see the buff ladies
also because the game looks good (also for the buff ladies)
Awesome. Would be great if you credit and link to this game so other people can also play and enjoy it!
YOOOOOO, THIS GAME WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY DOPE. SUCKS THERE WEREN'T ANY INSTRUCTIONS SO I HAD TO GET MY TAIL BEAT A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT ONCE I LEARNED HOW TO PLAY...ONCE I LEARNED A STRATEGY, I BECAME A GOD WITH THE HANDS
thanks thanks! I'll be sure to add how to play instructions on my to do list!
I'm working on it! Stay tuned for more updates!
Awesome game man! Very fun in short bursts, has great sprites and is very smooth. Excited to see the future updates :)
Small suggestion: if possible or if you thought it could be a cool idea, maybe you could add maybe an uppercut or body shot attack? To add a bit more variety. Just an idea the game is amazing as it is!
Thank you. Glad that you made that suggestion, That's actually part of what I'm working on. It's just taking a bit longer because I'm also redoing the whole thing. Code is a mess since it was made for a game jam, where the priority was speed.
Now I'm doing things proper so that it will be easier to update in the future. As it stands, even I get confused with my code, it's taking longer to add major updates.
oh don’t worry homie! Take your time, I’m not a game dev so I can’t have a say in how long it should take.
I’m sure the next update will be amazing! No rush :)
Very nice, sir. Well done!
Thank you!
Anybody else getting Blades of Steel flashbacks?
It's my first time hearing of Blades of Steel. Looked into the game and was confused for a second because it was hockey, until I saw the mini-fights. It does look similar! I'll try and play Blades of Steel.
to be honest I had fun playing this game, wish there was some way for me to play online with other players. the animations were pretty stellar and second to second micro play was fun, but I did run into an issue were by round 13 my inputs were not being registered and the CPU beating me I don't know if that was a soft block or a genuine bug but other than that I was having fun.
I'll try to look into the unregistered inputs, but chances are you clicked accidentally with a mouse or a key that made the game lose focus (ex: alt or the fn keys).
As for the online play, I'm still studying how to do that. I can't guarantee that it will be implemented but I'm trying to squeeze my brains to add that to the game.
For now though, my focus is to add improvements, most of which are suggested by you the people. Hope you stick around for the next update, it's going to be a major one.
This is the GREATEST animation work I've seen since WALL-E!
Haha That was random, but thanks! Maybe Wall-e boxing game next?!
Very cool. Love the art.
Thank you!
This reminds me a hole lot of the toy where you had a red and a blue boxer, you had these buttons that made your guy punch the other guy. Honestly this is boxing nostalgia for me, loved to play that with my bro. nice game 9/10.
Rock 'em Sock 'em robots! Someone pointed that out, so I looked it up. Glad you loved it.
Source: https://www.theoldrobots.com/RockEm.html
Time for that rematch with your bro, but this time with Toe to Toe.
She looks awesome
Thank you!
as a boxing fan this game is really cool. it'd be cool to see more boxing stuff from you.
That coming from a boxing fan is awesome. I'm working on some major updates for this. After that, I can maybe create a sequel or a different game altogether.
FINALLY......... A FIGHTING GAME EVEN I CAN PLAY........ (The animations look so fricking good what the. AND THE SFX ARE GREAT, TOO. It's a fun little boxing match...) Thank you for making this!!
Welcome! That's one of the goals, create a simple but fun game that anyone can play. Glad you liked it! I'm working on improving the game further based on everyone's feedback. Hope you stick around!
It's amazing, although I'd love to change the controls position while playing in horizontal on the phone
Hmm.. i'll see what I can do. One of the things I'm working on is configurable controls for keyboard, gamepad, and touch.
The last update has extended touch buttons to make it easier for phones/tablets!
There seems to be a problem with the apk version of the game, it never wants to install and just shows this in the pic below. I cant even get the play store version because my phone doesnt have google support
What Android version are you using? I know you mentioned you don't have Google support, but do you have Chrome installed?
Im using android 10,i dont have chrome installed tho
Pardon the late reply, life got in the way. I'll look into the issue. Are you able to play the web version without problem? What browser are you using?
I can play the web version, yeah. The browser i use is just called Browser
the simplicity of the game reminds me of Yie-Ar Kung Fu on the NES except it's boxing :3 really cool tbh, can defo show this to some friends on get-togethers as a quick little game to play :3
I love Yie-Ar Kung Fu! Hope you and your friends enjoy the game matches!
This is like a better version of those button mashey fighting games I’d see in modern arcades
Thanks! Lucky you still have arcades in your area. They're becoming scarce now. Used to be one of my happy places.
Do you have a twitter or something? Your art is goddamn amazing!
Not really active on twitter. In fact I just posted my first tweet a few minutes ago even though my account was registered 2011 (people recommended I get on twitter and post this game and updates). Same with ig, but I do have some stuff on there.
Anyway here's it is:
Twitter: @paololazatin
IG: @paolos_notes
Great game. Duck feels useless, block is op, but I like the simplicity. I think it can be solved by allowing to hold duck, and throw body punches while ducking. Defeats standing block and makes ducking useful without adding any inputs, and makes AI less predictable.
If I add a body punch, that means I have to add a body block. When I started the game, I was actually thinking of having a high and low level, but went with a single level to make it simple.
But you raise a good point about the duck. How about I add a damage boost for a successful duck, say double for every successful evasion until hit or a punch is unleashed (let's say jab damage is 10, successful duck 1x = 20, duck 2x = 40, duck 3x = 80, etc), would that be enough incentive to use duck over block? It can change the momentum.
I too would like body punching as it would discourage a defensive playstyle while balancing where to aim for where an opponent's defense is strong or weak at. The damage buff for dodging would be cool too, but you'd probably have to balance that out too by limiting how many stacks of buff can be stored.
I agree. Body punch and block would be nice too. The game would still be fairly simple in design as it would be high/low weak punch, high/low strong punch, and high/low guard. It would really flesh out the game while remaining easy to pick up and play.
Thank you for the insights. Hmm...although my initial plan for the game was to have a high and low level, I think for now I would like to avoid going that direction if possible because not only will it be more complex, I'll have to make adjustments to the controls too (might need to add more buttons, and for those on mobile, this might be too tight especially for pvp).
For now I'll make some tests while I gather inputs from people. Maybe 2 levels can work, and I'll end up going to original direction. We'll see. I hope you stick around long enough as I try to improve the game!
The multiplier is a cool idea that maybe you could add, but might warrent explanation as it would have a huge impact on gameplay without being mechanically obvious. I think that spoils the simplicity more than lows would.
But on that note, lows could actually be really simple as you don't actually need to add a low block at all. Duck could double as a low block (as long as a low punch isn't being thrown by the blocker.) The ducking sprite already appears to be blocking face and body, so no double inputs required there. You could also make it so standing without using block will automatically elbow-block body shots, but that would be slightly less intuitive. Players would have to think less about specifically blocking a punch, and more about changing stances depending on which zone offensive and defensive play is most needed. Either case punishes block spammers and rewards the long ducking animation handsomely.
The problem then becomes "why stand at all?" Simple answer there too, head takes more damage than body, maybe with a multiplier for dodging. Maybe a hit forces them to stand. Whatever feels balanced and intuitive/simple.
Thanks for the game and the reply!
Good point on the multiplier affecting simplicity. Reminded me that much as possible I'd like to keep things simple--like anyone even a grandma can play it, and everything can be picked up fairly quickly without needing much explanation.
Regarding the auto-block, that could work in the way of simplicity as it might open up a button for level change, but it might promote turtling? Also, I don't know, I never got the hang of blocking without inputs, this was always my downfall with tekken. Never felt natural, maybe got used to SF.
A hit forcing the player to stand is an interesting concept. I'll see if I get anywhere with it. I'll continue to brainstorm and do some tests. Thank you so much for the feedback, these are very valuable to me.
Maybe I was slightly misunderstood, but I very much DON'T want the block input removed. My thought was that ducking is already an inherently defensive "move", so blocking while ducking would be redundant, but while standing it takes more effort. This is how it is in real boxing too, if you're standing upright, you must choose between defending your head or your midsection on the fly, but not while ducking and weaving since your center of gravity is low, and body is curled up and easily defensible, so long as you don't go on the offensive. Turtling isn't a problem as long as there's a way to defeat it.
Part of why I love this game so much is because even in its simplicity it feels more real than many high budget boxing games. There's no jank, no flashy fantasy effects, no tacky game mechanics, just a visceral and realistic 2D boxing match with a boxer that looks and moves like a boxer.
Ah yes, I re-read your comment and I realize I misunderstood. You meant auto parry body shots, I mistakenly thought for all. I will do some tests, try out your suggestions and also those by others, see what works well. Thank you for the feedback.
Also, thank you for the praise, I'm not sure I deserve it, but I am glad you loved my game so I'll take that win.
Great game. Love the sprites and animations. If I may request, please add a CPU vs CPU mode. Thanks!
Hmm...That should be possible. Do want a scorekeeping similar to player vs player so you can keep track of the scores?
Yes please. That would be good to have. If the scorekeeping isn't possible, then that's okay. But the cpu vs cpu is a must have for this great little game. Thanks again!
That's possible, will add it to my to do list!
The CPU vs CPU is now implemented! However, at the moment, AI is very simple and carried over from the last version, made for humans. I'll have to improve on it to make exciting matches between cpu and cpu! Also because I introduced guard breaks, which wasn't included before.
Simple and cool. Very nice!
Thank you!
Good games make player to do more than playing and i say to you: you did a hell of a job!!
And if you upgrade the game more i arpriciate it
Ps. If you ganna put more character sprites, make sure to let players to choose it in 2p mode (im not good wit eng so excuse me for my poor grammar)=)
Thank you, I'm glad you had fun! I'm planning on adding extra characters, maybe 2, for an arcade mode. I'll see if I can have them available for player vs player, because that might require some balancing.