Sorry about that. People have been commenting, asking me to make the game harder. I might have gone overboard this time. I plan on adding a difficulty level, as a suggested by one of the users.
Haha! That's good to hear then. Upon people's request, I tweaked the AI to make it more difficult. Then someone pointed out a bug which gave player 1 an unfair advantage (sometimes when P1 and P2 attack simultaneously, p2 gets a bit stuck for a frame, which causes p1 to win the exchange since p1 is ahead and connects first). This same bug also that caused p1 to win 9/10 in cpu vs cpu.
You might have unknowingly used this every now and then, winning exchanges easily. Now that that's been pointed out and fixed, and with the new AI plus parry, cpu is more difficult.
As for the blocking recovery taking longer, it is actually the same. It might seem slower because I made some tweaks to the block start (as well as some attacks). The starting block animation used to be as slow as the block recovery, but it's much faster now. Apart from looking more correct and pleasing, it was shortened for parry--getting hit during the first few frames of start block would trigger parry. A shorter window makes it more difficult to perform, preventing abuse.
A few have commented that the game is now too hard, so I'm thinking of implementing a difficulty level.
you should be proud! Looks like a lot of people find the new ai too difficult. I need to work on the difficulty level adjustment!
I'm working on new characters, 2 specifically. Since you've been around here for quite sometime, I'll give you their names--Zizi and Big Bean. It's taking a bit longer because I'm on a job hunt, but we'll get there for sure.
Hey! Found this cool game and wanted to play it. Tried playing it on the website version but its just a black screen, then I downloaded it then extracted then ran the game still a black screen! I would like to know how to fix this type of issue or am I doing something wrong?
Hey sorry for the late reply, I can play the game on my phone and its a great game! would like to see more updates soon. I'll still reply though
My device is Acer, its pretty old, its mostly used for work but I can still play some games in it 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor The browser I'm using is OperaGX No errors its just a black screen No I do not hear anything as far as I know, I've turned up the volume and waited for around 5 minutes or so there's still no sound
I also tried pressing the the keybinds but nothing worked it still showed a black screen, I'll assume its a loading issue? I could be wrong though!
The game is pretty lightweight, so I think your desktop should still be able to play the game. That said, since you mentioned it's pretty old, the probable cause is that you don't have the built in edge browser, which the windows build uses (I'm assuming you are on windows? You didn't specify the OS)
In case you still want to play on your desktop (and it's windows) I uploaded another version for windows called NWJS, you can try that instead. Let me know if that works.
It works, thx! Also yes I'm using windows, sorry I forgot to include that. My bad! Game is pretty cool, challenging but not so much! Hope to see more! Thanks again I prefer playing on my laptop!
I guess that confirms it as the edge issue for older windows systems.
Also really happy you like the game and its difficulty. Still have a lot of plans for the game, hope it can keep you entertained long enough for the updates!
The game shows nothing when I run the executable but this shows when I run it through the Konsole. Maybe it could also be something on my end but I have no idea how I would fix it, I'm new to Linux so all of this is different to me.
Looks like a permission issue? I don't know if SteamOS has a "run as admin" option, but if it does, you can try that.
Or in the console, try to enable execute permissions by going to the game directory and iputting the text below without the quotation marks:
"chmod +x Toe II Toe"
Since you shouldn't really just type in random commands in the console given by strangers, here's a bit more info/reference and what it does (https://www.warp.dev/terminus/chmod-x).
After that, try running the game. Let me know if that works!
I'm sorry, no. But you can play it on your pc, tablet, or phone, either as an app or in your web browser without the need for an emulator! I was considering making it an actual gameboy game, but there were too many limitations that I couldn't work with.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm exploring the stamina mechanic, as well as other mechanics that can prevent spamming and stuff. Honestly want to avoid adding another meter, but if the tests work, I might just add it in, or maybe have it as an option.
Are you installing by downloading the apk for the Google Play Store? May I ask what Android version you are using and what phone so I can look into it?
after opening it, go to your browser menu and click on "Install as App" or "Add To Home Screen". This might vary depending on your browser, but for chrome and firefox that is what it says.
That's it, you will have Toe II Toe installed as a web app on your phone. After it loads once, you will be able to play it anytime, even offline. The app icon should come up on your phone.
There's a bunch of pixel sketches when I was conceptualizing the game (I only sketched the game concept on my phone using pixly).
I think I still have some of them, I'll dig it up and post it here. Also, since the game and character got a bit of interest, I'll try and make some more art of Stella (and hopefully potential new chars).
Only a few. I made the mockups, portaits, and some keyframes on my android phone with an S-pen. I used Pixly, by Tavo Maciel. It's free, and is very capable. It could have allowed me to do everything there, but I transferred to the desktop where I could use more space. I animated there using Aseprite.
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.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
bad game too hard made me rage
Sorry about that. People have been commenting, asking me to make the game harder. I might have gone overboard this time. I plan on adding a difficulty level, as a suggested by one of the users.
haha i was just jokin around its fine
Very fun! One of the best 2 player games out there. I hope that you will keep working on this.
Thank you! I will, still have a lot of plans for it!
Musclemommy is on the leaderboard baby!
Im proud to be in 51st place! (High score, july 14th 2023
Is the recovery time after blocking longer? or is it just me?
Also what steroids did you put the CPU on this patch holy shit it got alot harder lol
Haha! That's good to hear then. Upon people's request, I tweaked the AI to make it more difficult. Then someone pointed out a bug which gave player 1 an unfair advantage (sometimes when P1 and P2 attack simultaneously, p2 gets a bit stuck for a frame, which causes p1 to win the exchange since p1 is ahead and connects first). This same bug also that caused p1 to win 9/10 in cpu vs cpu.
You might have unknowingly used this every now and then, winning exchanges easily. Now that that's been pointed out and fixed, and with the new AI plus parry, cpu is more difficult.
As for the blocking recovery taking longer, it is actually the same. It might seem slower because I made some tweaks to the block start (as well as some attacks). The starting block animation used to be as slow as the block recovery, but it's much faster now. Apart from looking more correct and pleasing, it was shortened for parry--getting hit during the first few frames of start block would trigger parry. A shorter window makes it more difficult to perform, preventing abuse.
A few have commented that the game is now too hard, so I'm thinking of implementing a difficulty level.
Having messed around a little more, im finally getting used to the ai now :)
also i see what you mean about the blocks, ive got used to it now
managed to even ko it once, which im probably more proud of than i should be
looking forward to seeing this game go further in future, genuinely incredibly fun
(Also i need more characters because your pixel art is so clean !!you should be proud! Looks like a lot of people find the new ai too difficult. I need to work on the difficulty level adjustment!
I'm working on new characters, 2 specifically. Since you've been around here for quite sometime, I'll give you their names--Zizi and Big Bean. It's taking a bit longer because I'm on a job hunt, but we'll get there for sure.
ah good luck on the job hunt, i hope it goes well (i know how annoying it can be)
personally i really like the current difficulty - i feel like the challenge as what was missing from earlier versions
and lastly thanks for the sneak peek, im looking forward to whats to come
Hey! Found this cool game and wanted to play it. Tried playing it on the website version but its just a black screen, then I downloaded it then extracted then ran the game still a black screen! I would like to know how to fix this type of issue or am I doing something wrong?
Can you give me more information?
Hey sorry for the late reply, I can play the game on my phone and its a great game! would like to see more updates soon. I'll still reply though
My device is Acer, its pretty old, its mostly used for work but I can still play some games in it
64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
The browser I'm using is OperaGX
No errors its just a black screen
No I do not hear anything as far as I know, I've turned up the volume and waited for around 5 minutes or so there's still no sound
I also tried pressing the the keybinds but nothing worked it still showed a black screen, I'll assume its a loading issue? I could be wrong though!
Glad you can play the game on your phone!
The game is pretty lightweight, so I think your desktop should still be able to play the game. That said, since you mentioned it's pretty old, the probable cause is that you don't have the built in edge browser, which the windows build uses (I'm assuming you are on windows? You didn't specify the OS)
In case you still want to play on your desktop (and it's windows) I uploaded another version for windows called NWJS, you can try that instead. Let me know if that works.
It works, thx! Also yes I'm using windows, sorry I forgot to include that. My bad! Game is pretty cool, challenging but not so much! Hope to see more! Thanks again I prefer playing on my laptop!
I guess that confirms it as the edge issue for older windows systems.
Also really happy you like the game and its difficulty. Still have a lot of plans for the game, hope it can keep you entertained long enough for the updates!
Is there a way to get this working on SteamOS? The Linux download does not load the game.
I don't have a steamOS device to test with, but I'll try to ask around. I thought the linux build would run just fine. Was there any error displayed?
The game shows nothing when I run the executable but this shows when I run it through the Konsole. Maybe it could also be something on my end but I have no idea how I would fix it, I'm new to Linux so all of this is different to me.
Looks like a permission issue? I don't know if SteamOS has a "run as admin" option, but if it does, you can try that.
Or in the console, try to enable execute permissions by going to the game directory and iputting the text below without the quotation marks:
"chmod +x Toe II Toe"
Since you shouldn't really just type in random commands in the console given by strangers, here's a bit more info/reference and what it does (https://www.warp.dev/terminus/chmod-x).
After that, try running the game. Let me know if that works!
I got a window to open but it's just a small black screen, I run it through the Konsole and this error shows now.
Can I play this on a GameBoy emulator？
I'm sorry, no. But you can play it on your pc, tablet, or phone, either as an app or in your web browser without the need for an emulator! I was considering making it an actual gameboy game, but there were too many limitations that I couldn't work with.
thank younso much. Keep up the good work
Nice parry sound and mechanic
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
the graphics are absolutely gorgeous wow
Thanks for the high praise! Hope you can stick around while I make it better!
i think you need to add a stamina system. this would prevent hyper aggressive strategies from dominating the game.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm exploring the stamina mechanic, as well as other mechanics that can prevent spamming and stuff. Honestly want to avoid adding another meter, but if the tests work, I might just add it in, or maybe have it as an option.
nice graphics
The Android version is not working, when installing it says "there was a problem while parsing the package".
Are you installing by downloading the apk for the Google Play Store? May I ask what Android version you are using and what phone so I can look into it?
I'm downloading apk version from itch on my realme 5s Android version 10
Are you able to play it via the web browser? Have you tried installing via Google Play?
the web browser works but it says "Your device is not compatible with this version." on Google Play Store
I'll try to investigate. In the meantime, you can try this:
---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☑ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☑ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☑ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☑ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10
Grab this review template here! 👉 https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template/
Thank you for taking time to rate the game in-depth! I'll take that 7/10!
Looking amazing, keep it up!
Awesome overhaul! I'm curious, is there any concept art or anything of Stella?
There's a bunch of pixel sketches when I was conceptualizing the game (I only sketched the game concept on my phone using pixly).
I think I still have some of them, I'll dig it up and post it here. Also, since the game and character got a bit of interest, I'll try and make some more art of Stella (and hopefully potential new chars).
wait, all this amazing sprites were made on phone?
Only a few. I made the mockups, portaits, and some keyframes on my android phone with an S-pen. I used Pixly, by Tavo Maciel. It's free, and is very capable. It could have allowed me to do everything there, but I transferred to the desktop where I could use more space. I animated there using Aseprite.
Thank you for featuring Toe II Toe. I spotted a bug in around 2:12. Thank you, will fix that.
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.