Did you know that I was able to release this BEFORE The Strongest Battlegrounds released its update? Crazy. Anyways,
Hey again testers!
This update is heavy on the AI brain-surgery, parkour mechanics, and some seriously cool dynamic tech to make your own music influence the game. I've overhauled the combat loop to make it feel more complete and this update was used as my final college project.
Here are the patch notes for Prototype Patch #4:
The AI Overhaul: I overhauled AIs again. They now feature predictive defense (they will check your velocity and brace for impact), combo-breaking stun dashes, and a more defensive surrounding feature where they'll actively size you up and circle you before engaging. AIs are also smart enough to respect your parry windows.
The Combat Director: Added a global token system to combat. Enemies will now coordinate their attacks instead of dogpiling you all on the exact same frame, making group fights feel much more cinematic and readable.
M2 Burst Added: Added a brand new M2 Burst attack to the arsenal to keep your combo strings fresh. Allows you to get out of combos where you're being jumped (even though with the new AI system, it doesn't really do that anymore).
Rail Grinding: The parkour framework is pretty much finished with the introduction of rail grinding! You can now seamlessly grind on rails to keep your momentum going while traversing. (Only available in the next thing below)
The Patch (WIP Art Pass): The freeroam map is officially moving out of the blockout phase! A non-blockout, work-in-progress version of The Patch has been implemented. You can access it through a tunnel in the original map.
Training Level Complete: The demo for the Training level is completely finished and ready for you to lab your parries and combos in a controlled environment. You can access a demo of it in the main menu under "Training Demo".
Dynamic Audio Detection: This one is huge. I built a custom detection system that listens to the volume of whatever background music you are playing on your PC outside of the game, making the game dynamically react to your own soundtrack. Put on whatever you want using supported apps (Google Chrome, Spotify) and it'll react! (This'll be able to be disabled at a later point when I finalize settings)
Smear Frames: Combat just got a lot more animated. We've added smear frames to the attack animations, making the hits look ridiculously fast and punchy.
New Post-Processing: Implemented a brand new custom post-processing shader that gives the game a bit more of a stylized look!
Full Controller Support: Grab your gamepad! The game now officially supports Xbox, PlayStation, and even Steam Controller (2026) right out of the box.
Dynamic UI Glyphs: No more guessing what button does what. On-screen hints will now automatically detect your input method on the fly and swap the UI glyphs to match whether you are using a keyboard, a PlayStation controller, or an Xbox pad. They're also a bit more minified, so they're less obtrusive!
Pause Menu: You can actually pause the game now! Incredible technology, I know. Pressing Escape (or Menu on controller) pauses the game and you can change your settings on the fly.
The "I Forgot" Fixes Part 2: A massive mountain of C++ refactoring, collision optimization, and under-the-hood engine tweaks that keep the game from exploding into a fiery mess. Safe to say that the game should be a bit more optimized!
Jump in and tell me how the game feels!
Cheers!
- Jake D. / JDR (founder of vecShift Studios)