Beastieball News

BIGMOON BASH! We're beta testing a brand new limited-time event where you can challenge opponents all around the world! You can learn more about the first Bigmoon event here! Sport Detail View option which keeps sports matches in "detail view" at all times. We don't recommend this for most players, but some advanced players requested this...
Freeze Camera accessibility setting, which removes world-bending effects, keeps the camera very static, and force-enables to above detail view setting. In effect, visibility in the game is reduced in a few places, but camera motion is minimized, which should make the game easier to play for those with extreme motion sensitivity.
PvP Games now show your opponent on the field with their custom outfit. There are not currently any way to communicate ie. via claps/emotes (we know you'll want this...)
The title screen now has a fancy little news box! It may even link to patch notes like these sometimes; Wow!

Note: Much more is in production than what is reflected here.

Ostrisigh: Move animation added

Bandicraft: Move animation added

Goofsder: Cleaned up design and added sketch poses

Garood: Cleaned up design

This update focuses on filling in missing interactions/reactions, and filling in gaps players have reported via in-game feedback.

Toward the end of the story, players are given a choice of how to respond to a certain controversial character revelation. This impacts dialogue which happens afterward as well, although it doesn't fundamentally alter the plot or ending of the game.

After finishing the story, characters in Rutile have more varied dialogue reacting to the player's choices during the ending sequence

Marlin has dialogue after finishing the story

The high schoolers in Rollback Loop have additional dialogue after being defeated, including a reward item

A missing encounter with Korwin has been fixed and now is findable in Quartz Canyon

There is special text if Kaz unexpectedly wins a scripted encounter during one of his hangouts; this is only possible in randomizer mode

We've made a large number of changes with the goal of improving the game balance at advanced PvP levels.

[h3]Feelings[/h3]

Tender: Changed the description wording

[h3]Traits[/h3]

Vicious: Damage calculation adjusted to apply in all the same scenarios as Cheerleader (ie, it now combos with Grinder).

Ambush: When triggered, boosts POW by 2x (up from 1.5x)

Goofy: Sideways attacks now do x1.5 damage (up from 1.3x)

Protean: Now works for both POW and DEF boosts. If you boost a single POW stat, it will boost all POW stats. If you boost a single DEF stat, it will boost all DEF stats.

Dauntless: Removed from the game.

Fearless: Now also prevents Stressed. Removed from Daredillo, given to Supilero as a recessive trait.

Heavy: Now known as Steadfast. Also now prevents opponents from lowering their stats. Steadfast replaces Dauntless for Waglash and Riplash.

Flee: Shooga and Supassum now get this as a recessive trait.

Power Forward: Added back to Armantis!

(New!) Self-Assured: Stats can't be increased or decreased (by any source). Radillo and Daredillo now get this instead of Fearless.

[h3]Plays[/h3]

Reach Shot: Changed the description wording

Energized: POW increased to 45 (up from 15). Also fixed a previously unknown bug with its damage calculation.

Hex: Causes only 6 Tired now (down from 8 Tired)

Set: Can only be used if the ball is hittable (aka "under control"). This is more in-line with how setting would work in real life, if Beastieball were real of course.

(NEW!) Slide: Body attack with 70 POW. POW x1.5 if user changed row or lane.

Thriller: POW increased to 60 (up from 55). Changes to JAZZED from the previous patch made Thriller unintentionally weaker. This causes Thriller to be somewhat more in-line with easy to use Spirit attacks.

[h3]Combo Plays[/h3]

Blitzwift Rival:

- POW x 1.5 if the user just MOVED or SHIFTED

[h3]Movesets[/h3]

Jellibat / Froofulks

- Added to level-up plays: Faith
- Removed level-up plays: Set (still accessible via friendship)

Webbounce / Goofsder

- Shifted order of level-up plays

Musselbound

- Removed: High Five

Woollie / Fetcham

- Removed: Torch Pass

Kaleidarn

- Removed: Doze, Set

Servitt / Servace

- Added: Counter (via level-up)
- Removed: Burnout

Noizard

- Removed: Cyclone

Scrubbub / Grubiron / Beetlback

- Added: Battle Cry, Updraft, Clear Field, Call Out
- Removed: Dive

Waglash / Riplash

- Added: Launch, Trait Dance

Petula / Flowish / Orgella

- Added: Shake Off
- Removed: Tough Front

Skibble / Skorock / Boldlur

- Added: Pump Up

Gremlur

- Removed: Cyclone

Radillo / Daredillo

- Added: Slide, Overpower

Leobro / Broslidon

- Shifted order of level-up plays
- Added: Slide

Punkchirp / Magpike

- Added: Kneebender, Net Rush, Steal

Maraptor

- Added: Kneebender

Blitzwift

- Added: Slide

Sprecko / Bongus / Surgus / Illugus / Shloom

- Removed: Set

Axolati / Hopsong / Hopra

- Added: Faith
- Removed: Set

Grazada

- Added: Set

Crawlurk

- Removed: Set

Mudslee

- Removed: Set

Yamyth

- Added: Burnout, Turnabout

[h3]Stats[/h3]

Goofsder

- Body POW: Increased to 90 (from 85)
- Spirit POW: Reduced to 30 (from 40)
- Mind POW: Increased to 85 (from 80)
- Body DEF: Increased to 55 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 100 (from 95)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 85 (from 80)

Turogue

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 83 (from 40)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 40 (from 83)

Turtaneer

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 94 (from 45)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 45 (from 94)

Tortanchor

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 115 (from 55)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 55 (from 115)

Skiffrig

- Body POW: Reduced to 20 (from 23)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 69 (from 60)

Magpike

- Spirit POW: Reduced to 21 (from 31)
- Body DEF: Increased to 50 (from 40)

Platypulse

- Spirit POW: Reduced to 51 (from 66)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 85 (from 75)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 120 (from 115)

Cherrily

- Spirit POW: Increased to 55 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Reduced to 90 (from 95)

Mistic

- Body POW: Reduced to 15 (from 20)
- Mind POW: Increased to 85 (from 80)

Skulkapi

- Body DEF: Reduced to 50 (from 89)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 89 (from 50)

Armantis

- Body DEF: Increased to 80 (from 75)
- Mind DEF: Decreased to 70 (from 75)

Grazada

- Body POW: Increased to 55 (from 45)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 65 (from 55)

Handicoot

- Body POW: Decreased to 43 (from 45)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 22 (from 25)
- Body DEF: Increased to 52 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 68 (from 65)

Debugly

- Body POW: Decreased to 45 (from 55)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 20 (from 25)
- Body DEF: Increased to 79 (from 74)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 65 (from 60)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 91 (from 86)

Maraptor

- Body POW: Increased to 89 (from 84)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 19 (from 29)
- Mind POW: Increased to 87 (from 82)

[h3]New Mechanic: Receive Weariness[/h3]
This mechanic is not explained in the game, and probably never will be as it's quite obscure.

How does it work? If the same Beastie receives any attack 7 times in the same point, then that Beastie will begin to take 10 bonus damage from each successive attack, starting with the 8th. On the 17th receive, they will always take 100+ damage, ensuring the point ends. This feature does not trigger if the attacker or target are Rowdy, OR un-numbered (ie, recruitable).

This interaction will almost never come up in a typical game where both players are trying to win. We evaluated matches with slow-moving stall-focused teams, and even in these sorts of games, the same Beastie would rarely or never receive an attack more than 7 times before the point ended by some normal means. However, in extreme edge cases, this ensures that all points end somehow, eventually, no matter what and that no player is ever able to create a game state that never ends.

Reduced the price of higher-level Jerseys
Away Teams now appear more often after defeating all Ranked coaches
Adjusted the layering on Dread field effects so that Beasties' stamina isn't covered anymore
The variable Power of some attack plays are now correctly factored into visual effects and recruit conditions
Refactored how Beasties from past encounters are saved and stored for future rematches. For players updating from old versions, this might mean that some Beasties you've encountered before this update will have a slightly different appearance in subsequent matches (ie. the color of Kaz's Beasties might change, etc). However this change significantly improves performance and reduces save file size for players with a lot of playtime.
Adjusted mouse selection of overlapping Beasties in sports matches
Raremorph Beasties that are discovered via rumor from Indie are now properly randomized (previously all were generated from the same starting seed, resulting in similar vibes, colors, etc)
Fixed having the correct Beastie as the server at the beginning of Kaz's new Sports Problem. Before this fix, the puzzle wasn't conventionally winnable.
Adjusted controls displays while on Steam Deck to never show mouse input options
Changed crash behaviour on Steam Deck so that crash data is submitted without requiring mouse clicks
Enforced online features being disabled when playing in Clown randomizer mode
Fixed an issue where item sorting wasn't properly saved/loaded
Fixed issues with Diggum hills / Weald ball shrooms, which could spawn Beastie clones if a players quit and reloaded after recruiting a Beastie found within.
Changed how Beasties spawn from Trash bins to be in line with other special spawn objects. Trash bins now sparkle when they contain a raremorph, and if you save/load in front of a trash bin it remembers the Beastie that was inside. Trash bins also now contain Beasties more often than before, and will always shake if they contain a Beastie. (Previously there was an issue stopping them from shaking until they were hit with trash).
Rivals Combo Attacks now display the attack type the corresponds with the Beastie using it. Previously the attacks were changing type based on the user, but not updating the type that was displayed, causing confusion for some players.
Fixed an issue with boss team generation in Grand Expeditions, which made far fewer varieties appear than we intended. Bosses in Expeditions will now be much more diverse.
Fixed buzzing sound and slowdown when checking certain map icons in Randomizer modes
Reese now warns you if you attempt to set a radar when one is already active
Repeatedly asking the same character for favors now displays their dialogue each time, rather than only the first time
Changed certain conditions for a certain event you can do with Platypulse to make it work with "High Five"
Changed the wording on Skulkapi's recruit condition
Adjusted to ensure the correct message displays when the player is recruiting multiple Beasties and has recruited all of them, OR run out of usable jerseys.
Changed how secondary attack effects are resolved on point win, such that Beasties with Superorganism now still are affected by secondary attack effects on point-ending hits
Changed how Keyboard/Controller configs work to be more robust and enable setting ESC/Select as an input
Fixed a broken scene ending that could occur after beating a late-game boss in Ironman mode
The game window now centers itself anytime resolution updates/changes, to prevent the window from going off-screen and becoming inaccessible
Fixed a few story flags on scenes around Valerie Stride so her introduction doesn't happen twice in certain story routes
Changed some story phone conversations to not occur if the player crosses certain story progression thresholds while already registered for the Crown Series
In Ironman mode, gifts that would contain jerseys now contain water instead. In previous versions, these gifts were set to appear as if they'd already been opened, which confused some players.
Adjusted Marlin's AI in Ironman mode to prevent softlocks if the player begins the tutorial boss match with a wiped Beastie
Added a double confirm when the player presses "back" while recruiting a Beastie in the Grand Expedition if they already have 5 beasties in their squad
Fixed movesets on some Beasties in Tower Tourney/Draft Challenge which were missing
Fixed movesets on Beasties in Tower Tourney/Draft challenge being broken in Randomizer modes
Fixed "Sports Problem" Beasties movesets being broken in Randomizer modes
Removed the "Victory Option" from Draft Challenge matches
Removed an invisible "Skip Drafting" button from the initial draft in Draft Challenge
Beasties recruited in the Draft Challenge now only know the exact 3 plays they have equipped, and no others
Prevented opening the Team Order menu in Draft Challenge or Grand Expedition when the player doesn't have any Beasties
Fixed an issue where skipping one Sport Problem would automatically treat the subsequent ones as skipped as well
Removed an extra space added to player's team name when their descriptor is left blank
Adjusted sizing of Beasties/bonds displayed on a Beastie's detail page, so that they don't obstruct important info
Added more safety checks to prevent players from double-triggering the Draft challenge, resulting in a crash
If a Beastie with the "Launcher" trait is previewing a Sideways attack, the preview now correctly shows the attack as going straight instead
Fixed a few issues with private lobbies getting desynced during different disconnection states
Added a timer to the Team Rotation/preview which precedes PvP matches
Adjusted the display of a Beastie's coached % so that there are no decimal places
Fix for some plays not being learned by level-up when using an item at a Gym and skipping scenes very frequently
Away Teams that were downloaded in older game versions but are no longer compatible in newer versions are now silently removed, rather than lingering on the player's map forever
Removed an old debug sign from the entrance to a post-game area
Added a small number of extra reactions/interactions/lines in dialogue for certain obscure situations
Adjusted some Beastie pose animation states to remove some weird stutters and ensure Beasties are in their Wiped pose after being wiped out by an attack
Added and fixed a bug where the damage calculation of Airblast and Launch wasn't based on the correct Beastie position
Added and fixed a bug that made some Combo Attacks usable when they shouldn't have been, and unusuable when they should have been
When a Beastie attacks with Airblast, and is forced off of the field (ie. by Cyclone) before the attack lands, the attack no longer gets the net power bonus, making it more consistent with other attacks
Fixed player respawn positions when interacting with environmental effects such as wind
Fixed typos
Changed wording in several places to have consistency on the Rutile Preserve's name (which was sometimes called a "reserve" instead).
Changed the color used to represent Grazada for stamina bars and other UI elements
Adjusted layering on some player customization beards
Adjusted some area layouts to fix weird area transitions, collisions, and camera issues
Some areas were changed a bit more substantially; one puzzle in Eburbean Cavern has been completely redone. Too many other changes to remember/list them all!
Removed debug file output related to networking, which should improve PvP performance for some players
Fixed a softlock that could happen in the tutorial if a Beastie with Launcher is chosen as a starter
Added more safety checks to hopefully prevent some common crashes
Found and fixed one more potentially major memory leak
Added a safety check which disables shadows when the game is run on very old GPUs that don't support our lighting textures
Updated credits with some missing names in Character/Beastie voices
---------NEW SINCE PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTAL---------
Beasties returning from Away Games now have their plays properly checked and cleaned up for any hacks or patch changes.
Improved line spacing in Beastiepedia menus
Fixed an issue with the final boss softlocking sometimes if auto-mode was enabled
Fixed some issues with damage preview calculation, specifically so that Thriller properly predicts Jazzed damage again as intended
Added and fixed a crashing issue with wandering Beasties being added to the map
Fixed Jellibat/Froofulks recruit condition to respond to "full restore" effects such as those from Doze or torch Pass
Adjusted Jellibat's metamorph condition to trigger a little bit sooner on average
The Speedrun Timer no longer counts time spent processing AI actions, since this varies greatly between devices
Improved visibility on "Request Favors..." button in the Contacts menu
Fixed a certain character's reaction to Rally during the final match sequence so they only react to one stack at a time
More prevention for obscure crashes
Fixed an issue with Beasties being shown incorrect plays to learn via Favor in Clown Mode
Removed a phantom interaction with Craig after exhausting all of his dialogue
If the user's monitor resolution doesn't match an existing preset, a new resolution preset is added to match it
Added safety checks to avoid loading corrupted settings files; previously for some unfortunate players this manifested as the game crashing on startup

Many other fixes were added in a mid-December patch, which I documented here!
Other fixes are... still coming! Gosh darn, this game is big. Why did I make this game so big?!

Thank you for playing. It means the world to me and the team. :)

We've uploaded a large new patch to the PC/Steam Deck build on the Experimental Branch! This patch features sweeping experimental balance changes. We'd highly encourage PvP-minded players on PC and Steam Deck to test out the new changes and give us your feedback on them! The best place to find opponents and discuss PvP changes is on our official Discord!

Sport Detail View option which keeps sports matches in "detail view" at all times. We don't recommend this for most players, but some advanced players requested this...
Freeze Camera accessibility setting, which removes world-bending effects, keeps the camera very static, and force-enables to above detail view setting. In effect, visibility in the game is reduced in a few places, but camera motion is minimized, which should make the game easier to play for those with extreme motion sensitivity.
The title screen now has a fancy little news box! It may even link to patch notes like these sometimes; Wow!


We've made a large number of changes with the goal of improving the game balance at advanced PvP levels.

[h3]Feelings[/h3]

Tender: Changed the description wording

[h3]Traits[/h3]

Protector: When triggered, increases Spirit POW by 2 stages (up from 1 stage)

Ambush: When triggered, boosts POW by 2x (up from 1.5x)

Goofy: Sideways attacks now do x1.5 damage (up from 1.3x)

Protean: Now works for both POW and DEF boosts. If you boost a single POW stat, it will boost all POW stats. If you boost a single DEF stat, it will boost all DEF stats.

Dauntless: Removed from the game.

Fearless: Now also prevents Stressed. Removed from Daredillo, given to Supilero as a recessive trait.

Heavy: Now known as Steadfast. Also now prevents opponents from lowering their stats. Steadfast replaces Dauntless for Waglash and Riplash.

Flee: Shooga and Supassum now get this as a recessive trait.

Power Forward: Added back to Armantis!

(New!) Self-Assured: Stats can't be increased or decreased (by any source). Radillo and Daredillo now get this instead of Fearless.

[h3]Plays[/h3]

Reach Shot: Changed the description wording

Energized: POW increased to 45 (up from 15)

Hex: Causes only 6 Tired now (down from 8 Tired)

Set: Can only be used if the ball is hittable (aka "under control"). This is more in-line with how setting would work in real life, if Beastieball were real of course.

(NEW!) Slide: Body attack with 75 POW. POW x1.5 if user MOVEs or SHIFTs before the attack

Thriller: POW increased to 60 (up from 55). Changes to JAZZED from the previous patch made Thriller unintentionally weaker. This causes Thriller to be somewhat more in-line with easy to use Spirit attacks.

[h3]Combo Plays[/h3]

Blitzwift Rival:

- POW x 1.5 if the user just MOVED or SHIFTED

[h3]Movesets[/h3]

Musselbound

- Removed: High Five

Woollie / Fetcham

- Removed: Torch Pass

Kaleidarn

- Removed: Doze, Set

Servitt / Servace

- Added: Counter (via level-up)
- Removed: Burnout

Noizard

- Removed: Cyclone

Scrubbub / Grubiron / Beetlback

- Added: Battle Cry, Updraft, Clear Field, Call Out
- Removed: Dive

Waglash / Riplash

- Added: Launch, Trait Dance

Petula / Flowish / Orgella

- Added: Shake Off
- Removed: Tough Front

Skibble / Skorock / Boldlur

- Added: Pump Up

Gremlur

- Removed: Cyclone

Radillo / Daredillo

- Added: Slide, Overpower

Leobro / Broslidon

- Added: Slide

Punkchirp / Magpike

- Added: Slide, Kneebender, Net Rush, Steal

Maraptor

- Added: Slide, Kneebender

Blitzwift

- Added: Slide

Sprecko / Bongus / Surgus / Illugus / Shloom

- Removed: Set

Axolati / Hopsong / Hopra

- Added: Faith
- Removed: Set

Grazada

- Added: Set

Crawlurk

- Removed: Set

Mudslee

- Removed: Set

Yamyth

- Added: Burnout, Turnabout

[h3]Stats[/h3]

Goofsder

- Body POW: Increased to 90 (from 85)
- Spirit POW: Reduced to 30 (from 40)
- Mind POW: Increased to 85 (from 80)
- Body DEF: Increased to 55 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 100 (from 95)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 85 (from 80)

Turogue

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 83 (from 40)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 40 (from 83)

Turtaneer

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 94 (from 45)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 45 (from 94)

Tortanchor

- Spirit DEF: Increased to 115 (from 55)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 55 (from 115)

Skiffrig

- Body POW: Reduced to 20 (from 23)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 69 (from 60)

Magpike

- Spirit POW: Reduced to 21 (from 31)
- Body DEF: Increased to 50 (from 40)

Platypulse

- Spirit POW: Reduced to 51 (from 66)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 85 (from 75)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 120 (from 115)

Cherrily

- Spirit POW: Increased to 55 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Reduced to 90 (from 95)

Mistic

- Body POW: Reduced to 15 (from 20)
- Mind POW: Increased to 85 (from 80)

Skulkapi

- Body DEF: Reduced to 50 (from 89)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 89 (from 50)

Armantis

- Body DEF: Increased to 80 (from 75)
- Mind DEF: Decreased to 70 (from 75)

Grazada

- Body POW: Increased to 55 (from 45)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 65 (from 55)

Handicoot

- Body POW: Decreased to 43 (from 45)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 22 (from 25)
- Body DEF: Increased to 52 (from 50)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 68 (from 65)

Debugly

- Body POW: Decreased to 45 (from 55)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 20 (from 25)
- Body DEF: Increased to 79 (from 74)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 65 (from 60)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 91 (from 86)

Maraptor

- Body POW: Increased to 89 (from 84)
- Spirit POW: Decreased to 19 (from 29)
- Mind POW: Increased to 87 (from 82)

[h3]New Mechanic: Receive Weariness[/h3]
This mechanic is not explained in the game, and probably never will be as it's quite obscure.

How does it work? If the same Beastie receives any attack 7 times in the same point, then that Beastie will begin to take 10 bonus damage from each successive attack, starting with the 8th. On the 17th receive, they will always take 100+ damage, ensuring the point ends.

This interaction will almost never come up in a typical game where both players are trying to win. We evaluated matches with slow-moving stall-focused teams, and even in these sorts of games, the same Beastie would rarely or never receive an attack more than 7 times before the point ended by some normal means. However, in extreme edge cases, this ensures that all points end somehow, eventually, no matter what and that no player is ever able to create a game state that never ends.

Reduced the price of higher-level Jerseys
Away Teams now appear more often after defeating all Ranked coaches
Adjusted the layering on Dread field effects so that Beasties' stamina isn't covered anymore
The variable Power of some attack plays are now correctly factored into visual effects and recruit conditions
Refactored how Beasties from past encounters are saved and stored for future rematches. For players updating from old versions, this might mean that some Beasties you've encountered before this update will have a slightly different appearance in subsequent matches (ie. the color of Kaz's Beasties might change, etc). However this change significantly improves performance and reduces save file size for players with a lot of playtime.
Adjusted mouse selection of overlapping Beasties in sports matches
Raremorph Beasties that are discovered via rumor from Indie are now properly randomized (previously all were generated from the same starting seed, resulting in similar vibes, colors, etc)
Fixed having the correct Beastie as the server at the beginning of Kaz's new Sports Problem. Before this fix, the puzzle wasn't conventionally winnable.
Adjusted controls displays while on Steam Deck to never show mouse input options
Changed crash behaviour on Steam Deck so that crash data is submitted without requiring mouse clicks
Enforced online features being disabled when playing in Clown randomizer mode
Fixed an issue where item sorting wasn't properly saved/loaded
Fixed issues with Diggum hills / Weald ball shrooms, which could spawn Beastie clones if a players quit and reloaded after recruiting a Beastie found within.
Changed how Beasties spawn from Trash bins to be in line with other special spawn objects. Trash bins now sparkle when they contain a raremorph, and if you save/load in front of a trash bin it remembers the Beastie that was inside. Trash bins also now contain Beasties more often than before, and will always shake if they contain a Beastie. (Previously there was an issue stopping them from shaking until they were hit with trash).
Rivals Combo Attacks now display the attack type the corresponds with the Beastie using it. Previously the attacks were changing type based on the user, but not updating the type that was displayed, causing confusion for some players.
Fixed an issue with boss team generation in Grand Expeditions, which made far fewer varieties appear than we intended. Bosses in Expeditions will now be much more diverse.
Fixed buzzing sound and slowdown when checking certain map icons in Randomizer modes
Reese now warns you if you attempt to set a radar when one is already active
Repeatedly asking the same character for favors now displays their dialogue each time, rather than only the first time
Changed certain conditions for a certain event you can do with Platypulse to make it work with "High Five"
Changed the wording on Skulkapi's recruit condition
Adjusted to ensure the correct message displays when the player is recruiting multiple Beasties and has recruited all of them, OR run out of usable jerseys.
Changed how secondary attack effects are resolved on point win, such that Beasties with Superorganism now still are affected by secondary attack effects on point-ending hits
Changed how Keyboard/Controller configs work to be more robust and enable setting ESC/Select as an input
Fixed a broken scene ending that could occur after beating a late-game boss in Ironman mode
The game window now centers itself anytime resolution updates/changes, to prevent the window from going off-screen and becoming inaccessible
Fixed a few story flags on scenes around Valerie Stride so her introduction doesn't happen twice in certain story routes
Changed some story phone conversations to not occur if the player crosses certain story progression thresholds while already registered for the Crown Series
In Ironman mode, gifts that would contain jerseys now contain water instead. In previous versions, these gifts were set to appear as if they'd already been opened, which confused some players.
Adjusted Marlin's AI in Ironman mode to prevent softlocks if the player begins the tutorial boss match with a wiped Beastie
Added a double confirm when the player presses "back" while recruiting a Beastie in the Grand Expedition if they already have 5 beasties in their squad
Fixed movesets on some Beasties in Tower Tourney/Draft Challenge which were missing
Fixed movesets on Beasties in Tower Tourney/Draft challenge being broken in Randomizer modes
Fixed "Sports Problem" Beasties movesets being broken in Randomizer modes
Removed the "Victory Option" from Draft Challenge matches
Removed an invisible "Skip Drafting" button from the initial draft in Draft Challenge
Beasties recruited in the Draft Challenge now only know the exact 3 plays they have equipped, and no others
Prevented opening the Team Order menu in Draft Challenge or Grand Expedition when the player doesn't have any Beasties
Fixed an issue where skipping one Sport Problem would automatically treat the subsequent ones as skipped as well
Removed an extra space added to player's team name when their descriptor is left blank
Adjusted sizing of Beasties/bonds displayed on a Beastie's detail page, so that they don't obstruct important info
Added more safety checks to prevent players from double-triggering the Draft challenge, resulting in a crash
If a Beastie with the "Launcher" trait is previewing a Sideways attack, the preview now correctly shows the attack as going straight instead
Fixed a few issues with private lobbies getting desynced during different disconnection states
Added a timer to the Team Rotation/preview which precedes PvP matches
Adjusted the display of a Beastie's coached % so that there are no decimal places
Fix for some plays not being learned by level-up when using an item at a Gym and skipping scenes very frequently
Away Teams that were downloaded in older game versions but are no longer compatible in newer versions are now silently removed, rather than lingering on the player's map forever
Removed an old debug sign from the entrance to a post-game area
Added a small number of extra reactions/interactions/lines in dialogue for certain obscure situations
Adjusted some Beastie pose animation states to remove some weird stutters and ensure Beasties are in their Wiped pose after being wiped out by an attack
Added and fixed a bug where the damage calculation of Airblast and Launch wasn't based on the correct Beastie position
Added and fixed a bug that made some Combo Attacks usable when they shouldn't have been, and unusuable when they should have been
When a Beastie attacks with Airblast, and is forced off of the field (ie. by Cyclone) before the attack lands, the attack no longer gets the net power bonus, making it more consistent with other attacks
Fixed player respawn positions when interacting with environmental effects such as wind
Fixed typos
Changed wording in several places to have consistency on the Rutile Preserve's name (which was sometimes called a "reserve" instead).
Changed the color used to represent Grazada for stamina bars and other UI elements
Adjusted layering on some player customization beards
Adjusted some area layouts to fix weird area transitions, collisions, and camera issues
Some areas were changed a bit more substantially; one puzzle in Eburbean Cavern has been completely redone. Too many other changes to remember/list them all!
Removed debug file output related to networking, which should improve PvP performance for some players
Fixed a softlock that could happen in the tutorial if a Beastie with Launcher is chosen as a starter
Added more safety checks to hopefully prevent some common crashes
Found and fixed one more potentially major memory leak
Added a safety check which disables shadows when the game is run on very old GPUs that don't support our lighting textures
Updated credits with some missing names in Character/Beastie voices

Many other fixes were added in a mid-December patch, which I documented here!
Other fixes are... still coming! Gosh darn, this game is big. Why did I make this game so big?!

Thank you for playing. It means the world to me and the team. :)

We've been making small regular patches since the last major update! Here's what we've been up to.

Note that fixes are always delayed when coming to Mac versions.


Aaron Melcher, our assistant programmer who occasionally helps with low-level problems and handles our Mac porting, got source code access to GameMaker Studio (our engine) and fixed several bugs in it! He found areas in common functions that could very, very rarely cause memory corruption, which would then lead to unpredictable errors and strange game behaviour. We've noticed that players tend to play Beastieball a LOT, in VERY LONG sessions, to the extent that it's statistically anomalous among all games on Steam. These factors (unusually long game sessions x rare memory corruption issues) would eventually lead to unusual errors.

We also fixed several memory leaks in our own game code.

We hope this patch will substantially increase the game's stability over long sessions!


Several fixes and changes have been applied to match replays.
You can now save replays of games played online
Replays from older balance patches now are labelled as such and have a warning about possible wrong behaviour
Replays now correctly work with the "Level Cap" setting. NOTE: If you change the "Level Cap" setting during a match, replays of that match will be disabled.
Replays are disabled when random damage is enabled

Fixed an issue with team shares being blocked due to bad data on the server
The "Show/Edit Details" screen now shows Beastie stats as if they were level 50, so you can make more useful comparisons
Sligh cleanup of the details display and layering with Beastie art
Fixed softlock when both players in a lobby forfeit at the same time
Fixed issues with the "Ban Duplicates" setting checking your current party rather than your selected lobby team (this caused issues and, in some cases, crashes)


We added dialogue filling in a few specific scenarios where players reported expecting new text. Some of this is genuinely new, and some of it was written into the game but wasn't triggering correctly due to bugs. You may spy new text here:
Talking to Reese in Mythwood if you skipped getting sponsored
Talking to Marlin just before the story's final match
Losing a match to one of Elena's fans
Talking to Kaz after a certain hangout event
Talking to Riley after accomplishing some post-game story bits
Talking to Raymond when you have a #99 Beastie but they're away training with Gene
Elena reaction to your performance during a certain hangout

There are many more situations like this I still want to address, but I'm always balancing my time adding new things with handling new bug reports.

Added enforcement and warnings around recruiting your 1000th Beastie, preventing you from having more than that.
The "Armored" trait was changed to trigger when stamina is "full," rather than 100 or more, creating fewer interactions with high-stamina bosses in Randomizer mode or Mountain Expeditions
Seakit and Petula now metamorph by level when in Randomizer mode if their usual method is not available due to randomization
Corrected the description for the Crafty trait
Beasties at level 100 will no longer feel FIRED UP

Added safety checking for player inputs when loading a save file, preventing corruptions or issues that removed key inputs
Adjusted issues and missing assets in several hairstyles that were added in the December Update.
Fixed a crash that happens when backing out of the final reward in Grand Mountain Expeditions
Fixed an issue with the opponent ignoring WIPED if it was applied using unusual methods during your turn during a Grand Mountain Expedition
Fixed the message for recruiting every Beastie after a match
Fixed an issue with double-triggering certain post-game challenge modes if you were mashing the interact button
Removed the "Send Feedback" prompt on Steam Deck, so that the game may be Deck Verified
Updated one of the "sports problems" in a hangout with Kaz
Added many more safety checks to prevent user input during AI turn selection, preventing many possible bugs with AI and Auto-Mode in particular
Improved spacing on tooltips in the Settings menus
Improved spacing on large question/answer dialogue boxes
Improved spacing for large Beasties when they metamorph
Crown Series matches no longer count toward your Ranked career totals (causing a discrepancy between the title screen and the in-game coach menu display)
Fixed issues with serve damage preview being incorrect sometimes when the level cap setting is enabled
Fixed an issue with map icons selection audio/slowdown when in Randomizer modes (or potentially other situations)
Fixed volume on the GAME OVER musical stinger
Fixed issues with Randomizer modes breaking designs for "sports problems"
Added stronger enforcement ensuring that relationships between Beasties that are both on your current squad never break
Fixed a rare crash with building walls, potentially from certain combos and/or being forced to tag out by an opponent
Safety checking ensuring the player's rank is set correctly when loading a file that has skipped major sections of the game
Fixed an issue with Jack appearing floating in the air before a certain scene that can happen in the Solanum Weald
Fixed an issue with scheduled hangouts appearing on the map when that character isn't available for plot reasons
Fixed an issue in the description of combo attacks that force the target to tag out
The level cap feature is now disregarded during Grand Mountain Expeditions
Adjusted the layout of a couple areas
Changed the color used to represent Heliath for stamina bars and other UI elements
Away Teams no longer appear in some dungeons that don't appear on the map
Fixed an issue with Beastie statistics showing the wrong text for plays learned via favor
Fixed an issue with Reese giving the player a tutorial during bossfights if certain sequences were skipped
Beasties with the Plucky trait no longer get yearnings for feelings if they can't make themselves feel it
The pool of possible Beastie nicknames has an entry that was just "["
Corrected many typos

I still get dozens or hundreds of new feedback reports every day! I'm doing my best to keep up with it all while also trying to work on cool new things. :) Thank you to everyone for your continued support and patience with our tiny team doing big things.

Today's update brings a bunch of new features, changes and fixes to the game!


[h3]Updated Art[/h3]
Daredillo clean poses added
Noizard clean poses added
Opposur poses added
9 new hairstyles added to player customization
9 new options added for player face feature customization
11 new hats added to player customization (some are not available by default and can be found in shops) 11 new tops added to player customization (some are not available by default and can be found in shops) Riley character art cleaned up
We'll continue adding more art and animation throughout Early Access. Lots more stuff is actively in progress and on its way for future updates!

[h3]Level Cap Setting[/h3]
This is available in settings menu at any time, from the beginning of a new game or even in the middle of any match. This setting will artificially reduce the levels of your Beasties when they exceed the level of your opponents. They'll still receive EXP as usual.

Beastieball was intentionally designed with peaks and valleys of difficulty; we think there's great joy in venturing to difficult areas, growing stronger, and then returning to easier areas where you can win matches easily. But some players would prefer an experience that's more difficult, slow and consistent. By enabling this setting you can ensure that you're never "overlevelled" and always have an interesting strategic match whenever you encounter any opponent at any time in your adventure.

[h3]Random Team[/h3]
In Team Setup (available in Sportnet or during certain post-game challenges), you can save pre-set teams or download teams created by other players. There's now a "Random Team" option on this menu, which will generate a new random team for you at the beginning of every match you play. You can use this new option to quickly jump into high-level PvP matches without building your own team!

[h3]Mountain Expedition Redux[/h3]
This Roguelike post-game challenge has been particularly popular among players, and we thought it could use a little more TLC, so we spent some time adjusting it. In particular our goal was to enable a greater diversity of playstyles and better reward careful planning. The original version was great fun but pushed players towards using only a small handful of Beasties to succeed. The new version is completely reworked and a lot more strategic! We hope you enjoy it.

Note that records set in previous versions will have to be wiped if you want to continue playing Expeditions. We don't intend to wipe progress like this with every update we make, but in this case we felt it was necessary since we've changed how the mode plays and also how it scores a "win" for some Beasties.

[h3]Other Little Things[/h3]
After completing the story, players earn significantly more Social Battery from defeating Away Teams or their own reserve Beasties.
Tower Tourney and Draft Challenge now yield much more SP, especially after defeating bosses
You can now preview opponent Beasties' Free Ball


This is the first of what will be many adjustments to balance.

In general, our goal with these changes was to reduce the effectiveness of some combinations which could consistently create 1-turn 50/50 or no-win scenarios regardless of matchup. Combinations which were strong in the previous patch should still be strong, but slightly easier to play against, allowing for more diverse match dynamics. These changes are subtle and will only impact players deep in postgame or PvP, such as those competing in the upcoming fan-organized Bring the Heat! tournament.

We also aimed to better distinguish some Beasties' roles by adjusting their plays/traits/stats. Kassaleet and Broslidon now have clearer separate specialties, while other Beasties like Armantis and Musselbound have been given more options to expand their playstyles.

[h3]Core Mechanics[/h3]
Rival Combos: The power of some rival combos was mistakenly higher than intended. They’ve been adjusted to match their intended values. Some have also been made a touch stronger.
Across the board, text has been updated in Trait descriptions to better distinguish how damage is calculated by different factors. This goes hand-in-hand with the following damage calculation changes.
Jazzed: Now adds +50% to your POW instead of multiplying the resulting damage by 1.5. This change keeps Jazzed in-line with other similar buffs.
Rally: Now adds +50% to your Spirit attack POW instead of multiplying the resulting damage by 1.5. This change keeps Rally in-line with other similar buffs. Note: Mind attacks under Rally still have their damage multiplied x3/4

The difference between "+50%" and "x1.5" is subtle but meaningful. For example, in previous versions, if a Beastie was at the net (+50%) and jazzed (x1.5), their power bonus would be 100% + 50% x 1.5 = 225%. Under new balance change, where jazzed is +50%, the same state would yield a power level of 100% + 50% + 50% = 200%.

Effectively this means that power growth will be more linear rather than exponential when stacking certain effects.

[h3]Traits[/h3]
Avenger: Attacks are now 1.2x stronger when an ally is Wiped (from 1.3x)
Determination: Attacks are now 1.3x stronger when user has a bad feeling (from 1.5x)
Blocker: Name has been changed to “Power Forward”.
Performer: Defense is now increased 1.3x during Rally (from 1.25x)
(New for Armantis!) Monster Block: Using “Block” also makes the target feel 2 Shook.

[h3]Plays[/h3]
Juggle: Although its type is still "Volley," this play no longer counts as a "volley" for most calculations. This impacts many areas including relationship building, as well as interactions with certain plays such as Zigzag, which will no longer be strengthened by juggling.
Airblast: POW reduced to 115 (from 130)
Blaze: Spirit POW Boost reduced to +2 (from +3)
Hex: Tired inflicted increased to 8 (from 4)
Hyperspike: Tired inflicted on self increased to 3 (from 2)
Patience: Now grants +1 to user's DEF stats after clearing stat changes
Pump Up: Body POW boost reduced to +1 (from +2). The move now also advances the user toward the net.
(NEW!) Ricochet: Mind Attack with 80 POW. Used from net. POW x1.5 if user received the ball.
Shake Off: Stamina recovery increased to +20 (from +15)
Toppler: Damage multiplier increased to +100% POW for every boost on the target (from +50%)
Ultimate Attack: POW increased to 220 (from 200)

[h3]Movesets[/h3]
Armantis:
- Added: Ricochet, Spike, Quick Set, Distraction (now learned by level up)
- Removed: Mighty Yell, Roll Shot, Shake Off Skibble / Skarmok / Boldlur:
- Added: Ricochet Leobro / Broslidon:
- Removed: Quick Breath Calcroach / Debugly:
- Added: Numbshot
- Removed: Telekinesis Kichik / Ostrisigh / Kasaleet:
- Added: Smack Sefren / Zefyre:
- Added: Net Rush (now learned via level-up)
- Removed: Cut Shot Musselbound:
- Added: Patience, Grit
- Removed: High Five, Pump Up

[h3]Stats[/h3]
Broslidon:
- Body POW: Reduced to 100 (from 105)
- Spirit POW: Increased to 50 (from 45)
- Spirit DEF: Increased to 58 (from 53)
- Mind DEF: Reduced to 75 (from 80)
Armantis:
- Spirit POW: Reduced to 23 (from 27)
- Body DEF: Reduced to 75 (from 85)
- Mind DEF: Increased to 75 (from 60)

Fixed crashes that occurred for some players visiting the Team Setup menu or attempting to download a team
Fixed an issue with trash cans not appearing in Geo City on some operating systems
Beasties that come from trash cans don't float anymore
Fixed an issue preventing some Beasties from metamorphing via special conditions if their metamorph was rejected previously
Away Teams server logic has been updated to correct a few issues that caused incorrect teams to be distributed in some cases (spoiler Beasties, wrong level, etc).
Fix for issue where away teams would appear on the map before spawning in the game world
Away Teams that have been waiting for longer to find an opponent now get a boost in priority for spawning. This means lower-level teams may sometimes appear for players, but in general Away Teams should spend less time waiting to find opponents.
Fixed an issue/crash with loading/unloading Beastiepedia field sketches. This fix might have also fixed several other seemingly-unrelated issues with broken models appearing in some places and other random issues/crashes.
Fixed a softlock that was possible during an endgame story sequence
Fixed some control description UI not updating correctly to custom controls
Fixed an issue with mixing keyboard/mouse input on the name entry in the character creator, which would close the menu when a player typed a letter corresponding to a "back" button
Fix for render order on the crown of captain Beasties in captains mode
Fix for player face frozen on a concerned expression if they talk to certain NPCs in Rutile after getting their first jerseys
Fix to Riley being uninteractable during a particular hangout if it's initiated after registering for the Crown Series
On the file select, Beasties now render behind important labels noting ironman/randomizer settings
Beasties establishing a new close bond and breaking an old one are now ~500,000x more likely to break a relationship with a Beastie that isn't on your active lineup
The player can no longer clap while hugging
When booting up on Steamdeck, the game always sets itself to fullscreen regardless of ingame settings. This is to correct a potential issue with switching between devices; on a console like Steamdeck we expect players would never want to play windowed.
Stopped away teams from spawning in Cordia Lake as this is inconvenient
Enforced scenes that should be skippable which sometimes weren't. This was mainly impacting speed runs.
Adjusted/updated many Beastie encounter movesets to reflect the new balance changes
Added safety checks to prevent various other common crashes
Many typos and area adjustments


These first few weeks have been exhilarating for the team! Working on the game and adding all these things feels extra amazing thanks to the enthusiasm and encouragement of players. More to come!!!

This is a quick note that the post-game Mountain Expedition has been radically updated in the experimental branch. This new update will clear your past records to reflect the large difference in gameplay.

We don't want to punish players who found fun ways to play the Expedition previously, but we're trying out new changes in an effort to increase run diversity and make a greater range of Beasties/team comps viable.

We welcome any feedback on it as we continue to adjust the balance!