Skullgirls 2nd Encore News

Hello, Liam here.

This update is focused on fixing bugs and issues. Changes are below...

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[h3]UMBRELLA[/h3]

• While the tongue from Special Move A is rolling out, it will destroy projectiles it collides with.
  
• Temporarily disabled Umbrella's additional taunt effect that would adjust her Special Move A functionality. This will likely return later.
  
• Taunt now builds Hunger over time instead of all at once, and it builds less Hunger overall.
  
• Fixed a bug where JLK could cancel into Air Throw at any time.
  
• JLK adjusts upwards and downwards momentum further along in the animation compared to before.
  
• Fixed a bug where hitting Umbrella as she caught the opponent with Special Move A's tongue would not release the victim.
  
• Fixed a bug where heavy air normals were building incorrect Drama (Undizzy) values.
  
• Fixed a bug where her Burst was not correctly tagged as a Counter Hit state.
  
• Fixed a bug where some of Umbrella's effects would not be adjusted by vibration during heavy hitstop.
  
• Umbrella's dash jump speed has been increased by 10%.
  
• All chewing and chomping (Throw, Air Throw, Special Move A and B) can now kill the opponent and will play their death scream, instead of waiting for them to be spit out.
  
• Air Throw will no longer trap dead characters in the Bubble.
  
• Fixed a bug where cHK would spin characters around during blockstun.
  
• Umbrella starts with 4 hunger pips, down from 5 and a half.
  
• JMP hitbox extended slightly downwards, to reliably hit all characters crouching if she is in the Ravenous state, as originally intended.
  
• Adjusted Hungern's eating intro animation.
  
• JLP now hits Big Band while he's crouching even if she is rising, but it is still mid while rising against all other characters. Sorry Ben... she learned this one from her sister.

[h3]BIG BAND[/h3]

• Fixed a bug where H Brass Knuckles hit sound effect was not playing.
  

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(Build version 3.3.2)

It's finally time... everyone's favorite salty sister is playable for the first time in Skullgirls!



As is tradition, Umbrella will be arriving in an unfinished state with some work in progress "sketchy" frames. Keep an eye out for frequent updates during this "Alpha" as we work on finishing her up.

[h2]HOW TO SELECT UMBRELLA[/h2]
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As mentioned before, characters in their Alpha phase are currently only available to Season 1 Pass holders. If you don't own the Season 1 Pass DLC, you won't be able to use Umbrella yet. Lucky for you, it's on sale right now if you still haven't picked it up! This launch celebration sale will only last until Tuesday September 7th, so don't delay.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1557981/Skullgirls_Season_1_Pass/

Once you have the Season 1 Pass DLC, launch the game in BETA mode by pressing the green PLAY button on Skullgirls 2nd Encore from your Steam library page, then selecting "Skullgirls Beta (Umbrella Alpha)". You can also launch the game in BETA mode by navigating to the in-game Options menu, and pressing "Switch To Beta". (You can also use the -beta Steam launch option, if you prefer.)
In BETA mode, you can pick Umbrella on the character select screen as normal!

Linux Users: The In-Game "Switch To Beta" functionality is not working. We hope to address this for the next alpha build, which will be very soon. In the meantime, you can launch into Beta mode using the Steam Launch Options OR using the "-beta" in the launch arguments.

[h2]WHEN CAN I BUY HER DLC SEPARATELY?[/h2]
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Once Umbrella's Alpha phase is over, her individual character DLC will go live in Early Access on the Steam store. This will allow you to play Umbrella during her Early Access Beta phase without owning the Season 1 Pass.

A character's Alpha phase is over once they have voice acting integrated, unique sound effects, and all of their attack animations fully complete.

[h2]HOW COMPLETE IS UMBRELLA?[/h2]
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Umbrella has almost everything functionally integrated except for several of her Special Moves and Blockbusters. During the Alpha period, expect to see ~5 new Specials and ~2 new Blockbusters added to her arsenal. We will also be tuning and polishing her visuals and existing toolkit over the coming months.

Note that Umbrella's hunger mechanics will take some extra time to tune until it's feeling just right, so expect to see plenty of changes, as they are currently work in progress.

We'd love to hear your feedback on how she's shaping up (and any bugs you've come across), so don't be shy in joining the official Discord (discord.gg/skullgirls) and the official forums (skullheart.com)!

[h2]WHEN WILL UMBRELLA BE FULLY RELEASED?[/h2]
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Umbrella is slated to have her full release on Steam, PS4 and Mobile in 2021. The other characters in the Season 1 Pass will follow in 2022. We can't get too specific with our planned dates quite yet, but stay tuned for more info!

[h2]WHAT ABOUT OTHER BALANCE CHANGES AND OTHER STUFF?[/h2]
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At the moment we've got our hands full with finishing Umbrella, but non-Umbrella related changes will be arriving at some point in the future. That said, there are some changes in this build that were finished a long time ago, so these will be included in BETA mode:


• ANNIE - Throw range slightly reduced.
  
• ANNIE - JHK no longer refreshes OTG (Off The Ground) when it connects outside of Star Power.
  
• ROBO-FORTUNE - Catastrophe Cannon (all versions) will never hit and consume a team's assist action after Robo-Fortune exits the screen when performing a Blockbuster Sequel (DHC).
  
• ENGINE (ALSO RETAIL MODE) - Hopefully resolved a low level issue where some VFX and projectiles would not vanish at the right time. This was most common on Mac and Linux with Squigly's jMK and cHP, and Valentine's tag-in curtain. This should hopefully also resolve any remaining desyncs between versions when playing online.
  

[h2]PLATFORM AVAILABILITY[/h2]
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We know plenty of you are clamouring for information on Umbrella and the Season 1 Pass's release on other systems, so here's a mini-update on those fronts:

[h3]What about Nintendo Switch or ?[/h3]
Unfortunately due to unique technical complications regarding the Nintendo Switch port, we still can't provide much information on when the Season 1 Pass will appear on the system. We will provide an update as soon as we have an updated timetable on Switch availability.

We are not planning on releasing any future updates for the Xbox 360, PS3, or PS Vita versions.

[h3]What about Xbox One / Series X?[/h3]
We are still interested in bringing Skullgirls to the Xbox One / Series X in the future, but we do not have any further details we can share at this time. Stay tuned!

[h2]WRAPPING UP[/h2]
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We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Umbrella now that she's finally made her big (alpha) debut! Thanks so much again for all of your support, and stay tuned here and on our social media pages (Twitter, Facebook) for the announcement when the update is live. The Skullgirls Launch Party never ends!

All of us at Hidden Variable and Autumn Games

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(Build version 3.3.0)

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UPDATE: We fixed a small crash issue with Fukua shadows. (Build version 3.3.1)

Hello everyone, this is Jesse! Hope you're having a good day!

Today we have a small functionality patch for Skullgirls 2nd Encore. This is addressing a couple of crash bugs and some achievement issues. We hope this will smooth things out a bit for everyone, especially with the finals for Skullgirls Championship Series Summer Blockbuster this weekend! It's an exciting time for Skullgirls!

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[h2]General[/h2]

• Two crash bugs have been addressed.
  

[h2]Achievements[/h2]

• The Beau-coup de Grâce achievement has been adjusted so it will only prompt steam overlay updates if you gain progress on the achievement.
  
• You can no longer gain progress with the Beau-coup de Grâce achievement while spectating an online match.
  

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(Build version 3.2.1.2)

Hello everyone, this is Jesse! Hope you're having a good day!

We've released a small, content-only patch for Skullgirls 2nd Encore.
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The Skullgirls Championship Series has made its way to New Meridian. The NMO Arena has been decked out in full SGCS regalia and is ready to host the Skullgirls Championship Series Summer Blockbuster in just a few weeks. You can play this new stage variant, the SGCS Arena, right now in Skullgirls 2nd Encore!

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(Build version 3.2.1.1)

It's been a long journey, but after months of testing and tuning, the official release of Annie of the Stars is finally here! And as much as Annie loves the spotlight, this update also comes with a mountain of gameplay and balance adjustments for the rest of the cast.

If you've been participating in the open beta these changes will be familiar to you, but if you've just joined us, or want a refresher on the staggering amount of updates that have been made, we've compiled a comprehensive set of update notes, which you can view over on the Official Skullheart Forums:

Skullheart Forums | Annie Release Update Notes

We couldn't be happier with how Annie and this first major update to 2nd Encore has turned out, so thank you to everyone who's supported and continues to support us in this new era of Skullgirls!

Keep an eye on our social media accounts for the latest info on Umbrella and the other characters in the Season 1 Pass!

-Hidden Variable