The Thrill of the Fight News

Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.

June 23: Pushed out a small update with a new method of force adjustment that uses a separate multiplier for hooks than for all other types of punches.

Another beta update? Heck yes!

The 6/15 update brought some changes to the calibration system to help favor crosses. Those changes made the game far too easy for most and led to big inconsistencies for others. The 6/17 update addressed a few issues with the opponent's offense and defense to try to increase the difficulty (in a fair way), but it didn't really help, and the inconsistency problem still remained.

I liked the changes that increased the difficulty, but I wanted to revert to the 5/20 calibration method, and I felt these things would be too difficult in combination. However, that gave me room to add in a long-requested feature that will help make the AI a little easier - long term fatigue!

Here's a quick breakdown:
Trauma / Pain - This system already existed, but I'm recapping here to highlight the differences between these systems. The Trauma / Pain system causes a boxer to be weakened as they take damage to the head or body, respectively. This trauma / pain build-up causes future hits to the head or body to count for increasing amounts of damage. Accumulated trauma and pain will also keep the boxer on the floor for longer during a knockdown count. This effect builds up very slowly and it scales based on round count, so it's not very noticeable until later rounds. The effect is permanent and does not recover at all during the break. This system represents the trauma and pain a boxer experiences from repeated blows. Since the player doesn't actually suffer any real-world effects from the punches they are taking, this effect applies to both boxers - the player and the opponent.

Stamina - This system also already existed, but I'm recapping here to highlight the differences between these systems. Stamina represents the number of actions a boxer will take in the short term before getting winded and needing to catch their breath. In TotF, the player has no imposed stamina system - you simply get tired when you get tired in real life! The AI, however, needs to have a system in place to represent this. As the AI punches or dodges, their stamina level is reduced. It recovers quickly, but if it drops low enough, they AI will stop punching and dodging completely and try to back away to catch their breath.

Fatigue - New to this update, the AI now has a system for representing their long-term fatigue. As the AI takes actions that reduce their stamina, they start to become more permanently tired. Over time, this begins to show up in the form of less aggression and less willingness to punch or dodge. The opponent will recover some of their fatigue during each break period. This effect also scales with the round count. As with stamina, the player doesn't have any sort of fatigue mechanic imposed on them - your fatigue is however worn out you are in the real world.


Since this is a new mechanic, expect some tweaks and adjustments over the next several days.

Please read through the full list of changes below and let me know your thoughts in the feedback thread here or by emailing me at [email protected].

If you run into a game breaking issue, please report it to me and then switch to the rollback branch.

Thanks!


Update Notes:

• June 23: Changed the automatic force adjustment system to use a separate multiplier value for hooks than for other types of punches. This value will show up on the main menu, the manual slider, and the details screen. The 5/20 calibration method mentioned below no longer applies.
  
• June 23: Uppercuts need to be more vertical than before to register as uppercuts.
  
• June 23: Increased the amount of leverage counted for uppercuts, which increases their power.
  
• June 23: Decreased the amount of bonus damage received for hitting under the chin with an uppercut to offset the power gained from the increased leverage of uppercuts.
  
• Added a long-term fatigue system for the AI.
  
• Adjusted the AI's short-term stamina system to better handle the stamina used for dodging.
  
• Most opponents that dodge should be dodging more often than before.
  
• Price and Vega will dodge very slightly less often than before.
  
• Slightly reduced the amount of trauma / pain build-up needed to start noticing extra damage.
  
• Slightly reduced the amount of trauma / pain build-up needed for a boxer to stay down longer during a knockdown count.
  
• Increased the rate at which trauma / pain build-up will keep a boxer down longer during a knockdown count.
  
• Increased the max amount of time trauma / pain build-up can keep a boxer down during a knockdown count.
  
• Reverted automatic adjustment force calibration details to match the 5/20 update.
• Changed the menu screen sliders to fit within their backgrounds.
  
• Added new reset buttons for each difficulty preset to the Custom menu.
  
• Reverted Luis's height to it's previous value, but kept his increased reach.
  
• Made Charong taller, but not as tall as he used to be.
  
• Removed the camera "fade to black" effect when you stick your face into solid objects. This now works how it used to, except that it only kicks in while your face is in a solid object. Best of both worlds!
  

Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.

A new beta update already? Well, as is often the case, while I was waiting for feedback on the last update to roll in, I couldn't help but keep tinkering. I've got some new changes that I want to get out to the beta branch for feedback ASAP, so I'm going ahead and pushing out a new update already.

The primary changes are centered around making the opponent a little more bullish about getting within punching range. The distances at which the opponent can try to lunge in have been eased up a bit to give the opponent that option more often instead of always stepping in. When the opponent does step in, they will be better about keeping their guard up instead of always dropping it. Once the opponent is in, they'll now be a little less likely to be backed off by your defensive strikes.

Also, by popular request, Luis has grown a few inches and Charong has shrunk few inches. Accordingly, Charong will try stand a little closer to you and Luis a little farther away.

Check out the full list of changes below. Let's continue to use the same feedback thread here as the previous beta update, or feel free to email me at [email protected].

If you run into a game breaking issue, please report it to me and then switch to the rollback branch.

The version number for this update should read "190617.2BS"

Thanks!


Update Notes:

• The previous beta update made jabs less likely to be considered to adjust your force multiplier. This update makes them considered again like they were before.
  
• Made the opponent a little less likely to back off from your defensive strikes.
  
• The AI can now lunge from a closer distance.
  
• Opponents now do a better job at keeping their guard up while approaching.
  
• Lowered the damage level needed for pure red hits to exactly the amount needed to get a one hit knockdown. This is lower than the last update but still higher than the level it was previously at. Note that this is just a cosmetic change and doesn't affect the damage you're actually dealing.
  
• Made Charong a little shorter.
  
• Made Luis a little taller.
  
• Updated to Oculus SDK 1.37 to fix the glitched loading screens in Oculus mode.
  
• Adjusted the lighting some more.
  
• Fixed "On" option text being really tiny for the Forward Facing setting.
  
• Fixed a glitch with The Artist's block hit reaction animations.
  

Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.

Hello, everyone. I've got a new beta branch updated headed out now.

I have updated the version of Unity that the game runs on, which could bring with it a ton of bugs, so be on the lookout for anything fishy. I have also been playing around with a Quest version of the game, and have brought a few changes over to the PC version from my testing on Quest.

I've also worked in a few changes based on feedback since the last main branch update. If there aren't any major game breaking bugs discovered in this beta, I plan on moving it to the main branch fairly quickly.

Please read through the full list of changes below and let me know your thoughts in the feedback thread here or by emailing me at [email protected].

If you run into a game breaking issue, please report it to me and then switch to the rollback branch.

The version number for this update should read "190615.0BS"

Thanks!


Update Notes:

• Updated to Unity 2019.1
  
• Accumulating head trauma and body pain will eventually cause a boxer to stay on the mat longer after they are knocked down. This effect starts small but builds up exponentially, so should only be a factor in later rounds.
  
• The automatic force adjustment system should now favor adjusting around straight punches. This change will likely increase everyone's effective punching power at least a little bit, and should drastically help those users who were getting stuck with a multiplier that was inappropriately low. Note that the previous beta version worked similarly, but only for players with very high fist speed.
  
• The automatic force adjustment should no longer inappropriately lower your multiplier too far for lunging in with a punch.
  
• Increased the damage required to see yellow and red impact effects. Note that this is just a visual change and isn't a nerf to your actual damage.
  
• Opponents and other objects no longer look solid black on the inside. Instead, your vision will gray out when you put your head inside these things.
  
• Altered the hair shader to address some issues it was causing. The new hair shader requires 4x antialiasing in order to work properly, so as a result of this change, the antialiasing option has been removed from the Settings menu.
  
• Changed the way lighting and shadows are handled to improve performance. As a result of this change, the option to hide shadows has been removed from the Settings menu.
  
• Improved UI performance.
  
• Updated to Oculus SDK 1.36.
  
• Fixed potential memory leak issue with particle effects.
  

Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.

Hey, everyone. I'm pushing a small update out to the beta branch that's mostly an experiment.

In general, TotF rewards the velocity of punches a bit too highly regardless of how much body mass is behind them, and it's fairly easy to throw hooks that are disproportionately fast compared to your straights. This leads to straights feeling weak for most players. There's also a scenario where the way hooks are handled can lead to the player trying to throw hooks harder and harder, accidentally nerfing their multiplier, and getting stuck in a negative feedback loop. The "Tracking Speed Limit" setting was meant to help with these problems, but in some cases it seems to be making them even worse, while it's going unnoticed in most other cases.

What this beta update does is sets a lower cap on the punch speed that the automatic force adjustment system will try to calibrate around. The new lower value is still faster than straight punches from all but the absolute fastest punching players, but it's low enough that just about anybody can reach the speed with a hook. This should make the multiplier more likely to adjust around your straight punches instead of your hooks and make it less likely that "high speed" hooks will tank your multiplier.

Please read through the full list of changes below and let me know your thoughts in the feedback thread here or by emailing me at [email protected].

If you run into a game breaking issue, please report it to me and then switch to the rollback branch.

The version number for this update should read "190520.0BS"

Thanks!


Update Notes:

• Reduced the maximum punch speed that the automatic force adjustment system will try to use for calibration data.
  
• Removed the Tracking Speed Limit setting. The game will now behave as it did with this setting turned off.
  
• Changed antialiasing "Auto" setting to always be 4x on SteamVR. In the future, this entire setting will likely be removed with 4x AA always forced on to accommodate an upcoming graphical change that relies on having a 4x antialiasing level.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player would gain trauma too slowly in short bouts and too quickly in long bouts. The opponent's trauma gain rate was already working as intended.
  

Note: For those looking to try out the beta, you can do so by right clicking the game in Steam, going to "Properties", clicking the "Betas" tab, and choosing the "beta" option from the dropdown.

Hello, everyone! I'm pushing out a quick beta update to address some feedback from the main branch. I'm hoping to get these moved over to the main branch quickly.

Please read through the full list of changes below and let me know your thoughts in the feedback thread here or by emailing me at [email protected].

If you run into a game breaking issue, please report it to me and then switch back to the main branch (the rollback branch is going to remain on the previous beta update that came before the main branch update).

The version number for this update should read "190507.0BS"

Thanks!


May 12 Hotfix

• Set "Boost Color" mode to be the new default for Impact Effects
  
• Added a new stat to the Score Details tab - "Multiplier at End of Round". This stat shows the force multiplier in use for the player at the end of the round, before the calibration system checks to see if the multiplier should be raised. Since the multiplier will only decrease during a round, the value shown is the lowest the multiplier fell to during each round.
  
• Turned "Tracking Speed Limit" off by default.
  

Update Notes:

• Added a new option to the Impact Effects setting called "Boost Color" which will increase the visibility of the colored hit effects.
  
• Added a new post-bout stats tab called "Score Details" which will provide more information about why the match was scored the way it was. This tab shows the total number of knockdowns scored by each boxer and the total damage inflicted by each boxer, along with a note that explains how the scoring works. The stat that was the deciding factor in who won each round will be highlighted in gold text. The "damaging punches" stat has been brought back and added to this tab as well, although that stat doesn't directly factor into the scoring.
  
• Slightly reduced the size of the "Did I get blocked?" check to make it easier to punch in between the opponents arms when they're guarding the side of their head.
  
• Changed the size of the "Did I get blocked?" check to correspond with the glove size you pick.
  
• The round timer will now count up if you have the round time set to infinite time instead of staying at 0:00.
  
• The round timer will now freeze when the bout ends instead of clearing itself to 0:00.
  

Also, in case you missed them, the main branch update included these changes:

• Brightened the color of the red screen effect that plays when the play receives a hit to the body.
  
• Reduced the Chin and Power levels to 110% for Outclassed mode (from 115%).
  
• Reduced the Chin level to 105% for Endurance mode (from 110%).
  
• Increased the size of the screens in the Arena venue.