Combat Core (Created by Black game developer and Coli member MABManZ) (PC, Switch)

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

End of Summer Update - Mist or Misuto? Alpha 7 Released + EVO and SmashCon
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Hey Combat Core fans!

The summer is winding down, and I wanted to take time to climb out of my development hole and give everyone a progress update!

Progress on Mist!

Early sculpt of the Mist Model

After model adjustments, texturing and rendered using the in-game engine
Mist; our cunning and smooth kunoichi on the roster, is nearly complete! She uses a variety of smooth flowing attacks and evasion to dish out damage to her opponents!

She's still missing her voice audio and some other visual/sound effects but her moveset is about finished. Mist is now playable in the new v7 Alpha, and all backers for the alpha tier are welcome to try her and give feedback!

Stage 5 is a large, flat area - great for training or competitive matches without interference

Mist? I thought her name was Misuto?! You can decide!

This is something me and Rob, our character designer have butted heads on - Rob originally gave her the name Misuto, but I'd prefer to call her Mist as I felt it is less confusing and easier to read/pronounce correctly. (Misuto is a romanized version of the Japanese pronunciation of "Mist") However, I'm open to reverting it to Misuto if the backers prefer it!

Feel free to sound off in the comments, or alpha backers can vote on the Trello board! (both will be considered)

Lighting changes on Stage 4 and some of the new alternate colors!
Along with the addition of Mist, the new alpha build includes a slew of balance changes, bug fixes, and a few new features including:

- Remappable buttons (and an option to enable/disable light-to-heavy attack holds)
- New Stage 5
- Grab escapes
- New alternate colors for Skatie and Jondo
- AI Improvements

Alpha tier backers can head to the Trello boards and grab the new build now!


EVO and Smash Con 2015

I was able to show off Combat Core at the EVO Champion Series in Las Vegas this year as part of the Media Indie Exchange! (The MIX) I had a great time meeting and getting feedback from backers and other competitive gamers!

The MIX showcase at EVO w/ ICJMan
Smash Con was held in Chantilly, VA for their 2nd convention year. I was able to run the first ever Combat Core competitive tournament! Congrats to "Sir Chunks", our first Combat Core champ, and a huge thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth to play!

A 16-player tournament was held at Smash Con!

Tournament finals and the champion, "Sir Chunks"!
What's Next?

With Mist mostly complete, Kayo will be next in line for development! He's a karate/shoto style fighter (think Ryu or Ken from Street Fighter)

However, many other features are also in-progress and will hopefully be implemented in the next alpha!

- Complete port to Unity 5 (this has been in progress for a while)
- Voice casting/recording for Mist
- 3-section staff weapon
- Spiral Slam Core Attack
- More alternate color palettes
- More custom character accessories


I've been trying to get a new alpha build out at least once per month (barely made August!) so hopefully it won't be long!

That's it for this update! Thanks, and please comment for your thoughts on the naming for Mist vs Misuto!

- Micah "MABManZ" Betts

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

Unity 5 Porting, Online Play, Kayo, and Release Roadmap!
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My apologies for the silence over almost 2 months - I've still been hard at work! Here are some of the things that I've been working on since the last update:

Porting to Unity 5, performance optimizations - Combat Core has actually been in development for over 2 years, and I started the project using the Unity 4 engine. Since then, Unity 5 has been released and support for Unity 4 tools has steadily declined. In an effort to keep using supported features and tools with the engine, I felt it was best to bite the bullet and port the game over to the new engine.

Unfortunately the porting process took longer than I anticipated, so a large portion of time since the last alpha release was spent on fixing code or features that didn't work correctly with Unity 5. This means I haven't had a lot of time to create new content, a.k.a. "the fun stuff" - like characters, stages, and weapons.

However, that doesn't mean I haven't added anything at all!

Online Multiplayer

I've been hammering away on the netcode, and it's getting close to where I will open it up for other people try it out. It probably won't be in the next alpha release this month (Alpha 8), but I will make it a goal to have it out for Alpha 9 before the end of the year.

Mist

After considering all the comments and votes on the Alpha boards - it looks like she will be officially named Mist going forward! She is about finished and we'll be looking to have auditions for her voice (and other characters) soon!

Kayo

WIP Model for Kayo
Work is under way on the 7th original character, Kayo! He's a balanced character that utilizes projectiles and powerful strikes!

The character model is coming along, and I've been also adding and tuning his new attacks and animations attacks in-game using the custom character assets as placeholder:

Weapons:

Unfortunately another time sink over this period was attempting to get the 3-Section Staff weapon working properly. Ultimately because of the way the game blends physics and animation, setting the weapon up to work (and look) proper proved unwieldy and I decided it was best to move on to another weapon as progress had stalled on it. The second highest voted weapon, the Bo-Staff, should provide a similar function/style that the 3-section staff would have, and I plan to have it included and playable in the next alpha release later this month! Following the Bo-Staff, the next weapon in line will be the Rocket Launcher!

Development/Release Window:

Although there have been some bumps in development, we are still on track to have the original 8 character roster complete by the end of the year and work toward getting the early-access release out the door, so the initial release target is still January (possibly February).

However, development of the 3 extra characters (ARES, Zetto, and Kizuna), along with several more features/content will be added post-release and the "full" 1.0 release may actually end up falling into Spring or Early Summer 2016. Physical copies and some other rewards will coincide with the 1.0 release, so you should expect to recieve them around that window as well. Depending on how successful the early-access launch goes, we may look into developing some of those stretch goals features that we wanted during the campaign ;)

A rough estimate of the development timeline would be:

November - Release of Alpha 8 (Unity 5 port, Kayo, Bo-Staff, and Spiral Slam core)
December - Release of Alpha 9 (Squaz + online multiplayer, possibly new weapon/core/stage)
January/February - Alpha archives released, custom character tier rewards/asset production, public Steam Early Access release! All backers will have the game at this point.
Spring/Summer 2016 - Physical edition, Digital PDF guide, complete soundtrack sent to backers, 1.0 "full" release.

Of course the game will continue to receive regular new content updates following the early access release, too!

Thanks again for the support, everyone!

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

 

[TransJenner]

Why does your race matter lol ?


Looks cool though

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

 

[dBoyFresh*212]

Shut up fakkit

 

[Doomsday]

Probably one of the most polished games to start from Kickstarter. The only issue as I mentioned is backgrounds but it does fit the concept if VR is part of the narrative.

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

Damm this game is looking good.. Just need some legit stages especially interactive backgrounds, but I love the animations

 

[Chef]

Dude got tossed into the screen. This game is on my watch list now.

 

[Neuromancer]

Im.buying this

 

[Mowgli]

Why does your race matter lol ?


Looks cool though

Because black people need the most help. We need Wins. Remember that.

 

[teacher]

Why does your race matter lol ?


Looks cool though

because this is a black forum and black people need to support each other because it's painfully obvious the majority of non-blacks won't.

 

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

Progress update, upcoming events and new alpha builds
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Hello Combat Core backers!

I apologize again for the silence on KS updates - rest assured I am working every single day on the game and will continue until it's complete! Some of you may have seen some of this information if you follow on Facebook or Twitter, but my apologies for not keeping the new information up quickly in KS updates.

Progress Update -

The Bo Staff, Spiral Slam, Squaz, and Kayo are (just about) done! They are playable in the newest Alpha build available on the Trello board (Alpha 9). A new build should be up shortly after the game has been put through the ringer at a series of upcoming events (more on that soon).

Kayo is a balanced character, but relies more on energy attacks and projectiles to keep up pressure

The Spiral Slam is very powerful but has a very low range, and cannot hit downed opponents

Squaz can absorb damage with his heavy attack and combo it into a special grab

The Bo Staff has great range and a variety of attacks

With the original 8-man roster near complete, priorities are now shifting to:

Online Multiplayer - Making sure it works as smooth and bug-free as possible and is easy to use
Steam Integration - Setting up the Steam store page for the Early Access release, implementing cloud save system (currently uses local registry)
Stage polish + Stage 6 - although the assets won't change TOO much, I want to at least make the current stages look a bit better. I will start designing the 6th Stage soon also which I think will lean more toward the more hazardous and interactive end ;)

Custom character assets will be the focus after these are done - I'll be contacting all backers soon who want their names in the game credits, names in the character generator, or who backed for custom character outfits!

Upcoming Events

Combat Core will be playable at MAGFest this weekend in the 24-hour Indie Arcade! I'll have a 4-player multiplayer station and also a station showing the game on Oculus Rift! (DK2)

After MAGFest, I'll be at Winter Brawl X in Essington, PA February 26-28, one of the premiere FGC tournament events on the east coast!

Finally, an opportunity came up for me to possibly attend GDC in San Fransisco in March and showcase Combat Core. More updates on this later!

Steam Early Access Release

Am I still on track for a February Early Access release? Unfortunarly no, the online portion still needs work and I will be very busy with events over the next month. If all goes well, I'll be looking to release Combat Core on Steam Early Access after GDC in March. Sorry for the delay!


That's it for this update! Please don't hesitate to contact me for any information or questions you have!

 

[Lord Beasley]

Not really a fan of steam early access because other games ending up in early access limbo, yet you've already paid for the game. It's basically the same as triple a games getting released incomplete and having to wait for content to get patched in.

But on the flip side, I know gamers appreciate the transparency when it comes to combatcore updates. Keep up the good work breh

 

[Mass]

Why does your race matter lol ?


Looks cool though

get this guy out of here.