Heroine Rumble2 v0.302: Taunts, Grappler class and much more

Download HERE.

This patch adds the highly requested Taunt ability into the game. The Taunt ability is a default ability that every character starts with. When activated, it plays an taunt animation and if it is not interrupted, the user will gain a sizeable chunk of Super Meter. What's neat is that the Taunt animation can be customized per character as well.

Added an entire new class, "Grappler" to the game. When combined with the existing Fighter and Beastal, that means we now have 3 different classes in the game. The grappler is a class focuses on grabs and super meter gain.

The final attack the auto attack chain, and dash attack of Grapplers are grabs instead of a strong strike, to tie into a grab-focused playstyle. The class also synergy with Taunt ability, with access to additional super meter gain and CHA during level ups. (Taunt was made as part of Grappler class's kit then was given to everybody as a default)

The Grappler have a new exclusive ability: The Windup Punch. This exaggerated punch does a hefty amount of damage when it hits. But more importantly, it is a stagger-activatable ability - meaning that you can use it while staggered (even as result of Parries) as a Counter attack. Of course, it has a deliberately slow windup so it wouldn't instantly reverse the situation. If more Counter attacks abilities are added to the future, this will be the design baseline: stagger activatable with a long windup, more as a "Get off me" button rather than instant "Uno Reverse Card."

The dithering fade implemented back in December is now applied to the game. This should help tremulously with walls/ropes blocking the camera's view. Here is an example:

(Wall is already in front of the camera, can you see it?)

(Zoom out more:)

A basic tutorial is also added the game. The player have a choice to view them during the start of the game or by selecting Manage - Tutorial:

Alright, that's enough pictures for this post. Now onwards to a couple of changes and tweaks.

Improved the (new) user experience by tweaking how the HP bar max is displayed, added "Evaded" text floater to signal when an attack is evaded, changed the interact grab (E) to use the fast grab so it no longer misses when directly on top of opponent, added tutorial...

Changed so that exhibition recruits is only possible if the target opponent's level is less than highest level member on your team. This is because there's a "strategy" where players would use this to get high level characters quickly then get steamrolled by the high AI skill opponents because they don't have enough experience with lower AI skill opponents first.

As compensation, EXP earned during matches now applies to all characters in your roster instead of only ones participated in the match.

Increased the tempo of the match by buffing grab damages, as it felt that each match took a bit too long to complete.

Changelog (v0.302):

• Added new toggle "Show Verbose New Player Tips" under Options->Content that can disable the new "You may claim victory..." prompt

• Added class change items to the Shop, they change character's class and reset picked level ups

• Fixed a possible game crash when grabbing another character

• Fixed the bouncing hair problem in loadout screen

• Fixed Carrying opponent at 0 max HP causes lust damage build up

• Fixed HUMILIATE grab camera not saved and not showing in the random grab generation weights

• Fixed {TARGET.name} not working in custom TAUNTING dialogue

Changelog (v0.301):

• Fixed a crash when adding new character to recruit pool

• Fixed a crash when using older style MapData (such as ks_Wrestling_Ring)

• Fixed IndividualEffect scaling not applied to FireProjectile properly

• Fixed custom idle pose not working for Grappler and Beastal class

• Added a "You may claim victory by grabbing then pinning your opponent!" prompt when the match is waiting for player to conclude via pin

Changelog (v0.3):

• Added new ability - Taunt: risky maneuver that increases super meter if not interrupted

• Added new custom animation key: "taunt_animation" to change which animation used during Taunt

• Added new dialogue trigger TAUNTING to customize what the character says when casting Taunt

• Added new class: Grappler: "resilient and charismatic brawler that has a strong grappling game"

• Added new ability: Windup Punch (Grappler exclusive) - "Deliver a powerful punch at opponent after winding up. Can start even when staggered"

• Added new ability: Forward Kick (Grappler exclusive) - "Deliver a kick towards opponent at long range, useful for applying pressure."

• Added mechanics to support stagger-activatable abilities

• New random characters can now generate as Grappler class

• Added a delay in between consecutive voice sounds can be played

• Added fake dithering transparency on objects close to camera, potentially blocking view to action (for example, the walls in Education Room can potentially block view to characters completely)

• Updated game stages (made the dithering transparency an opt-in feature per model rather than always)

• Improved particle spawning position when climaxing

• Added a "Evaded" text floater when successfully evaded attacks (no functionality change)

• HP Bar numeric display (the 100/100 text) now shows max HP (red bar) for the 2nd number instead of total HP

• Energy Bar numeric display (the 100/100 text) now shows max Energy for the 2nd number instead of total Energy

• Increased PUNISH grab damage by ~50%

• Increased base line climax damage by ~50%

• Increased HUMIL grabs opponent super meter reduction effectiveness by ~50%

• Renamed the "End" match button to "Quit"

• Reduced time to start recovering stamina after getting hit

• Abilities with hyper armor/high bonus stagger resist (such as Powerfist) now grants a damage reduction during hyper armor as well

• Dash can now be initiated by pressing a movement key while holding block

• Exhibition opponent(s) that becomes recruitable is now shown in the end of combat rewards grid

• Can only recruit exhibition opponent(s) with level less than the highest level of character in player party

• EXP gain in matches now affects all characters in roster instead of only those that participated in the match

• Cursor hovering over battle UI elements such as stat bars, ability icons and controls list now no longer block keyboard input

• Reduced energy cost of grab holding to 5.0 per second (from 10.0 per second)

• Message textbox no longer shows up after changing game options

• Grab from interact (E) now uses "grab_attempt_fast" instead of "grab_attempt_stand"

• New starting main character now starts with randomized personality traits

• Added a tutorial when starting a new character

• The tutorial can also be viewed in Manage - Tutorial

• AI: added handling for stagger-activatable abilities

• AI: added handling for buffing abilities (taunt)

• AI: will sometimes be more defensive when stamina (yellow bar) is low or energy (light blue bar) is low

• Fixed a rendering issue with meshes with more than 1 uv set

• Fixed a input bug that causes inputs to be buffered while UI elements are active

• Unit Preview UI: can now pan camera horizontally (within a limit)

• Unit being carried no longer make h noises

• Fixed bug where grabs with 0 attackers is not accounting for target's size category correctly

• Fixed custom animations (such as idle pose) overriding restrained animation set

• Fixed "Shallow Climax" giving incorrect base lust bonus

• Fixed a bug where evading units can consume all attack charges (didn't affect 1v1s at all)

• Fixed outfit with .replaceBody = true and .alwaysShow incorrectly showing underlying body mesh when broken

• Fixed PUNISH move not raising lust stat of defeated targets

• Fixed starting main character not starting with default abilities already placed onto the ability grid

• Fixed a model weight issue with Sports Cap Adjustable

Modding:

• Removed InflictDamage and RestoreDamage .amount parameter and renamed .scalingFactor to .scalingMultiplier

• AttackFrame.effect.effects InflictDamage and RestoreDamage now scales based on .scalingMultiplier and .scalingStat

• Renamed action_datas_ json "aiParems" to "aiParams" to fix typo

• Removed InflictLust effect from game (use InflictDamage instead)

• Added SayLine .customDialogueTrigger

• Character personality can now be edited via personality_datas_XXX.json. See database/personalitydatas_.json for example

Map editor:

• "Remove" in outliner now support removing multiple selected objects instead of only active selected

• Fixed map grid tile display not updated properly when loading a new map

• Objects with collision must now occupy a tile above a threshold before the tile is considered occupied for pathfinding purposes

• Added delete functionality in dialogue editor - statements

• Added new "Built In Effect" statement option to character dialogue editor

• Hovering over property values now shows a tooltip with the full value names for cases when the value is bigger than UI field

• Various internal bug fixes associated with editor UI framework

• Added drag-swapping statements in dialogue editor

• Added drag-swapping and right click context menu deletion in dialogue Choice Options menu

• Added .ditherFadeEnabled option on a per model basis