April Update : Mods, Modifiers, and Test Build News (Patreon)

Hello everybody and happy April! The next couple of months here are going to be some very busy ones as we wrap-up every last thing we need for our first Patreon test build for the rhythm game. We've been wrapping up licensing songs (a process that has been taking a bit longer than we had anticipated) - but once we're through that process the first test build will be going live on Patreon for SILVER and GOLD backers! We're hoping to have things readied in little over a month from now (based on where things go regarding music), and our goal for the year will be doing a few first test builds before launching a public build through early access!

We intend to release at least two to three Patreon builds for the rhythm game before we launch on early access. The first build will be including some debugging tools, so we would appreciate it if play testers will post what FPS the game ran at on their PC alongside their system specs! The core game engine is ready, and the in-game UI is 90% done visually (outside of characters which will be coming in test build #2).

TEST BUILD #1 FEATURES :

• Playable song with 4 difficulties.

• Modifiers

• Gamepad support

• Control rebinding

• Basic metronome tool (for calculating your audio/visual offset)

• ASIO support

• Visual options (lane brightness, framerate, resolution, etc.)

Once we get enough feedback from test builds on Patreon and have a few songs implemented, the game will be moving to early access where development will be picking up pace. We intend to give SILVER and GOLD backers free access to the early access build, and will contact everyone when we're ready to go for that.

Before starting a song - player's are allowed to choose various modifiers. While some of these can provide an extra challenge, others are available so players can make their experience feel more comfortable visually. If notes feel too cramped together, try turning up the speed of the notes. BOXES is recommended as a note skin if you want to prioritize readability while playing. Using the note shuffling options can give you practice hitting certain formations of notes you don't normally encounter in songs - especially when using RANDOM as a modifier.

While waiting on hearing back from some musicians, we've also been working on upgrading things within Tough Bippy to allow it a much easier time for development in the future. While the rhythm game's performance will determine Tough Bippy's budget as a project, we have also been focusing the project a bit differently so we can promise the game being able to push forward even with a few visual compromises potentially needing to be made. The rhythm game project actually taught us some ways of really optimizing performance for our projects, so we were able to do a lot to really push Tough Bippy further than where it was at prior regarding its engine and stability.

Later in the month - we'll be making a GOLD POST discussing some behind-the-scenes about some of how Tough Bippy's gameplay works and how it's structured coding-wise. We ideally would want to get a team of at least 4 artists for the project (with two being animators), as well as a musician for the project (which would come later into development, as we want to present musicians with finished levels to use as reference). We'll have more information on Tough Bippy after the rhythm game is in early access.

We'll be uploading another batch of stream VODs around the end of this month, so if anyone missed any of the previous development streams you can catch up! Julian's PC needed some repairs the past week, but gamedev streams will be returning Tuesdays and Thursdays on Twitch. Feel free to tune in if you're interested in seeing what art assets are currently being worked on for the game.

Our goal by the end of the year is to have the rhythm game in early access, alongside us starting to make arrangements for Tough Bippy figuring out growth around it as a project. We hope that people have some fun with the rhythm game as it progresses, and we'll be detailing more about the characters and story on Patreon after the second test build goes live.

April is going to be a pretty busy month, but it's also an exciting one since we only need to hear back on a few things before we're about ready to go! Later in the year we'll be sending our messages to BRONZE, SILVER, and GOLD backers asking for the name they'd want listed in the credits for the game.

We seriously cannot thank you all enough for all the continued support - and we're very excited for getting some first bits of feedback on the rhythm game. Stay tuned for a GOLD POST later this month, alongside some more VOD archives from our gamedev streams. Thank you again everybody and we will see you next update!

~ DD