Jan 13, 2020

Rivals Workshop Official Side Event at Genesis 7

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As part of the excitement surrounding the Rivals Championship Series finals, our community came together to back a Workshop side event later this month at Genesis 7. This will be our first time featuring original characters from the community at a major event - complete with their own stream time and prize pool!

Character List

We're excited to see what players can do with new characters in a tournament setting. To help make the event manageable we've chosen a 16 character roster players can compete with:

Stage List

Only the official in-game stages will be usable during this event. We did find some great workshop creations, but opted off of a workshop list for game stability reasons.

Other Details

If you're attending Genesis 7, you can sign up for this event in person at the Rivals area any time Friday or Saturday morning. This event has a $500 prize pool funded by the community from the Genesis compendium.

For viewers at home, keep an eye out for a future announcement with the full stream schedule including where and how to watch all of the Rivals goodness at G7. For now you can bookmark Saturday January 25th as the date until more time/channel details are available.

Jan 13, 2020

Patch 1.4.20 Notes

Rivals of Aether - Etalus

A small patch containing mostly fixes for some odds and ends. This patch will be what the RCS World Finals are played on at Genesis 7 later this month!

Basic version of Merchant Port/Swampy Estuary dimensions fixed to match the Aether version (side blastzones increased by 2px).
- This fixes a bug with Sylvanos on Merchant Port that allowed him to grow grass underneath already existing grass.

If Fspecial's fireball hits an opponent after you start a strong attack, it will no longer activate the fire-consume hitbox on whiff.

Environmental collision is now disabled when Orcane teleports to a puddle until the first hitbox disappears. Prevents situations like these.

Vertically moving seeds will no longer be destroyed when touching Lily unless she is idle.

Ice on the ground can no longer freeze opponents when they are invincible due to their hurtbox being nonexistant (e.g. Clairen's Dspecial).

When parried, Dair will go into pratfall when bouncing off an opponent/object.

Holding the special button during Dspecial (spawning the bubble) will now allow you to freely move the bubble as if you had performed another Dspecial with the bubble out.

Ftilt physical hitbox BKB reduced from 6 > 4.75.
Ftilt physical hitbox angle changed from 55 > 30.
Ftilt physical hitbox is now untechable.
- Previously, DIing away and teching in place would cause you to be actionable 4 frames before Sylvanos, making the move punishable on hit.
Flowers now have a distinct visual for when they're projectile immune and a more distinct visual for when they're the oldest of 3 flowers.

Nov 5, 2019

Workshop Beta Patch 1.5.7

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Patch 1.5.7 is our latest update for the Workshop Beta branch, and it includes the next big feature from our road map – the Stage Editor. If you need help accessing the beta version please visit our original article announcing its public launch, or take a look at our in-depth technical manual for building content. Now on to the notes!

New Features

The Stage Editor is now accessible from the Workshop menu. Create custom stages directly in the game using standard controls or your mouse.
There are two types of stages you can make:
- Standard stages: Built entirely with ingame assets, these are a good starting point for beginners and for prototyping new stage layouts quickly. There are 8 tilesets / stage backdrops available in this first beta release, with more to be added in future updates.
- Advanced stages: Enables you to create your own background graphics, audio, and more. Additionally, custom scripting support will be coming in a future update. Any Standard stage can be converted into an Advanced stage in the Stage Editor menu.
Config files now have a 'Finished' flag. Set this to true and tag your item as finished so players can filter out work-in-progress items.
Both friendly and casual matches have a new change rules menu that allows you to enable workshop characters. NOTE: Make sure to enable this option to play with workshop characters and stages.

Major Fixes

Fixed a crash on casual 1v1 startup with custom characters selected.
Fixed a crash caused by different character loading times on different machines.
Fixed custom items' version mismatch popup triggering at wrong times.

We're grateful for the amount of support and activity that the Workshop Beta has received so far. If you're ready to dive in and make your own stages, make sure you check out our latest manual entry on the new stage editor. We can't wait to see what you make with this latest update!

Sep 25, 2019

Patch 1.4.15

Rivals of Aether - Etalus

This patch includes some small balance changes along with the Halloween seasonal skin rotation. We've also updated the Workshop Beta Branch. Read on for the full notes.

Halloween colors are back! This year Rivals are wearing their costumes before the match starts.
You can no longer fastfall after being parried.
With strong attack option on: letting go of the direction before pressing attack will no longer activate a strong attack.
Hitting Eid (the guy in Tower of Heaven's window) will no longer cause hitpause for the attacker.

Dash Attack hitstun multiplier decreased from x1.0 > x0.85.
Dash Attack angle flipper changed from 6 > 0.
Grounded dash attack is now jump-cancellable on hit after 8 frames of endlag.
Dair angle adjusted from 50 > 361 (45 in air, 40 on ground).
Slipstream height reduced from 44px > 40px.

Opponents will no longer move when in hitpause on top of a falling pillar.
Holding left or right when starting pillarless Uspecial will give the same boost as when cancelling Fspecial.

Charged Fspecial now has invincibility when spawning the super clone that lasts 4 frames after the clone is created (30 frames of invincibility total).

Uspecial hit 1 now moves opponents while in hitpause, but only if their hurtbox will not be hit by the 2nd hitbox (shouldn't affect normal usage of the move, but should make it still connect when hitting extended hurtboxes).

Fspecial explosion base damage: 2 > 3.
Holding down during the first 5 frames of Dair's descent makes Ori fall through platforms.

[Workshop Beta Branch] Patch 1.5.5 Notes

If you're helping us test out the Workshop Beta Branch with our new netcode and workshop beta features, you'll find these changes are now live:

Error messages now display during gameplay.
set_attack now works correctly.
Miscellaneous gameplay bug fixes.

Added the following functions:

get_player_damage(player)
get_player_stocks(player)
get_player_team(player)
get_game_timer()
clear_button_buffer(input_index) *get_state_name(state_index)

Aug 26, 2019

Patch 1.4.14 Notes

Rivals of Aether - Etalus

As a summer of action packed majors and grassroots events comes to a close, we're taking this opportunity to make some cool changes across the cast. Read on for the full notes below.

Holding special will no longer count as holding jump during a wall cling.
The purple kill effect now ignores Kragg's pillar and rock (necessary for optimization).

Dspecial cancel can now drift during the initial flip if Zetterburn's horizontal speed is low enough.
This allows you to gain speed after momentum is killed by hitting a wall, but does not affect normal Dspecial cancel.

Orcane can now drift during the endlag of non-teleport Uspecial.
Dspecial cooldown between dropping the puddle and spawning bubbles reduced from 60 > 30.
Uspecial now has a minimum speed boost on startup.
Orcahop is exactly the same, but using Upsecial without upward momentum is much better.

Fstrong sourspot KB scaling decreased from 1.1 > 1.0.
Fstrong hitboxes moved to match the visual.
Fstrong sweetspot size increased from 10x10 > 12x12.
This makes sure the sourspot doesn't reach farther forward than the sweetspot.

Rockless Nspecial KB Scaling increased from 0.4 > 0.55.
Rockless Nspecial endlag reduced from 6 > 4.

Super clone will now switch to evade mode when his target is invincible.
Non-super clones will now be destroyed when the real Forsburn is hit (unless it has already started exploding with Dspecial).

Fair hit lockout reduced from 4 > 0.
Fspecial ledge snap threshold increased from 13px > 20px.
Aerial Fspecial dash speed increased from 12 > 14.
Uspecial speed boost when holding left or right after rising increased from 2 > 3.
Aerial Dspecial's endlag can now be cancelled into Fspecial.

While moving horizontally, Uspecial snaps to ledges within 16px.
Double jump, airdodge, and walljump are no longer refreshed when touching the ground while moving with Uspecial or in between the two movements.

Pressing down while reopening Uspecial will no longer lock you out of fastfalling the next time you cancel Uspecial.
Ori can now drift during the startup of Dspecial.
When Spirit Flame does no knockback, it will no longer overheat an enemy Sein or remove Shovel Knight's dynamo charge.

You can now hold backward to throw the bubble behind you during grounded Dspecial.

Ftilt and Jab-special swapped. Pressing special after jab 2 will now do a tail swipe that spawns a petal wave, creating grass behind it. Ftilt now shoots a low-angle seed.
Dtilt hit 1 (both hitboxes) knockback matched to hit 2 (so that hitting an extended hurtbox with hit 1 and missing with hit 2 won't be so punishing).
Fstrong post-charge frames decreased from 12 > 8 (full startup: 18 > 14).
Fstrong multihits hitpause decreased from 4 > 2.
Uspecial bite Base KB decreased from 10 > 9.
Uspecial bite KB scaling increased from 0.85 > 1.05.
Fspecial active frames increased from 3 > 4 (makes it less likely to pass through someone moving toward you while also making it easier to parry for the opponent).

Fstrong endlag increased from 18 > 20 (27 > 30 on whiff).
Air acceleration while charging strong attacks reduced from x1.0 > x0.5.
Dspecial mine now makes a sound when hit out of the air.

Ghost Glove endlag when shooting more than 2 projectiles increased from 12 > 24.
Uspecial non-sweetspot damage reduced from 6 per hit, total 18 > 5 per hit, total 15.
Uair repeating hits active frames increased from 2 > 4 (no more empty frames between them).

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Aug 16, 2019

New Netcode Open Beta is Available now on Steam!

Rivals of Aether - Etalus

The time has come! The new netcode that we have spent parts of the last two years working on is now available on Steam. The feature is not ready to go live yet, but we want your help to stomp out all the bugs and put the finishing touches on all the new features.

How do I get it?

The New Netcode Open Beta can be accessed on Steam. Find Rivals of Aether in your Steam Library then Right Click it to bring up the option menu. From there:

Select Properties. Once that opens, navigate to the Betas Tab.
Then open the Dropdown menu and select nectode_branch - New Netcode Beta.
Finally once it is selected, you can close the menu.
After you select this branch, you should see that Rivals has an update queued. If you do not see that, then close Steam and reopen it until Rivals of Aether has an update. When you open the game, you will know you are on the right branch if you see the New Netcode Open Beta Loading Screen.

How can I help?

You can get started by joining the Official Rivals of Aether Discord. Once you join, you'll want to navigate to the #new-netcode channel. From there you can discuss the beta with other players or find players to play with and against.

If you run into bugs, you'll want to navigate to the #bug-submission channel. There you can easily submit bugs with the help of BeetleBot. You can use this command generator form to get your bugs in a bot-friendly format.

If your bug gets approved, then you can track it on our Rivals Netcode Open Beta Trello. On this Trello, you'll be able to track our fixes and see what is coming in the next update and what is marked as fixed already. With your help, we can make the online experience as amazing as possible!

What Features are in this Open Beta?

The new netcode has many improvements over what Rivals of Aether currently has. The biggest change is that online multiplayer is increasing from the previous two player limit. Let's go through the changes one by one.

First of all, Ranked Matches have been reworked from the December 2018 Update. The first improvement is that the matchmaking has been updated. It will now match you with players in the same tier as you. (example: Bronze to Bronze. Gold to Gold. etc.) After a short period of time, it will expand to one tier above and one tier below you but you can't match with someone past that.

We like the star system and ranking up from the 2018 update, but we didn't like how it discourages people from playing their secondaries when they reach a high ranking because you are more likely to lose on your secondary. So we have made a ranking system for each character including random. Ranking up each character will be part of the fun! Each tier will have a different reward. Rank up to Silver to get the first Emote for your character. Rank up to Gold to get your character's Ranked Skin!

Ranked remains a best 2 out of 3. And yes, you can still counter-pick. But you can only change to a character within the same tier or lower than the character that you queued up with initially. Stars will be awarded to the character that won the last game in the set and losses will be awarded to the character that started the search.

Next, Casual Matches have been updated and overhauled now that lobbies have increased past our previous 2 player limit. Casual Matchmaking allows for you to search for three types of Casual Matches - 1v1, 2v2 and Free-for-All. You can even queue up for all three options at once! Casual Matches remain best 2 out of 3. When playing Free-for-All, the set ends when one player reaches 2 wins, so can continue past 3 matches. Both Casual 2v2 and Casual Free-for-All require four players in order to for the set to begin. If one player leaves then the remaining players search for a replacement and start a new set after finding one.

Next up, Friendly Matches have been improved as well. The biggest change is the lobby size has increased not just to 4 players but you can have even more spectators. This allows players to spectate even 2v2 matches or do rotations while their friends play. You can also turn on Teams in Friendly Matches at any time as long as all players in the lobby agree. Friendly Lobbies will be the place to go to get either casual or competitive matches with your friends.

Next up we have improved the Online Settings for online play. The biggest change is that Regions now determine your matchmaking settings. By default, all regions will be able to be matched with you, but you can turn off any region other than your own. Be warned, lowering your region options can greatly increase your search times!

Next we have added a new feature called Wi-fi Mode. If you have played Rivals of Aether extensively, you will notice that the New Netcode has better ping and smoother connections than the past. However, this can cause issues if you have an erratic connection such as a wireless connection. If you experience lag spikes, you can turn on Wi-fi Mode in the settings which should have your connection function similarly to the old Netcode. When the setting is on, your input lag will increase but the connection should be more stable and be less susceptible to lag spikes. Only turn on Wi-fi Mode if you are having issues with lag spikes as it will increase your input lag when playing online.

Where's Rollback?!

If you have been following the development of Rivals, you would know over 2 years ago, we announced that we were working on rollback netcode. If you are unfamiliar with rollback netcode, you can read more about it here. Since then, we have been working on redoing the netcode in tandem with all our other development. We made a ton of progress thanks to YellowAfterlife, Ampersandbear and Juju Adams. You can thank them for all the improvements you see in the above section. We did make a lot of progress toward getting rollback working with Rivals. We got the game state to be saving and loading correctly without desyncing. But we weren't close to having the save and load times small enough to run smoothly. The game was running around 1-2 frames per second initially.

Thanks to YellowAfterlife and Juju, we were able to optimize the game a lot over a couple of months and managed to get the frame rate up to 55-60 FPS on PC. But this still wasn't functional because we still needed the game to be able to run multiple game logic frames in a single frame in order to roll back and we were right up against the edge . The months were flying by and while we made great progress, the steps to get where we wanted were uncertain. We had to make a call if we were ever going to get the Definitive Edition actually released. The netcode revamp had already consumed a ton of development time. We decided to stop working on rollback and continue developing the new netcode using a lock-step solution similar to the old Rivals netcode.

But it's not all doom and gloom. The optimizations that we made really do improve the game and help it run on Switch much more smoothly. All those improvements are still on this branch. They might result in some new gameplay bugs that we don't see on live, but we'll get those stomped out during this open beta. Even without Rollback, the gameplay itself does feel way smoother on the New Netcode and I hope you all find good matches with low ping!