Let's get straight to it! Version 2.0 (a free update to the base game) will be released on March 25th, 2021! That's just over two weeks from now!

No specific release time has been confirmed yet (the one on the Steam announcement is arbitrary), but we'll be announcing updates moment-by-moment the day of. Join our Discord server (https://discord.gg/tfh) to stay in touch!

There are 15 pages of patch notes so far, but some of the biggest things to look forward to include:

• A sweep of rebalancing and bugfixes for all characters (along with some universal system changes).
  
• New Pixel Lobby: Hallowed Grove (Oleander's lobby), and new hats!
  
• New stage: Hidden Waterfall (trailer here).
  
• New replay system (check out our video preview here.)
  
• Credits roll added.
  
• A first round of general menu remastering.
  
• Native Linux support added (with Mac to follow in a future update).

As part of the 2.0 update, our first DLC fighter Shanty the Goat will be charging into the fray!



The Shanty DLC package will cost $4.99 USD (subject to regional pricing) and includes the following items:

• Shanty as an additional playable character.
  
• The Capricorn (Shanty's stage), featuring fully dynamic music for all characters.
  
• Shanty Pixel Lobby avatar.

BONUS: Owners of the Shanty DLC will get access to Shanty's Story Mode chapter when it is released later (after the main story chapters are finished, ETA TBD).

NOTICE: All crowdfund backers will be sent one Shanty DLC key as part of their promised rewards for helping us reach our stretch goal to fund Shanty's development. We plan to ship the keys out a few days before release so you'll be ready to play the moment the update goes live!

Will there be a "try before you buy" option?
No. You must own the Shanty DLC to select Shanty (or her stage) in any mode.

Can I still fight a Shanty CPU?
Yes, but indirectly. Shanty will show up by herself in Arcade Mode and the Salt Mines.

Can my human opponent still pick Shanty?
Yes. In online versus, your opponent is not blocked from selecting Shanty (or her stage) if they own the DLC and you don't.


We're taking questions about the update over in our Discord server, and there will be more revealed in the days leading up to release. See you on March 25th!

The Holiday event of 2020-2021 has come to an end. The Pixel Lobbies have been returned to their normal appearances, and the new seasonal items have been added to the regular shop rotation. In addition, we have some small cosmetic adjustments going out with this patch. Read on:

• The Trusty Lantern accessory is now a neck slot item (previously face).
  
• Fixed some layering issues in Paprika's lobby.
  
• Fires now produce a fire sound effect.
  
• The sprite for the Ushanka accessory has been moved one pixel to the right for a better fit.
  
• A recall has been issued on the MiniCashmere accessory. We've seamlessly replaced it with a truer-to-life model and the bootleg copies have been disposed of. We suspect they were dispensed by an unauthorized Reindeer imposter, who will be found and brought to justice.

It's the first Monday of 2021, and Mane6 is back in the office after a holiday/new year break! In Development Update #4 we're discussing a variety of topics, including the new merch we released a few months back, plans for the Linux port, and the status of Shanty and the 2.0 patch.

This will be a mix of new and old info here. If this is your first time reading one of my Development Updates, know that I've brought some basics forward to ensure the most common questions are answered. So, let's begin!

Physical crowdfund rewards are still in production, but they've been taking longer to manufacture than we'd like. We've hit a number of logistical slowdowns due to the complexity of the order, timing around the holiday season, and selecting for quality... all on top of the pandemic. Please bear with us while we continue to wrangle this up!

Here's a digital mockup of the physical game copy and soundtrack to give you an idea of what to expect:
https://twitter.com/mane6dev/status/1324076477621669895

If you're a backer and you're getting physical rewards, please ensure your shipping address is up to date by logging into Backerkit:
https://them-s-fightin-herds.backerkit.com/

Learn how to redeem digital rewards and view the current status of all reward fulfilment here:
https://forums.themsfightinherds.com/index.php?threads/backer-rewards-production-roadmap.2266/

If you have a question about crowdfund rewards, email us at contact@mane6.com.

The new character t-shirts we launched in November have arrived, so they'll be shipping out to customers starting this week! Thanks to everyone who made a purchase during the preorder period. There's more to go around so head over to our official merch site to get yours!

We also recently partnered with Eighty Sixed for one more new cast t-shirt. Check it out here:
https://www.eightysixed.com/collections/thems-fightin-herds

The Velvet statuette production goal was reached (and then some) with a total of 340 sales to date and counting. We're now looking at doing more characters and even other types of collectibles, too! Thanks so much for your support!

If you ordered any other items along with your Velvet statuette, we'll be splitting the orders and shipping out the on-hand items later this week.
EDIT: The above statement was given in error. We decided to return to the original plan, which is to hold orders that included additional items until the Velvet statuette is in stock.

Please see this post on our forums for more information.



The good news is: the Linux port is done. Actually done. The bad news is: we need to change our plans to ship it by itself as a 1.5 update.

Long story short, the general codebase is too far ahead of what's currently on "live". After months of rigorous 2.0 development, we're past the point where those changes can be cleanly rolled back to make everything match up. The best thing for us to do in order to ensure a more efficient, stable release is hold back the native Linux port until it can go out safely alongside 2.0.

Meanwhile, we've been working on the preparation steps for the Mac port. That's not expected to ship with 2.0, as we want to give the Linux port some time in the wild first, which the Mac port will be based on.

Some basic info about this: The Linux, Mac, and Windows versions on Steam will all be part of the same application. All three will have crossplay and no additional purchase will be necessary.


A lot of progress has been made on Shanty since her last public appearance. Check out this gif of her stand idle! Her combat is mostly worked out but there's still more animation, effects, and sound polish to do. We're excited to reveal it all, but the new year has only just begun! We need more time to settle in and take stock of things before we'll feel ready for a showcase.

As stated in the previous Development Update, a voice actress for Shanty has been selected and we've already recorded all her lines. An introduction is coming, but we feel like we should do something more special for it, so we're keeping it confidential for now.

More basic info: Shanty will be released in a paid DLC package that also includes her stage and Pixel Lobby avatar. The price has not been announced yet. All crowdfund backers will receive this DLC for free as a reward for helping us attain the stretch goal that made her development possible. Thank you!

Regardless if you own Shanty or not, you'll still be able to play against her online if your opponent has her, and she'll show up in arcade mode. She won't be selectable in any modes unless you have the DLC.

If you haven't already seen our initial Shanty gameplay reveal stream, check it out here:


TFH will be receiving an all-around balance update and bugfix pass to coincide with the release of Shanty. All characters and even a few universal systems will be adjusted.

Oleander's home turf (in Pixel Lobby form) will be included with the 2.0 update. Along with a new map, there will also be new hats!

A match replay system is coming to TFH in 2.0, packed with cool playback features like rewinding, skipping, bookmarking, and advanced training mode info displays. The replay files will be super shareable, and we'll have plenty of options for auto-saving, manual saving, or not even being asked to save at all!

We're in the polish step here, that last 10% where we're quality-checking and tweaking little things all around. We don't anticipate doing a showcase of the replay system until our full breakdown in the 2.0 post-patch stream, but we'll see!

Here's what we intend to work on after 2.0 ships. To our regulars: there's not really any new info here. We're just reposting for all the new people!

Development on level 3s is decently far along, but we put them on hold until after 2.0 ships. We'll need our combat director's total focus to make sure the numerous interactions and edge-cases are ironed out. Check the preview stream here to see where we left off.

Preproduction on Velvet's chapter is currently underway. When our combat team is finished working on level 3s, they'll join the rest of the Story Mode squad to script out the boss fights and close things out.

We'd like to look at progression systems across the board in TFH. Not just ranked. There are many ways to do ranked play but they're very hard to get right, so we're taking our time on this one. We're still in the research phase, and it may be awhile before this rolls out.

Though we currently have no plans for console ports, we want to acknowledge that we definitely want to do them if we can. Thankfully, our work on the Linux & Mac ports will make it easier if we ever get the opportunity.

Thanks for reading! While this should provide a good overview of all the big stuff we're working on, it's not an exhaustive list. If you have questions about anything in particular, please join our Discord server (discord.gg/tfh) and ask us devs directly!

Tomorrow morning our Holiday event ends, so last chance to grab the new hats from Cap'n'Cash before they go in with the regular rotation!

Finally, wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Let's make 2021 a good one. Talk again soon!


Aaron Stavely
President, Mane6

We've got one last surprise for you all before the Holiday break: We're launching a preorder campaign to make a 5" vinyl statuette of Velvet, and it starts right now!



Here's a digital render approximating the look. The actual product may vary slightly due to materials and inks. More viewing angles are available on the store page.

The model was created by the amazingly-talented 3D artist Andrew Hickinbottom. You can peruse his work on Artstation: https://artstation.com/andrewhickinbottom

So here's how this is going to work. Doing a run of statuettes is a pretty significant investment for us, so we need your help to make it to our funding goal.

The preorder period will last from now until January 31st, 2021. In that time, we need at least 250 sales to fund our initial production run. If we don't make it to our goal in time, the statuettes will not be produced and all orders will be refunded!

The regular price for this statuette will be $60 USD, but for the first 250 orders (i.e. until the funding goal is met), we're offering a 25% discount. That means early birds can get the statuette for $45 USD.

Head on over to our official merch store to place your order: https://tfh.gaminggenerations.com. Be careful: if you include any other items with a statuette order, they will be held until the statuette ships!

If these do well, we could be looking at additional production runs of Velvet or even other characters! Let's get the word out and see how far we can take this!

If you have questions about this product or campaign, you can ask Mane6 in the official Discord server (https://discord.gg/tfh) or email us at contact@mane6.com. For technical questions related to orders and shipping, please email support@gaminggenerations.com.


~EDIT~

We reached our production goal practically overnight! Amazing! Preorders are still open by the way!

After the Holiday break we'll start the next phase! You guys are seriously amazing.

We're breaking out the Holiday decorations again to celebrate the wintry season! There's a new round of hats to collect, along with some changes to overworld salt chest rewards and a small collection of bugfixes.

Cap'n'Cash will exclusively stock the new December 2020 accessory lineup until the event ends on Tuesday Jan 5th, after which the items will be added to the regular rotation.

For those new to TFH, here's how to claim items from the new catalogue:

1. Join a Pixel Lobby server. Accessible from the main menu under "Online".
   
2. Get salty. Earn salt by exploring the hidden Salt Mines or by fighting other players over salt chests that spawn in the overworld.
   
3. Visit Cap'n'Cash's Caps for Cash. Look for the flashing lights! Cap the Winter Sprite and his lovely reindeer assistant Cashmere have a shop set up in the overworld ready to sell you holiday cheer (in exchange for a modest fee of salt).

Now's your chance to nab those new items before they become a part of the regular stock!

This will be our last update in 2020. After this, the development team is taking a rest. Thanks so much to all our players for making 2020 the best year for TFH yet (even with "all that's going on").

At the top of next year we'll be back to work on Shanty and the 2.0 update. So far the changelog is 7 "Google doc" pages long... and growing by the day.

Patch notes for version 1.4.3 are below:

• Special Note: There is a new font for Pixel Lobby menus. This is a piece of a 2.0 change that will eventually make it out to the rest of the game.
  
• The payout formula for salt chests has been reworked. They now award salt based on the amount of damage you caused your opponent, not strictly winning and losing.
  
  • 900 base (for engaging with a chest at all).
    
  • +100 for causing any amount of damage during the match.
    
  • +[0-500] (on a linear scale) based on percentage damage caused, averaged across all rounds played.
• The spawn interval of salt chests is now less frequent and has a greater variable range.
  
  • The new interval is every 240s (-/+ 60s), from 120s (-/+ 2s).
• Salt chests now "rain" into the map when a spawn interval is reached (instead of appearing all at once).
  
• Fixed overworld interiors being darkened during the Salt Mines Final Showdown phase.
  
• Fixed a typo in the flavor text for the Creepy Rider accessory.
  
• Fixed some out-of-bounds exploits on overworld maps.

• Fixed Arizona's overworld facing getting locked if the Paprika pre-fight cutscene was skipped sometime between when Paprika appears and the Zippy Teleport gag.
  
• Fixed a possibility to break the bridge puzzle room in the Temple if only the right pillar is pushed before exiting the room. The puzzle now requires both pillars to be pushed before opening the way forward.

• Potentially fixed a match desync issue with online matches involving Pom.

In this Development Update #3 we're summarizing the news conveyed at the end of our most recent stream ManeCast #7, which broadcasted today. You'll see repeats of older info so we can bring the items from our previous post forward, but of course there's some cool new stuff to talk about!

Now that the Training Mode Update has been released, we're turning all of our focus towards 2.0. The biggest piece of new info is that we are currently working on our match replay system for release in 2.0. We're putting in many of the things that have been on our own wishlists for fighting game replay systems for awhile, like rewinds, timecode bookmarking, and almost all of the advanced info displays from Training Mode, like hitboxes and center line guides.

More info below! Let's begin.


Here's another reminder that physical rewards are currently in production. That's the movelist postcards, physical game copy, and physical soundtrack. If you're a backer and you're getting one of these, please ensure your shipping address is up to date by logging into Backerkit:
https://them-s-fightin-herds.backerkit.com/

We posted a digital mockup of the physical game copy and soundtrack on Twitter to give you an idea of what to expect:
https://twitter.com/mane6dev/status/1324076477621669895

Learn how to redeem digital rewards and view our current status of all reward fulfilment here:
https://forums.themsfightinherds.com/index.php?threads/backer-rewards-production-roadmap.2266/

If you get stuck or have a question, email us at contact@mane6.com.

Our Linux port is "done"... and what we mean by that is it's functionally working (as far as we're aware), but has yet to complete its "in the wild" testing. So far so good. It's only a matter of time.

We'll start working on the Mac port once Linux is released and we're confident it's stable. Not a whole lot is different about a Mac port from a Linux port other than some Apple particulars, so while we don't anticipate the Mac port will be too far behind, this is a bit of unknown territory for us. We'll keep you posted.

Technically, players have already been able to play on Linux and Mac thanks to third-party emulators like Proton and Wine, but true native ports will offer far better performance and stability. It will be worth it.

The Linux, Mac, and Windows versions on Steam will all be part of the same application. No additional purchase is needed, every OS will be capable of crossplay with each other.

Native Linux and Mac ports were promised during our crowdfund campaign and are also a vital first step on the much longer road to console ports. We're future-proofing now, but it's going to be a while before we can actually look at it.


Development on Shanty is still going. There's animations to complete, moves to test, and theme music to dynam-ify. We have no release date to speak of yet.

However we are happy to announce that a voice actress has been selected! In fact, we've already completed the recording session. A future announcement will be posted when we're ready to introduce her.

When Shanty is released, players will be able to unlock her by purchasing a DLC package that also includes her stage and Pixel Lobby avatar. All of our crowdfund backers will receive the Shanty DLC for free as a reward for helping us attain the stretch goal that made her development possible.

Regardless if you own Shanty or not, you'll still be able to play against her online if your opponent has her, and she'll also show up in arcade mode.

And, if you haven't already seen our initial Shanty gameplay reveal stream, check it out here: https://youtu.be/gYaGEUEwZac
TFH will be receiving a balance update to coincide with the release of Shanty. In 2.0, all characters and even a few universal systems will be adjusted.

Oleander's home turf (in Pixel Lobby form) will be included with the 2.0 update. Along with a new map, there will also be new hats!

AT LAST... match replays are coming to TFH in 2.0! You're in for a real treat, because our playback system is gonna be packed with cool features like rewinding, skipping, bookmarking, and training mode displays. Super awesome.

No doubt you have questions, but the feature as a whole is still in development and we want to wait for something more final before showing it off. We plan on doing a full breakdown of our replay system and what it offers in the 2.0 post-patch stream.

Although, there might be some things we can talk about now if you hop in our Discord server and ask: discord.gg/tfh


Development on level 3s is on hold until after 2.0 ships. We're already a decent way along with them visually (check the preview stream here), but we'll need our combat director's total focus to make sure the numerous interactions and edge-cases are ironed out.

Preproduction on Velvet's chapter is currently underway. When our combat team is finished working on level 3s, they'll join the rest of the Story Mode squad to script out the boss fights and close things out.

Ranked systems are very hard to get right, so we are taking our time on this one. We're still in the research phase.

Though we're still far away from this, we did want to mention that work on Linux/Mac ports (cleaning up code and such) will help console port development later on.


This is all the big stuff we wanted to mention, but it's not an exhaustive list! There are plenty of little things that will go out alongside each of these updates.

As Shanty and other immediate features move along we'll be sharing more about them. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

In celebration of the Steam Fighting Game Sale, episode #7 of our casual ManeCast stream will be broadcasted live on both Steam and Youtube this Friday the 13th beginning at 3PM PST.

Come chat with the devs as we talk about the game and watch some matches! We'll have community guests as well, but we're still working out exactly who they will be.

You might be wondering, why not broadcast on Twitch like we usually do? Well unfortunately, Twitch's exclusivity clause in their affiliate streamer agreement prohibits us from doing a simultaneous multiplatform broadcast and our primary target for this show is Steam.

We've been excited to try out the Steam broadcast feature for quite awhile now, and we figured a good time to do it would be when a lot of people will be checking out the game on the store page for the first time. We threw YouTube in there for a little extra visibility.

So... same show, just different platforms this time. As always, everything will be archived to our YouTube channel the day after.

Hope to see you there!

Links to the show
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/574980/Thems_Fightin_Herds/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZDwcEeeVEGg

Alas, once again the time has come to stow our scary decorations and hunker in for the winter. Thanks to everyone who played during our Halloween event these last two weeks. Hope you like the new hats!

The increased salt gain from overworld chests was met with very positive reception, so we've decided to make those numbers the new standard. Enjoy triple salt yields and a bigger cut for losers from now until whenever!

Spooky season festivities have begun! All Pixel Lobbies have been spookified and we've got new hats to collect, so don your costume and join the celebration!

Cap'n'Cash will exclusively stock the new October 2020 accessory lineup until the event ends on Wednesday November 4th, after which the items will be added to the regular rotation.

In addition, from now until the event ends, overworld chests now yield TRIPLE the salt (900 up from 300) and the consolation amount for losers is increased to 66.6% (from 50%). We may consider making those numbers permanent if they're successful!

For those new to TFH, here's how to get your grabbers on these beautiful new bonnets:

1. Join a Pixel Lobby server. Accessible from the main menu under "Online".
   
2. Get salty. Earn salt by exploring the hidden Salt Mines or by fighting other players over salt chests that spawn in the overworld.
   
3. Visit Cap'n'Cash's Caps for Cash. Cashmere and her lovely assistant Cap (or is it the other way around)? have a shop set up in the overworld and are ready to take your hard-earned salt in exchange for fabulous fashion!

Now get going while those new hats are front and center!

Finally, here are the rest of the changes/fixes going out alongside this update:

• The "Input Arrow Direction" option in Training Mode (which allows players to set whether the display of directional arrows in combo trials account for character facing) has been reinstated in response to player feedback. The option has a new name: "Direction Arrow Facing".
  
  • This option was removed in 1.4.0 in an attempt to standardize player experience, but compelling arguments were made in favor of bringing it back. Our b.
    
  • The "Adaptive" setting is now the default.
    
  • This option does not affect areas outside of Training Mode. Tutorials, etc are still locked to "Adaptive".
• Fixed input leniency not applying to supers and reversal recordings in combo training.
  
• Fixed "Force Counterhit" showing Counter! accolade on block.

• Fred now has a taunt!

Hotpatch going out to clean up some remaining training mode stuff, and other small fixes.

• The Training Utility button can now be used to retry a combo recording without going into the pause menu.
  
• Fixed a number of blank spots for move listings in combo trials.
  
• Tian's Fly cancels (level 2) now show up as a step in combo trials.
  
• Velvet's Shatter A (whiff) and Shatter C (whiff) now show up as a step in combo trials.
  
• Fixed a bug causing hitstun recordings to play after a knockdown/blockstun.
  
• Fixed an issue with the buffer window of Hitstun, Blockstun, and Wakeup recording options. (Ask Cam for more details if you're interested).

• The Minizona and Mini Velvet hats no longer hide horns (apparently people don't like bald Velvet).
  
• Fixed an issue where black dots would appear at the top of the screen on the overworld.
  
• Fixed an issue where the game would appear stretched on ultrawide displays in the Pixel Lobby and Story Mode.

• Fixed a bug where the pre-match loading screen would not show up for spectators in the Classic Lobby (causing a black screen for several seconds while players loaded in).
  
• Tutorial
  
• Fixed a bug in the tutorial where the pause menu would show different options before the intro animation completed.

• Fixed a bug on Velvet's stage (morning variant) where the god rays would layer over the KO graphic.
  
• Fixed a bug where the advanced attack data display (from Training Mode) would sometimes flash onscreen during predator fights.
  
• Fixed some instances of the reversal indicator not showing up when it should.

• Fixed Arizona's nose having red spots on the Effervescent Kicks palette during Magic Dash.

• Fixed a bug where Ice Cyclone would cause very strange momentum issues.
  
• Fixed Velvet missing a patch of floof on the recovery of j.B.

• Fixed Oleander's eyeliner disappearing when she squints during her idle flourish.

• Fixed some animation color glitches on Paprika's idle flourishes and her "on back, no-tech" wakeup.

• Fixed a bug where Stampede! would cause very strange momentum issues.
  
• Fixed an issue where Pom's far legs would show different colors during her air pushblock animation.

• Tianhuo's command list now properly says that Volcanic Bash is projectile invulnerable (both air and ground), per the 1.4.0 update.
  
• Fixed a graphical error with Tianhuo's combat portrait (there was a little line underneath)