The Boxing Bastards Demo is Here! (v0.6b)

The demo is finally here!

And it will remain active throughout both Early Access and the full release!

Up until the Early access launch you can expect to see a few major/minor content updates. Primarily I will be focused on releasing a couple hotfixes over the next few days to smooth out any major bugs I may have missed. Aside from hotfixes, there is already one minor update in the works to add a few features that didn't quite make it in time for the demo, as well as some tutorials and QoL features that should hopefully provide a more clear and cohesive gameplay experience. Other than that it's full steam ahead for Early Access!

For those of you that participated in the playtest, here's the patchnotes for v0.6b:

🛠️ NEW FEATURES:

• Stat Shards

  • Stat Shards will randomly drop from enemies, when picked up, they can be used on the main menu to PERMANENTLY upgrade a character's stats. For example, you could upgrade Punchguy Joe's Mobility to make him move faster and dash further!

  • More Shard types will be coming in the future!

• The Gravekeeper / unlockable characters

  • Punchguy Joe isn't the only Bastard on the block! Introducing: The Gravekeeper!

    • The Gravekeeper is fairly tanky, specializing in staying alive using his Soul Leech ability and keeping enemies at bay with his thrust-like punch pattern!

He might look scary, but he's actually a pretty nice guy!*

• This statement may be subject to bias.

• Special character abilities

  • Every current and future character has/will have their own unique active ability (along with passives in a future update)!

    • Punchguy Joe's Flying Kick is a surefire method of launching foes (or friends) into walls or furniture to deal tons of damage!

    • The Gravekeeper's Soul Leech is sure to keep him in top shape: attach it to an enemy, and when they die you get healed! Win-win!

🔢 BALANCING:

• Made skeletons less shy

  • My previous attempts at making skeletons a bit more dodge-y resulted in them being a tad bit more annoying to fight than intended.

• Overhauled the stat system to accommodate Stat Shards

• Reduced destruction requirement for destruction quests

  • Punching walls over and over to destroy half the POI was just a little silly...

🖥️ UI:

I've overhauled and introduced tons of UI elements, gone are the days of writing notes with ink and quill by candlelight to remember what upgrades you already bought.

• Overhauled the main menu:

  • Character select menu

  • "What's coming?" tab

    • This tab showcases potential features coming in future updates.

  • Added new settings

    • Sensitivity

    • Screen shake multiplier

    • Fullscreen mode

    • Resolution

    • vSync

• Overhauled the "tab" menu:

  • Upgrades are now listed along the right-hand side of the map.

  • Added a legend so you don't have to decipher vague icons.

  • A future update will include character stats as well as their modifications from Relics such as damage multiplier, gold gain multiplier, etc.

• Added a post-run results screen:

  • Shows various run stats such as kills, run time, stage reached, and more.

  • Shows what upgrades were acquired during the run.

  • Shows character stats.

• Added widescreen support (yes I did get sick of having broken UI on my UWHD monitor, thank you).

🔈 AUDIO:

Added sound effects for the following actions:

• Player dash

• Player perfect block

• Wooden wall impact/break

• Stone wall impact/break

• Various UI sounds

🦟 BUGS:

• Fixed SFX volume slider not working

• Fixed knockback not being applied properly in some cases

• Fixed double shopkeeper spawn

• Fixed quest complete audio repeating

🎨 ART:

• Fixed Punchguy Joe outline

• Updated damage font (it's much less ugly now)

📋 KNOWN ISSUES:

• Releasing a punch just as it's fully charged will result in weird audio behavior.

• Sometimes attempting to interact with an object with a physical collider will not resolve correctly, scoot around a bit if you have trouble drinking from fountains or grabbing relics.

• The upgrade trigger count stat shown in the post-run results screen is a bit wonky at the moment.

As mentioned before, there will be a minor update coming soon to address some placeholder assets, missing features and minor bugs. If you find any not-so-minor or downright nasty bugs, please post them in the feedback section over on the Discord!

And if you haven't already, subscribe to FractureCore Studios on YouTube for upcoming devlogs and behind the scenes previews on the newest features, and how they're being developed. I will be posting there very soon!

If you haven't wishlisted Boxing Bastards yet, what're you waiting for!? Head over to the store page and wishlist the game to get notified as soon as it enters Early Access!

Boxing Bastards