[this is an archived post from our old dev blog, original link can be found here]

The new build is finally on Testflight! If you haven’t signed up yet, use the following link:

[old link, inactive]

(We’re using Apple’s Testflight platform which means there will be a delay between when you sign up and when you actually receive your invite depending on when we can update the list)

What’s New:

Improved matchmaking that should get you into more matches and much faster (e.g. you wont see timeouts nearly as often)
Added a Friendslist with the option to invite Friends directly into private matches! (see below for more info*)
The difficulty levels in VS AI now actually do influence the AI’s speed of play.
App Icon has been updated!
All sound effects and music have been balanced into a cleaner, overall mix (but feel free to use the sliders in the options menu to make any adjustments for personal preference)
Health blocks will appear 30% less often compared to before, and health gained from health blocks has been reduced by 50%.

*For the Friendslist, we’ve implemented a “Friend ID” system that will like you add and remove friends based on their ID number (seen at the top of the Friendslist menu). To add a friend, press “Add Friend” and input their Friend ID. With a friend on the list selected, you can use the bottom buttons to view that friend’s profile, invite them to a private match, or delete them from the list.

note: this a new feature so you might encounter some bugs, and in general restarting the app will resolve any issues.

The ladder/leaderboard has been reset, everyone’s rank points will now start at 1050 with a fresh win/loss ratio! (this may not be the last time we do this moving forward, just a heads up! All part of the testing process).

VS AI difficulty now actually increases difficulty, so if you haven’t checked out that mode yet, or found a sense of pride in beating “impossible” in the previous build, you might want to prepare yourself.

And lastly, all the sound volumes have been rebalanced (with only a couple other bugs left to resolve, like the slight delay in music loop, or disappearing UI sounds). The new mix still isn’t perfect, so as the balancing act continues on our end you might want to bring the music volume below the sound effects for a better experience overall.

What follows is a list of known issues and a glimpse at what we’ll be working on next:

Gameplay/UI:

Game balance in general is still in it’s early stages. The frequency of health blocks, rate of damage, character stats, and abilities will be adjusted in future updates to reach more comfortable, fair, and satisfying match durations.
In the Gallery menu, the “Enemies” are temporary and are related to classic mode which is unplayable in this version.
Music stutters a bit between loops, and certain sound effects might stop playing altogether (we’ve identified the issue and will most likely push out a small update for this soon)
The Friendslist and Invite features have a few bugs that are being worked on, but in the mean time restarting the app will usually resolve any issues.

Visuals:

On iPad, the game’s aspect ratio may appear slightly stretched.
Character skins are being tested with temporary recolored sprites.
Block skins are also being tested with recolors (expect many more in future!)
The character “Vulmir” is still in a rough-draft phase and will be receiving a fresh coat of paint in the next update.
Some portraits are using placeholder art.
Some rank emblems are using repeated/recolored sprites.
Some rank emblems appear too dark and will be brightened slightly.

Future Content Roadmap (from soonest to furthest updates):

An in-app tutorial to teach new players
Chain-combos will be given more weight than fast successive combos when calculating how many deadblocks are sent (This is to reward strategic and calculated players and provide alternative play-styles). Chain-combos will also have their own distinct sound effect.
A shop where players can use their “blocks cleared" as a currency to purchase unlockables.
Additional Achievements for the Battle modes, Multiplayer, etc.
Rank Emblems will be added to the Gallery
Rank Emblem promotion and demotion animations will be added to the end game screen.
A “Forfeit" option to end battles early (currently the only way to quit is to lose/win the match)
New characters and abilities
New portraits, achievements, levels, and music
A glimpse at the “Classic Mode” single-player experience
Additional modes in the “Battle” menu

We hope you guys enjoy the game in it’s current state and look forward to your feedback to help improve it! Follow/Contact us on twitter/instagram/tumblr @medleystudio to get additional updates and stay in the loop when we’ll be online the game!

Thanks guys and see you online!