A new CHORDIOID: First Breath update has arrived!

Demo version 1.2 introduces the ARCADE, a Free Play mode accessible from the overworld and main menu. Replay your favourite battles to go for a high score whenever you want - or enjoy community levels with the new Custom Battle support.

First Breath now has two methods for making your own CHORDTENT (CHORDIOID CONTENT): Add your own battles to the Arcade using the Custom Battle loader, or use the newly-bundled Godot Mod Loader to mod anything you like, including the game's code. Shove DOOM into it, I don't care!

Both of these methods require some familiarity with Godot - see the work-in-progress Modding Wiki[gitlab.com] for more information, or join the Discord[discord.gg] to get assistance and share your creations.

As for what's next...

We've got ONE MORE MAJOR UPDATE in store for the demo, and it's shaping up to be the juiciest - and perhaps most surprising - by a long shot. More on that, and the CROWDFUNDING campaign planned to accompany it, soon.

Now go, my chordlings. Go and make the playable AMVs of your dreams.


Major Changes:

• Added the ARCADE: a free play mode for official and custom battles, available from the overworld and main menu
  
• Added modding support through the Godot Mod Loader
  
• Adjusted Sam's colour palette
  
• Upgraded the game to Godot Engine 4.4, which should improve graphics performance and eliminate shader compilation stutters
  
• Refactored a number of game systems to be more flexible for modding

Tweaks

• Prevent tutorial enemies from going off-screen
  
• Overworld is now removed from the game world during battles for better performance
  
• Changed wording of Zoomies explanation to be more accurate
  
• Added black outlines to battle results screen for readability
  
• Various other small UI fixes

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug that caused certain settings to be incorrectly applied on first boot
  
• Fixed a seam in the Vortex battle background visible at certain resolutions
  
• Fixed a number of bugs related to Key Items
  
• A bunch of other stuff. sorry it's been three months i forgor

Balance

• Burnout no longer takes effect if attacking with the same party member that ended the previous party section (unless they already have an active Burnout level)

Visual

• Burnout desaturation effect now stays active during highway sections
  
• Adjusted Cal's battle and cutscene art to match talksprites more closely

Bugs

• Fixed new input icons showing up incorrectly in intro battle & tutorial
  
• Fixed battle UI animation getting interrupted if spamming Confirm during battle start
  
• Fixed party member HP overflowing the battle UI if it exceeds 100
  
• Fixed Key Items not being cleared properly on selecting New Game
  
• Fixed Key Items menu being inaccessible if Consumables inventory is empty

Hey chordheads! It's been about two weeks since CHORDIOID: First Breath released, and the response has been incredible. After hearing your feedback (and seeing some really sketchy speedrun tech), we've gotten the first proper patch together to address some pain points, balance issues, and a bunch of bugs.

This patch is largely focused on improving the difficulty balance - we've done our best to make the Accessible and Balanced difficulties a bit more forgiving, while keeping Challenging... well, challenging. We've also added some new QoL features, and a couple new mechanics meant to discourage some really boring battle strategies.

We're still getting the hang of this whole "making a videogame" thing, so please let us know what you think, and we'll take your feedback into account for future updates!


Balance

• Introduced Burnout mechanic to discourage spamming attacks with a single party member
  
• Introduced Downed Damage Redistribution mechanic to punish misses for downed party members
  
• Parries from downed party members no longer reward any TIDE
  
• Each party member can now use only one Item per Round
  
• Several Charms now have an associated DEF debuff
  
• Fixed a duplicate collectable Charm in the world (and introduced a new Charm by extension!)
  
• Scaled up party HP to allow for more nuance in damage numbers
  
• Tweaked the values of various healing items and spells
  
• Moved some subtle stat effects from the physical (ATK/DEF/HRT) to the tidal stats (KEY/STR/WND)
  
• Tweaked most enemy ATK and DEF values to improve difficulty progression
  
• Added hidden VIVIDITY stat to certain enemies that affects SPELL damage
  
• Increased final boss HP to 350, and EXP reward to 100 (not that it really matters yet)
  
• Altered final boss Aspect affinities
  
• Decreased StarSoda TIDE gain to 20%
  
• Decreased Djentman 7 attack boost from 5 to 3 (sorry! too busted)
  
• Decreased STR Bonding charge time
  
• Decreased KEY Piercing damage a bit
  
• Decreased damage multiplier for Aspect weakness from 1.5x to 1.333x
  
• Increased damage multiplier for Aspect resistance from 0.5x to 0.666x
  
• Tweaked enemy and player damage formulas
  
• Adjusted difficulty-based damage scaling

Quality of Life & Other

• Added basic Assist Mode to the Settings
  
• Strum inputs are now able to be rebound
  
• Introduced new input icons that fit the game's art style much better
  
• Added FPS Limit setting to Video options
  
• Added a Key Items section to the Items menu
  
• Changed Diner Gate Key from a hidden flag to a Key Item
  
• Shrunk Sam's battle portrait to be more consistent with the others
  
• Added Notes submenu to Journal for information about various game elements
  
• Party members now show a "DOWN" label when dropping below 0 health
  
• Camera zoom is now preserved through most dialogue boxes, and restored after cutscenes
  
• Encounter data for overworld enemies is now loaded on battle start, rather than at room load

Bugs

• Fixed section looping softlock caused by ending a battle with WND Halting active
  
• Fixed mouse clicks not being registered consistently if bound to an action
  
• Fixed party member attack animation not playing correctly if restarted before it ends
  
• Fixed various overworld state problems caused by saving in a certain lookout spot
  
• Fixed Downed & Game Over states not being triggered properly if caused by full-party damage
  
• Fixed a lighting/layering bug in the cutscene before the final boss
  
• Fixed final boss music stopping too late on Game Over
  
• Fixed some jank around section transitions
  
• Fixed a visual bug in the spell charging animation

(Please note that save files from v1.1 will not load in prior versions! We had to change some stuff which necessitated upgrading the save format version. 1.1 will load 1.0.x save files just fine, though.)

That's all for now! Thanks for playing CHORDIOID: First Breath <3
-Ash

Hey y'all! CHORDIOID: First Breath released yesterday, and the response so far has been amazing! Thanks to everyone who's played the game so far, it's been wonderful to see people enjoy it.

Unfortunately, people getting to play the demo also means people getting to find bugs in it, so I've been hard at work patching out the most egregious problems. Here are the fixes included in hotfixes 1.0.1 and 1.0.2, respectively!


- Fixed the end credits sequence not despawning correctly when skipped, leading to a softlock if a new game is started afterwards

- Fixed the newgame init process not resetting quest progress in memory properly, leading to various possible broken game states

- Fixed a sequencing error that caused part of the splash screen to be left out on first boot


- Fixed a bug that would sometimes incorrectly make the SPECIAL menu accessible with no items or spells equipped, leading to a crash if opened

- Fixed the last opened SPECIAL submenu not being remembered correctly

- Fixed the tutorial battle incorrectly overriding the party's equipped spells during the last party section

- Fixed(?) a possible softlock in the dummy practice battle

- Stopped Perfect Bonuses from being granted during the tutorial

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more news regarding future demo updates & the full game's development plan. Happy chording!

Hello chordheads! (Yes, that's what you're called.)

It's been an exciting couple months for CHORDIOID! Let me catch you up to speed real quick:

- First of all, CHORDIOID got a publisher!

The lovely folks over at DECONRECONSTRUCTION[deconreconstruction.com], known for works like Vast Error and Snowbound Blood, have offered to act as publisher for the game. I'm really stoked about this - I've worked with the folks at DCRC for a number of years now, and I don't think there's anyone I'd trust CHORDIOID with as much as them. Suffice it to say, They Get It.

- Second: we just dropped a brand new trailer!

If you ask me, this bad boy really shows off how far we've come in such a short amount of time. I'm immensely proud of everyone's work, and I cannot wait to show you what we've got in store.

(This trailer was edited by the incredible Vivian Sierra - she knocked it out of the park!)

- And finally... CHORDIOID: First Breath releases in just two weeks!!

That's right! CHORDIOID: First Breath, the game's demo we've been working on non-stop for the past year-and-a-bit, finally releases December 16th, 2024. That's right around the corner!! Aaaa!!! Oh god!!!! Say it ain't so!!!!!

I'll keep it brief (partially because there is so much left to do oh my god), but what you can expect is a 30-60 minute slice of the full game's opening act, with enemies to fight, people to talk to, and a boss or two to knock your socks off. It's pretty swell!

We do have some other stuff in the works post-demo, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that. Rest assured, we continue to be hard at work in the chord mines.

And that's all I've got for you today! Hope you're as excited as I am to finally CHORD some IOIDS.

See you soon,

ash