Hello everyone,

Today, in this special Development Update, we have some important announcements to cover.
First, we've just released a game update! Version 5.1.0 is now live on all platforms and contains balance adjustments, bug fixes, and a new gameplay mechanic called "Armor Break" which gives players additional tools to deal with characters that make heavy use of armor mechanics... like Texas! Details are in the patch notes.[forums.themsfightinherds.com]

Second, we have an update on Nidra, the 3rd character in our Season 1 Pass, as well as a reveal of character #4 which we’ll be sharing for the first time today.

And finally, we have an update on where TFH goes from here.

Without further ado let's dive in, starting with new characters.


As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Nidra's release has been delayed to allow us more time to get her ready. Here are some updates on her progress:

Nidra is, first and foremost, a Stance character. Sporting a total of 3 different stances, she moves through them fluidly during normal combat.

These stances may not usually have a large range, but have quite a bit of forward momentum on them. This allows Nidra to reposition herself mid-string and swap stances as she sees fit for the given situation.

Do be on your guard, because her stance moves will require you to switch blocks accordingly.

Nidra has a maximum of 4 magic stocks, and her usage of them comes in the form of bouncy, slow-moving projectiles.

These allow Nidra to both take control of areas of the screen, as well as potentially lock down an opponent for mixup opportunities. Each button strength of projectile has a different trajectory.

When at full magic, Nidra can enter her Awakened State.

Awakened State is an install that has a screen freeze on activation, allowing the player a bit of extra time to see what is happening on screen, or to use as a way to completely take their turn back during a series of blockstrings.

She may look and act sleepy at almost all times, but Nidra is far from a pushover. Be on your guard, or you will be overwhelmed by her large moveset and various stances!

Nidra’s Stage - “Slumber Sanctuary”:
For the first time, we are revealing the final character in the Season 1 Pass: Baihe!

Baihe and Tianhuo have known each other since childhood, where fierce rivalry eventually transformed into a strong friendship. They both joined the Longma Special Forces to protect the Huoshan Empire, but a mission gone awry led to Baihe's injury and disgrace. She sought a transfer to the Empress's Royal Guard and became Tianhuo's second-in-command. Now, they work together to safeguard all of Foenum from Predator threats and demonstrate the might of the Huoshan Empire.

Baihe is a zoner style character that specializes in long-ranged combat. Though she shares some movement options with Tianhuo, she is far less agile, preferring to plant herself in a fortified location and armor through incoming attacks.

Baihe’s Stage - “Smoldering Heaven’s Nest”:

We will unveil more info on Baihe as we head into 2024. She and Nidra will release together in early next year's update, version 6.0.


As we look forward to the release of Nidra and Baihe, let's talk about what comes next.
After the Season 1 Pass is complete, we will be ceasing active development on TFH. We will still be able to release small patches to address game-breaking bugs, but no new content will be produced. Unfortunately, that includes Story Mode.

Story Mode has always been an ambitious feature and one we truly desired to implement. We know how much our fans have been looking forward to Story Mode chapters, and we hope you understand how much we looked forward to working on and releasing them.

We are looking for opportunities to release content that has already been produced for Chapter 2, starting with a new stage, "Restricted Section". This stage will be a part of the version 6.0 update alongside Nidra and Baihe.

For any outstanding items related to our original Indiegogo crowdfund, this shift in development does mean we will need to adjust some of our originally planned perks. More information on this will be shared in the coming weeks via email and on our Indiegogo channel.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this announcement and for sticking with us all these years. We will continue updating our players on our social channels and look forward to our new characters releasing soon.

Mane6 and Modus

Missed our livestream on Twitch? Don't worry - catch the vod here on Steam! The Mane6 dev team breaks down the patch notes, Stronghoof's design, and showcases some high-level matches featuring the newest mid-range master!

Today is the day that Stronghoof releases onto the field of battle! We'll be doing a developer stream later today at our usual time (3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm UK) on our Twitch channel[twitch.tv] to celebrate, hang out, answer questions, and play some launch day matches. Come join us!

In this update we're shipping a number of bugfixes, including fixes for critical issues with Paprika's gift eating and Pom's dog attack canceling, both of which originated in 4.0.1.

These particular two problems presented significant, unnecessary disadvantages to those characters, and we would have preferred to address them immediately, but we were unable to release an update any earlier due to the long lead times on console patches and the close proximity of the 4.0.1 release to our initial submission of the Stronghoof release. It was not an ideal situation to say the least, and we will be taking extra precautions to reduce the chances of bugs like this making it out to live releases. We apologize for our mistake and for how long it took to fix.

There is one more piece of news we want to relay before getting into the patch notes. Stuart Ferguson, one of our two musicians, has left Mane6 to pursue other projects. We are on good terms, he is still around making music, and there may be a chance for us to work together again in the future. Whitetail will be the sole producer of music for TFH hereafter.

Without Stu, we are not able to produce music at the same capacity as before, so we have made the difficult decision to limit the scope of the Dynamic Music System for new stages going forward, starting with Stronghoof's. From now on, the DMS on new stages will model that of the Hidden Waterfall stage, featuring stage-specific intros, outros, round transitions, and idle/final round versions, but no character-specific themes. Stages that already feature "full" DMS (like Texas' stage) will still get character themes for new roster members.

The DMS is an iconic part of TFH, but it presents a unique production issue as the game grows. With "full" DMS, we have to create themes for all existing characters on new characters' stages, and a new character's theme has to be written into all existing stages. That means for each new character, the total amount of work required for a "full" DMS increases exponentially, and with the (relatively) rapid pace at which we're producing new characters these days, it has become unsustainable for our (now singular) musician to maintain for the foreseeable future.

If you have any questions about this, we'd be happy to discuss things further in our Discord server[discord.gg] or during the stream today.

That's all the news we have for now, so let's talk about what's in store for 5.0!

Stronghoof the Reindeer joins the roster as the second character in the Season 1 Pass!

Unlocking Stronghoof requires the purchase of the Season 1 Pass or his individual Character Pack. Owners of the Deluxe Edition are automatically graced with his presence without any extra steps!

Regardless of whether or not you own the DLC, you may still fight against him in online play. He also sometimes shows up as a CPU-controlled opponent in Arcade Mode!

KNOWN ISSUES:

• The DMS on all stages contains Stronghoof-specific intros, outros, and transitions, but not his domination character theme. We ran into some last-minute bugs and had to disable it for safety. They will be patched in the next update.
  
• If you have the Pixel Lobby avatar for Stronghoof (or Texas) equipped and you leave/rejoin a lobby, you'll be reset to Shanty. We will fix this!

• Revised the position of the hazards in Velvet's (and now Stronghoof's) Slide tutorial, to make it easier to complete (and possible at all for Stronghoof).

• Texas' command list now properly says "bullseye" instead of "tipper" (English only; it's correct in all other languages).
  
• Fixed missing move property icons (Low, Overhead, Grab, etc) for level 3 supers on non-English command lists for Tianhuo and Shanty.
  
• Fixed the word "Magic" not being highlighted blue for "Ran Shao Feng" in Tianhuo's Russian command list.
  
• Fixed the word "Super Attacks" being misaligned in Arizona’s Russian command list.
  
• Fixed Texas' 6A description "blockable while the opponent is descending" being in Spanish instead of Brazilian Portuguese on that command list.
  
• For Russian command lists, retranslated "Projectile Invulnerable" (where it appears), "Retreat Flip" (Tianhuo), and "Launcher Attack" (All Characters).
  
• For Brazilian Portuguese command lists, retranslated "Parley" (Shanty), "Dark Cataclysm" (Oleander), "Digging Pup" (Pom), and "Volcanic Bash" (Tianhuo).

Cosmetic

• Added one new palette for each character:
  • Arizona - "Marching Fishes"
    
  • Velvet - "Koyousetsu"
    
  • Oleander - "Hell's Grenade"
    
  • Paprika -" Fifth Slash"
    
  • Pom - "Double Typhoon"
    
  • Tianhuo - "Mega Flame"
    
  • Shanty - "Night of Fire"
    
  • Texas - "Hammer Spark"

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue present in the last patch that was causing Max-JD hitspark sound effects to play louder than they used to.

Bugfixes

• Fixed certain chain attacks not coming out consistently. Players would get forward attacks instead of low attacks. (6A > 3B or 6A > 3C).

Bugfixes

• Fixed Velvet not being able to super cancel during the first few frames of 3C.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where 5B could be canceled into 3C on whiff.
  
• Fixed grounded Magic Spark (level 3) appearing as the size of a normal Spark, instead of being enlarged (this seemed to have broken at some point in the past).

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue present in the previous patch that caused normals performed as a reversal to no longer trigger gift eats (only specials should bypass gift eating).

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue present in the previous patch that caused dog attacks to stop attacking when Pom was put into preblock (dog attacks should only stop attacking during actual blockstun).
  
• Fixed an issue where if Momma dog was hit by Texas' 2D during Rally, she would instantly activate her counter the next time she used it.

Features

• Texas now has an onscreen timer for his level 2 super (Pummel Pillar).

Bugfixes

• Fixed trades of Prairie Pummel with Paprika's cinnamon roll causing Paprika to fall out of the super prematurely.
  
• Fixed an issue causing Texas to fall backwards instead of straight down when being thrown by Shanty's air grab.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the camera to not follow Texas properly if launched offscreen by certain moves while his Prairie Pillar was active.
  
• Fixed Texas sometimes being invisible during the cutscene of Oleander's level 3 super.
  
• Fixed Texas being vulnerable to projectile hits during the grab of his 6A. He is now invulnerable immediately after a successful grab.
  
• Fixed Texas being able to activate Cowbell followups after triggering the counter from Pom's level 3 super.
  
• Fixed opponents gaining extra height after being hit with Prairie Pummel during the middle of being ground bounced.
  
• Fixed an issue where j.C could be canceled into an air throw at a very specific time, even on whiff.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed a trade with Cowbell against a KO'd Texas to do followups.
  • KNOWN ISSUE: This fix has created another issue where same-frame trades with another Texas Cowbell cause mismatched frame advantage, favoring Player 2. We are looking into a fix.

Greetings! Patch 4.0.1 is our first update to the game in 2023 and is primarily aimed at cleaning up loose ends from the Texas release. We've got a number of bugfixes that should smooth out inconsistencies and provide stability, as well as a few targeted balance changes.

We're still hard at work developing the latest character to be announced for our Season 1 Pass, Stronghoof. In the meantime, please enjoy this small but important update!

Bugfixes

• Backwards-jump-canceling Velvet's and Tianhuo's 6A attacks will now cause them to leave the ground instead of going into preblock. This fixes an inconsistency with every other jump-cancelable move in the game.
  
• Fixed an oversight where Velvet, Oleander, Tianhuo, and Shanty were not in counterhit state after a whiffed level 3 super.
  
• Fixed an oversight that allowed armored attacks to affect level 3 supers from Arizona, Velvet, Oleander, and Pom. These attacks should now successfully break armor.

Bugfixes

• The invulnerability for Sculpted Perfection will now occur on frame 7, fixing inconsistencies.

Bugfixes

• Fixed certain chain attacks not coming out consistently. Players would get forward attacks instead of low attacks. (6A > 3B or 6A > 3C)
  
• Fixed an oversight where Fred 6D had too much blockstop, which caused pushblock or Cross Canter inputs from the opponent to be ignored.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue during Deadly Affection where Paprika would sometimes not go into hitstun after being hit by a super attack.
  
• Fixed an issue causing A specials to trigger a gift eat if not negative-edged. As a rule, all A specials should bypass gift eating.
  
  • KNOWN ISSUE: An unintended change made as part of this bugfix causes normals performed as a reversal to no longer trigger eats. This will be corrected in the next patch.
• Fixed an issue causing the first hit of Smother to fail playing its sound effect.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where Pom's dogs would sometimes not have their attacks canceled immediately when Pom is put into blockstun, as they should.
  
• (Probably) fixed an issue causing Bark to not go through the full length of active hitboxes when deleting a projectile.
  
• Fixed some specific interactions with Texas that would cause Pom's dogs to not leave as soon as their health is depleted.
  
• Fixed some dog layering issues that would cause Momma and Papa to appear in front of Texas during certain animations. Now they should layer behind Texas at all times as intended.
  
• Fixed a cosmetic bug where players could see Momma "pop" out of existence when leaving the stage if she had to travel far enough. Momma will now fully leave the screen before despawning.

Balance

• The invulnerability period for 7D has been shortened significantly.
  
  • This reversal is one of the most controversial abilities in the entire game. We’re finally addressing it after over a year of it slipping through many previous patches.
• Tianhuo's metergain has been adjusted across the board.
  
  • This finally lines Tianhuo up with the rest of the cast's metergain adjustments in patch 3.0 for level 3 supers balancing. Until now, Tianhuo was operating on old metergain rules which don't translate to 3.0+, as it makes her level 3 far too accessible. We want level 3 supers to remain special occurrences and not a regular part of every single game.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue causing a reversal level 1 super to instead come out as a normal after Shanty was buried by Texas Smash.
  
• Fixed an issue where wallbounce stun would cause camera problems during Wall Cling attacks.
  
• Fixed afterimages from installs (Shanty and Tianhuo in their level 2s), if active, being superimposed over the ship segment of Shanty's level 3 super.

Cosmetic

• Texas now has a crouch idle animation.

Balance

• The damage bonus from landing a Bullseye is no longer true damage. The attack now respects scaling rules.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an oversight that allowed Texas to gain more meter than other characters when being hit.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bullseye benefits were not occurring during certain combos.
  
• Fixed an issue where Air Cowbell would sometimes cause a wallstick instead of a wallbounce.
  
• Fixed an issue where characters had varying recovery distances from Texas after being grabbed by Texas Smash. All characters should now have the same recovery distance.
  
• Fixed an issue causing Stomp to have an inconsistent amount of armor.
  
• Fixed an issue where Earth Pull would sometimes be jump cancelable.
  
• Fixed an issue where Prairie Pummel would sometimes have inconsistent advantage frames, and sometimes fail to cause a hard knockdown.
  
• Fixed a rare instance of Pummel Pillar having inconsistent periods of hitpause after activation.
  
• Fixed an issue where the camera would not follow Texas properly during and after Pummel Pillar.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Texas mirror match where if Pummel Pillar was used while the other player's Pummel Pillar was still active, both the camera and the spawned rock objects would get displaced.
  
• Fixed an issue where if Tianhuo hit Texas with her level 3 super while Pummel Pillar was active, the cutscene would play out with improper pacing.
  
• Fixed an animation glitch where Texas would snap backwards suddenly after a successful back throw.
  
• Texas is now properly able to be counterhit during Rodeo Run.

Stronghoof, the second character in our Season 1 Pass is revealed in this trailer, which premiered at Frosty Faustings XV:

With a second dad added to the mix, Texas is now rivaled against another seasoned warrior. We've taken one of more popular background characters and elevated him to full character status, complete with a much-needed glow-up!

This character is due to release in Spring of this year, just a few months away! We'll have more details to share as he advances in development.

Thank you all for your support of our project. Two more characters remain yet to be revealed to complete the Season Pass!

Steer clear, Texas is here! The Mane6 dev team breaks down the patch notes, Texas's design, and some high-level matches featuring our new big-body grappler.

Texas the Bull joins the roster as our newest DLC character!

Playing him requires the purchase of the Season 1 Pass or his separate Character Pack. Owners of the Deluxe Edition automatically unlock Texas without any extra steps!

Even if you don't own the DLC, you can still fight against him in online play or in Arcade Mode (but he doesn't always show up).

• The macOS version is now fully updated and working. It had been non-playable since the console release (we are deeply sorry about that).
  
• However, due to upgrades we had to make to our build process for consoles, the minimum required version of macOS is now Monterey. Earlier versions will no longer be able to run the game.

• Character Select has a new look!
  
• Fixed the credits hintstripe using the Forward glyph instead of the Page Left glyph.

• Fixed Pom's magic section header not being localized in Brazilian Portuguese.
  
• Fixed Pom's magic section saying Puppies (A) for all three sections.
  
• Fixed the demo in Arizona's Magic Dash tutorial being broken (it was never updated after the removal of the slowdown).
  
• Removed the line about using Arizona's level 1 super to punish (since it references it being 3 frames and it is no longer 3 frames.)
  
• Fixed a number of areas where placeholder text was being shown instead of number values.
  
• Fixed missing down arrow glyph in the dialogue for Velvet's Instant Snowball tutorial.
  
• Fixed the missing B in Bulkhead during the freeplay segment of Shanty's command normals tutorial.

• Level 3 supers now show up properly during combo trials.

• "White 'Stache" is now a face item (but it still makes Velvet bald).
  
• Fixed some broken character glyphs in player usernames.
  
• Fixed the controls hint on the main HUD showing the Select button instead of the Player List button.

• Fixed Classic Lobbies set to Invite Only not actually being Invite Only. They are now private again.
  
• Fixed being unable to resolve matches if 4+ players were readied up.
  
• Fixed the Classic Lobby browser showing the Menu 2 button prompt for Create Lobby, but taking the Medium attack button instead.

• Fixed some item "equips" for NPCs not showing up properly.
  
• Fixed a few minor tileset errors in The Highlands and Reine City.

Balance

• Armored attacks now cause slightly less additional hitstop across the board.

Bugfixes

• Fixed the minimal HUD not showing the meter lockout from Cross Canter.
  
• It is now no longer possible to hold Start on the Rematch screen during online play.

Bugfixes

• Arizona will now consistently face her opponent on the first frame of her level 1 super when canceling out of a special.
  
• Fixed an instance where Arizona would deal 0 damage with her level 1 super when striking Shanty during Wallcling.
  
• Fixed 5A > 3 > 3B giving you 6B instead of a 2B.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an instance where Velvet would deal 0 damage with her level 1 super when striking Shanty during Wallcling.
  
• Changed Velvet’s crouching hitstun to be consistent with the rest of the cast.
  
• Added a preemptive fix to Velvet's j.C that resets her opponent's wallbounce slot before hitting in the air, to prevent velocity-related bugs from occurring.

Adjustment

• Fred 2D now only hits airborne opponents, instead of just having a high hitbox. (This was done to ensure that Texas did not get hit by Fred 2D while standing. The actual hitbox has not changed.)

Bugfixes

• Fixed 5B > 3 > 3C giving you a 6C instead of a 3C, and 5A > 3 > 3B giving you as 6B instead of a 2B, for some reason.
  
• Fixed an issue where using Oleander's level 3 super could cause subsequent wallbounces she gets put into to send her bouncing back way farther than she should.

Cosmetic

• Fixed improper color of gifts while using the "MofuMofu" palette.

Bugfixes

• Fixed the HUD disappearing during the install phase of Paprika's level 3 super, on Switch specifically.
  
• Fixed instances where gifts would disappear during level 3 super grab attempts.
  
• Fixed being able to make level 3 super grab attempts while Paprika’s own health bar was empty!!
  
• Fixed instances where Paprika was able to gain meter post-KO.
  
• Paprika's level 1 super now connects properly with characters who are performing moves that destroy projectiles. Examples: Shanty during Parley, Oleander during her level 1 super, Pom during Bark!
  
• Fixed Paprika being locked out of activating her level 1 super during Pom’s level 3 super counter phase.

Bugfixes

• Tianhuo will now consistently face her opponent on the first frame of her level 1 super when canceling out of a special.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an instance of Wallcling breakage if used on the same frame Shanty's opponent detaches from a wallsplat/wallbounce.
  
• Fixed an instance of Shanty's Wallcling creating a wall for far longer than her time on said wall.

Texas the Bull, the first character in the Season 1 Pass, releases on all platforms Dec 19 at 8am PT! Watch the trailer to see him in action.

Texas can be yours with the purchase of a Season 1 Pass ($19.99 USD). He can also be unlocked separately in his own DLC pack ($4.99 USD). Owners of the Deluxe Edition of TFH automatically unlock all Season 1 Pass content without having to do anything extra!

Now that the release of Texas is imminent, we have a revised roadmap image for Season 1 Pass production:

Originally, we had intended to complete both Texas and "Character #9" in 2022, but due to the unique challenges of Texas' development, all the other characters in the Season 1 Pass will now be coming out in 2023. Thankfully, production on "Character #9" is going much, MUCH faster so far. We hope to update you on our progress soon!

On Texas release day, we will be doing a post-patch stream to provide a breakdown of Texas as a character and talk about our process of development. The stream will be on Dec 19 at our usual time of 3pm PT on https://twitch.tv/mane6dev.

Thanks again for supporting the development of Them's Fightin' Herds. We hope you enjoy Texas when he releases. More announcements to come!

In preparation for the release of our console ports tonight at midnight (your local time, which means that some time zones already have it), we have just sent out an update to the Steam version to add crossplay functionality, localization in 10 additional languages, and achievements! We will also be opening official Pixel Lobbies in Japan, so players in Asia will have a more local hub to find worthy opponents.

NOTE: At the time of this writing, the Mac version has not been updated yet and is unplayable. We will work to get it updated before the weekend, if not tomorrow.EDIT (10/20): The Mac version is now playable, but we can't update it to the latest patch before this weekend. However, there is now a beta branch on Steam called macos_public that will allow Mac users to play the game on version 3.1.0.This build is not compatible with the current version of the game so it can't be played online with any non-mac user.To switch Steam branches, right-click on the game in your library, choose Properties > Betas > and select macos_public from the dropdown list.We apologize for this. We're experiencing an issue with our Apple developer account and it's the best we could do in the situation. We will provide another update when we're able to restore the Mac version to full functionality.

Both digital and physical editions of the console ports can be purchased from platform storefronts, your favorite retailer, or on the Maximum Games Store[store.maximumgames.com]. Supported platforms include Switch, Playstation 4/5, and Xbox One/Series X|S.

This project has come a long way and we are about to cross another massive milestone. We'd like to take the time to thank a few folks before we get into the patch notes…

First, our publisher Modus Games. A global multi-platform console launch would not have been possible without their help, so to everyone there who's worked with us on this project, Mane6 thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.

Next: to friends, family, industry allies, our community, the greater FGC, and of course, our crowdfund backers. Thank you for supporting our project, whether you've been there since the beginning or you've recently joined us. Our dream to make the world's greatest ungulate-based fighting game is now a reality, and there's much more to come!

Now, onto the patch notes:

TFH now features full crossplay! All players regardless if they're playing on Steam or consoles can find and match each other through the matchmaking queue, classic lobbies, and Pixel Lobbies. Additional HUD elements have been added to help players identify those on a different platform.

Important: Account progress is tracked separately on each platform! Story mode data, lobby accessories, casual XP, friends lists, DLC, etc, do not sync across additional copies you own!

Technical Notes

• The console netcode is based on EOS (Epic Online Services) to allow for crossplay. But, due to a bug with EOS P2P packet sending, players may experience more connection quality issues than the PC version when playing on or with consoles. The issue lies on the Epic side of the equation, but we'll continue to monitor feedback and work with them to get it sorted.
  
• However, Steam users playing with other Steam users will automatically use the original Steam netcode, which offers the same connection quality players were used to prior to this update.
  
• Note: All platforms continue to use the TFH implementation of GGPO for rollback netcode, so online fights should still feel as responsive as they did before.

• TFH now features translations for 10 additional languages! Added in this update:
  
• French
  
• Italian
  
• German
  
• Spanish (European)
  
• Portuguese (Brazilian)
  
• Russian
  
• Japanese
  
• Korean
  
• Chinese (Simplified)
  
• Chinese (Traditional)

If you would like to provide us with feebdack about the translations, email us at [email protected], or post in the #loc-feebdack channel in our Discord server[discord.gg].

Achievements are now officially a part of the Steam release, as well as on Playstation and Xbox (Switch does not support achievements).

Note: Prior to this update, players may have noticed that a set of hidden achievements were registered on Steam but could not be unlocked. This was because we were testing them and we could not hide them from player view completely. Sorry for the confusion! Those achievements are now active, but any progress made on them before this update doesn't count!

The Season 1 Pass will become available for purchase on Steam at 9PM PT. Players who purchase it will get instant access to the exclusive palette pack and Pixel Lobby accessory pack, as well as access to all four future Season 1 Pass characters when they release.

Earlier this year, we teased the first playable character, Texas, who will be available next month.

• Hosting a custom Pixel Lobby server on Linux is supported once again (previously, Linux servers were not working since 3.0).
  
• Official Pixel Lobby servers are now available in Japan!
  
  • Remember, your connection to your opponent is peer-to-peer, so it doesn't really matter which lobby you join. Sticking to the region closest to you just increases the chances you'll meet players with lower ping.
• A new type of Pixel Lobby equippable is now available: followers!
  
  • The miniwolf follower is instantly unlocked with the purchase of the Season 1 Pass. Others are unlocked like regular accessories: by opening chests in the Salt Mines, and by purchasing from Cap ‘n Cash’s. Careful though, Cashmere’s charging a premium for followers!
• Note: A few small, but vital HUD features were removed from the Pixel Lobby due to incompatibilities with our new netcode. We will do our best to restore these features in a future update.

TFH was built primarily for PC. Not all of the features we've developed for the game work consoles, so a few things have been modified or disabled.

Here are the main differences for console platforms over Steam:

• Pixel Lobby text chat and voice chat is disabled. Players on consoles will not receive messages from either of those systems, but precanned messages still work!
  
• The main menu newsfeed is temporarily disabled. We will be restoring this feature in a future update.
  
• Sharing combo and replay files with players on consoles is currently not supported, and we don't have plans to develop this feature further. You can still save your own combos and replays locally, though.
  
• Hosting a Pixel Lobby server from a console is not possible, but there are no platform-specific lobbies. Lobbies hosted from PCs work on all platforms.

• On all platforms, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese are swapped (if you launch the game in Traditional Chinese you'll see Simplified Chinese and vice versa). Both translations are there and available, but to receive the language of your choice (until we fix this), you can set the Language option in the Gameplay menu.

Exciting times lie ahead for TFH. Now that our console release is complete, we will be doubling our efforts on the creation of new characters and additional Story Mode chapters. Stay tuned for news on that, and enjoy the release!