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Hey guys!

We are back from GDC 2015! It was an amazing event, and we are incredibly grateful to the ID@Xbox team for inviting us to show off Rivals of Aether.

Both the press and game developers had a chance to try out the game, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! We had people who played multiple rounds and really wanted to dig into each character. There were a ton of free-for-all, team and 1v1 matches, so players were able to experience multiple types of battles.

Along with the new stage, Merchant Port, players were able to get the first glimpse of our newest Rival, Forsburn. We plan to reveal more information about Forsburn this week, so keep your eyes peeled on this blog!

We also had controller skins at our stand representing the first four characters – Zetterburn, Orcane, Wrastor and Kragg. These controller skins are not available for sale as of now, but let us know if controller skins are something you would be interested in for Rivals of Aether.

GDC 2015 was also the first time we demonstrated the game as playable on Xbox One. Thanks to help from the team at YoYo Games, we were able to have the game running perfectly at 60 fps and with 4 player support. I am very excited for the next couple of months as we begin development on more features including online multiplayer and our single player modes.

Hey guys!

The shortest month of the year has come and passed, but nonetheless there has been a lot of Rivals development progress behind the scenes.

We have finalized the 5th Rival that will join roster! We are not revealing the character just yet but expect to see a teaser post in March that gives you a glimpse of it. Midio and Rafael have both worked hard on contributing animations and sounds for this character, so we’re all excited for the upcoming reveal. In the meantime, perhaps a tiny tease now wouldn’t hurt…

Who could this nebulous figure be? What unique elemental fighting style will this Rival bring to the roster?

We also have a new stage reveal for this month:
The Merchant Port that Orcane calls home is fully playable in all its glory!

On this stage, fighters find themselves on an offshore rig that is used to pump fresh water to the surface. As you’d come to expect by now, the Merchant Port is beautifully illustrated by Johan Vinet and features a fantastic new oceanic track by flashygoodness. The stage is filled with hazards designed for active and skilled players. A water wheel with rotating platforms rests at the center, and two pipes sit at near the edges of the stage. These pipes constantly draw water from the ocean below, and when they are completely filled, they can be triggered for a powerful attack:

For players who would prefer to play without these hazards, the Basic version of the stage contains only stationary platforms and removes the pipes altogether. You can enjoy this great arena even in a barebones fight:

That’s all for this month. Check back in March for more exciting updates!

Hey guys,

It has been nearly two months since our last update. At that time, we revealed two new characters: Wrastor and Kragg. We don’t have any characters to announce today, but we do have some juicy new information to share with you all:

Joining the Rivals of Aether team are two amazing new members!

The first is Midio, a fantastic 2D game artist based in Brazil. Midio is well known for his craft in the indie game scene and will be lending his skills for the character animations in Rivals of Aether. He will be working on new characters moving forward, so get excited to witness his handywork when the fifth character is revealed!

The second is Rafael Langoni Smith, an audio wizard who also hails from Brazil. Rafael will be working alongside flashygoodness on our sound effects from this point onward, giving more time for flashy to concentrate on making more pumping tunes for our upcoming stages! We’ve also heard some feedback from players mentioning that they’d like to hear hits with more of an extra punch. To that end, Rafael is enhancing our gameplay sounds and creating more variations to make every impact feel that much more satisfying.

You can check out some of the great audio updates and other changes in our first officially revealed gameplay clip featuring a match between Zetterburn and Orcane. Enjoy the heated combat in fluid 60 FPS goodness.

We have also been accepting playtesters and collecting feedback at our Smashboards thread. Many great players have been stress-testing Rivals and have not only made an impressive number of bug reports, but also provided us with numerous great ideas regarding the engine and the balance. If you want to get involved in the discussion or apply to be a playtester, check out our thread at Smashboards!

And we couldn’t leave you guys without at least a little tease. Feast your eyes on this glimpse of the next stage featuring Johan’s amazing art:

Boy, does that statue in the distance look familiar. I wonder whose stage this could be?
Check back next month for more exciting updates from the Rivals of Aether team!

We are excited to reveal the next two characters to join the Rivals of Aether roster! Watch them in action in our brand new trailer released today:

The first new character is Wrastor, the Wind’s Fury:

Learn more about Wrastor and his aerial techniques on his character page.

The second new character is Kragg, Earth’s Bastion:

Learn more about Kragg and his earthly powers on his character page.

Thanks for checking out the latest Rivals of Aether update. If you have any questions or feedback, let us know over at our Smashboards thread where we will be discussing the new additions to the game!

Hey guys! We’re back with another Developer Update. Our team has been heads down working on content and preparing our December 2014 Trailer which will reveal two new characters. In the meantime, we still wanted to share some news with you guys as we’ve made a lot of progress this November.

First of all, Zetterburn’s stage, the Fire Capitol, has been given an incredible visual makeover by Johan Vinet, our resident pixel wizard:

The bold colors and elaborate architecture are a display of the wealth and the power of Zetterburn’s people. You may even notice some homage to Zetterburn among the buildings, given his status as a war hero of the nation. The original iteration of the stage was designed by Dan, concepted by Ryan, and subsequently drawn in pixels by Dan. However, thanks to the prowess that Johan brings to the table, the updated stage now has an insurmountable level of style and detail in colorful 16-bit goodness:

The next update we’d like to share with you is a design feature regarding stage layouts. Many of the stages in Rivals of Aether will have unique interactions such as launching off the spring in the Air Armada or comboing off the building wall in the Fire Capitol. But what if you want to play on the stage and not worry about stage interactions?

That is why Rivals of Aether will feature a Stage Mode option. Each Stage has two versions for playing – Aether Mode and Basic Mode. Aether Mode brings you the stages in their full glory, often with fun features to master. Basic Mode reduces stages to their simplest, cleanest forms, perfect if you want an intense fight with absolutely no distractions. You can change your Stage Mode setting on the Stage Select screen at any time. Here are two examples:

The Air Armada loses its spring but otherwise remains intact.

The Fire Capitol loses its wall but keeps a similar layout by replacing it with a platform.

The last update affects how characters get back on stage after getting knocked off. After getting feedback at our Smashboards thread from our playtesters, we have implemented a Wall Jump. Now when you are trying to get back to stage, you don’t have to be so predictable. You can Wall Jump once unless you hit the ground or get hit by an opponent. You can even Wall Jump while in a helpless state. That means you can use an Up Special, get to a wall, jump and then Up Special again. This aids characters with predictable recoveries as the sides of a stage give them another option:

That’s all for this month. In December, we will be showing off the two next characters along with a brand new stage with art from Johan. Additionally, you’ll be able to feast your eyes on some great Frozen Moments created by Ryan and treat your ears with Flashy’s next Rivals track! Next month should be very exciting for the development of Rivals of Aether indeed.