News

Patch 1.4.17 + Hotfix 1.4.18 Notes

  • Notes with this label 1.4.18 Hotfix were added in a hotfix on 12/2.
  • DLC characters can now be spawned while playtesting.
  • Up and down hard press buffers are now cleared at the start of the initial dash state.
    • This prevents unintentional moonwalks when trying to dash dance immediately after pressing down/up.
  • Outward hitting moves (such as Forsburn’s Combust or Shovel Knight’s War Horn) now calculate hitstun based on the actual knockback received instead of deriving it from the base knockback and scaling values of the hitbox. This means that hitting with the lower angles of the move will result in less hitstun.
  • 1.4.18 Hotfix If a normal hitbox with low priority and a projectile hitbox with high priority both hit a projectile-immune opponent at the same time, the projectile will no longer make the physical hitbox miss.
  • When an attack hits while the attacker is already in hitpause, the new hitpause will now overwrite the previous hitpause ONLY if the new hitpause is greater than the full value of the previous hitpause. Previously, the attacker’s hitpause could never be overwritten.
    • This comes into play when an opponent hits both Sylvanos and his flower at the same time. Previously, this would cause the attacker to have half the normal hitpause while Sylvanos would have full hitpause.

  • Forward Air animation cleaned up.
  • Up Special no longer takes Orcane’s double jump. Orcahop, however, still takes his double jump.

A little bird told me that Wrastor has been terrorizing Rivals metagame during the later half of 2019. While we would argue the Wrastor players have been the real terror, we still wanted to take a look at some of the strategies that Wrastor players have used to get success with little risk. We increased the end lag on Down Tilt to make it less safe to whiff when fishing for an opening while not impacting it on hit. We also wanted to look at Up Strong as we saw Wrastors opting for it nearly every time their opponent had high damage rather than going for other KO options. Finally, we wanted to look at slipstream’s active time to normalize the duration when it misses and also decrease how long a combo can be before Wrastor has to throw another slipstream.

  • Down Tilt endlag increased from 18 > 24 on whiff.
      It’s still jump-cancellable on hit, so the on-hit endlag is unchanged.
  • Up Strong sourspot knockback decreased from 6 + 1.15 > 6 + 1.0.
  • Up Strong sweetspot knockback decreased from 8 + 1.35 > 7 + 1.25.
  • Forward Special slipstream duration decreased from 8 seconds > 5 seconds.
  • Forward Special slipstream cooldowns all normalized to 5 seconds (was previously 8 seconds normally, 6 seconds on parry, and 4 seconds when the projectile was hit).

Thanks to one specific player, Forsburn’s meta has developed much faster than some of the other characters. At a recent event, we got a glimpse of where it could go. Rather than waiting around to see if stalling and sitting on 3 stacks of smoke DOES become a viable strategy, we wanted to reduce its effectiveness. Rather than changing absorbing smoke and slowing Forsburn down or making him clunky, we decided to make a small hit to the strength of Combust. Our goal is to keep the reward high when comboing into Combust but reduce the reward when performed on the ground of center stage.

  • Combust sweetspot knockback decreased from 7 + 1.3 > 7 + 1.2.
  • Forsburn is no longer unable to use the dodge button while his clone is in hitpause.
  • Champion Forsburn’s clone will now hold taunt while you do.

  • Holding the dodge button during Up Special’s startup will prevent Maypul from tethering.

  • Performing a double jump on the same frame as a fastfall, resulting in a downward double jump, no longer consumes your double jump.
      Your jump is restored 7 frames into the double jump animation, and is only restored if your vertical speed is going downward fast enough. This means that if you cancel the downward double jump with a move that shifts your momentum, it will not refund your double jump.

For the longest time, Etalus has been able to freeze invincible opponents who are rolling. Initially he could also freeze parrying opponents. This is because when we first designed Etalus, Freeze was only meant to be countered by jump. Now that Etalus’ meta has evolved, the character already is quite good at punishing both techs and rolls. He doesn’t need to be able to freeze you both after a bad roll and DURING it. Getting frozen while invincible doesn’t feel good when every other attack would miss. We decided to remove the jankiness of that interaction and distribute some power into Etalus’ kit to make up for its removal.

  • Jab startup decreased from 6 frames > 5 frames.
  • Down Tilt knockback adjusted from 2 + .3 at angle 361 > 4 + 0 at angle 55.
      This makes Down Tilt 1 always able to connect into Down Tilt 2 with good spacing. Previously, the low angle allowed opponents to tech between the hits and the scaling made it stop connecting at higher percents.
  • Armored Up Strong BKB decreased from 8 > 7 (matches non-armored Up Strong).
  • Non-armored Down Strong BKB increased from 6 > 7 (matches armored Down Strong).
  • Down Special can no longer slide off of ledges.
  • Down Special no longer fails to create the landing hitbox if it hits an opponent one frame before landing.
  • Down Special’s shockwave can no longer freeze invincible opponents.

For Ori & Sein, we wanted to decrease their reliance on certain moves, like dash attack, and increase the usability of other moves, like Ustrong. We also added some variety to their aerial game by changing Bair’s angle, which was previously the same as Fair and Uair.

  • Taunt hurtbox fixed to match their idle hurtbox.
  • Dash Attack sourspot hitbox shrunk.
  • Up Tilt final hit knockback angle adjusted from 80 > 85.
  • Back Air knockback angle changed from 361 > 40.
  • Back Air knockback scaling decreased from 0.7 > 0.6.
      This is a small net-buff to Back Air. The average character with good DI will be sent approximately 40-50px farther horizontally above 100%.
  • Up Strong (both versions) pre-charge startup decreased from 16 > 12.
  • Up Strong (both versions) final hit knockback scaling decreased from 1.1 > 1.05.
      Increases the usability in more situations while reducing the potency as a parry punish.
  • While opening Up Special’s feather, you can now fast fall to drop slightly for a frame (this was accidentally removed in 1.4.14 to fix a fastfall bug).
  • Bash no longer stops at edges when grounded.
  • After hitting with Bash, Ori will no longer keep their previous momentum during the 2 frames between the end of hitpause and Ori launching themselves.

(prevents this bug from happening)

  • Base knockback swapped on Up Strong’s sourspot hitboxes (the inner hitbox is now the stronger of the two).
  • 1.4.18 Hotfix Damage swapped on Up Strong’s sourspot hitboxes (so that the stronger hit does more damage).
  • Non-poisoned enemies caught by Forward Special will now be trapped in bubble for 40 frames.
      This reverts the change from 1.4.13 that made it 20 frames, as it oversimplified non-poisoned bubble combos without making them weaker. It also hurt Ranno more than intended when hitting a tongue while recovering.

  • Up Special now only records a 2nd press of the special button 8 frames after the first hitbox appears (instead of immediately when the first hitbox appears).
  • Plasma Field now removes Zetterburn’s flame pools.

  • Down Special will now auto-arm when stuck to a Ranno that’s in the dizzy animation after his Forward Special is parried.
  • Every 60 frames of travel, uncharged Forward Special’s missile will gain 1% damage up to a max of 5%.
  • Falling Down Special mine can no longer be hit by another Elliana’s mine.
  • 1.4.18 Hotfix Steam hitboxes can no longer hit an aerial mine.
  • 1.4.18 Hotfix Mine now has a sound effect when it’s destroyed by Clairen’s plasma field.

  • Forward Tilt now has a physical hitbox before the seed is launched.
  • Down Tilt hurtbox pulled in during the frames right after the hitboxes are present.
  • Sylvanos will no longer go into pratfall after eating his own flower with Forward Special.
      Previously, you would only avoid pratfall by hitting a player or their objects, including enemy Sylvanos’ flowers.

  • Down Air non-spike sweetspot base knockback decreased from 8 > 7.

Workshop Beta Branch Patch 1.5.8 Notes

Workshop Beta patch 1.5.8 is a small update, but we wanted to get something out fairly quickly to address some of the initial issues people found with the addition of the Stage Editor. If you need help accessing this beta please visit our original article announcing its public launch, or take a look at our in-depth technical manual for building content.

New Features

  • Workshop characters without an ai_init file will now use a default AI we’ve created to give them a little fight. You’ll still need to work on your own AI scripts if you want CPU versions of your characters to use all of their unique abilities and playstyles when people download them.

Major Fixes

  • Players can now properly view multiple pages of custom stages.
  • The custom character button now properly appears in casual and practice modes.
  • Stages now properly use the tag set in their config.ini when uploaded.
  • Buddies now work properly on custom stages.

Workshop Beta Branch Patch 1.5.7 Notes

Patch 1.5.7 is our latest update for the Workshop Beta branch, and it includes the next big feature from our road map – the Stage Editor. If you need help accessing the beta version please visit our original article announcing its public launch, or take a look at our in-depth technical manual for building content. Now on to the notes!

New Features

  • The Stage Editor is now accessible from the Workshop menu. Create custom stages directly in the game using standard controls or your mouse.
  • There are two types of stages you can make:
    • Standard stages: Built entirely with ingame assets, these are a good starting point for beginners and for prototyping new stage layouts quickly. There are 8 tilesets / stage backdrops available in this first beta release, with more to be added in future updates.
    • Advanced stages: Enables you to create your own background graphics, audio, and more. Additionally, custom scripting support will be coming in a future update. Any Standard stage can be converted into an Advanced stage in the Stage Editor menu.
  • Config files now have a ‘Finished’ flag. Set this to true and tag your item as finished so players can filter out work-in-progress items.
  • Both friendly and casual matches have a new change rules menu that allows you to enable workshop characters. NOTE: Make sure to enable this option to play with workshop characters and stages.

Major Fixes

  • Fixed a crash on casual 1v1 startup with custom characters selected.
  • Fixed a crash caused by different character loading times on different machines.
  • Fixed custom items’ version mismatch popup triggering at wrong times.

We’re grateful for the amount of support and activity that the Workshop Beta has received so far. If you’re ready to dive in and make your own stages, make sure you check out our latest manual entry on the new stage editor. We can’t wait to see what you make with this latest update!

Patch 1.4.15 Notes

  • Halloween colors are back! This year Rivals are wearing their costumes before the match starts.
  • You can no longer fastfall after being parried.
  • With strong attack option on: letting go of the direction before pressing attack will no longer activate a strong attack.
  • Hitting Eid (the guy in Tower of Heaven’s window) will no longer cause hitpause for the attacker.

  • Dash Attack hitstun multiplier decreased from x1.0 > x0.85.
  • Dash Attack angle flipper changed from 6 > 0.
  • Grounded dash attack is now jump-cancellable on hit after 8 frames of endlag.
  • Dair angle adjusted from 50 > 361 (45 in air, 40 on ground).
  • Slipstream height reduced from 44px > 40px.

  • Opponents will no longer move when in hitpause on top of a falling pillar.
  • Holding left or right when starting pillarless Uspecial will give the same boost as when cancelling Fspecial.

  • Charged Fspecial now has invincibility when spawning the super clone that lasts 4 frames after the clone is created (19 frames of invincibility total).

  • Uspecial hit 1 now moves opponents while in hitpause, but only if their hurtbox will not be hit by the 2nd hitbox (shouldn’t affect normal usage of the move, but should make it still connect when hitting extended hurtboxes).

  • Fspecial explosion base damage: 2 > 3.
  • Holding down during the first 5 frames of Dair’s descent makes Ori fall through platforms.

Steam Workshop Open Beta is Now Available

This Article is Out of Date
This article was originally posted for the release of the Workshop Beta in 2019. If you are a new Rivals player looking to use the workshop, do not follow the beta steps mentioned in this article. Instead:

1. Download items you like from the Steam Workshop.
2. On the character select screen, change rules to “ON” for Workshop at the top.
3. Select the gear above Shovel Knight to choose from your list of downloaded workshop characters.

Just one month ago we announced that Steam Workshop support was coming to Rivals of Aether. This feature opens up a whole new world in Rivals for people to create, discover, and play with community-created characters, stages, skins, and buddies.

As we launch the Workshop Open Beta today, we’re including two full example Workshop characters for you to play and tinker with to help create your own Rivals. This Beta build also combines our previous open beta (New Netcode) with the Steam Workshop to allow both features to be accessed on one testing client.

How do I get it?

The Workshop Build can be accessed through Steam exclusively. Find Rivals of Aether in your Steam Library and then Right Click it to bring up the option menu. From there:

  • (1). Select Properties. Once that opens, navigate to the Betas Tab.
  • (2). Open the Dropdown menu and select Workshop Beta.
  • (3). Finally, once it is selected you can close the menu.
  • (4). After you select this branch, you should see that Rivals has an update queued. If you do not see that, then close Steam and reopen it until Rivals of Aether has an update. When you open the game, you will know you are on the right branch if you see the Steam Workshop Open Beta Loading Screen.

Getting Started with Steam Workshop

In the time leading up to this release we’ve already seen a flurry of amazing character art and designs floating around from eager creators. If you’re someone who can’t wait to make your own character or you just want to play some fan-created Rivals, here’s everything you’ll need to know:

1. First, make yourself familiar with the Steam Workshop tab that is now visible on the Rivals of Aether app page on Steam. Here is where you can view, vote on, and download people’s creations. It’s important to note that if you want to use these characters online, both players will need to subscribe to the character here.

Note: Online play is temporarily disabled while we work out a few last minute bugs. We’ll update it as soon as we can get it fixed which will likely take a couple days. You can still begin creating your characters and play locally for now.

2. Once you’ve subscribed to a workshop character, you’ll be able to play them by selecting that character with the new menu button next to “random”. If you just want to play workshop characters this is the last step you’ll need to do (besides going back to the workshop page on Steam and voting for your favorites).

3. If you’d like to create your own workshop characters, a great place to start is by using the two example characters we created. Sandbert is a good example of a simple character while Guadua is more in-depth with some exotic moves to get your creative juices flowing.

Workshop characters that you are working on need their files placed within your AppData folder. Files stored locally in this working directory can even be updated during a match by pressing “F5” to apply your latest changes.

To find workshop content that you’ve downloaded from Steam and move a copy into your working directory, search within
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\383980
and copy it here:
C:\Users\{Your Account}\AppData\Local\RivalsofAether\workshop

If your steam library is installed in an area that’s not the default, you can also do a search for the Rivals app ID (383980) to find Steam’s Workshop download folder. If done correctly you should now see the additional content in your game.

Success!

Steam Workshop Modding Manual

In addition to the example characters we’ve also put together a Modding Manual. In it you can find all of the technical details and references you’ll need when creating your own character.

Keep in mind that our Steam Workshop Feature and Modding Manual are currently in beta. If you find an error in the manual or area we can improve, please let us know through either our social links at the top of this page or by email at [email protected]. Letting us know when something goes wrong helps us make sure that when the workshop fully launches it’s an excellent experience for both players and creators.

We hope you enjoy Steam Workshop in Rivals and can’t wait to see what people create!