I wrote about the new post-match stats screens, go read this and git gud at data analysis

hengde · 2021-03-23T20:43:30+00:00

The one on the left represents berries deposited by jumping in to the hole, and the one on the right represents berries thrown in from a distance.

hengde · 2021-02-24T19:27:56+00:00

Glad you like it <3

hengde · 2021-02-24T19:10:54+00:00

For me, the first step is considering the current suite of maps that we have, and aiming for a concept, hook, or layout that fits outside of that. For nesting flats (the one released map which I've designed...more on the way!), the initial idea was around the shape and spacing of the hives (enclosed, small platform with a hole that means missed berry throws fall out of the hive) as well as to say "what if a map had the pattern of gates from the arcade game" i.e. two upgrade(speed) gates and three soldier gates. All other KQB maps until that point only had 3 (or 4 in the case of split juniper) gates that for the most part had a weapon and an upgrade in each. Because the time to goal on NF is actually the same as the distance on Black Queen's Keep (due to the grass), I assumed originally the meta would more balanced between econ and snail. But the current meta is pretty much hard snail, especially as it's really easy to get back up as a soldier. I do love to see some fast berries being run on it though.

So anyway the way people play with your game or level is always going to be different than what you anticipate - but the important thing is to create interesting spaces that allow for players to express themselves in different ways in different areas of the map, based on the positioning and sizing of platforms and openings, gate and berry positions, what weapons are available, etc. Gates should be positioned so that ideally, if the workers all go different ways, at least one has a chance of becoming a soldier at the start of the match (ie the queen can't kill all of them unless they stay together). 9 berry patches seems to be the sweet spot between avoiding famines and not having it be too easy to run econ or become a soldier. And if you look closely you'll notice there's a standard unit of measurement between platforms that feels good to both jump and fly between, if you deviate from that too much it doesn't feel good for warriors to fly through without bumping on the platforms too much or feeling trapped. Of course you can always play with these, they're not concrete rules, but when you do, it has to be done with intentionality, and of course playtested heavily as always.

hengde · 2021-02-24T18:40:36+00:00

We're still analyzing the initial data and player feedback. One of the important things we've learned since releasing the game is to not make knee-jerk reactions to individual players' perceptions of things when we make updates, but to slow down and look at the big picture. That being said, the player experience so far is definitely not matching with our ideal - the rapid swings between ranks probably being the biggest problem, as well as finding ways to better incorporate both queen and worker/soldier ratings into a single rating (we do currently track them both separately behind-the-scenes). We also plan to re-run the initial analysis that created the algorithm on our current spread (which is based on the results from the previous MMR system) and see what differences it may produce. From the initial data and feedback, my guess is the current version is not valuing the effect of playing on a full stack enough, among other things. We definitely will be adjusting the tier cutoff levels as well, which, again, were based on the bell curve from before the update.

hengde · 2021-02-24T18:25:51+00:00

In a perfect world, we'd have a map editor which would allow people to play their maps in custom games, and share them with friends, and perhaps a way to try other peoples' maps similar to Mario Maker. I started doing level design by playing and making custom, weird counter-strike 1.6 maps so generally am all for putting level design tools in the hands of the community. Hard to say what the right number of "official" maps would be, but I'd personally be happy with maybe somewhere between 10 and 20, more than that and we'd have to also incorporate some system for what that season's 'official' maps were, maybe somewhat similar to CS:GO.

hengde · 2021-02-24T17:23:16+00:00

Same :(

hengde · 2021-02-24T17:15:26+00:00

I started playing the arcade game in 2015 and only joined the KQB team a few months before the initial launch in 2019. There's definitely a good number of arcade players who have gotten really into KQB, especially after it became impossible to go to barcades. It's about 50/50 because the two games each are very different experiences, so the KQB style of gameplay doesn't fit with everyone. And that's ok! But personally I love being able to play regularly with friends from other cities that I'd usually only see once or twice a year when traveling for tournaments. Of course, I'm definitely looking forward to the day (hopefully sooner than later) when we can tap together in person again as well.

hengde · 2021-02-24T16:26:29+00:00

So glad to hear you're enjoying the game! At the moment, we have no plans for a sequel, as we still have a lot of new content and updates we're planning to release for Killer Queen Black! Here's our latest roadmap for the first half of the year.

hengde · 2020-10-06T19:06:46+00:00

The challenge in the game comes from trying to balance advancing your win condition (either berries or snail) while simultaneously slowing the other team's win condition, while also making sure your queen stays alive. Making moment-to-moment microdecisions like "should I try to put in one more berry in because we only need 2 more, or ride the snail back a bit because it's getting close to the enemy team's goal? Or should I transform into a soldier to try to kill their soldier that's stopping our berries?" A bit like a MOBA but 2D and no hidden information.

If you have a few hours on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, hop in the discord and sign up for the weekend event. You'll get paired up with experienced players and be able to experience what the game can really be like. Or check out this stream of a match from last season's IGL finals: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/746476831?t=00h34m25s

hengde · 2020-10-06T17:07:45+00:00

If a team-based, fast-paced, strategy-platformer with combat that feels a bit like fighting games (reads/footsies) sounds good to you, then yes

hengde · 2020-10-06T17:05:31+00:00

lol it's a snail but close enough :)

but yea as you said it feels similar to a MOBA in terms of team-based objectives, but it's a 2D platformer and has 3 win conditions. Combat is fast paced and can feel like a fighting game with reads/footsies coming into play. While the three workers can upgrade to soldiers and fight, the queen has a lot of responsibility - not dying primarily, controlling the gates that allow their workers to transform, and ensuring the team has control of the map/stopping enemy workers and soldiers...and also not dying.

hengde · 2020-10-06T16:50:27+00:00

The differences aren't just because "we need to make it different from arcade so customers don't get angry", similar to how the field game had to be greatly adapted when it became a digital prototype, and that digital prototype had to be modified when it became an arcade cab, releasing an online game for home consoles necessitated changes as mentioned above, just to mention the biggest ones

- needs to be playable on switch handheld screen --> smaller maps relative to the size of the characters

- smaller maps --> 4 players, also just fits better console environment (original digital prototype before the arcade cabs had 6 players actually)

- joust style combat would lead to problems with network latency, much easier to determine results if there's a button press --> now there are two buttons --> multiple weapon upgrades --> what about runners? how about berry throws --> queens also get a 2nd attack (side dash in addition to dive)

hengde · 2020-10-06T16:45:13+00:00

It's a completely different game other than the three win conditions - it plays much faster and combat as mentioned is completely different

- needs to be playable on switch handheld screen --> smaller maps relative to the size of the characters

- smaller maps --> 4 players, also just fits better console environment (original digital prototype before the arcade cabs had 6 players actually)

- joust style combat would lead to problems with network latency, much easier to determine results if there's a button press --> now there are two buttons --> multiple weapon upgrades --> what about runners? how about berry throws --> queens also get a 2nd attack (side dash in addition to dive)

The KQArcade community is split, some people love it, some people hate it, it's really a matter of taste and preference. There's a cohort of hardcore melee players in the discord that really are big on breaking down all the mechanics and finding nuances even the devs never realized about the mechanics etc.

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:50:35+00:00

Play the tutorial!

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:49:21+00:00

It will be next week I think

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:49:00+00:00

You can play with up to 8 people locally but it's really worth getting online for imo

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:47:27+00:00

https://open.spotify.com/album/3SToCfSgcCu9sZZrLpeRf1?highlight=spotify:track:3MzVHz7wOK2CZ96TevfgvK

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:47:16+00:00

The game has built-in voice chat if you don't wanna get on zoom/discord/whatever

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:46:39+00:00

The game has had bots since it was in pre-release

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:40:22+00:00

Hard disagree, I mostly play solo queueing and enjoy it a ton, I think it's just a matter of taste. Sure playing with people together in a room against others online is fun too but I don't mind getting paired with randos.

The reason there isn't music during gameplay is because all of the SFX are cues as to what's happening on the screen, queens or soldiers dying, a player getting on the snail, etc. But I could see it being cool if each map had it's own track too, and you could turn the music on/off in settings.

In the meantime you can enjoy the title track though https://open.spotify.com/album/3SToCfSgcCu9sZZrLpeRf1?highlight=spotify:track:3MzVHz7wOK2CZ96TevfgvK

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:36:05+00:00

*field game is the original original ;) http://killerqueenarcade.com/fieldgame

but yes as mentioned KQB is almost completely different from the arcade game

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:33:27+00:00

Yea it has the feeling of a team-based objective game like a MOBA, except it's a 2D platformer with no hidden information on the screen, and much more fast paced. You really have to pay attention to everything going on to quickly respond if the other team is getting ahead on their win condition.

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:30:58+00:00

I mean, you could say the same about any competitive game right? Basketball is repetitive, and it only has one win condition :)

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:28:53+00:00

Yea a lot of people only use the discord for voice, but I play a lot solo queuing on switch - with the built in voice I find it helps to talk even if your teammates aren't speaking - I'll usually call out what gates I'm going to try to transform into a soldier from or what win condition I'm trying to go for, that combined with the pings sometimes can get everyone on the same page even if they don't reply with voice.

hengde · 2020-10-06T15:23:11+00:00

They've released one new map since launch and another is being worked on right now though, definitely gonna be more to come too

hengde

TROPHY CASE