Bout Time Reviews - Beta 3.0 Patch Notes

EDIT: Expect a 3.1 patch soon to fix a few issues. i am working through a full play test and may do a code clean up if i am brave enough. 

Welcome to Beta 3.0! This is a massive update that fundamentally changes how the game is played, shifting from single, manual matchups to a persistent, dynamic, and entirely Steam-powered Fighter Universe.

Major New Features

The Universe System

The core of the game is now the Universe.

Automatic Persistent Universe: Your universe, including all fighters, their records, and champions, is now automatically saved to your browser's local storage. You can close the tab and return later to find your universe exactly as you left it. Exporting a .btr file remains available as a backup or sharing option.

Universe Creation: Add fighters to your universe by entering their Steam App IDs, importing a universe file, or using the new "Select from Top 100" feature.

Dynamic Genre Titles: Local titles are no longer fixed! The game automatically scans your universe and creates a unique championship title for any genre shared by two or more fighters.

New Roster Management Tools

The Roster Setup panel has been significantly upgraded to give you more control over your universe.

Expand Universe: A new section in the Roster Setup panel will automatically list game genres that are present in your universe but do not yet have a championship title. Clicking a genre allows you to fetch a list of new fighters from that category to add to your game.

Expand Existing Titles: You can now add new contenders to established divisions. This section lists all genres that already have a local title, allowing you to scout for and import new challengers to strengthen your championship scene.

Fight Simulation Overhaul

The in-ring action has been made more dynamic and immersive.

The Referee: A referee has been added to the ring! He will now officiate the bout, starting the fight, administering the 10-count during knockdowns, and stepping in to declare the winner.

Knockdown Dynamics: When a fighter is knocked down but beats the count, there is now a longer recovery pause before the action resumes. During this time, the fighter who scored the knockdown will regain a small amount of health and stamina.

Fighter Progression & Status

Persistent Records: A fighter's win-loss record and title history are now saved within the universe. When you load a fighter, you're loading their entire career.

High-Stakes Title Matches: When two local champions fight for a vacant major title, the loser will now be stripped of their local title, which will become vacant.

"Grand Slam" Status: A new pinnacle achievement has been added! A fighter who has held a Local, Weight Class, Inter-Genre, and Undisputed title at least once will earn the prestigious Grand Slam icon (⚜️) next to their name.

Quality of Life & UI Improvements

Select from Top 100: You can now pull a list of the top 100 most-played games in the last two weeks (according to Steamspy API) and select a minimum of 6 fighters from a searchable list to create a curated universe.

Streamlined Fighter Loading: You can now instantly load any fighter from your universe into a card using the "Select from Universe" dropdown menu.

Redesigned Roster Panel: The "Champion Roster" has been renamed to "Roster Setup" and now includes a full list of every fighter in your current universe.

At-a-Glance Status Icons: All fighter lists (dropdowns, roster panel) now display icons to show a fighter's status: Current Champion, Past Champion, and Grand Slam Champion.

"Competing Genres" Display: A new box in the center column automatically shows you which genres the two active fighters have in common.

Contextual Help: A ? icon has been added to the "Load Fighter" box to explain how to find a game's App ID on Steam. (Dev Note: I don’t like this i will be making it better in a later update IE change it from hover over to opening a window with instructions etc.)

Removals & Deprecations

To create a more focused experience, the following features have been removed:

All Manual Entry: All fields for manually entering names, review scores, developers, and publishers have been removed. The game is now 100% powered by Steam data.

Redundant Buttons: The "Populate Left/Right," "Manual Universe," "Import Roster," and "Import from DB" buttons have been removed to streamline the UI.

Bug Fixes & Polish

API Correction: The Steam API call for game reviews has been corrected to only request data in English, ensuring consistent and predictable scoring across all fighters. (Dev Note: I will be looking into this later but for now it will be locked to English.)

Announcer Polish: The ring announcer will no longer use the word "current" when introducing a reigning champion.

Title Match Presentation: The referee will now hold the relevant title icon aloft at the beginning of a championship bout. (Dev Note: This is very rough and needs a second pass but the idea is there.)

Roster UI: The "Potential Title Fights" list has been improved to show each unique title bout on its own line for better clarity.

Data Import: Corrected an issue where past titles from older fighter files (.btr) were not always being credited properly upon import.(Dev Note: note sure what this is but if it helps… your welcome? Post if you have import issues for old saves. but i recommend making a new one at this point with all the new systems.)

Fixed a critical bug where champions winning unification bouts were not properly credited for all titles involved in their career pastTitles record. 

Thank you for your continued support and feedback. Enjoy the new universe!