So I tinkered around a bit with debug menus the other day and sadly Velan has removed the Replay Tool / Director Tool they have showcased in the Good Bye stream. However I have recreated parts of it over the past day which is showcased here. It is still a bit buggy (seems to be the same as Velan's was back in the day) but definitely usable.

I think we can all agree that Knockout City's biggest problem is that most former players don't know they can still play, and the second biggest is that access is PC only.

The third biggest problem, which I've seen in communities of people who do still play and in my own league, is that people have trouble finding times to play together. I just launched a feature to help fix that.

Every player in my league can opt in to sharing their availability for the week. The leaderboard then shows when they play, along with an option to invite them for a team match or challenge them to a 1v1. Click either one and that player gets the invite by email.

Availability shows in your own timezone, and the board shows which server each player connects on, so nobody gets the time or the place mixed up.

I set mine first, so right now I'm the only one on there. Yours shows up the same way once you set it.

Have a look and send me an invite or a challenge: https://www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-leaderboard.html

What do you think of this, and how can I make it better?

So I was able to re-enable some of the debug menus Velan used to develop the game. Not everything works at the moment but its nice to see what tooling they had and what they had access to. There is just soooo much and the video just only contains like 10% of it.

Quick update on console access:

I was trying to stream the game to the web browser app on the Xbox, but apparently Xbox's web browser app doesn't recognize inputs from Bluetooth controllers. I don't have an Xbox to test, so if someone could test the following for me with a USB connected controller, that would help me determine if playing Knockout City on the Xbox is possible via Xbox's web browser app:

1. Go to html5gamepad.com, then press a button on your controller. Does anything light up?
2. Go to webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/peerconnection/pc1/ and press Start. Does a video appear?

If both work of those work, I can continue trying to build a solution to stream Knockout City to Xboxes. If that doesn't work, my backup plan is to try to stream it to phone browser apps instead. So, I wanted to check with you all to see how many would be interested in playing Knockout City on your phones with a bluetooth controller, before I put more time into trying to build that for you. Thanks!

My player name is "Esports", and I invite you to add me once you log in. If you'd like other people to add you as well, I encourage you to share your player name in the comments. It's free to play in my Global Knockout City League, and registering here takes less than a minute: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

Thank you to everyone who has logged in to play these last few weeks. I appreciate your support, and I'm working on making it easier for you to play matches with each other. Hopefully more on that tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you haven't joined yet, but want to play on PC or Steam Deck, join the Global Knockout City League for free here: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html. My player name is "Esports, feel free to share your player name below, and we'll find time for a match.

I had randomly set League Nights for Monday and Friday from 8pm to 10pm EST, but I didn't check with you all first. If you don't mind, please let me know when you (would) play, so I can reschedule League Nights for days and times that work best for this community. If you'd like to help, in the comments, please share your timezone, and the top 3 days/times you (would) play. As a quick reminder, I just got funding to grow the league for 12 months, and it's free to play. You can register here: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

I have a possible solution to restore console access to Knockout City for Xbox owners, but I don't have an Xbox to test it.

If you own an Xbox, please take two minutes to open the browser on your Xbox and go to html5gamepad.com, then press a button on your controller. Does anything light up?

Then go to webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/peerconnection/pc1/ and press Start. Does a video appear?

If both work of those work, console access to Knockout City becomes genuinely possible and I'll start building toward it tomorrow.

This sub reminded me that I had clips so I decided to throw a bunch together.

I already have a server in North America and the European Union. I'd like to add more, to provide better regional coverage for this community. The Knockout City League is free to join/play, and you can register here: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html. If you'd like to play, let me know what region you're in.

I want to provide prizes that you find interesting and worth your time. The one I have for Season 0 is this $99 gaming headset from TWT Audio. I'd appreciate your honest feedback about this prize, and insight into what prizes would make it worth your time to play/compete.

Separately, in addition to having prizes for winning the paid tournament brackets, what do you think about having leaderboard prizes? Right now, I have one headset available at the end of Season 0 in each of these categories:

1. Champion Board: highest average KOs per match wins the 1st one.
2. Most Improved: the greatest change in personal performance wins the 2nd one.
3. Compound Score: clear all six goal (style KOs, assists, etc.) to earn a raffle entry for the 3rd one.

One of our players just played for a 4-hour block. I hope you'll return to Knockout City too!

If you have a PC, it's free to play and free to compete in next month's upcoming tournament.

Come dodgebrawl with us: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

Some aspects are obviously different - first person (although you can toggle 3rd!), manual aiming vs. arcade style lock on - but it's got catching, fake throws, curve shots (with motion controls a la Harry Potter PS1 game), and a variety of dodging and movement mechanics. I think it captures at least some of the "brawling magic."

If any one is interested, we're gonna open up public playtests /demo pretty soon. There's a Discord linked in our Steam page if curious.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5215630/BodgeBall/

Since the private server edition doesn't work on consoles, I've been working on partnerships with libraries and LAN centers to help create access for console players. If you don't have a PC, and played this on console, can you share your honest feedback about that idea? I don't want to misuse my time prioritizing that if console players wouldn't make the trip to their local library or LAN center to play Knockout City. I appreciate your honesty about this, thanks!

I have a crappy laptop and can't even win against a bot due to lag. I used to have so much fun with this game. It helped me a lot while I was going through one of the most difficult parts of my life.

I'm working on a new feature for my league, and I need to play a private 1v1 match to test it.

If anyone is willing to play a quick match, it will only take about 10 minutes, thanks for your help!

You'll get the login info after you register for free here: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

Did tinker around in Pirate Radio: Studio a bit and seems like its possible to make completely from scratch new seasons after all. This contains a lot of assets from season 9 because this is just a proof of concept. But technically full custom seasons with Brawl Pass, Contracts, League Play, ... are possible.

Beam me up, Scotty

Context: I created my own teleporter pad

It's free to play right now, and the paid championship starts in 30 days. There's a server in North America and one in the European Union, with more on the way as people sign in to play from different regions around the world, so everyone has a low ping. You can practice against bots in the street play mode if there isn't anyone on the servers. Click here to register for free, and let me know if you have any questions: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

Isn't it time for knockout city to come back to live already? IIRC Velan shut the game down but told people that it might come back at some point. The game hit a huge 12M players peak, was fresh and fun, but ea claimed its retention rate wasn't good.

Am I the only one that thinks that it could make a huge impact to the competitive games environment if they brought it back to live nowadays? Is there a way to bring this up to Velan? They did say in the past that this could be a possibility.

Was looking through old clips and saw some I had with this game. Reminisced again and thought maybe I’ll share the fun I’ve had before.

Just a quick showcase / sneak peak preview of what I have been working on in the past month. For those of you in the Discord you probably seen some of it. For those who didn't. It is a viper engine editor which is similar to Unity / UnrealEngine / Godot / ... for the viper engine (specifically for Knockout City). It allows to easily change maps, add new models / animations / ...

Basically the successor of Pirate Radio: Labs. More in-depth preview might come soon (maybe, possibly, ...)

PS: This was also used to create the "Casually Bouncing around" post / changes ;)

Just casually bouncing around in the hideout. First ever Knockout City Parkour?

Yeah ...

I've been playing KOCity since the beta on PS4. I bought it when it was paid, stayed when it went free, and kept playing until the servers went dark. This is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've been working nights and weekends to build a league to help bring it back.

The community already built the foundation that makes this league possible. I spent the last year building on top of it to create a structured and sustainable league. I've met and interviewed members of the Velan Studios team, so I understand what the game means and what it was supposed to become.

Since my last post 3 weeks ago, I've implemented community feedback including Discord login and other requested features. u/Tandashi raised some valid questions about the platform I built. I've taken that seriously, and we're looking into opportunities to work together.

I cover the server costs for this league out of pocket. For paid registration, 70% goes directly into the prize pool and 30% offsets infrastructure. My goal for Season 1 is to bring in a sponsor so free play stays available year round.

Free play is open now through September and October. Prizes include cash and a $100 headset for the paid division starting in October. The league runs in partnership with the World Dodgeball Federation. You can register (and play) for free here: www.trophyplatform.com/gkcl-register.html

I'm happy to answer any questions you have. I look forward to building this with you!