itch.io

If you meant something like a matchmaking system, matchmaking and ranked are buildable on top of that, same way the big games do it: a queue server pairs you, the match itself stays player-to-player, and both games report the result at the end — it only counts when the reports agree. Rage-quit = you take the loss.

The biggest problem here is player count. The queue works fine at two players; it just spends most of the day saying “searching…”. And both players need the exact same build, so it fits a site hosting one fixed game better than one where everyone builds their own roster.

On my list, at the very earliest, likely a big 2.0 release.

It’s already in and has been since launch. Go to NETWORK, HOST/JOIN GAME, and then the room code panel is top-right of the game page: one of you hosts, the other pastes the code. Rules are in the FAQ. P2P only, so you need to ask someone rather than have matchmaking.

Honestly the netcode wasn’t the hard part, because Ikemen GO already has it. It just expects a normal network connection, which browsers don’t give you. So the real job was plugging a browser-to-browser connection in underneath it — the game never knew the difference. Players connect straight to each other, no server in the middle.

The annoying parts were around it, not in it:

Two browsers can’t just find each other. They have to swap connection info first. Mine was copy-pasting a huge string into Discord at one point. Now a small cloudflare server does that swap so you only share a short room code. Some routers still won’t connect directly, so there’s a relay for those. Both players have to be running the exact same files or it desyncs instantly. The build checks that and shows a Build ID — if yours don’t match, don’t bother starting. Delay netcode works well. Rollback’s in there but it’s experimental.

If you want it on yours: ship one fixed build and don’t let players add their own characters. Then everyone on your page matches automatically. Do not ship studio-lite. Use Studio and Command Prompt to make your uploadable build.

I caught an error that might mess with build ID’s. Please update to the latest version.

If your question isn’t answered here, post in the bug thread — I don’t read loose comments, I do read that thread.

The game hiccups / freezes for a split second sometimes. Is it broken?

No. The entire engine runs on ONE thread in your browser, and every so often the garbage collector pauses it for a few dozen milliseconds. You’ll hear the music hiccup — that’s it, that’s the whole event.

v1.0 made these MUCH rarer (the renderer was rebuilt three different ways), but they cannot hit zero on a single-threaded browser build. Heavier characters and team modes = more of them. If it stutters CONSTANTLY, that’s not this — post in the bug thread with your browser + hardware.

Why does it take a while to load the first time?

It’s downloading a whole fighting game (~90MB) and then keeping it in your browser storage. Second visit boots way faster. Clearing site data resets that (and your saves — see below).

The sound is quiet.

Deliberate. The game ships at 50% master volume because certain characters ship sounds LOUD enough to hurt through headphones. Raise it in Options → Sound if you want; your setting sticks.

How do I add my own characters / stages / music?

Open the Mod Studio page (link on the game page). Drag a character’s folder or zip onto it, same for stages and music, pick your theme, done — it’s stored in your browser and loads with the game. Nothing uploads anywhere; it all stays on your machine.

Big collections: the browser Studio is fine for a handful of characters. For serious rosters, grab the Modding Kit and build your own copy of the whole site — it’s the same tooling I use, instructions included.

A character I added has broken colors — palette picks do nothing, or the colors reset mid-fight.

Old/converted characters have broken palettes CONSTANTLY. Two known diseases:

• Color picks do nothing (always default colors): the character’s palettes are keyed wrong internally.
• Colors revert on certain moves or when hit: the character has “own palette” sprites that ignore your color pick. The desktop Modding Kit fixes both — the Studio there has a one-click “fix palettes” for the revert bug, and the kit’s tools/ folder has the palette pipeline for the harder cases (see GRAIL.md Part IV §4.8, included in the kit). The browser Studio can’t rebuild sprite files, so these fixes need the kit.

H-scenes show the wrong colors / the wrong layering.

Bundled characters are fixed. For your own additions: same answer as above — the kit’s palette pipeline handles scene recoloring (it’s a v1.0 feature; scenes can now FOLLOW your color pick if you run the tools on a character). Layering issues (a body part drawing on top of the partner) are a “sprpriority” value inside the character’s own files — fixable in a text editor, see the GRAIL.

Netplay: what are the rules?

Three iron rules, no exceptions:

‼️‼️‼️‼️MOD ORDER MATTERS!!!‼️‼️‼️‼️

• Same build — the Build ID on the boot page must match your opponent’s.
• Same characters and theme — your added mods count! Both players need identical everything.
• Delay netcode unless you both know what you’re doing — Rollback is experimental on this build and can desync.

Host makes a room code, other player enters it. If it won’t connect at all, one of your networks is blocking peer-to-peer — try a different network before reporting.

Does my progress save?

Key bindings, options, and your added mods all persist in browser storage. Clearing site data for this page wipes all of it. Different browser = different storage.

Does it work on my phone?

It RUNS on a modern phone, but there are no touch controls — you need a Bluetooth controller or keyboard, and a laptop-class device will feel much better. Phones are not a priority.

What changed since v1.0?

moved to dev logs

Master volume ships at 50% (see above).

Something else is broken?

Bug report thread.

Include: what you did, what happened, your browser, and whether it happens with only bundled characters (no mods added).

Reports that say “it doesn’t work” with none of the above get ignored — not out of spite, there’s just nothing to act on.

Please report findings to this thread. This is the only thread I will check until I feel like this build is compatible with everything I can find.