Hey! Remember the "Winter Update Preview" thread? Mind-blowing, right? Yeah? Now forget that! That's the past! Shut it off, Zhu Li!
A lot has changed since I created that other topic and I'd like to start fresh. Some screenshots will be re-posted, some will be new. All will attempt to be more relevant to the current state of things. So let's get started, shall we?
Starforce. (Or is it Star Force?) What an... interesting mechanic. So complicated, so overpowered, so controversial, so difficult to balance... and yet I insist on keeping it in the game . Why? Because, deep down, I know it has the potential to be a great thing. Hunting them all down in and of itself is both a joy and a challenge, and the god-like powers they grant are well worth the effort. Sure, tracking down all (currently) 1024 stars can be a grind, sometimes a bore, but when you finally get there it's incredibly rewarding. At such high power levels your character is able to mow-down enemies like it's nobody's business and with relatively little resistance! It's pretty great... unless you're talking about player battles.
As the defending team in a player battle, you (currently) have no defense against the opponent's starforce. This combined with the fact that your opponent is able to see your entire team before selecting theirs puts you at a huge disadvantage. This lead many players in the top spots to greatly dislike the player battle system, and others to hate the starforce system and suggest its removal. Both of these needed to be fixed, of course, but axing either them was not an option. Too many users have put forth massive amounts of time and effort into collecting their stars and the idea of axing them or removing their primary function does not seem like the fair or correct choice.
Because of these things, I've spent the last several months (almost a year now...) revising and tweaking the starforce mechanic and how it interacts with the game based on both my own ideas and feedback from the community in chats. I've also been revising other parts of the game, of course, and many of them coincide with fixing these issues. Some mechanics, like "coreguard" were conceived and quickly abandoned, while others like the Dark Elements have grown and evolved into something new and different. I believe that what we have now will be for the best, but as always I'm open to more changes as time goes on and as I get feedback from the community.
Now, before I go on, I want to apologize to those who have been following this thread since the beginning and trying to make heads or tails of the whole process. I know it's been hard to keep track of what will be and wont be included in the update, but that's one of the pitfalls of open development. I could easily have kept my mouth quiet for a year and let everyone go stir crazy, but I wanted to share my thought process with everyone and build this thing together. So yeah, I'm both sorry and very thankful to all who have helped me sort through the messy details of this gigantic Winter Summer(?) Update.
I've updated the preview link again to fix a few spelling mistakes (thanks TheDoc) and rename a few other abilities. Please see this link for the most updated version (and yes, the first post has been revised with the new link as well): mmrpg-database_2015-04-05.html
I just wanted to publicly announce that I've made two early changed to the prototype well before the update is complete because I felt they were necessary and - more importantly - they were very easy to implement. The changes take effect immediately and you to not have to wait for the update to benefit from them.
1. Roll, Disco, and Rhythm now have a base WE of 15 instead of the usual 10. They are and will be the only unlockable robot masters to have this distinction and I believe it will further solidify their role as support robots in the game. Boost, break, and swap away my friends!
2. Target robots in Player Battles are now hidden until the fight starts and appear as dark, generic robots instead. No longer will you be able to select your opponent's weaknesses and gain the advantage before the battle has even begun, instead needing to rely on other strategies. Will you select your strongest? Your most versatile? Your most defensive or speedy? It's a long way from making Player Battles as balanced as they'll be in the update, but it's a start - right?
Let me know your thoughts if you have 'em, otherwise enjoy! :D
Posted on April 6th, 2015 at 1:17pmEdited on 2015/04/06 at 1:27pm
Posted 2015/04/06 at 1:17pmEdited 2015/04/06 at 1:27pm
#4
@TailsMK4 : Which brings me to the next early change...
3. Effective immediately, Rain Flush now damages all other robots on the field just like it's description has suggested the entire time. The only robots that will not be affected by the Rain Flush damage are the user and any benched robots that have affinities or immunities to the Water type. Now the ability is much closer to the double-edged sword that is "Surf" from the Pokémon series (which is what I had imagined for the ability in the first place). Rain Flush can still be exploited by bringing in a specific team, but much less so than before. Enjoy (or not)!
@Adrian Marceau : Yea, it never really made sense to me how it only hit the enemy (up 'til now, that is). This probably won't halt Rain Flush abuse, but it at least nerfs it moderately and makes it more realistic.
...Sure enough, it affects my Bright Man now, which makes either Toad Man solo or both robots risky. Maybe for safety measures I should bring Bubble Man along as well. On the other hand, I can use this to my advantage as well...the other Toad Men love spamming Rain Flush too.
Posted on April 11th, 2015 at 7:14pmEdited on 2015/04/11 at 7:21pm
Posted 2015/04/11 at 7:14pmEdited 2015/04/11 at 7:21pm
#10
New change #4!
4. Take a peek at Chapter 2 and Chapter 4? See something different? That's right, the multipliers have been modified! The range for multipliers now are in between 1.5-0.5, making these chapters a little bit easier to progress through for new players! So if someone like Fire Man has been giving you trouble, feel free to head back to Steel Mill and give Fire Man a heck of a fight! Please note that in the future, these multipliers will experience slight changes, so do not be alarmed. These values will also be slightly modified in the Update through the use of Easy/Hard mode, so please keep that in mind! Besides that, enjoy the new multipliers and kick those Robot Masters out of their fields!
Hey, Adrian. I am kinda wondering. What happens if, when the item-holding arrives, you give a copy core to a robot master that isn't a copy core robot?
@Reisrat : I think equipping a Copy-core on a robot doesn't change anything, actually? Instead, I think they're more for getting some cheap zenny quick. Or am I getting it wrong? Maybe that's NEUTRAL cores I'm thinking of?
Posted on June 13th, 2015 at 12:58amEdited on 2015/06/15 at 3:55pm
Posted 2015/06/13 at 12:58amEdited 2015/06/15 at 3:55pm
#19
Hello there, folks! MBM as always, here to report some rather…..different type of news :)
Basically, largely due to the powers of GitHub, there is an version of Prototype out there that is updated with some of the new features of the Update. Now, don’t go clicking the huge “Prototype” tab up in the top, because you’ll find that everything is largely unchanged. It may confuse some of you, but there are two versions of Prototype existing right now; One is the current version that we all come back to almost every day, but the sweetly-nicknamed BETA version is completely separate from this site. However, it’s been decided that the Beta version is now public access to the readers of the Community. Consider this an appetizer for future features to come :D
So, without further adieu on my part, here’s an invitation to a public access version of “Beta” Prototype. Click here to play Mega Man RPG Beta-Prototype!Welcome to the Prototype! Upon entering this strange, but somewhat familiar version of Prototype, you’ll be graced by an image like this! Your first inclination might be to immediately head to Prototype, but for the users interested to see the changes in the new website, places of recommendation would be the “About” page, the “Database” page, the Leaderboard, and the Community. Now, once you either view all these pages, or rather head straight to play Prototype, the choice is yours; Create a New Account to see how the new version of the game plays from the Start, or rather, log in to your regular account to see all the changes to the post-game content? Which will you choose? Please note that any progress made in your regular account will NOT reflect back onto your account back in the normal version of Prototype. Thus, it is discouraged that you grind for Stars, BP, or stats in the Beta Version. Likewise, the game is constantly going through changes, so expect changes to the build in terms of features and story progress.A Quick Overview of some of the Changes contained -The Intro Chapter has been expanded upon, featuring two new missions to bridge the gap between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 -The Robot Masters have rocking some new looks in the form of "Alt Costumes"! Go into battle, looking your best! -The Robots tab has been made to stream a lot better, such as drag-and-drop Robot Transferring! It’s never been so easy! -The Shop Feature has gone through a number of changes, including "Levels"! The more you buy and sell, the more they'll have for you next time! -The “Delta” Robot Masters have arrived! Powered by Starforce, they act as guardians of the mysterious power-source… -Speaking of Starforce, it’s gone through a number of changes...Try them out yourself! -Beware of the Sigma Robot Masters, who will use strange means to change the way you battle! Expect and prepare for the Unexpected! -Multiple moves have been tweaked in various ways! Test out the changes yourself in battle!
There are many more changes in the Prototype, but quite a bit to list here. To continue seeing all the changes, feel free to look at this pageAnyway, have fun with this little gift, and feel free to test out all the little changes. Bug Reports aren’t necessary, so don’t feel inclined to report those. Please leave feedback in this thread because feedback is always important to development!
So, with that, I bid you farewell!Misc Screenshots >Chapter 1 has been expanded >Powered by Starforce, the Delta Robot Masters protect Starforce. >Multiple aspects of the Robot Editor have been reworked to be more accessible. >Once Starforce has been collected, Sigmas may start appearing in their place…
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