Stages, combat, and some random stuff Thread - Megabyte Punch

Heya, so let me just say a few things:

Good:

I love how the stages are made with all kinds of little secrets. It feels as if some effort was actually put into the level design, which is a definite plus.

I like how you can customize so much, from the character's looks and color, to their movesets and fun little abilities. (Multiple jumps? Heck yeah!)

Smash style combat? I'm happy with that.

Bad:

The combat, or specifically the basic hand-hand combat gets pretty dull pretty fast. Every single move for every single complete bot is exactly the same, being the three-hit combo, the directional attacks, and the aerials. For a game that has a significant amount of customization, everyone having the same fighting style is a definite minus. Yes, the skills are varied, but that isn't quite enough!

The stages, while look great and are pretty well-made, are far too long. In addition it's pretty easy to get lost in some parts of some stages. No clear direction is given in some spots, and sometimes you end up running around in circles until you eventually figure out where to go.

It feels as if the game is entirely focused on offense, but not on defense/evasive maneuvers. There don't seem to be any real defensive measures you can make besides block the oncoming attack. It feels like if I were to get caught inbetween two enemies or even get sent flying, there isn't much I can do.

Solutions:

1: For combat? have fighting style as something customizable as well. I've seen chips suggested before. I feel that would be a fantastic way to start.

2: For the stages, a minimap/arrows pointing you in the correct direction and splitting up the three stages would be perfect. Say in each level you have three doors each leading to each stage. You would actually get to do stuff between stages instead of having to go in one straight shot and (ultimately), having the player get worn-out.

So it would work like this:
-Player goes to level 2
-Player hits the level 2 lobby and sees stage 1, 2, and 3. The level 1 door is glowing indicating he can enter the stage. The levels 2 and 3 door are currently dark, indicating they are currently unavailable.
-Player plays through level 2 stage 1. After completing that stage, he is sent back to the lobby, where the level 1 and 2 doors are now both glowing. The player can now enter level 2. When he completes level 2, he can move on to level 3.

Anywhere between stages the player would be able to do whatever they wished, while not inhibiting their progress.

3: For the third? Let's have a little fun with this.

So normally when you get smacked around and you shield up you just have to take it until the shield breaks, right? Well, why not change up the shield mechanics a bit? It's a ball for sure, so why not treat it as one?

Not sure where I'm going with this? That's fine. I'll explain.

Two types of shields: Static and Kinetic.

The static shield is the same as our normal shield. It takes hits and breaks, you stay relatively stationary. You're basically more like a rock. You can take some punishment, but you can't really move, no?

On the other hand, we can have the kinetic shield, which as you can guess by the name, activates while in motion. To activate it you simply start moving while in the static shield. You are unable to attack, but you are granted defensive capabilities while still being able to retain movement. To compensate, knockback while you're in this mode is at a constant, relatively high (at approx 100 damage knockback) level, but you still take zero damage from all attacks.

In addition, instead of having something like a recovery move, why not just allow us to activate the shield while being sent flying? You would essentially become the equivalent of a pinball. For example, it could play out similar to this:

-Player gets uppercutted toward the ceiling in the story mode and is sent flying towards a wall.
-In a last ditch effort, the player activates their shield as fast as they can.
-The shield saves the player, allowing them to bounce off of the ceiling instead of being smashed into it.

So thanks for reading this random hodgepodge of stuff. I'm glad you decided to take a look at it!

To summarize:
-Basic combat isn't varied enough. Fighting styles would fix this.
-While stages are fun to play, playing through all three in one sitting is a bit much. Just breaking up the three stages so you don't have to play them immediately after the other would be enough to solve this.
-There aren't enough ways to escape from some of the tricky situations, and the current shield isn't quite enough to deal with these situations. Suggested a "stationary" shield that works as the one we have currently and a more "mobile" shield that allows for motion but also increases knockback while activated. (Basically simulating a bouncy-ball.)

Despite my gripes, I really do enjoy this game so far. It's fun and chock-full of potential.

Edited by: Unbounded

Hi Unbounded,

Thanks for your suggestions! It's always nice for us to see new ideas and suggestions to make the game better.
- The basic combat is definitely something we are looking in to. We didn't include something in the upcoming update yet but it most likely will in a later update.
- In the upcoming updates there will be subtle hints where to go, it's up to the players to follow the save road to the door or get off road to explore more of the level.
- We have some plans to split up the levels as you mentioned but we have to look into it more to decide what is best. In the upcoming update the boss fight will have its own door, so if you die during a boss fight you won't have to start over all the 3 stages.
- Nice suggestions on the shield! These are quite some changes you are describing though, but who knows we can do something with it! Also, we updated the teleport ability which can be used both offensive and defensive!

Thanks again! We really appreciate your input!

Tim