[Mod] LF2 Timelapse (open source)

[STM1993]

Let me know if you want a dedicated channel for the LF2 Timelapse project on the LFE Discord.

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Regarding other things I've seen here so far:

The DRS-LF2 video linked is indeed done with EXE edit that allows a new "effect". The effect in question sends you to a frame with "mp: -xxx" to drain MP over time.

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Davis
Davis is my personal preferred character in LF2 for several reasons, key being:
1. His simple yet brutal rushdown fits my preferred playstyle in PvP.
2. I don't feel he is too OP in Stage mode.
3. Just press "Left" once on the char select screen. Very convenient.


Pointers:
a) >>D>A is extremely important for Davis, especially in PvP. Don't change this.

b) Davis doesn't need to use D^A(DP) to get out of a bad situation; he can also use D^J(leap) to instantly put himself in midair, thus turning the next punch he receives into one that sends him falling instead of stun. You will achieve the same effect if you add bdy to his first frame of DP.

c) >>AA can be used to shorten the itr duration. If you press A too early though, you'll skip the itr entirely.
Decide whether you want to keep this as a feature, or fix this to make it at least retain 1tu of itr.

d) You can fix the superhigh DP bug by splitting frame 300 wait 1 into two frames with wait 0.
1st one has dvy: 541, the 2nd one retains dvy: -9.


e) Davis tends to have trouble dealing with enemy packs in Stage mode, because his best crowd clearing moves tend to either be very slow to start(with a bdy that tends to move too far forward) or tend to leave him wide open. So if you can consider giving him a relatively slow but low cost fall70 special move; bad for PvP but good for knocking away the dumb AI in Stage. He also tends to have some trouble with Knights in Stage mode since they nullify his ability to use DP safely.

Personally, I'm going with an Energy punch that is also used in LF2 New Alpha (DvJ), tweaked with arest+vrest so that it can pierce armor and yet only break(but not pierce) normal state 7 blocking.

Before this I originally wanted a horizontal DP similar to his >>A but ultimately scrapped the idea.


e) I would suggest allowing Davis to have no bdy if he does rolling D^A; the lack of bdy is only really a problem in the first place because Davis can just use it upon injury. Can also set the state from 3 to 15 for the first couple frames so that the AI doesn't block it.

[Memento]

There is a lot to talk about, but I'll keep it short. @STM thanks for the suggestions and help so far.

Right now we need to answer an important question about AI. Should we let the AI pick up weapons, yes or no?
Any way I can put a poll up about this?

Edit: there is a poll in the LFE discord, under the LF2 Timelapse chat.
https://discord.com/channels/22449920371...5601690635

[JCostal]

Davis:
I'd like a talk about a very loved character: Davis!


(1) What's your opinion on (the original) Davis?

My opinion on Davis

Spoiler (Click to View)

While Davis is indeed great and amazing, he's also a bit stronger than the rest. There's one thing I've hated about Davis all my life: he can't be hit for a moment in D^A. Couple this with the fastest punches (along with Woody) and good counter options, Davis is strong enough by itself and doesn't need any new moves to make him stronger. I would like to make him a little more versitile though, but also weaken the character with very subtle changes to the original data for balance. One change would be to give Davis a BDY + defense in his D^A frame where he can't be hit. It's simply too much sometimes and needs rebalancing in my opinion.

Shall I make this change? [yes/no]



(2) What kind of skill/move should we add to davis?

(1)
Davis: I remember when I played LF2 by the first time, 15 years ago.
Even without knowing the story, the website and the characters attack names, I remember that after one week came to me a conclusion: "If one of the characters is the protagonist, this one would be Davis."
Great design, follows a consistent concept and its move-list/skills gives a satisfying feeling.
Ok. Now, lets move to the main points: Dragon Punch and Leap.
While Dragon Punch seems to be too good, Leap is quite occasional and I practically don't even consider it a skill at all.

*DRAGON PUNCH: Cost-effective too high. I would need to adjust the frame with invulnerability, but it is practically impossible with the traditional Exe. Today I manage to rebalance it with my Exe, but in the past I opted to increase MP and damage.

*LEAP: An instant jump for 25 MP. No control on the X and Z axes and cantt dash/rolliing... Honestly... I ALWAYS edit this skill when I return to play LF2 from time to time.
I know, I know ... It's a situational escape, but I see it as an unnecessary "special imput". It looks like it's just there to say that Davis has 4 skills.

(2)
My guess: lets increase MP cost and efficiency. An alternative to Dragon Punch, focused on escape/mobility.
I did something like that last year. Maybe will help you to come up with some good idea.


>Dragon-Jump

[STM1993]

Right now we need to answer an important question about AI. Should we let the AI pick up weapons, yes or no?
Any way I can put a poll up about this?

Edit: there is a poll in the LFE discord, under the LF2 Timelapse chat.
https://discord.com/channels/22449920371...5601690635

I didn't want to hide the poll, so I'll put a few thoughts here.

Facts:
* Weapon Drop only occurs for id100-199. You can have duplicate IDs, and those duplicates would also drop, unlike opoint which takes the first entry.
* Dropped items are in "Independent" team.
* The game will check and drop weapons when there are less than 4 weapon(type 1,2,4,6) objects in the map.
* Weapons can only be picked up in state 1004/2004, and the AI checks for this. You do NOT need the frame to have a bdy that allows it to be picked up.
* AI will only pick up objects that fit in a specific range of IDs (100-199 + 213). Yes, it ignores Louis's armor.
* AI's exact behaviour with the weapon it is holding is hardcoded to the weapon's ID. Yes, it has no AI for Louis's armor.
* AI will NOT pick up weapons at all if there's a John shield(hardcoded to id200 frame 60-69) belonging to an enemy anywhere in the game(and will also avoid the area where the shield is).
* AI will make a beeline for weapons within a very large x-axis range if their targeted enemy(usually the enemy closest to them) is not standing within the same z-axis(zwidth15) of the weapon they wish to pick up. The AI does not check among themselves whether anyone else is targeting the same weapon.
* The AI is compelled to throw weapons almost as soon as they are in state 2(running).
* Throwing has a very fast startup of 4-5tu(except on Bandit/Jan), compared to normal projectiles which generally range from 6-13.
* Throwing has a z-axis aim of 3px/tu, compared to z-aim of opointed objects at 2.5px/tu.


Opinions:
* Weapons introduce an element of randomness to the game, and make the BGs feel less empty.
* The AI is exceptionally vulnerable and predictable when being lured by weapons.
* Once holding a weapon however, they become significantly more dangerous as they start running more often.
* Because the AI tends to throw upon running, this also means they have a tendency to start throwing their weapons at you at unpredictable ranges, especially along z-axis.
* I do not like the AI going after weapons because of all the above reasons, and how they break the consistency expected of AI behaviour.
* Ultimately, I am still okay with the AI picking up weapons, but it needs to be tightly controlled in some form. For example, only specific chars will attempt to pick up weapons, or they only pick up when you're down or too far away etc.


I shifted Sauce's EXE changes into the improved EXE by Leaf in case you prefer the no weapon pick option, which btw will still have the AI attempt to pick milk/beer, just not regular weapons.