alf2: current state - insights

[YinYin]

to-do: (Click to View)

• 1-1 fix bandit spawning
  
• 1-1 fix bandit deletion
  
• 1-1 fix stage getting stuck
  
• 1-2 animate stage
  
• 1-x fix item inhibitor
  
• 1-3 add special feature
  
• fix weapon crates
  
• finish retro woody
  
• add bounce to all characters
  
• add teleport to all characters
  
• add quick pick to all characters
  
• 1-x collect all data and sprites required
  
• double check this list for missing points
  
• create separate version with stage 1
  
• double check and test everything included
  
• write instructions and zip it up
  
• test the zip!
  
• upload!
  
• ???
  
• profit!

italic items are unavailable right now

re: woody double teleport (Click to View)

yes i want to add more team combos and both louis' whirlwind and woody's teleport are on the list of initiates
catching in the air and jumping with a held opponent are not planned right now
(even tho the first one was at some point but landing didn't work out too well - louis only)
and my main problem with teleporting a teammate is the set up, how the gameplay will work (catching and teleporting a teammate ain't that hard)

there are three scenarios to consider: (Click to View)

human teleporting a com

• good if you can save him
  bad if you pick the wrong one and thus leave the one in danger alone

com teleporting a human

• good if he saves you
  bad if you were about to beat the boss and now have to face a whole army and a wall of soul bombs again
  AI required to use this properly (should act like johns heal orb)
  otherwise it needs to be made unavailable for the computer

com/com or human/human

• good if it happens controlled and when required
  bad if it happens randomly or against either players will (human)

so basically i don't want this feature turning woody into an uncontrollable teleporting machine, moving his teammates around against their will (this would be very frustrating) and this also needs to be a very accurate feature because saving the wrong teammate would be very frustrating as well
since there is no space for a new help calling move that would then also be used by every computer character i figure it would be best to somehow combine this with the etc.dat (come,move,stay commands)
if the one being teleported has to use this it would not allow com players to be saved
if only woody has to use this he could teleport anyone against his will
and i don't quite know how i would exactly do it - it's still just a thought
but difficult as you can see - maybe this gets a separate thread too

next up: pick one item i can already do and i will report back

[YinYin]

progress on the list: none
progress everywhere else: lots
so here is an unannounced update

i have decided to spoiler this feature because i consider it to be of similar weight as the fusion or louisEX
all following features that are somehow tied to this will also just be named amulet power part 3, 4, 5 and so on

spoiler (Click to View)

now that you have decided to view it i want to politely ask you to spoiler any part of your own post referring to this as well

johns lift combo (Click to View)

all you have to do is press A after the super punch when the amulet is active (or D>A)
maybe i should make this available without active amulet? unsure about that
because i think its pretty powerful and unusual for john

so if i have made you eager enough already and you can't wait for a release or don't care about spoiling yourself go ahead and view it (possibly just to be disappointed :p again)

next up: john amulet part 5

i would still love to hear more thoughts on the woody teleport issue further explained in the last post
or a pointer to what thing of the list (i don't want to do) i should tackle first

[Reaper]

i would still love to hear more thoughts on the woody teleport issue further explained in the last post

Spoiler (Click to View)

The way I see it, both making it impossible for com characters to be saved and letting Woody teleport anyone against their will have quite a few downsides. What I'd propose is giving the catched character the ability to cancel the teleport/ wrench from Woody's grip, presumably so that Woody teleports alone. The only scenario this won't cover properly would be com/com, but I dare to say that's less important than anything involving one of the players anyway.
I'm afraid I'm not involved in DC for far too long to have any ideas on how to make it as accurate as possible. However, perhaps giving Woody the ability to cancel his action as well could lower the damage a failed teleport would cause.

Spoiler (Click to View)

maybe i should make this available without active amulet? unsure about that
because i think its pretty powerful and unusual for john

Spoiler (Click to View)

I agree to that. It does seem quite powerful and John isn't the all-out damage mage anyway. That being said, it's quite a cool move.

[YinYin]

What I'd propose is giving the catched character the ability to cancel the teleport/ wrench from Woody's grip, presumably so that Woody teleports alone.

sounds like a mighty good solution
next question: how would woody start this move?
an automation if next to a teammate seems wrong because its not controllable once again (but that would be the easiest - like rudolfs counter when going invisible with an opponent close by)
i think quickly adding another +J would be the most natural
DvJJ - for teleporting two - even if that will only grant a split second to react for canceling it

now i only need to figure out how to let the passenger cancel his teleport without canceling woodys

i wonder whether this option should be available for opponents too (thus only one set of frames for both cases)
or whether they should stay helpless ... (secondary set for teammates)

[Reaper]

Adding a +J would have been my thought as well. I'm not quite sure how it would affect the accuracy though. It's just a matter of split-seconds, but maybe it would be the little bit that is too much. Testing both possibilities in-game would probably be a good idea.
I say it would be best to make the option only available for teammates. Ideally, you'll want to make it as easy as possible to cancel the teleport if needed. If the enemy would be able to do that as well, I imagine the move to be rather weak.

[Lauli]

The canceling might be a problem, as it's too little time to react.
If you turn it the other way around - to enable the teleport option for the teammate - then it might solve the reaction time problem:
Woody catches the teammate, teleports.
Teammate has, a timeframe of let's say 1 second to activate his teleport.
Then the teleport option depletes.

I think this could be done with an invisible weapon and the like.

But then again, this would be too much work for a rather rare occasion.

Spoiler (Click to View)

Spoilerin' everything cause it's fun.

Johns lift combo (Click to View)

Just thinking, why would you need a sprite for a diagonal energy ball? It's almost certain that the blast will hit the enemy, so there isn't really a need for additional sprites.

[YinYin]

The canceling might be a problem, as it's too little time to react.

well most players go into the defense frames before performing a move - but the teleport doesn't start from there
you have to wait for the defense to end and that is enough time for a teammate to either move towards you or move away
(because who stands around still next to his buddy during a fight? unless he wants a lift)
or otherwise enough time to realize woody wants to teleport away (and then hit a button if it connects to cancel)
so i think the time frame might be ok

If you turn it the other way around - to enable the teleport option for the teammate - then it might solve the reaction time problem:
Woody catches the teammate, teleports.
Teammate has, a timeframe of let's say 1 second to activate his teleport.
Then the teleport option depletes.

i dont quite understand this

Spoiler (Click to View)

Just thinking, why would you need a sprite for a diagonal energy ball? It's almost certain that the blast will hit the enemy, so there isn't really a need for additional sprites.

it can fail to hit
you can be too far away from the opponent when performing the super punch
you can be too slow with the blast
the opponent can flip
and you can also perform this without an opponent close to you (JA+A)
this is useful when someone jumps at you
gives you enough time to hit the air as a warning and then blast his face when hes right above you

[Lauli]

well most players go into the defense frames before performing a move - but the teleport doesn't start from there
you have to wait for the defense to end and that is enough time for a teammate to either move towards you or move away
(because who stands around still next to his buddy during a fight? unless he wants a lift)
or otherwise enough time to realize woody wants to teleport away (and then hit a button if it connects to cancel)
so i think the time frame might be ok

Wait a second, does that mean you can perform the teleport without catching your teammate? :O
So you just teleport any teammate with you who happens to stand next to you? That's cool.
The DvJ+J option would be the best one then I think.

Disregard that thought I had about the teleporting I had.

[YinYin]

Wait a second, does that mean you can perform the teleport without catching your teammate? :O
So you just teleport any teammate with you who happens to stand next to you? That's cool.
The DvJ+J option would be the best one then I think.

there is catching required - or some other interaction
but i would try to implement that into the teleport itself because the need to do another action (ie yet another input) that is useless on its own would be bad
it would also serve as a check, whether to take a close teammate or teleport normally alone

[Lauli]

there is catching required - or some other interaction
but i would try to implement that into the teleport itself because the need to do another action (ie yet another input) that is useless on its own would be bad
it would also serve as a check, whether to take a close teammate or teleport normally alone

Oh well in that case; don't disregard my previous suggestion.

I thought about Woody giving everyone a very short "buff" to every teammate around when he performs the DvJ (the normal one, without anyone caught, etc.). The buff depletes after a short time, but you still have enough time to "use" the buff.
If you use the buff - by pressing J for example - the teammate can decide wether to teleport along with Woody or not.

Kinda like Woody giving everyone the ability to teleport.

Look at that graphical demonstration, it's amazing (Click to View)