I knew this was gonna happen eventually. It's just too good of an idea to not do. I'll give you my suggestions in a PM, 'cause I don't want to clutter this topic with any more huge posts.
Huge posts are half the point of the topic!
So, let's see here...
DIFFICULTIES BREAKDOWN-FAIR-
Areas are untimed.
Features regular power-up support (like "?" cans). The extra support module adds extras.
Most areas are straight-forward, and usually do not feature constant-spawning enemies (like floating head-things, for example).
You're allowed 7 modules to use. (See next section on those.)
-HARD-
You get 2 minutes per area.
Features fewer power-up supports, the extra support module makes it equal to "FAIR" mode.
Areas that were originally made with constant-spawning enemies will feature them.
You're allowed 6 modules to use.
-MEGA-
You get 1 minute per area. (Each area is 5-10 screens, meaning you'll need to keep an average pace of about 8 seconds per screen to not fail!)
Features *no* powerup supports by default, extra support makes it equal to normal "HARD" mode.
Any area at random can feature constant-spawning enemies.
You're only allowed 5 modules to use. And if that's not hard enough, you can *choose* to use fewer modules, too!
-POWER-
Untimed areas.
No powerup supports by default, extra support will place one in each "exit chamber."
You fight a boss every 3 screens, instead of every 30 or so. So basically, you're *constantly* fighting bosses.
You're allowed 5 modules to use... but let's face it, there's no tricky platforming here. Gun up!
MODULES SUMMARYEach module will allow you to equip yourself with a choice of:
-4 Robot Master Weapons (per set, including a "random selecton" of any 4)
-1 Primary Weapon (Mega Buster, Proto Shield, Piercing Laser, Mega Fist, etc.; if disregarded, = P.Shooter)
-1 Secondary Weapon (Balloon Lift, Hook Shot, Super Arrow, Mega Ball, etc.)
-1 Pet (Rush, Beat, Treble, or Tango; 3 functions apiece)
-1 E-Tank (to begin with)
-Super Jumping
-Fast Running
-Sliding or Dashing
-Extra Support
-Energy Balancer
-Energy Amplifier (+1 to life/weapon powerups)
-Energy Converter (surplus of one energy type charges the other)
-Maybe Spike Insurance (spikes = 50% damage, not "instant death") and/or Double Jumping, but maybe that's being too nice...
...also consider that this can lead to a large variety of strategies. Take for example:
-Super Jump
-Fast Walk
-Extra Support
-Energy Amplifier
-Energy Converter
-Mega Ball
You see, having no Master Weapons, as long as MegaBall is full, every powerup will yield you health because of the Energy Converter. The Amplifier will then increase each power-up's value by one, giving you quite an edge healthwise. Super Jumping and Mega Ball together would make it very hard to get stuck, anywhere. The Fast Walk will help you score good time, without sliding around, out of control; and the Extra Support would see to it that you're never hurting either way for too long... after all, weapon or life power can be converted either way!
And this is a strategy you could still use on HARD, even! With Easy, you can add any Buster, Master Weapon subset, or a starting E-Tank on top of that!
RANDOMIZABLE VARIABLES!On top of shuffling the rooms' orders; I figured the usual runthrough could use some mixing up. So one thing I'm looking to do, as illustrated in one of the MM2 videos; is to map key points, and generate randomized, yet appropriate enemies (IE: aerial ones in the air; stationary ones in stationary positions, etc.). This also includes the different varieties of spawning enemies.
Random Robot Master weaknesses and immunities! They may not even make sense anymore. This may be in place of, or in addition to classic ones.
MORE REPLY!Rest assured, custom controls and gamepad support are very much a must!
And likely, with an option to not only adjust SFX/BGM seperately, but a simple switch to toggle them on and off as well.
Charting the Gameboy titles' maps is indeed something different; those games also have vastly different physics to them as well; heck it takes pro-timing just to make a 3-block wide jump in them! They will probably be stretched/scaled to work within conventional MM physics. MM7 is ironically the closest non-NES title to the OG format, the only real difference in it, is that they put the ladder-side graphics (and NOT the actual "ladder itself!") in the neighboring tiles. MM8's is fairly similar, but the graphics are really stretched out horizontally, and the horizontal motion physics are way slower - that's why a 2-tile gap is actually hard to cross sometimes in that game, and why the levels feel SOOO freaking LOOONG. (They aren't *that* big. You're just slow.)
And even though MM9 is quite similar, the NES rooms are 16 x 15 tiles; where the Legacy ones are only 16 x 14. It sort of evens out, because the NES-standard "sea level" was on the third tile up, where Legacy's is on the second one, instead. I just hope it doesn't throw off the horizontal screen-scoring!
Room difficulty, for the most part, will probably max out at your standard "Dr. Wily Levels;" or about as hard as that. I do like being able to choose a psychotically difficult path, or a more standard one; but I'll probably balance that out by making the super-difficult path more short, and the managable ones more of a detour. Some level layouts have already required that I make detours in the game, particularly where sliding is concerned. Since sliding is an optional module, it's not too uncommon for a level like say, NeedleMan's, to become impossible to do without it - so a way around that has to be made.
There probably will be a *couple* of unavoidable, near-certain-death rooms; as pro players (which this isn't particularly aimed -in favor- of, but would certainly include them and their needs as well) also need a point in which they would get canned, eventually. There will probably be less than 5 of those, though; which would give any of them about a 1% (or less!) chance of occuring.
Custom maps/a map editor is something I would like to do; though it would probably be more of an update, once the engine/application is established.
Making a map the old fashioned-way is far more work than you might expect! First the "objects" define the boundaries and ground from open air, others define what blocks have water, or wind... then you have your "foreground," which is just graphics that cover all of that up; like a stage set - and that usually has to be added seperately... then you place the widgets (you know, the things that make the levels act different? Like the disappearing blocks, falling platforms, those "warp thingys" in GalaxyMan's stage, the springs and "ClownMan blocks..." all kinds of things like that!).
Then after all of that, you have to set starting points, ending points, enemy locations; if they spawn, then under what conditions and where from... it's not like putting together LEGOs, you know! (Like MMPU makes it look.) Then coming up with a way to auto-tile all of that stuff will take a long time!
I did think of one other weird kind of thing, once; but it would have to be "Flash"ed to work... An end-user MegaMan game, where you design up to 10 sublevels, which using a buddy system, are then linked to one another's. IE, someone beats one of your levels, they can then play another one of yours, or one of your friends'. But that would have to be a totally-online/web-based kind of game. That can be somebody else's pet project! I'm already in over my head with this!
Posted on: January 26, 2009, 04:48:42 PM
So, with all of that aside; what do you think the Robot Master encounters should be?
Old-fashioned, one-to-two screen brawls? Maybe in pairs?
Still a battle, but in an active scene (imagine fighting CrashMan in a stage that looped vertically, with differing pits/platforms, with or without enemy-spawning).
Goal-oriented? Pattern-oriented? New patterns/moves added?
That's one part that I'm still really undecided on; and I really don't want to make 3-4 of every boss, to correspond by doing different things with different difficulties... (though I suppose that's possible, too... then again, so's having 100 copies of MM, to handle each weapon seperately - could be done, but I'd rather find a smarter/simpler way to do that!).
And you thought MM GB's were gonna be bad! Downside: more weird physics/inconsistencies, and is that a SMB springblock?
Upside: More GravityMan fun!