JABS
Smash Cadet
JABS here! Barely three days had passed since Project M 3.5 was released. No sooner had I stretched the abilities of his new Dimensional Cape than had I found a neat exploit. Upon investigating further, I found a new way to use his DC. I apologize for not having this thread up sooner, I had no means to record the footage and so I had to seek assistance. But the long awaited Dimensional Cape technique thread has finally arrived. So without further ado let's get started!
On late Friday, the 14th of November 2014; Project M 3.5 was released along with a seemingly endless change list for every character. Included in this change list were numerous nerfs for our favorite flying masked menace Meta Knight, four of which immediately stood out: 3 total air jumps, SSBB d-air with 8 frames of L-canceled landing lag, reduced grab range, and a change in the properties of Dimensional Cape. Many have accepted most of these changes as necessary in the process of balancing the game, and many have completely broken down with pessimistic thoughts of never being able to see Meta Knight in competitive play ever again against the new might of the King of Evil, Ganondorf (I highly doubt) and the now trio of top tier spacies. (Slight Dramatization)
Regardless of who is right or wrong about the justifiability of Meta Knight's nerfs, one thing remains certain: Dimensional Cape is not useless. To those who have lost faith in Meta Knight, this thread should spark a beacon of hope. To those who persist as devoted mains of the masked warrior, this thread will provide a powerful new technique to add to the arsenal of the Meta Mind Game.
DC – Dimensional Cape
DCS – Dimensional Cape Slash
Move – any distance (even none) moved during DC by manual user input
Shift – translation from Move to Slash (this distance is part of the DCS animation)
Momentum Influence (MI) – by using the C-Stick at the end of the Move, MK will be discreetly pulled in the direction the C-Stick was pressed
Many have already exploited the ability to Drift (regarding it as a silly gimmick/bug) by simply timing movement of the Control Stick after exiting DC; however, character control becomes extremely poor and normally results in a transition to special fall in which case MK will either flop (onstage) or drop (offstage). The secret to performing Drift correctly and consistently is enabled only by the use of MI; and the key to performing Drift safely and effectively is proportional to each player’s knowledge and familiarity with its physics.
Looking closely, we can see MK moves by a few pixels, this shows the existence of MI. “Hey wait a minute! There’s no demonstration for DMI!”
Note that performing downward MI (DMI) from a grounded DC effectively does the same as upward MI (UMI), only difference being that it becomes slightly more difficult to perform a Drift. It’s still important to realize that DMI is not the same as UMI as DMI contributes to an aerial DC.
Upon exiting DC, a flash will appear above MK; the user only has the first few frames of this flash (exact count needed) to input MI conjoined with Drift input. Keep in mind that the C-Stick and the Control Stick are not pressed at exactly the same time, rather the Control Stick should slide into action slightly after the C-Stick is moved. The Drift can be crouch cancelled at any time.
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The above demonstration displays a basic Drift.
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The above and below demonstrations display a forward Drift performed after a Move. +
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You can even grab the ledge if the Drift takes you too far, just make sure to hold towards the ledge when you leave the stage since automatic ledge grabbing is not guaranteed
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The above demonstration displays a backwards Drift after a forward Move, creating a slingshot-like effect. +
Flicking the C-Stick opposite the direction that MK is facing upon exiting DC will turn him around but only during specific frames. If the user tilts the C-Stick in any diagonal direction, the MI can be used to change MK’s direction as well. The result of this becomes a Drift performed with MK facing the opposite direction.
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+ after a forward Move
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+ ,
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+ ,
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+
Introduction
On late Friday, the 14th of November 2014; Project M 3.5 was released along with a seemingly endless change list for every character. Included in this change list were numerous nerfs for our favorite flying masked menace Meta Knight, four of which immediately stood out: 3 total air jumps, SSBB d-air with 8 frames of L-canceled landing lag, reduced grab range, and a change in the properties of Dimensional Cape. Many have accepted most of these changes as necessary in the process of balancing the game, and many have completely broken down with pessimistic thoughts of never being able to see Meta Knight in competitive play ever again against the new might of the King of Evil, Ganondorf (I highly doubt) and the now trio of top tier spacies. (Slight Dramatization)
Regardless of who is right or wrong about the justifiability of Meta Knight's nerfs, one thing remains certain: Dimensional Cape is not useless. To those who have lost faith in Meta Knight, this thread should spark a beacon of hope. To those who persist as devoted mains of the masked warrior, this thread will provide a powerful new technique to add to the arsenal of the Meta Mind Game.
Technique: Dimensional Cape Drift
Difficulty: Hard
By using the momentum shift when exiting DC (which still exists despite the change list saying otherwise), Meta Knight can still move around in very strange ways as many of you have already noticed. One distinguished example is where you exit out of DC and while holding up in any direction as he exits, he flies around all slick-like (that is until he goes into free fall and flops upon the ground). Realize that those physics enable the use of Momentum Influence, the key to allowing this technique. While most will laugh at the punishable display of idiocy they will laugh no longer once they get baited into a sinister mind game utilizing the unexpected Dimensional Cape.Difficulty: Hard
Useful Terminology
DC – Dimensional Cape
DCS – Dimensional Cape Slash
Move – any distance (even none) moved during DC by manual user input
Shift – translation from Move to Slash (this distance is part of the DCS animation)
Momentum Influence (MI) – by using the C-Stick at the end of the Move, MK will be discreetly pulled in the direction the C-Stick was pressed
- UMI – Upward MI
- DMI – Downward MI
- FMI – Forward MI
- BMI – Backward MI
((Huge thanks to 9bit for all his help by performing the demonstrations for us!))
Many have already exploited the ability to Drift (regarding it as a silly gimmick/bug) by simply timing movement of the Control Stick after exiting DC; however, character control becomes extremely poor and normally results in a transition to special fall in which case MK will either flop (onstage) or drop (offstage). The secret to performing Drift correctly and consistently is enabled only by the use of MI; and the key to performing Drift safely and effectively is proportional to each player’s knowledge and familiarity with its physics.
Standard Dimensional Cape
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Dimensional Cape with BMI /// Dimensional Cape with UMI /// Dimensional Cape with FMI
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Dimensional Cape with BMI /// Dimensional Cape with UMI /// Dimensional Cape with FMI
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Looking closely, we can see MK moves by a few pixels, this shows the existence of MI. “Hey wait a minute! There’s no demonstration for DMI!”
Note that performing downward MI (DMI) from a grounded DC effectively does the same as upward MI (UMI), only difference being that it becomes slightly more difficult to perform a Drift. It’s still important to realize that DMI is not the same as UMI as DMI contributes to an aerial DC.
Dimensional Cape Drift Demonstrations
Upon exiting DC, a flash will appear above MK; the user only has the first few frames of this flash (exact count needed) to input MI conjoined with Drift input. Keep in mind that the C-Stick and the Control Stick are not pressed at exactly the same time, rather the Control Stick should slide into action slightly after the C-Stick is moved. The Drift can be crouch cancelled at any time.
The above demonstration displays a basic Drift.
+ 
The above and below demonstrations display a forward Drift performed after a Move.
+ 
You can even grab the ledge if the Drift takes you too far, just make sure to hold towards the ledge when you leave the stage since automatic ledge grabbing is not guaranteed
The above demonstration displays a backwards Drift after a forward Move, creating a slingshot-like effect.
+ Flicking the C-Stick opposite the direction that MK is facing upon exiting DC will turn him around but only during specific frames. If the user tilts the C-Stick in any diagonal direction, the MI can be used to change MK’s direction as well. The result of this becomes a Drift performed with MK facing the opposite direction.
+
+ 
+ after a forward Move
Strike from above
By pressing the C-Stick and the Control Stick in upward directions together, MK can launch into the air for a short time before going into special fall; however, by fast-falling quickly, MK can land back on the stage with zero lag.
+ , 
+ ,
/+ 
+
Conclusion
The possibilities are endless. Take flight with this new arsenal of mindgames at your disposal; take them to the tourney and force your opponents to keep guessing as they wind into inevitable defeat. The masked menace Meta Knight has returned with different characteristics but is no less merciless in style. Remember not to be too predictable with this technique as all Drifts are telegraphed by DC. Keep your skills and ego in check and you'll surely dominate the battlefield. Until next time!
Closing notes
- For MI, Technically Z can be used as well in unison with the Control Stick, but it’s inefficient and inconsistent performance-wise, and is better to stick with the C-Stick for now. However the use of Z in unison with the C-Stick is still being explored.
- Opposing momentum (Something like + ) has yet to be explained, but will be edited in at a later date once better understood.
- Once again a huge thanks to 9bit for helping out!
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