Cubelarooso
Smash Lord
It’s always been said before that the team would, in the future, like to work on more aspects of the game. With the imminent release of the final Brawl (and Melee!) characters, I think it’s about time a discussion started on what exactly that should mean.
When it comes to 1-player, I really don’t care much. There are some obvious improvements Training Mode could use, but the fact that they haven’t happened suggests they’re not possible. Minimizing randomness would make other modes more attractive for speedrunners.
My main interest here is in items. I’ve always thought items change the game in some interesting ways, but there are some major flaws in implementation. In general, they currently discourage playing the game.
The most immediate flaw is spawning. It’d be nice if it could be set to work more like an fps, with spawns set to a timer and a specific rotation of points. Maybe even have the particular items spawned at each time constant and map dependant. With consistent spawns, players would be able and encouraged to learn and utilize them. Unfortunately, this is not currently possible, but it is a worthy goal.
After that, items still have the flaw of malfunctioning. Be it exploding when it shouldn’t explode, not exploding when it should explode, completely backfiring, or just doing nothing, it discourages the player from picking up the item, and thus from even having them on. With the obvious exceptions of pokéballs and assist trophies, items should act in a predictable manner. At the least, malfunctions should be toggleable, and preferably have some subtle indicator à la poison mushrooms.
The final flaw is that items are too homogenized. The optimal strategy regardless of item is currently just to chuck it at the opponent because it’ll probably kill them. With their primary functions completely overshadowed, items encourage mindless play. I think the banana peel is a good example of how items should be: the mobility and range provided by throwing are offset by low damage and knockback, making the stage control of a banana on the ground a practicable use. This should be exaggerated in the case of projectile and melee weapons (as well as capsules): throwing is just so good of an option that it is necessary that it deal nearly no knockback or damage – and thus have a greater threat of the opponent gaining control – if the other capabilities are to be considered.
As a last remark, would it be possible to make controller customization accessible from the “Names” menu?
When it comes to 1-player, I really don’t care much. There are some obvious improvements Training Mode could use, but the fact that they haven’t happened suggests they’re not possible. Minimizing randomness would make other modes more attractive for speedrunners.
My main interest here is in items. I’ve always thought items change the game in some interesting ways, but there are some major flaws in implementation. In general, they currently discourage playing the game.
The most immediate flaw is spawning. It’d be nice if it could be set to work more like an fps, with spawns set to a timer and a specific rotation of points. Maybe even have the particular items spawned at each time constant and map dependant. With consistent spawns, players would be able and encouraged to learn and utilize them. Unfortunately, this is not currently possible, but it is a worthy goal.
After that, items still have the flaw of malfunctioning. Be it exploding when it shouldn’t explode, not exploding when it should explode, completely backfiring, or just doing nothing, it discourages the player from picking up the item, and thus from even having them on. With the obvious exceptions of pokéballs and assist trophies, items should act in a predictable manner. At the least, malfunctions should be toggleable, and preferably have some subtle indicator à la poison mushrooms.
The final flaw is that items are too homogenized. The optimal strategy regardless of item is currently just to chuck it at the opponent because it’ll probably kill them. With their primary functions completely overshadowed, items encourage mindless play. I think the banana peel is a good example of how items should be: the mobility and range provided by throwing are offset by low damage and knockback, making the stage control of a banana on the ground a practicable use. This should be exaggerated in the case of projectile and melee weapons (as well as capsules): throwing is just so good of an option that it is necessary that it deal nearly no knockback or damage – and thus have a greater threat of the opponent gaining control – if the other capabilities are to be considered.
As a last remark, would it be possible to make controller customization accessible from the “Names” menu?
