Custom Stages

[Overswarm]

Just wanted to give you guys an FYI on what I did in Brawl, since Smash 4 Wii U will have custom stages.

Here's a video on one of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4MtPy6Q0co

I used these stages:

The general results were.... neutral. I used them for an entire circuit (one full season), no major incidents and it wasn't a big pain to implement.

Some liked them, some disliked them. Our stage creating options were really small on the Wii version, might not be the case for Wii U.

There were no issues with loading them up onto another Wii (we just put them on an SD card and transferred them, with two people it took no time at all).

There were no major balance issues.

Libra and Equity both became very popular stages and helped reach a "middle ground" of sorts.

Equity made the game MUCH faster paced, which was its intention. Libra allowed for an FD that didn't force a player into a chain grab situation all the time.

The pros:

-We were able to add stages that increased CP possibilities both for and against characters; MK did very poorly on both Abyss and Libra and Snake did well on them during the time we played.

-It was exciting for players. Those that felt worthless before suddenly felt they had a chance because they had "practiced the stage". A "season" of custom stages was considered as it revitalized tournaments quite a bit.

-It helped meet both sides in the middle. Originalists wanted a broader stagelist, constructionist wanted less janky stages, custom stages allowed the possibility of both.

The cons:

-People who hate change hated it by default

-It was an unknown variable, so when someone had a really good game on a custom stage they ended up being blamed for "abusing" the stage. People blamed losses on them.

-It required initial setup. While minor, it was something a TO needed to do. Just another thing on the list.

-Some disliked the idea of learning new stages that weren't in other regions

I have no idea as to whether or not we'll need or want custom stages for the Wii U version. The 3DS version's stagelist is practically non-existant, even by my standards, but we don't know the impact of that yet. Wii U may have a huge stagelist or an even smaller one, who knows?

Just know that when it comes time to discuss custom stages, previous testing in Brawl found no real advantage or disadvantage to using them that was so overwhelming it demanded their use. If it turns out that every stage for Wii U has a dragon that comes out and slaps the stage and gives speed nerfs and damage buffs to random characters I'd recommend them, but prior to a stage crisis it's kind of a "meh" thing.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

If I recall, Olimar could pull pikmen faster in Brawl than on non custom stages.

Still overall I love custom stages but standardizing them is hard when coming to agreement. Might work better in a PM world but we'll see.

 

[SamuraiPanda]

I remember that back in the day. In the end people rarely used the stages as they were difficult to practice on and no interest in doing so because no other TO was willing to use these stages in other tournaments besides your circuit. THAT was the major problem with these IIRC. The "why should I bother" mentality of players.

 

[Overswarm]

I remember that back in the day. In the end people rarely used the stages as they were difficult to practice on and no interest in doing so because no other TO was willing to use these stages in other tournaments besides your circuit. THAT was the major problem with these IIRC. The "why should I bother" mentality of players.

Equity was the most commonly played on starter and Libra was in the top CPs. There were a few who said "why should I bother", but most of them were just negative nancies who were in grump mode. Some genuinely didn't like 'em, some genuinely did.

No other TOs using them besides the circuit is kind of an issue I couldn't solve, unfortunately. It was a good test though and I'm glad I did it. If Smash 4 Wii U's stage list is garbage I could definitely see "season-wide" custom stages that simply rotate in and out, but it wouldn't take place for at least half a year at the earliest anyway.

 

[ぱみゅ]

The only problem I had with Custom Stages is Brawl was that I used a Hack to Save Replays loaded via Smash Stack, so I HAD to use the code to remove Custom Stages.

Now, the "discrete and enforceable" clause is compromised with Custom Stages. Arbitrary stages are created and artificial standards/balance appear.

 

[Overswarm]

The only problem I had with Custom Stages is Brawl was that I used a Hack to Save Replays loaded via Smash Stack, so I HAD to use the code to remove Custom Stages.

Now, the "discrete and enforceable" clause is compromised with Custom Stages. Arbitrary stages are created and artificial standards/balance appear.

We could fix that pretty easily, if the need arrived.

 

[Overswarm]

Custom Stages might actually be a more important aspect given the stages shown and the uses of the stage builder in the recent nintendo video.

 

[Overswarm]

The stage builder is cool but a nightmare to work with!

Does anyone know of a way to make a duelist style map? Only thing I can think of is lava bars and a ceiling and let people try to hit one another back and forth. Maybe villagers.