Link 2.6 Developer Insight + P:M on Show Me Your News 7/16!

[Project M]

Hello everybody, this is Hylian and Shadic - two of the Project M Backroom Members who have worked on the newest iteration of Link. Today, we’re going to highlight a few of his changes and reflect on how they will both strengthen him as a character and solidify his character design.

Link is a character that has seen some representation in tournaments so far, but hasn’t been nearly as appealing as he could be. In Demo 2.6, Link has seen numerous changes to improve and clarify his somewhat murky design in previous releases.

Link’s boomerang has been a controversial part of his character design through Project M’s existence. In 2.6 we’ve overhauled it to better fit his playstyle and solidify him as a versatile mid-range fighter. Link’s boomerang is no longer used to pester foes at a distance, but is used to begin and extend combos at close-mid range.

The boomerang’s range is noticeably shorter than it was in the past, but is substantially quicker to throw. To further help this shift, Link only stops to catch the boomerang if he is in his idle animation, so it will no longer impede Link upon return.

You’ll find some interesting applications with these changes, such as using the new boomerang to link strings that could not previously be connected with boomerang’s speed, or batting away a quick aerial approach. Link’s boomerang is much more dynamic in its uses and we are excited for you to try it out!

The boomerang wasn’t the only change that Link has had, however. Link has historically had trouble dealing with fast characters that excel at pressure, to help alleviate this issue we’ve improved his mobility on the ground as well as improving some of his attacks such as down-tilt. These changes help his versatility at mid-range as well keeping in line with our other changes.

On top of his design improvements, Link was given a general coat of polish. We’ve given him some new animations, and taken a look at all of his moves hitboxes and cleaned them up. When you see something connect you can now be sure that it will hit. His throws have all been slightly tweaked as well, so a Link player should hopefully have more reasons to use a throw other than his Down-Throw, with the occasional Up-Throw. Link's Clawshot has seen some improvements as well - It's well worth using as a mid-range mix-up.

While Link hasn’t been fully “revamped” by any means, we believe these targeted changes will greatly improve his game. We’re sure you’ll enjoy the newest version of Link as much as we have!

Also, Shadic and Yeroc will be guest stars on Show Me Your News tomorrow! Check here for more information!


Check out this posting on our website.

 

[SpiderMad]

Mobility as in Dash animation distance and Dash speed? Does this include faster jump start?

 

[BTmoney]

I love the idea of this.

 

[yogurtgun1245]

Gonna miss the 'rang range, but the changes sound like they make it more useful.

 

[Deleted member]

Let me be the first to say YEEEESSSS! I predict that 2.6 Link is going to feel significantly better to play.

Judging from the picture in the OP, it looks as if Link has swapped out the gale boomerang for a regular boomerang too. Cool.

 

[hotdogturtle]

So Link will be able to use him boomerang to extend combos similarly to this?

 

[KayB]

Is it possible to make it so that even a staled Up-B can still trigger a Bomb jump? Unless this change has already been made and I've been in the dark about it.

 

[Tlock]

Is it possible to make it so that even a staled Up-B can still trigger a Bomb jump? Unless this change has already been made and I've been in the dark about it.

I am wondering about this as well. Would be a nice change as it would allow the use Up-B on stage without having to worry about it hindering Link's recovery options.

 

[Paradoxium]

Looks like pretty boy finally got a highlight, I am especially impressed with his boomerangs. I always hoped that they would sacrifice range for speed.

 

[Problem2]

Is it possible to make it so that even a staled Up-B can still trigger a Bomb jump? Unless this change has already been made and I've been in the dark about it.

I hope so. :D

 

[Beorn]

Is it possible to make it so that even a staled Up-B can still trigger a Bomb jump? Unless this change has already been made and I've been in the dark about it.

It did this in 2.0 and I think 2.1 and was changed. When I played 2.1 I remember being able to recover from anywhere and had other smashers gawk at how dumb it was.

Soooo it will most likely never be changed. It was like this in melee as well.

 

[JOE!]

So Link will be able to use him boomerang to extend combos similarly to this?

AM I the only one who pictured him using his fast-rang to do stuff like this?

 

[Sixth-Sense]

awe-some, looks like link is gonna dominate, or at least i hope so, i wonder if his new animations look like he doesn't struggle with the sword

 

[Sanity's_Theif]

Sounds like the PMBR is finally giving Link what he needs, I'm very excited for this

 

[Strong Badam]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoEeRtANciE yolo

 

[Cubelarooso]

With Demo 2.6 just on the horizon, I figured now was a poor time to post my thoughts of 2.5, but I'm doing it anyway since I never got around to it before.

Overall, 2.5 is fantastic, and I'm loving every match of it. It's actually hard for me to even watch non-top characters in Melee anymore because my whole mindset is thrown off and I start to feel bad about how ineffective they are. But all that's to be expected with Project M by this point.

There are only a couple gripes I have about the gameplay; the first being that going into special fall now eliminates one's aerial jumps. Of course I realize "Melee," but respectfully disagree here. I think that, while keeping one's jumps certainly made recoveries "easier" in the sense that they are more likely to be successful to a small degree against opponents who fail their edgeguard, it did not make them "easier" in the sense of being simpler. Contrarily, it removed some linearity from and added ever more depth to the recovery process. As it is, the moments when one uses a recovery move before all jumps are almost strictly those when recovery - or at least touching down - is all but guaranteed. Not losing jumps for Up-B'ing made it viable in more circumstances, thus adding more options. While, in my experience, successfully recovering saw only a minor increase in frequency, that was somewhat outweighed as both edgeguarding and recovering became somewhat-less-minorly more cogitative, as they both require accounting for the extra option (admittedly an easy task, but which still has room for mixups and mistakes). It also extended the edge game, and since I consider it the most unique, interesting, and exciting part of Smash, I liked that. It also made Up-B's more usable as actual attacks, which especially helps out the likes of Luigi and Kirby and such, particularly in team battles, when they may be punished even on hit. At the very least, retaining the jumps when used from the ground would be sufficient for that purpose.

The other regards Special-direction-assignment. I have always associated Down-B's with being more nondamaging, localized, or omnidirectional moves. As such, Lucas and Ivysaur's Neutral-B's feel more like Down-B's to me. For Lucas, the Magnet seems like it would work well as a Side-B, since he holds it out in front, while PK Freeze would fit into Neutral-B, the traditional home for projectiles. More personally significant, as it regards a character I enjoy playing, is that Synthesis and Seed Bomb seem more appropriate for eachothers' inputs. It honestly kinda throws me off the first time I pick Ivysaur each session, and remains awkward thereafter.

But those are the only two substantive criticisms I have. Pro:M is otherwise absolutely perfect enough for me, and is so great already that I'd be totally satisfied if 2.5 were the final version, barring complaints from a Samus-playing friend. Speaking of which, I'm very surprised and excited to hear that 2.6 is out tomorrow. Was definitely not expecting that when I began typing this, so it’s even more poorly timed than anticipated. That MK Dair-tilt is something I had considered for Sonic back even before 2.1… Don't think I ever posted it. I eagerly await the update; "wait" being the key syllable, as I have plenty of patience for the polish you have previously proven to publish. I'll pursue a more punctual profession of my impressions for this approaching product

Thanks always for all of it, and I wish this game and everyone related all the luck in vBrawl for its continued success!

 

[SpiderMad]

the first being that going into special fall now eliminates one's aerial jumps.

Lucas and Ivysaur's Neutral-B's feel more like Down-B's to me. For Lucas, the Magnet seems like it would work well as a Side-B, since he holds it out in front, while PK Freeze would fit into Neutral-B, the traditional home for projectiles.

I didn't understand your first point, besides thinking you just want a Brawl air dodge: but your views for Lucas go against a ton of stuff

 

[GeZ]

AM I the only one who pictured him using his fast-rang to do stuff like this?

Only if between boomerang hits and slashes he shouts "STARS, AND, STRIPES!"

 

[SmashCentralOfficial]

My god. His boomerang sounds like Smash64's boomerang. This is going to be amazing.

 

[SoulPech]

missing the podcast unfortunately. Is this an archive list for the complete list of changes from 2.5 to 2.6?