Official 1.1.7 patch incoming?

[White_Pointer]

No, this is not clickbait. Yes, this is probably real.

The video is only 1.5 minutes long but here's a TL;DW for you if you're too lazy to watch it anyway:

There is currently no data in the game for the Corrin amiibo, so the game is likely going to need to be patched to include this data. The Corrin amiibo is releasing on July 21st (and also the Bayo and Cloud amiibos) so if the patch is indeed coming, we will likely see it on or before the amiibo release day - so before the end of this week.

Don't start getting your hopes up or your pitchforks out just yet though, because it's probably unlikely they will ninja in any balance changes for this. In all probability they will just add the Corrin amiibo data and leave it at that. But you never know...they might use this as one last opportunity to tweak the balance a bit - just don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

This is just a post so you are all aware that 1.1.7 is *probably* happening, but it's *probably* only going to include amiibo data and *probably* will not contain any balance tweaks.

 

[Zerp]

Now, let's just vainly hope Mr. Sakurai doesn't see this, and whoever gets tasked to update the game decides to do us all a favor and tweak the balance without anyone getting in the way.
That sadly won't happen though, what's probably going to happen is just the removal of Miiverse integration and the addition of the DLC amiibos.

 

[KirbCider]

My only hope is it's just for that stuff and not additional balancing.

I'm honestly quite tired of my replays getting sent to the Shadow Realm due to patches.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

If this gives Jigglypuff the buffs she needs, then it's worth losing replays for.

#BuffThePuff

It's too bad they design replays to just be a "repeat of the control inputs" instead of a proper video, but that's only because the Wii U is underpowered and trying to put that many FMV's in is too much data. Blame Nintendo for that.

 

[DMan64]

Thinking about it, there is reason to believe both are possible.

As for why it is unlikely, the last patch only changed Bayonetta, but that was in response to the extreme negativity surrounding her simply being too good. Not to mention, that was a while ago, so a patch is highly unlikely. Aside from that many consider Smash 4 the most balanced game in the series, given it's huge roster, so huge buffs and nerfs to certain characters could completely throw off the meta-game as it is still developing. Besides that, at tournaments there is usually a huge variety of characters in tournaments, such as EVO 2017, and most notably Civil War.

However, it would not be out of the realm of possibility. The whole point of Smash 4 was to make it more accessible for people to get into competitive play, while still keeping the more casual elements. So when you have characters that are just flat out better than others, and some who have little to no real weaknesses at top level play it would make sense to buff a good amount of these characters and perhaps nerf some of the more prevalent characters in competitive play. Mind you I would much rather see more characters buffed than nerfed, either in a way that directly addresses a weakness of the character (ex Jigglypuffs rather useless attacks), or amplify one of there strengths to give them better reward (keep Roy's faulty approach, but improve his combo game and KO abilities). If we were to see nerfs though, I'd really only want some of the more broken aspects of characters toned down in some way, (ex Bayonetta's lack of any real weakness, or Cloud's insane mobility despite his range, power, and frame data with the buster sword), but even then I say that in a sense of if I had to see them nerfed. I'd much rather not see them nerfed, if only because that can completely screw over many players. Buffing would be so much better because it can make other characters better and only benefits players. Not that these characters are necessarily bad, but they are just not quite as complete as they could be. Plus, considering how much attention Smash 4's competitive scene has been getting attention, with Top 8 of EVO aired on Disney XD, I could see them potentially changing a few things.

Still, I personally see it as highly unlikely, but if it does happen and it buffs a ton of characters, then I wouldn't mind.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

At the moment, I've been trying to work on my own personal adjustments to Palutena. The developers didn't give her much love after all.

It's also good when you're one of those people who try to avoid system updates.

With that said, I'd be pretty surprised if the next possible software update makes some additional adjustments to characters, and yet continue to leave the Final Smashes in the dust.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Final Smashes aren't used in most competitive play, so i can see why they're ignored. Although easy stuff like making Giga Bowser last longer shouldn't be an issue. Adjusting full damage either. However, the way the hitboxes work can matter.

 

[Amberloo]

The update is apparently live, just adds the necessary amiibo support so your replays are still safe.

 

[Zerp]

Spoiler: IT'S HERE

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11692/p/430

Version 1.1.7

• Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta amiibo (including Player 2 versions) are now supported.
• Once version 1.1.7 has been installed, local wireless will not work with version 1.1.5 or earlier. Replays created with these older versions of the software will not work either.

Hope is dead.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Spoiler: IT'S HERE

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11692/p/430

Version 1.1.7

• Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta amiibo (including Player 2 versions) are now supported.
• Once version 1.1.7 has been installed, local wireless will not work with version 1.1.5 or earlier. Replays created with these older versions of the software will not work either.

Hope is dead.

Ah, the first reason to believe they've finished with the game's patches. Sucky way to find out, but is what it is.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Final Smashes aren't used in most competitive play, so i can see why they're ignored. Although easy stuff like making Giga Bowser last longer shouldn't be an issue. Adjusting full damage either. However, the way the hitboxes work can matter.

Yeah it just feels ridiculous how someone like Giga Bowser can be so underwhelming on offense, and have a time limit that's nearly comparable to that of the Super Mushroom and Poison Mushroom. Bowser could just stick with Super Mushrooms if he wanted to make quick KOs. An embarrassment like that heavily prompted me to work on a Giga Bowser moveset hack to make him more threatening than a Bowser that's set to 1.7x-size. But even then, I did have to extend Giga Bowser's duration to 1200 frames, since unlike with mushrooms, you can't extend the time limit for Final Smash transformations.

Also, while Lucario saw attribute changes, Mega Lucario did not. And for Giga Mac, while Little Mac did receive damage output adjustments, Giga Mac did not, and yet based on his script data, nearly every attack in Giga Mac's arsenal deals 2x more damage than Little Mac's attacks.

At least for Wario-Man, he's not designed to be about brute force, but more about aerial performance, having the most insane air game among all the playable fighters.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Yeah it just feels ridiculous how someone like Giga Bowser can be so underwhelming on offense, and have a time limit that's nearly comparable to that of the Super Mushroom and Poison Mushroom. Bowser could just stick with Super Mushrooms if he wanted to make quick KOs. An embarrassment like that heavily prompted me to work on a Giga Bowser moveset hack to make him more threatening than a Bowser that's set to 1.7x-size. But even then, I did have to extend Giga Bowser's duration to 1200 frames, since unlike with mushrooms, you can't extend the time limit for Final Smash transformations.

Also, while Lucario saw attribute changes, Mega Lucario did not. And for Giga Mac, while Little Mac did receive damage output adjustments, Giga Mac did not, and yet based on his script data, nearly every attack in Giga Mac's arsenal deals 2x more damage than Little Mac's attacks.

At least for Wario-Man, he's not designed to be about brute force, but more about aerial performance, having the most insane air game among all the playable fighters.

Huh. I wonder if trying to extend the time limits for Final Smashes is a much harder coding to do or a limitation of the system itself. Maybe there's factors beyond modifying the Giga Bowser files. I dunno.

Anyway, I take back what I said earlier. I looked at the patch a little incorrectly. It doesn't mean or indicate it could be the final patch. Flawed way of looking at it. Lacking any data that buffs/nerfs characters means nothing.

 

[White_Pointer]

Anyway, I take back what I said earlier. I looked at the patch a little incorrectly. It doesn't mean or indicate it could be the final patch. Flawed way of looking at it. Lacking any data that buffs/nerfs characters means nothing.

Unless some game-breaking bug is discovered this will be the final patch. If they wanted to make any balance changes they would have done it in 1.1.7. The fact they didn't clearly indicates they are 100% done with the balancing.

The only thing now, as I said, that would prompt another patch would be if some game-breaking bug is discovered, and the patch would only be to address that bug, if it happened.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Unless some game-breaking bug is discovered this will be the final patch. If they wanted to make any balance changes they would have done it in 1.1.7. The fact they didn't clearly indicates they are 100% done with the balancing.

The only thing now, as I said, that would prompt another patch would be if some game-breaking bug is discovered, and the patch would only be to address that bug, if it happened.

Actually, with how many patches were not balance-related, that's not a good indicator at all.

However, the time between the last balance patch suggests the full team that did the various balance changes are likely moved on, with only 1 or 2 necessary people available to make any quick bug fixes. They can't be kept on salary for nothing, after all. I mean, that's one theory. Another is that Sakurai's latest product has members who are extra and can help update Smash in a rare chance issues come up.

I agree they're probably done, just for different and more logical reasons. When we've had multiple "no balance changes" updates before, they don't inherently mean much by itself.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Huh. I wonder if trying to extend the time limits for Final Smashes is a much harder coding to do or a limitation of the system itself. Maybe there's factors beyond modifying the Giga Bowser files. I dunno.

The Final Smash transformation timer for Giga Bowser, Wario-Man, Giga Mac, and Mega Lucario can be changed by modifying their mechanics data. You just can't make the Final Smash last longer in-game.

However, as far as I know, it's not possible to modify the duration of the pseudo-transformations like Super Dragon, Octopus, Mega Charizard X, and Super Sonic, nor change how long the Landmaster can stay in battle.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Ah, the first reason to believe they've finished with the game's patches. Sucky way to find out, but is what it is.

It's pretty much why I expect one for the switch for this or smash 5 first before I think we will see one on the Wiiu

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

It's pretty much why I expect one for the switch for this or smash 5 first before I think we will see one on the Wiiu

Although to be fair, I did retract on this statement up above.

But it's still a pretty long time without a balance patch, and the latest one having no balances? Those factors combined do feel like they're finally finished with this game.

 

[White_Pointer]

Actually, with how many patches were not balance-related, that's not a good indicator at all.

However, the time between the last balance patch suggests the full team that did the various balance changes are likely moved on, with only 1 or 2 necessary people available to make any quick bug fixes. They can't be kept on salary for nothing, after all. I mean, that's one theory. Another is that Sakurai's latest product has members who are extra and can help update Smash in a rare chance issues come up.

I agree they're probably done, just for different and more logical reasons. When we've had multiple "no balance changes" updates before, they don't inherently mean much by itself.

It's been over a year since the last balance patch. That alone should tell you that they are done with the balancing of the game. We've now got a new patch after 14 months but it's only to add amiibo support. If they wanted to make balance changes, that was the time to do it, but they didn't.

Also, the Wii U has ended production. There's no reason for Nintendo to keep supporting the system or any of the games on it. The only reason Smash 4 was patched now was to support new amiibos. If those amiibos weren't a thing, then the 1.1.7 patch would have never happened.

Trust me, they've been finished with the game at least ever since the Wii U was announced to be ending production in November 2016, if not long before that. It makes no financial sense for them to continue supporting a game on a console they no longer make. In fact it was pretty obvious to most people they were finished with the game when 1.1.6 was released in May 2016 because it only changed Bayonetta and nothing else.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

While I do believe they are done, I'll only take the word of the developers as some kind of fact. With all due respect, your word doesn't really prove it in itself. There's no "proof" they're done. It's just a reasonable assumption. There is no such thing as time limits to really take into account. It doesn't matter if the Wii U is done with production anyway. It's really a matter of what they think.

Also, Smash Wii U is a regular tournament thing. That's more than enough reason for them to make any patches if they feel the need to. So far, it's obviously they haven't beyond the amiibo fixes. I'm still in the "probably done, but who knows" category.

I do not expect another patch myself. Would be a neat surprise if so. But until we at least see the new Smash in itself, I'll be weary of potential ones. And there's no actual statement that they're entirely done or the DLC team is gone. There's zero information on what's going on behind the scenes. We don't know the situation at all. The evidence points to them likely being done, but there's no hard proof that the team is broken up either.