Stage Builder: Ideas and Improvements

[Saikyoshi]

From being a stage-building nut ever since Brawl, after working with the new stage builder extensively, here are the issues I have in descending order of importance.

Attached is a list of the latest versions of my stages, since I reference them.

• Why do you bounce off the sides of thin platforms? (Examples Affected: the entire list)
• Ledges are broken, especially if you try to be decorative with them, and ESPECIALLY if dealing with a tether recovery character like Ivysaur. They often cancel your recovery attempt and just leave you falling. (Affected examples: Metal Cavern, Trophy Snag, Green Hill Zone: M, Air Armada)
• Rails and objects attached to them need to have an option to ignore collisions with objects and go through them, not one to return when colliding with them. A not-insignificant number of my stages in 4 used that very effectively. (Affected Example: Merchant Port)
• The cursor needs to be available in handheld mode, don't FORCE me to use the touch screen. And don't nag me about it when I intentionally use docked mode. I KNOW "you can edit stages using the touchscreen in handheld mode", when I use the dock, it's because I need to be precise and to specifically avoid the touch screen!
• Why are we not allowed to delete or update stages after they're uploaded? I have so many duplicates from revisions, it's so embarrassing...
• The maximum speed for moving objects is too slow. I understand why they limited it, but they limited it way too much; there are plenty of official stages with platforms that move WAY faster. (Affected Example: Green Hill Zone: M)
• There is no reason I shouldn't be allowed to make an object one-block thick. Especially considering that I can anyway if I add some kind of bend in it. (Affected Example: Temple (Super Smash Flash) )
• Platforms with gravity should be able to have an expiring time so they don't just get stuck for the rest of the match if they bounce. (Affected examples: Geolyte, Pachinko Peril)
• I never understood why the top boundary is artificially limited unlike the other boundaries. It makes having stages with a convincing custom background or nearly impossible. (Affected Examples: Dojo, Training Room)
• We need to be able to attach objects to each other between multiple layers. This would make moving complex objects on rails or gears much, much easier. (Examples Affected: Air Armada)

[Ones below this point are preferences or wants, not complaints or faults.]

• I'd prefer being able to edit ledges per-ledge like in 4. I can work with "all ledges at once", but it is an annoyance sometimes.
• I would appreciate having the falling block hazard from Brawl back. The bomb block just doesn't work as well for that purpose.
• Speaking of the bomb block, it needs its chain reactions to transcend layers. I want to destroy something on another part of the stage WITHOUT having to wall it off with Explosive Blocks. (Examples Affected: Rock Wall, Geolyte)
• Why can't we put wind in an alternate layer like the other hazards? It has more REASON to be in an alternate layer than the other hazards. (Examples Affected: Air Armada)
• This is just a pie-in-the-sky wish, but an Invisible material would be nice to make smooth surfaces and ledges on complex objects with.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

• Ledges are broken, especially if you try to be decorative with them, and ESPECIALLY if dealing with a tether recovery character like Ivysaur. They often cancel your recovery attempt and just leave you falling. (Affected examples: Metal Cavern, Trophy Snag, Green Hill Zone: M, Air Armada)

Can confirm. I was trying to remake the Tengu Man stage I had made in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Which was an idea I stole from someone on YouTube), but the stage doesn't look quite as good as it should because Joker kept failing to grab the ledge with his tether.

Also I made a basic upside down trapezoid platform for my F.L.U.D.D.less Level stage, and I noticed that Viliger fell off of the ledge if he tried to do a normal get up from it. It's pretty bizarre since there is no logical explanation for the collision issues. The ledge looks like a normal ledge with no obstructions and Villager isn't too terribly big.

• I never understood why the top boundary is artificially limited unlike the other boundaries. It makes having stages with a convincing custom background or nearly impossible. (Affected Examples: Dojo, Training Room)

I'm pretty sure that limiter is very important for the purposes of characters not spawning inside of stuff or above the top blastline, however these issues don't exist for the foreground and background layers so I think the restriction should be removed for them.

I'll also add that it's kinda bothersome that you can't change the background of the stage after you've made it. After making an Excitebike stage I realized it should probably go on the Tomodachi Life background instead of the Battlefield one, but I'll have to remake the entire thing in order to fix it.

 

[TheTrueBrawler]

Some improvements I feel like I desperately need for some levels I want to create.

- Bouncing off semi solid platforms needs to be fixed above all other things on this list. I can't make stages that would be competitively viable because of this stupid gimmick. Seriously, if only one thing on this list gets changed, this is the one I would pick.

- Objects on rails (and gears too) need to have an option to ignore collisions. I had a custom stage back in Smash 4 that essentially acted as a reverse Fountain of Dreams. The two side platforms were stationary while the middle platform moved up and down constantly. Smash Ultimate stage builder made creating that stage impossible. That is just one example. It denies the possibility of all sorts of creativity.

- In Smash 4, the top of semi solid platforms were where you drew the line. They only protruded downwards. I was able to make them seamlessly part of the floor without an awkward change in height. Perfectly recreating stages like Thunderguard Stadium from Brawlhalla were possible with the grid feature. Now, they protrude up a little bit from where you first drew them. If you use the grid to try and make them seamlessly part of the floor, it doesn't work.

- Also, when drawing circular paths, they shouldn't leave the platform in the corner of the square outline you get when moving it, the platform should be in the circle itself. It is irritating when trying to make a set of rotating platforms that rotate in a Ferris Wheel type motion.

- Also, wind boxes acting a bit weird is something I hope gets fixed. Sometimes you can place them next to each other with no tiles of space between, and other times the game won't let you. What gives?

 

[Gallowglass]

- Objects on rails (and gears too) need to have an option to ignore collisions. I had a custom stage back in Smash 4 that essentially acted as a reverse Fountain of Dreams. The two side platforms were stationary while the middle platform moved up and down constantly. Smash Ultimate stage builder made creating that stage impossible. That is just one example. It denies the possibility of all sorts of creativity.

I know what you mean about this one. I built a stage in Smash 4 that was based off of a Holosseum in Custom Robo. A section of the stage would sink down into a pit of lava.

 

[Saikyoshi]

I know what you mean about this one. I built a stage in Smash 4 that was based off of a Holosseum in Custom Robo. A section of the stage would sink down into a pit of lava.

Similar situation. In order to pull off Merchant Port, I had to chop out a small niche in the center of the stage, making that section slightly lower so the platforms on the wheel wouldn't stop. And I don't know HOW I'm going to do Blazing Hideout, which has a rising fire hazard... I have some ideas but I'm doubtful whether they'll work.