[Open Assets] [1.5]KartMP: A hot take on Kart balance 1.5

EDIT: 27/06/2023
KartMP is now an open asset, that means any server host may add, modify or remove features at their leisure and host the modified file. This was done as my dwindling interest in Kart related stuff means I'm not as motivated to maintain KMP as I used to be.
My only request would be that servers make it clear they are hosting their own version of KMP by modifying the message that shows up in the chat stating the version, this will avoid confusion when reporting errors.
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KartMP is an addon that features togglable solutions to certain balance issues seen in SRB2Kart. None of these solutions are objectively good and are merely my own attempts to adress issues I have with the game.
All of them are disabled by default, it's up to the server host to choose which features they want to activate.


List of commands (On/Off toggles) and the reasoning behind them:

• kmp_bumpspark: Allows you to keep your Drift Spark after bumping a wall. This also fixes drift direction switching after bumping a wall.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  I always found situations where you barely bump a corner because of a slight misjudgement or because of lag to be frustrating, especially because you lose all your speed and that it takes forever to build it back. This change allows you to minimize such a mistake so long as it's not too great, as you will be able to release your drift after the bump to get back to speed thanks to the acceleration given by a drift boost. This allows the games to feel much more fluid overall.
• kmp_hardsneakers: Sets the Sneaker boost to 50% instead of 27.5% in Hard game speed. Makes catching up a whole lot easier.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  I find hard speed to be horribly unfun to play as it punishes mistakes far too much. Yet it seems to be the preferred gamespeed for most of the servers. A prominent issue in hard mode is that Sneakers are rarely ever useful outside of shortcuts, which makes people more prone to holding onto them and getting them stolen. This change allows Sneakers (And particularly Rocket Sneakers) to be a lot more useful and allow you to recover from mistakes.
• kmp_extendflashtics: Doubles invulnerability after taking damage.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  When recovering from a hit, you're a slow moving easy target, and it's easy for passing players to just drop another middle finger with another orbinaut, thus adding to your frustration.
• kmp_slowspinout: Reverts spinout to its slower 1.0.4 iteration.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  

  
  bruh.
• kmp_floatingitemfuse: Makes dropped floating items disappear after a variable amount of time that depends on the amount of laps required to clear the map.
  
  Spoiler: Reasonig

  No, first place shouldn't be able to pick up Invincibility or Growth, this is stupid and further amplifies the escape velocity problem V1 has.
• kmp_itemlimiter: Limits how many of a single item you can get when the player count goes past certain thresholds. This change affects Bananas, Orbinauts and Jawz:
  • Bananas: -1 banana per player above 5 players. (min: 3 bananas)
  • Orbinaut: -1orbinaut per 2 players above 6 players. (min: 2 orbinauts)
  • Jawz: Double Jawz cannot be rolled above 8 players.
  • Spoiler: Reasoning

    Games with 8+ players quickly become a mess once quad orbinauts and decabananas start being commonly obtained by players. This aims to limit the chaos somewhat.
• kmp_orbitlimit: Changes the way orbiting items are handled; they spin faster when first brought out and slow down to a crawl overtime. This rewards good timing with better protection against players that want to get a bit too close to your comfort zone. A timer will start depleting after using the item. If it reaches 0, the item is destroyed, so use it before then.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  The timer exists notably to prevent Double Jawz users from being impossible to pass safely as they keep hoarding onto their item which they can keep out for no cost or punishment at all.
  The faster spin rewards timing and gives an incentive to want to keep your item undeployed until the right time.
• kmp_hyudoro: Extends Hyudoro duration.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  Makes Hyudoro an actually worthwhile and powerful item beyond stealing stuff. You become invulnerable to any and all items and bumps but can also freely go over offorad during that time, making it a semi decent item for catching up!
• kmp_orbinautfuse: Makes orbinauts disappear a while after being thrown. This does not affect dropped, stationary, orbinauts.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  Orbinauts kind of become really powerful permanent hazards when thrown in long straights like Virtual Highway's beginning section where they'll bounce back and forth for the entierety of the game. This will make them disappear after a while to solidify their use as on-the-spot projectiles rather than slow moving bananas.
• kmp_growthbump: Disables growth squish in mid-air and at low speeds.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  Getting squished in mid air feels horrible, getting squished by a growth player you hit from behind moving at a snail's pace also feels horrible. This fixes that.
• kmp_haste: Tyron's Haste Lua. Gives low speed characters longer drift sparks.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  In most cases, high speed characters are by far superior, as unless they get hit, at equal skill levels, they will always outdo lower speed tiers. This change allows low speed characters to shine when taking turns with longer drift boosts that can really make a difference and even the playing field!
• kmp_respawnpoints: Creates backups of your position every half a second for you to respawn at if you die. In case of GBJ, use the respawn command to respawn at the last proper checkpoint instead.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  On average a respawn in V1 costs you about 6 to 10+ seconds. Yeah, this sucks. This aims to fix that by creating quick backups of your position so long as you're on the ground on normal road and aren't spun out! The respawn command will always respawn you to proper checkpoints
• kmp_shrinkcleanse: Upon Shrink activation, destroys every item currently on the map. This causes fake item boxes and mines to explode at your credit, too!
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  Shrink is often disabled on servers as it's viewed as mostly useless and just annoying on top of sometimes causing issues. This tries to at least give it an use beyond just shrinking everyone. Combined with the change below, even makes it into a fair catch-up item for everyone to even out the odds!
• kmp_shrinkduration: Players in the back don't stay shrunk for as long. Base Shrink duration changed from 20 to 16 seconds.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  Shrink in its current state shrinks everyone for 20 seconds regardless of position, which is EXTREMELY punishing for a player in the back who wants to catch up as they'll have very little power to do so. With this change, the biggest penalty for these players is losing their item. Moreover, this lets players catch back up to the frontrunner and makes for some dynamic races.
  Combined with the change above, this makes Shrink into an item that's worth keeping on!
• kmp_airsneakerbuf: Allows the buffering of Sneakers mid-air/while spun out
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  This mostly prevents players from getting their Sneakers stolen when they can't even use them. This allows to consume the Sneaker(s) and using them as soon as possible. Multiple Sneakers can be buffered which will cause the durations to stack with diminutive returns. This change doesn't impact Rocket Sneakers due to mod conflict concerns.
• kmp_raceaccel: Multiplies acceleration by 1.5 in Race gametypes
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  This option was created pre-Juicebox and aims to do the same thing as Juicebox's tech mechanic, which is to reduce the impact of items in Race by allowing players to recover more swiftly. It doubles as a safety net for poor driving decisions even still.
• kmp_battleaccel: Multiplies acceleration by 1.5 in Battle gametypes.
  
  Spoiler: Reasoning

  I'll be honest and say I really dislike battle as it is because of how little control you have over your kart. The current physics are built for races, not for arenas where being able to change directions easily and recover swiftly is key to survival. This change adresses that problem by allowing you to easily get away after getting hit and overall turning more easily, making you feel much more in control.

Supporters / Co-Authors:

• jameds
• TyroneSama