Not the most exciting add-on, but these are some extremely simple changes that help improve the gameplay flow of the new unlockable characters, while still attempting to stay faithful to their playstyles. The changes (and the reasoning behind each) are as follows:
I originally only made this for myself so that I could enjoy the game a bit more, but I figured other people might also enjoy these changes.
Supporters / CoAuthors
- Amy was given a buff to enemy/monitor bouncing -- when she successfully times a hammer spin, she'll launch into the air, more-so if you chain multiple enemies!
Amy's appeal in vanilla is as a challenging platform character that respects the level design, so I didn't want to give her something too crazy, but she also was lacking in any tools to work with either.
However, after trying some Hammer Jump scripts, I thought it was too much & too easy to pull off at any time. I decided that buffing her bounces would give her an edge, call back to Hammer Jump-style moves, yet keep it more situational. While I did end up making it a bit strong, I think that's made up for with the situational opportunities to use it.
Ultimately, this ended up being one of my favorite move changes in this script!
- Amy was given a larger multiplier to her existing spring buffs. Previously, this ability did practically nothing; even the smallest skips would come just shy of reaching anything. Now this comes into play far more often!
- Amy's hearts were given bigger & more consistent hitboxes. Previously the hitbox size was pretty faithful to the sprite's size, but when trying to give other players shields in Coop, it felt really easy to whiff. Since the hearts have no use in PvP modes and are only used to help other players, I decided that it was fair for the hitboxes to be pretty big. The sprite was also previously offset into the ground, which only added to the disjointed feeling.
- Fang's gun has been sped up in several ways. It was given what I like to call "Quick Draw": if he locks onto a target, his next shot will be able to quickly lock onto another target! You can also use your gun at any speed, and keep your speed while you use it. Firing one shot too many, however, will give you an even longer cooldown and slow you down. If you chain multiple shots together, it'll also build a score chain!
The point of these changes were all an attempt to reduce the amount of "start & stop" when playing Fang. The score chaining is also to give it a bit of flavor from SA2, so you're encouraged to try and pick as many enemies off as you can in one motion. These changes mostly don't affect bosses, as the time window for Quick Draw ends before their flashing tics do. This is purely meant to make Fang's gameplay in normal levels have a bit more flow, without straying too far from what he's all about.
- Amy, Fang, and any custom characters that can't spin-jump can all use their abilities after taking a spring. This was done since the vanilla characters share their jump frames with their spring frames, so it feels more natural to me.
For Fang, this simply means he can start bouncing after a spring chain if he feels like it, not a huge buff but still a nice option. For Amy, it gives her a lot more options: she can hit enemies after taking springs (giving her hammer spin a trait that normal spin-jump characters don't have!), and it lets her decide which springs she wants to boost in a chain of multiple springs.
I might feel inclined to get rid of this if they ever do get their own unique jump frames, but I like the tiny edge it gives them in utility.
- Metal Sonic's Hover ability has been totally reworked into Jet Booster.
Instead of pure multi-ability Hover, he has Jet Booster. Once per jump, he can Hover for exactly 1 second. This short Hover is unable to be canceled, so you have to commit to it. Additionally, it takes all of your existing speed and redirects it in the direction the camera's facing, turning it into a way to keep more of your Dash Mode speed! This keeps what is enjoyable about Hover, but gives it some reasonable limits when using it on its own, yet enhances it when used in combination with Dash Mode!
- Metal Sonic's Dash Mode has been made way easier to keep.
You now only lose it when going below half of your run speed on the ground, rather than below your full run speed even in the air. Additionally, you can get Dash Mode when going above Sonic's thok speed, and you can keep Dash Mode through level gimmicks like springs and rope hangs.
Amy's appeal in vanilla is as a challenging platform character that respects the level design, so I didn't want to give her something too crazy, but she also was lacking in any tools to work with either.
However, after trying some Hammer Jump scripts, I thought it was too much & too easy to pull off at any time. I decided that buffing her bounces would give her an edge, call back to Hammer Jump-style moves, yet keep it more situational. While I did end up making it a bit strong, I think that's made up for with the situational opportunities to use it.
Ultimately, this ended up being one of my favorite move changes in this script!
- Amy was given a larger multiplier to her existing spring buffs. Previously, this ability did practically nothing; even the smallest skips would come just shy of reaching anything. Now this comes into play far more often!
- Amy's hearts were given bigger & more consistent hitboxes. Previously the hitbox size was pretty faithful to the sprite's size, but when trying to give other players shields in Coop, it felt really easy to whiff. Since the hearts have no use in PvP modes and are only used to help other players, I decided that it was fair for the hitboxes to be pretty big. The sprite was also previously offset into the ground, which only added to the disjointed feeling.
- Fang's gun has been sped up in several ways. It was given what I like to call "Quick Draw": if he locks onto a target, his next shot will be able to quickly lock onto another target! You can also use your gun at any speed, and keep your speed while you use it. Firing one shot too many, however, will give you an even longer cooldown and slow you down. If you chain multiple shots together, it'll also build a score chain!
The point of these changes were all an attempt to reduce the amount of "start & stop" when playing Fang. The score chaining is also to give it a bit of flavor from SA2, so you're encouraged to try and pick as many enemies off as you can in one motion. These changes mostly don't affect bosses, as the time window for Quick Draw ends before their flashing tics do. This is purely meant to make Fang's gameplay in normal levels have a bit more flow, without straying too far from what he's all about.
- Amy, Fang, and any custom characters that can't spin-jump can all use their abilities after taking a spring. This was done since the vanilla characters share their jump frames with their spring frames, so it feels more natural to me.
For Fang, this simply means he can start bouncing after a spring chain if he feels like it, not a huge buff but still a nice option. For Amy, it gives her a lot more options: she can hit enemies after taking springs (giving her hammer spin a trait that normal spin-jump characters don't have!), and it lets her decide which springs she wants to boost in a chain of multiple springs.
I might feel inclined to get rid of this if they ever do get their own unique jump frames, but I like the tiny edge it gives them in utility.
- Metal Sonic's Hover ability has been totally reworked into Jet Booster.
Instead of pure multi-ability Hover, he has Jet Booster. Once per jump, he can Hover for exactly 1 second. This short Hover is unable to be canceled, so you have to commit to it. Additionally, it takes all of your existing speed and redirects it in the direction the camera's facing, turning it into a way to keep more of your Dash Mode speed! This keeps what is enjoyable about Hover, but gives it some reasonable limits when using it on its own, yet enhances it when used in combination with Dash Mode!
- Metal Sonic's Dash Mode has been made way easier to keep.
You now only lose it when going below half of your run speed on the ground, rather than below your full run speed even in the air. Additionally, you can get Dash Mode when going above Sonic's thok speed, and you can keep Dash Mode through level gimmicks like springs and rope hangs.
v3:
- Replaced Metal Sonic's Jump Boost with a custom ability: Jet Booster. You can Hover for 1 second once per air. On use, it also redirects your existing momentum.
- Made several changes to Dash Mode to make it easier to gain/keep.
- Instead of always being lost when going below run speed, Dash Mode is only removed when going below half of your run speed while you're on the ground.
- In exchange, losing Dash Mode is slightly more punishing -- instead of losing the timer over the span of a second, you lose it all instantly.
- Dash Mode is instantly activated when you reach over 60 speed.
- Dash Mode timer is frozen when using level objects, like springs, zoom tubes, rope hangs, minecarts, etc.
- Amy has stronger spring multipliers. (Vertical speeds are from a x1.2 multiplier to a x1.33 multiplier, horizontal speeds are from a x1.33 multiplier to a x1.48 multiplier)
- Characters without a spin-jump (Amy, Fang) can now use their abilities after using a spring.
- Gave Amy's heart particles a larger hitbox.
- Adjusted the sprite offset of Amy's heart particles to make them more consistent with their hitbox.
- Amy's bounce is now additive instead of multiplicative.
- Fang has less cooldown on his gun overall.
- Fang's Quick Draw score chain now has a leniency period where it doesn't expire.
- Fixed Amy's extra bounce not applying to monitors.
- Fixed Fang's shooting sometimes being able to turn you around.
- Initial release
I originally only made this for myself so that I could enjoy the game a bit more, but I figured other people might also enjoy these changes.
Supporters / CoAuthors
