Hmm, interesting. I downloaded this soc and tried it out in 2-player mode and I gotta say that I had a lot of fun with this one.
Scatter ring
Or what I like to call it, the "scatter barrier." I loved how it circled around you, making it feel like that no one can touch you. I really had to test this out with another player (or, myself, really) to see how it worked. To put it simply short: It's a battering ram. Nothing is more fun that either having someone run into you or you run into them, watching them fly across the screen. I knocked Tails back and forth with that I couldn't stop myself. Sadly, they do go away after a few hits or if you run into a wall. Oh well, good things can't always last forever. And if you can't hit them with a ring, ram into them with this! But, you know what would make it ever more better? Let's just say that you have the scatter rings circle around you and then you jump and press the spin button making them shoot off in all directions around you. Just a thought...
Explosion ring
There isn't that much change to it except that is has a larger explosion radius, which is good if you need some good knock back. However, my only complaint about this is that they don't fly straight when thrown. They are lobbed and arc down depending how much of an angle you got it. In some ways this can be useful for when you want to get someone on a high edge or platform, but in other cases become a bit irritating when you are trying to get it at a precise angle so you can nail your target and most of the time they end up flying up so high or far that they disappear before they explode. I also believe they did the same thing in the SF-94 serv and that still bugs me how the ring just arcs over like that. I don't know, some people may like it but that's just my honest opinion, really.
Grenade ring
At least I know I can get two or more birds with this, but I also see this one becoming a bit more abusive because of the debris that are shot out of it after it explodes. Me, I usually use this ring for either a melee type weapon (throw it right when I am next to my opponent) or setting up traps. Maybe I am overreacting about this kind of ring, but I know people who use this ring over and over again like it is the only ring they could use. *coughrailringcough* And with all of that debris flying around, it may be almost impossible to dodge or get rid of with an explosion ring. I might be a bit picky about this ring, so please forgive me about this. On the positive note, it makes it easier to hit a person or two with this because of it's aftermath. I may use this from time to time, but I still get that gut feeling that this ring may be abused because of it's five second of debris explosions. That is, if it isn't abused enough already alongside with the rail ring.
Bounce ring
They are the same bounce rings as before, but the thing I like about these new bouncy rings are that they don't bounce out of sight when thrown. They lob just like the explosion rings, but they also skip across the ground when thrown. I was trying this out in 2-player mode and seeing if those sparkles could hurt Tails and it didn't seem to do any damage to him. They also keep bouncing when they hit him, too. I'm not sure if they are suppose to hurt the player or not, really. I've also noticed that when they are thrown and don't hit a wall of any sort, they will explode before they have a chance to. I'm pretty sure that is how the normal bouncy ring works (minus the explosion part) as well. From the looks of it, I think this ring has a lot better use now seeing that it can skip across the ground without flying towards the sky. I will have to do a net game with this ring and actually see if the sparkles actually do anything.
Automatic ring
Despite the short range (and my lousy aiming with this ring when it wasn't modified) this has some good defense to it as well as some offense. Just like the scatter barrier You can also make this like a shield of some sort and run into people with this or let them run into you. But since they do not circle around like the scatter rings they will hit walls as you pass by, depending in which direction you were shooting. The only bad thing I can see about this ring is that it may not get used a lot because of it's short range. Sure, it will keep coming out until hits a wall or a poor passerby. You just have to be careful when you are running around with it just so you don't lose them. Also not sure how effective this will be against people who are super, though since I never did test that in 2-player mode. All I can say is that this ring is not very good in tight spaces if you plan on making a barrier with it.
To be honest, I like these new ring socs. I personally think it might make the game a lot more fun to play. I've only tried this in 2 player mode so I haven't really seen the true effect of all of these weapon rings. Well, except the red ring and the rail ring which are pretty much the same. I should try this out on multiplayer some day and see how it goes. Great work, keep it up! I'm looking forward to see what kind of improvements might be added/changed to these rings.
