Various thoughts on several IPS topics, summary at the bottom.
The current undizzy rules may be too lenient towards resets after long combos (as Isa Vulpes suggests). It may be too strict towards resets after short combos (as KhaosMuffins and others suggest). The first issue can be addressed by making burst trigger more quickly when the opponent has max stun (Stage 3/Stage 2/After 1 chain) or by making undizzy decay slower (or decay more slowly when stun is above the limit, or add a slight pause before decay begins). The second issue can be addressed by setting the onset of stun accumulation at Stage 5, and possibly compensating by setting undizzy limit back to 200 or something. My ideal version has late stun accumulation, early burst trigger, and slower stun deterioration.
I would appreciate a visible undizzy meter, but Mike has said he does not want to see one in the game. I can see 2 possible reasons for this:
- It would be a lot of UI work to implement this feature.
- It would change the feel of the game for the worse.
I can certainly understand how number 1 would be a factor (although I find it weird how Mike also said he wanted to steal the frame data bar from Pocket Rumble, a feature I wholeheartedly endorse by the way). I can see how number 2 might be an issue (although I'm not convinced of it), but since Mike was willing to try other changes he didn't agree with at Salty (CiscoKid's bomb cancel suggestion, moving Parasoul's f.MP to b.MP), I would think an undizzy bar is a worthwhile experiment. Except of course for problem number 1. Once the changes settle down some more and players get a feeling for the undizzy limits without an indicator, maybe the beta gets a prototype undizzy bar that looks like the hitstun bars in training mode, hopefully that's not too much work to implement.
Turning our attention now to the Prevention of Infinites, I'm glad that Squigly's cr.HP infinite was removed, but I'm not so keen on how it was removed. The type of exploit it demonstrated (an indefinitely repeatable sequence of moves happening completely out of range of a burst) is still in principle possible under the current system, and a clear understanding of the principles of a burst safe infinite makes it easier to find others in the rest of the cast, including the upcoming characters. Removing burst safe infinites by hand has the same costs and limitations as removing regular old infinites by hand, whereas a systematic approach relieves the developer of that burden and increases their flexibility in designing movesets. I suggest tracking which moves have touched the defender while they were in IPS stage 6 (burstable stage), then moving them up to stage 7 (a new stage, where every burst is safe, same as if the burst was blocked or a projectile triggered the burst) when they get touched by a move with stage 6 tracking. So burst baits and short, non-repeating burst safe strings can still exist without the possibility of burst safe infinites.
I agree with Severin that I would like to open a dialog on meter, how it is valued, and how it is gained by both the attacker and the defender. I would actually love to see some really out-there experiments, and I wrote a post in the Game Design thread suggesting one of my own. What if throw combos didn't give the defender any meter? They already give the attacker less damage (and subsequently less meter) than a strike combo, so what about giving them something unique? It would make the valuation of reset options more diverse instead of just different (lower for throws). As for how meter is used, it seems to me kind of odd to me that a DHC (2 meter or more) has a higher minimum damage (70% or thereabouts, IIRC) than a level 3 (45%) or a level 5 (55%).
Lastly, a modest proposal : The Arc System Works IPS. The IPS buffer is a fixed size and overflows after using 10 different moves.
Summary of my opinions
- Make IPS accumulate at stage 5 and trigger at stage 3, not vice-versa
- After people get used to one undizzy system, see how they like a cheap undizzy bar
- Repeating a move after triggering IPS should give the defender a safe burst
- Let's talk about meter, let's tinker with meter
- ASW programmers, shame on you.