In Progress Streets of Rage X (Windows / Android) Beta 34

[DCurrent]

OK so I've had a chance to try her out. I've finished a run with her and had a few short/mid-way runs that ended in a frustration-quit ^_^".

I enjoy some aspects of her but she does feel a bit weak. I don't mean the amount of damage she deals so much as just how easy (or not) it is to be effective with her, chain moves together, etc. though I can't put my finger on why exactly. She's just kind of... difficult to work with? I actually play way better with Axel 1, which is hilarious because I am universally terrible with Axel in every SoR game to the point that my friend (who's an Axel main) always gives me shit about it xD. So for an SoR 1 Blaze main and Axel hater to PREFER SoR 1 Axel is very worrying for me xD.

I really don't like giving negative feedback and I hope you understand this comes from a place of love and respect, but here are some things I felt underwhelmed by:
- Her Offense Special. I understand it's a reference to her Back Attack in SoR 2, but it not only is visually very underwhelming (it doesn't FEEL like a Special move at all), but it also isn't very useful (except MAYBE to hit enemies coming up behind you) and I kind of just forgot/pretended it didn't exist.
- Her Star Move/Blitz: Again, I can sort of see the reference, the spinning fist being a nod to her SoR 2/3 combo, but like the Offense Special, it doesn't FEEL special and isn't very useful either. Another forgettable move for me, sadly . Perhaps if she slid further with it and her fist was engulfed in her blue energy, it would feel a bit flashier?
- Her Rage Attack is pretty much the same exact thing as her Run Attack, just stronger, and was easily the most disappointing part of her moveset. From another developer, I would've gone as far as to call it 'lazy', but I imagine there's probably a reasonable reason for it being this way.

I'm assuming most of these things are due to lack of sprites, which of course I don't blame you for if that's the case. It's just a shame she couldn't have felt a little more flashy and unique in those areas.

I was kind of feeling the same thing.

Positive things I noted - I don't know if the actual numbers changed, but in general it feels like bosses and enemies aren't as ridiculously spongy as before. It still bugs me that player damage is lower overall than the OG games (Ex. Blaze doing 24 instead of 32 on backdrop, Max outputting a pitiful 40 points on the back-breaker instead of 70, etc.) but I still feel things are better balanced overall than older versions where your best shot barely took a pixel from Barbon.

I like that you can turn on the orginal tracks. No offense to Master Draven, but sometimes he deviates a little bit too much - and you just want the old school.

Nitpicks:

• Blind alt path transitions are back. Why the downgrade? I noticed an option that looked like it could fix them, but it's kind of hidden and should be on by default. I get you might want to keep things kind of a surprise and that make sense, but we should at least get a tiny peek - if nothing else show us what the character could see (their POV of a hall, window, etc.).
• Selective transparency is gone from places like the pillars in SOR2 Stage 1 bar. Again, why the downgrade? It doesn't make the game feel more retro, just more primitive and limited - especially when you've got transparency all over the place for lighting. It's also a practical annoyance to have your view blocked.
• Blaze1 way over uses the flip kick animation. It sucked all the way back in SOR1 when her grab flurry was identical to attack flurry. Now it's her power attack (stationary grab) too. For that matter, she's reusing a lot of things:
  • Vertical jumpkick = forward jump kick.
  • Blitz = Rage
  • All heavy weapons swings are the same and all reuse SOR2 animations (no home run swing like in OG SOR1).
  • Energy attack with a knife is just - her normal knife stab with some afterimages.
• As @Psykai noted, her forward special is boring and useless. If you want to reference SOR2 - then why not make it the Hishousouzan with an invincibility window?
• It's WAY too difficult to throw enemies off SOR1 Stage 7 elevator. That's pretty much the entire point and fun factor of that area - the risk of getting knocked off to toss people over. Unless you are in a near pixel perfect perfect sweet spot, they are blocked by the rail or bounce right off it. But of course Singals have no trouble throwing YOU over from anywhere near the rail. I absolutely LOTHE the idea of referencing SORR, but this is one area I think they got absolutely right. Thrown enemies were scripted to hit their heads on the rail and bounce over the edge during a thrown fall from most reasonable distances. Something like this is sorely needed IMO, or just a boost to the vertical velcoity on player throws.

Hope that doesn't sound too crabby. Wouldn't make points if I didn't think the rest was awesome!

DC

 

[Blit-X- TV [LIVE]]

Initially I wasn't going to share this VOD because honestly I felt that I was being too negative/nit picky with my review but after reading the 2 previous comments, I do share their sentiments & they are somewhat reflected in this.
My main issues were the forward special (as I feel that move is better suited perhaps to the defensive special if anything) & not really being able to link moves together to create combos.

I do understand tho that there wasn't much to work with. Trying to create a new moveset isn't easy work.

 

[SRC267]

GRIME mix.

@Kratus had a quick go on the new update, enemies seem improved/less forgiving which is good. Blaze's combos much tighter now as well. I'd agree with danno on too fast though.

Have you tried Beta 34? Your clip still shows beta 33. I made the same mistake where I didn't uninstall the game first and simply updated/overwrote the old with the new download, which doesn't really give you the upgraded beta. (At least on android) I then went back and uninstalled it, and reinstalled the new download and finally Beta 34 installed. You can see via the main menu, bottom left the version number.

 

[seahorses]

Blaze switching her feet feels unatural in this.



I dug up my old drive and found an old edit of mine kinda similar, but mine is for Defense Special though. Because it has crowd control trait where you can hit enemy both front and back.




I think this is what you're aiming for?


I don't have anything similar I'm affraid. But even though I make one, It more fit for a counter.

Maybe you can use this edit of Saiha?


I used it for my 3 Stars Blitz (All of my edits is BK3/SOR3 mechanic. See below for the move concept) so maybe it's fine if you used it for Blaze Offense Special because it serve for different purpose.
Excuse the blurry GIF because it's a WIP.

And I used Hakki Shou for her Offense Special and Chou Reppa Dan for her blitz. See the video below in action for SOR2 Rom Hack. And no, I will never release the rom hack, It was only for a test.

Sorry for the quality. Turns out my crappy notebook can't handle it after all.

 

[Kratus]

Ok, I didn't expect this amount of negative feedback about Blaze since she has basically the original SOR1 moveset with a few more from BKM (front special and blitz), in which most people didn't see/play.

Here's an example of where I got both the forward special and blitz.

For now, I'm considering removing all SOR1 characters, or maybe leaving only SOR3 ones due to having the most complete moveset and due to the others being below the expectations with recycled sprites. I'm not planning to draw more, even less using SORR ones. To be honest I was even considering making all SOR1 with only the original moveset, but I ended up adding a few more trying to leave them at least on a similar level as the others.

Before the removal, here's my vision about the SOR1 Blaze gameplay.

I can't read all the posts now, but I still will read/answer all of them later.

 

[O Ilusionista]

Excuse the blurry GIF because it's a WIP.

And I used Hakki Shou for her Offense Special and Chou Reppa Dan for her blitz. See the video below in action for SOR2 Rom Hack. And no, I will never release the rom hack, It was only for a test.

I liked this and Chou Reppa Dan ideas a lot.
And if you want to make it different from the other move, Don't make her jump during the movement, instead slide her forward, similar to Sakura's Shoryuken.

 

[ty1989]

I like the Saiha suggestion myself. Overall as much as I hate to admit it... Blaze SOR1 is too OP. I think I get the design philosophy though. She drops the fancy setups and combo expression from SOR2/3 Blaze and has one single objective: chain into Blitz+Air Special lol. She trivializes the entire game from just how easy she can do this and the monstrous damage it does.
This isn't so much a gripe, I can see how SOR1 characters should be more powerful but limited than their future selves, it just feels like SOR1 Blaze is like... O. Sagat in Hyper SF2 lol.

Blaze1 way over uses the flip kick animation. It sucked all the way back in SOR1 when her grab flurry was identical to attack flurry. Now it's her power attack (stationary grab) too. For that matter, she's reusing a lot of things

It don't suck here lol. The flip kick, while yes is overused, is a death sentence for most enemies here as it confirms into Blitz+Air Special, that she can somehow do in the air lmao.

 

[gungrave80]

Hi, I have a problem with the android version. I installed it on a modded Switch with android and on a Mangmi Air X. When I play and then I put the consoles in standby, they don't recognize the controls after that I resume the game. This doesn't happen with Retroarch, for example, because this app makes the control to restart every time it resume from standby. Is this problem fixable?

 

[wy188cm]

thank you !

 

[O Ilusionista]

I tested the latest version of Windows (classic resolution) and my feedback is more concise:
- Really, if you're going to have this classic resolution (which I understand your point of view, although I think it's crazy considering how much you have to support), the characters would need to move slower, as they use the speed of the widescreen version.

- With all due respect to my colleagues, I didn't find Blaze to be that terrible. I think they could use the Seahorse idea (if the material doesn't come from SORR, as some people still haven't understood that) and that would be enough for her offensive special.

Now about this point:

For now, I'm considering removing all SOR1 characters, or maybe leaving only SOR3 ones due to having the most complete moveset and due to the others being below the expectations with recycled sprites. I'm not planning to draw more, even less using SORR ones. To be honest I was even considering making all SOR1 with only the original moveset, but I ended up adding a few more trying to leave them at least on a similar level as the others.

I wouldn't tell you to remove them, after all you've spent a considerable amount of your time on this. What you can do is simply leave them as they were in the original game, only with the police special and (un)balance their attributes.

I don't think you need to add all the mechanics to these characters. That wastes your time and requires a Herculean effort.

Remember a version of Street Fighter 2 where you could choose the character versions? When you chose the original SF2 versions, they didn't have the upgrades from other games, no energy bar, no hypers... but they had the stats from the original game, with that dinosaur-like damage.

I think that could be the solution here.

 

[NED]

To me these SOR1 characters should not be removed.
Just keep them in the game as WIP for now.
So we could consider giving elements for them.

I have to admit, I like to tweak messy / incomplete animations in game mods to have better results.
I usually do it for existing projects and some creators sometimes add the update.
But the fact data files are locked makes me giving up fast on even considering it ^^;

However, the progress ont all the characters is already great.
I think that step by step with the feedbacks and new animations, all the characters will be very pleasing and complete to play.

Is there a sheet of all the needed animations/moves/systems for all characters?
-I may suggest some sprites/animations upgrades or new moves to complete it.

 

[DCurrent]

But the fact data files are locked makes me giving up fast on even considering it ^^;

Can't blame @Kratus one iota for locking it down. Last thing this world needs is people like the LNS crew or SORZ porn-peddler types making a mockery out of his efforts.

DC

 

[NED]

Can't blame @Kratus one iota for locking it down. Last thing this world needs is people like the LNS crew or SORZ porn-peddler types making a mockery out of his efforts.

DC

Of course.
No blame here.
I only think about helping with animations.
Yes, I don't like either when they edit like that.

 

[Blit-X- TV [LIVE]]

For now, I'm considering removing all SOR1 characters, or maybe leaving only SOR3 ones due to having the most complete moveset and due to the others being below the expectations with recycled sprites. I'm not planning to draw more, even less using SORR ones. To be honest I was even considering making all SOR1 with only the original moveset, but I ended up adding a few more trying to leave them at least on a similar level as the others.

Before the removal, here's my vision about the SOR1 Blaze gameplay.

I'm not coming from a place of shitting on the efforts made, you already know I'm a huge fan of this project already, I'm just trying to be honest with my experience with the character.

I doubt most people actually watched the end of the VOD where I gave a quick summary of my opinion of SoR1 Blaze, nor do I think she's "terrible" but I do think it's a bit drastic to remove all but the SoR3 characters... I have plenty fun with the Streets 2 characters, notably Axel as he was always my main but Blaze 2, Max 2 & Skate 2 also play fantastic!

As said, IMO, I like that she plays/controls bit different from 2 & 3 (flippy dippy) but she could do with a bit of tweaking - Most notably her specials & combo routes.
For the specials, it could be a simple fix of moving the forward special to defensive as the 360 motion feels better suited to a "get off me" attack which most defensive specials are already & the forward special the cartwheel kick... Or even the Blitz. The regular Blitz now being the elbow.

As for the combo routes, I also said someone may be able to lab her & find tech that I'm not seeing, maybe I just suck at using her...
The only viable method that seemed to be effective for me was the chain into Blitz+Air Special @ty1989 mentioned & yeah, it seemed to shred the enemies health when I did.
Having looked at your vision video, that seemed to be the play but I also noticed that when fighting Antonio, trying to reconnect combos with the flying kick Blitz for example whiffed - Which was also my experience & that is the only move with real range.

If you wanted to keep the SoR1 cast purely with their original move set, I'm not even opposed to the idea. It could even be the case where they are the only ones with access to the cop cars whilst I'm just thinking out loud?
Just another idea but if you wanted to keep this version of Blaze, couldn't she just be classified as the BKM version alongside SoR1?

This is just my opinion/feedback. It's totally your call if you want to disregard it or not.

 

[seahorses]

- With all due respect to my colleagues, I didn't find Blaze to be that terrible. I think they could use the Seahorse idea (if the material doesn't come from SORR, as some people still haven't understood that) and that would be enough for her offensive special.

No, I'm not using SORR sprites. It's all converted from OG SOR1 and edited from BKM. That's why I always say "edit" because that's what they are just edit and conversion using other games as references. And when I say using SORR as a referemces was always puting them side by side not edit from the (closed) source. Yes, SORR sprites are closed source. For examp;le when I did running anim for Axel SOR 2, I used BK3 Axel running sprites and convert it to SOR2 style with Axell SORR as references, you can see it the result in SORX it's diferent from SORR. But not the case here for Blaze. It's all OG SOR 1 and BKM sprites. But I take it as a compliment I guess if you thought I was using SORR sprites. It kinda defeat the purpose what I'm doing all of my edits if I used SORR. Mabe I started a thread about the reason behind all of my edits. I always hesitated to make my own thread because what I have is only concept and I can't record decent video on this notebook.

Is there a sheet of all the needed animations/moves/systems for all characters?
-I may suggest some sprites/animations upgrades or new moves to complete it

Maybe you can ask Kratus, I'm sure he will provided what you need.

@Kratus
To tell you the truth, I hate SOR2X at first because I thoght it's the same old Chinese or Russian SOR openbor hack with crazy gameplay and flashy effects. I remember when I tried it at first the bosses spam me with specials and rage supers, I don't remember what version is that though. It was a long time ago. So I never bothered to follow about the project. But over time I was amazed about the changes and it's taking the interest out of me. That's why I'm late to the party. If my memory serve me well it's when I ask you about the BKM Bongo spritesheet so I can edit to be more like SOR 1 because I don't like that you're using SORR sprites. So thank you for letting me contribute to this awesome project and someday when I've completed this concept of mine I'm gonna annoy you with lots and lots of questions about coding. I hope in the near future and I hope you're still active and not busy.