In Progress Avengers United Battle Force 2.7.41

[O Ilusionista]

About the update, my idea is to update the game with bug fixes for now, then I will take a little break so I can work on a full Release again. My idea for the release is to finally make a step ahead:

- I plan to finally split the paths on the game. So you will have to finish the game more than one time to see all the bosses (and to have all playable characters). We will have, at least, 2 different paths. But maybe we will have 4. For example, the sky stage will lead you to the Maggia ship, but after it you will be playing the underwater stage and 4 more stages (Greece)

I am still planning this, but probably you won't be able to cross the paths. I am not sure about this yet.

- I want to code more stages and enemies, because I am tired of those we have now, lol.

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Black Widow's credit screen. This character is dedicated to Valeri, who unfortunately has passed away. Rest in Peace.
It is a very bad feeling to post this, but it is a sincere homage.

 

[Psykai]

Sounds great!

My second playthrough is up, this time fully with Captain America. This one didn't go so well though. Anyone who is able to sit through the whole thing deserves a cookie:

If anyone wants to see a specific character in the next one then let me know

 

[Miru]

I believe that, yes, Black Widow should be in the next update. Mainly to buy more time for characters like Ant-Man, Iron Fist, Hercules, The Falcon, Colossus, and Nightcrawler, as well as the new enemies, bosses, paths, and SFX. And are my burn sprites in the next update, or in the next full release?

 

[Psykai]

Third playthrough is up! Was requested to do War Machine Hope you like it!

You'll see the Dr Strange helper bug too... XD

Next one  will be Brand!

 

[Miru]

I’ve seen a lot of people go pick up a second Avenger Logo Helper without using the one they already have, and it got me to thinking that maybe they should stack, where if you already having an avenger logo, you get another one in reserve after you use your current one.  Or, maybe it just increases the chance of getting a rare and powerful helper such as Doctor Strange?

 

[O Ilusionista]

hahahahaha thanks for the video. Yeah, I am aware of that bug (I've fixed it on the current version). This is why DC says to NOT turn off gravity
Pretty cool video, your play stayle is very aggressive, I liked it.

I’ve seen a lot of people go pick up a second Avenger Logo Helper without using the one they already have, and it got me to thinking that maybe they should stack, where if you already having an avenger logo, you get another one in reserve after you use your current one.  Or, maybe it just increases the chance of getting a rare and powerful helper such as Doctor Strange?

The idea isn't to let people stack the Avenger Card - or it would be too easy (just get all the cards you want and save it for the boss).
About the rare helper thing, the code itself take care of this, because:

- The more helper we have, the harder is to get a specific one,
- Even if they are random, C likes to choose smaller results for random over bigger results. So If I put a random with 10 numbers (0-9), its not a perfect 10% chance. This is an issue with the C language itself (althought you can randomize the "seed"). The devs tried to fix this but it had broke other thins so this was reverted.

I believe that, yes, Black Widow should be in the next update. Mainly to buy more time for characters like Ant-Man, Iron Fist, Hercules, The Falcon, Colossus, and Nightcrawler, as well as the new enemies, bosses, paths, and SFX. And are my burn sprites in the next update, or in the next full release?

Yes, you are right. Black Widow (and the new helper) will be on the next update for sure. And my idea is too add your burn sprites, unless I forgot it again, lol.  About the characters you've mentioned, not everyone will be in the next release:
• Ant-Man is intended to be playable only in a specific stage (he won't be a normal character) for now - maybe I will change my mind later;
• Hercules (and Black Knight) are linked to a new stage, so they will be in;
• Colossus and Nightcrawler (and other X-men) are tied to another stage, so If I code that stage, they will be in too.
• Iron Fist SHOULD be in the next release (so I stop receiving questions about "where Black Widow/Iron Fist are if they appear in the intro?").
• Falcon will be on the game too, I just don't know WHEN.

I want to focus more on stages and enemies rather than playable characters - we already have plent of them. I was talking with Zvitor some days ago and he reported something to me: his game has 70+ characters, but many people just choose one and finish the game with him. So to have tons of characters could be a waste of effort.

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Finally fixed a bug in Brand - if you run and press A2, she enter in the weapon mode but will slide until you release the foward button. Thanks BB for the fix

 

[Miru]

For enemies...

This guy from Crime Fighters seems almost ready to go for this game.

https://www.spriters-resource.com/arcade/crimefighters/sheet/55455/

And I think it’s time for Masked Mauler to be an enemy, too. And the Shinobi 3 Dogs.

 

[O Ilusionista]

I am aware of that base, its pretty cool. But it has so many sprites that I think it would be a waste of resource to use him as an enemy. He could be a playable character.

 

[Miru]

I am aware of that base, its pretty cool. But it has so many sprites that I think it would be a waste of resource to use him as an enemy. He could be a playable character.

Ya know, I think we’ve found our Punisher.

 

[O Ilusionista]

Hum, not a bad idea...

 

[Psykai]

I'm glad Black Widow is coming in the update I needed something to refresh the game because I've played it waaay too much XD. Will that be coming before the end of the year?

I was talking with Zvitor some days ago and he reported something to me: his game has 70+ characters, but many people just choose one and finish the game with him. So to have tons of characters could be a waste of effort.

I think the main reason for this is that in his game there are a lot of characters that are way superior to the others and quite a lot of characters that don't feel equipped to deal with the game's difficulty. Also many characters feel pretty boring or similar to other characters. They don't have the cinematic playstyle that yours do. Of the 70+ characters, only about 15-20 (maybe a little more) of them actually feel worth playing (with no offense to ZVitor intended!) if you actually want to complete the game with your sanity intact. Trying to beat the whole game with Black Widow for example would be... *shudders* well you just wouldn't even attempt it... lol.

Your game is superior in this area because every single one of your characters feel well-rounded and special in their own way so they all feel worth playing and they can all realistically play the game from beginning to end (admittedly with some having a little more difficulty than others). They're definitely not a waste of effort, because that effort is definitely paying off.

I do often pick one character and finish the game with that single character, but that's just because I like the consistency and the 'realism' of a hero following the story, but the next time I play, I choose a different character, and sometimes, as with my Random Characters playthrough, I will switch characters every chance I get.

Perhaps I'm being biased though because the thought of your game having 70+ characters is amazing and I don't want to see that not happen. I can personally guarantee that if it had something crazy like 200 characters, I'd play every last one of them, lol. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one who would either!

The quality of your characters makes us crave more of them because we know they'd be awesome and we want to see your take on characters that maybe aren't well-represented in other games I do apologize if that sometimes comes across as being a little greedy! I know I'm one of the few who always requests characters, lol.

 

[Miru]

I'm glad Black Widow is coming in the update I needed something to refresh the game because I've played it waaay too much XD. Will that be coming before the end of the year?

I was talking with Zvitor some days ago and he reported something to me: his game has 70+ characters, but many people just choose one and finish the game with him. So to have tons of characters could be a waste of effort.

I think the main reason for this is that in his game there are a lot of characters that are way superior to the others and quite a lot of characters that don't feel equipped to deal with the game's difficulty. Also many characters feel pretty boring or similar to other characters. They don't have the cinematic playstyle that yours do. Of the 70+ characters, only about 15-20 (maybe a little more) of them actually feel worth playing (with no offense to ZVitor intended!) if you actually want to complete the game with your sanity intact. Trying to beat the whole game with Black Widow for example would be... *shudders* well you just wouldn't even attempt it... lol.

Your game is superior in this area because every single one of your characters feel well-rounded and special in their own way so they all feel worth playing and they can all realistically play the game from beginning to end (admittedly with some having a little more difficulty than others). They're definitely not a waste of effort, because that effort is definitely paying off.

I do often pick one character and finish the game with that single character, but that's just because I like the consistency and the 'realism' of a hero following the story, but the next time I play, I choose a different character, and sometimes, as with my Random Characters playthrough, I will switch characters every chance I get.

Perhaps I'm being biased though because the thought of your game having 70+ characters is amazing and I don't want to see that not happen. I can personally guarantee that if it had something crazy like 200 characters, I'd play every last one of them, lol. I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one who would either!

The quality of your characters makes us crave more of them because we know they'd be awesome and we want to see your take on characters that maybe aren't well-represented in other games I do apologize if that sometimes comes across as being a little greedy! I know I'm one of the few who always requests characters, lol.

Before MIW, it was better. MFA2’s cast were balanced enough, with some feeling a little weak but none of them outright crippled. Yet MIW brought in some serious power creep, with some characters like Captain Marvel and Red Hulk unable to catch up with the others. Nick Fury got it the worst, losing his ace in the hole and not getting anything in return. Even some of the new characters felt crippled, especially poor Drax. I’ve even done some sprites to round out the movepools of the unfortunate characters.

 

[O Ilusionista]

Thanks for the nice words, guys.

I know I'm one of the few who always requests characters, lol.

Lol, no. There are people which keep messaging me with the same request over and over.

Reading some info about Iron Man's armors, I've found some cool stuff (someone already told me about this in the feedback form):

Energy Conversion Power Recharge: The armor is also able to convert nearby energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy into electricity, or even drain electrical energy directly into the batteries for recharge.

So, I decided to spice up both Iron Man and War Machine:
- Shock and Fire received damage was cut by 50%
- Shock and Fire received damage will refill their power bars a tad.

 

[warecus]

have you any plans or any of your buddies who are spriting for you decided to use any of the sprites I sent you?

 

[O Ilusionista]

I am still trying to find where to put them. I would not use all of them.

Some updates:

- BlackCat now has a 3 slash combo (like her Mugen counterpart).
Her combo is D,F+Attack > Attack > D,F+Attack (finisher)

Thanks Doom and Jhfer. (And Exfields and Beja for the original sprites)

- Iron Man can now grab and execute moves. War Machine will receive new grab attacks too.

- Launcher effect added. Now every attack which has a follow up after the launcher has a different effect.

Almost finished with Black Widow. Expect a release soon.

 

[Psykai]

- BlackCat now has a 3 slash combo (like her Mugen counterpart).
Her combo is D,F+Attack > Attack > D,F+Attack (finisher)

Sounds cool! I like that pose and slash effect. Has her palette been updated? It looks a little different.

- Iron Man can now grab and execute moves. War Machine will receive new grab attacks too.

This is a surprise! I thought Iron Man could not grab because you wanted he and War Machine to have more differences. Even with this though, they're still very different and it's nice to see him get more moves He's one of my most played characters.

Almost finished with Black Widow. Expect a release soon.

HYPE! ;D

 

[O Ilusionista]

Has her palette been updated? It looks a little different.

No, its the same from the previous release.

I thought Iron Man could not grab because you wanted he and War Machine to have more differences.

Indeed I wanted it - and I still want to. But Iron Man is a very Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant & Skilled Martial Artist: Stark was trained in unarmed combat by Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther and Shang-Chi.

 

[warecus]

I am still trying to find where to put them. I would not use all of them.

well I hope it helps in the long run

 

[Psykai]

I thought Iron Man could not grab because you wanted he and War Machine to have more differences.

Indeed I wanted it - and I still want to. But Iron Man is a very Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant & Skilled Martial Artist: Stark was trained in unarmed combat by Captain America, Black Widow, Black Panther and Shang-Chi.

That makes sense, and I actually have tried grabbing enemies with Iron Man before just out of habit so at least now it'll actually work ;D

I've been toying with the idea of trying to learn sprite editing so that I could potentially help out with new or existing characters in the future. I wanted to see Kitty Pryde in this game so I looked up sprites for her and found this one from a MUGEN game:

Here are my edits to put her in United Battle Force's style:

1: Classic, 2: Black and Yellow, 3: Shadowcat, 4: Shadowcat with Mask attempt (I know the mask looks awful).

<- Size Comparison

It went way better than I thought it would for my first attempt at this but I'm sad I couldn't find a full sprite sheet so I couldn't make any more I would've needed permission from whoever made the originals anyway.

Still, it was fun to try What do you guys think?

 

[O Ilusionista]

The result isn't bad. With some touches, it could work (she needs to not be so wide, look at her tights).

But probably I won't add her to the game, sorry. I don't think Kitty is a interesting character to play with - basically, she only phases and nothing more. And we already have someone to make it.

Sometimes, I have to take some hard decisions to make to keep the game level high (in quality terms). For example, since Storm spriter had vanished and I found a new spriter to Crystal, I will not include Storm as a playable anymore. Because Crystal can control the elements, so they would end been the same.

And this goes for other characters, like Human Torch/Firestar, etc