Progress update on the v0.7 beta of Megaman DL2

[Riverroad]

The next version of Megaman DL2 is taking quite a bit longer than expected, so a little explanation is in order.

Several of the underlying systems of the game have been overdue for a rewrite.  Many of those systems were either difficult to use properly, contained bugs that could not be  fixed without an overhaul, or were just not working well.  Nearly all the work on the Wily Castle levels had to be held up until this was taken care of, which unfortunately took much longer than expected.  The rewrite was finished up recently and work on the new content is finally progressing again.

So, I felt I should make a post about some of the features and changes that will be in v0.7, besides the first three Wily Castle stages.  This post does not list everything that is coming, but it should cover most of the highlights.

CHARACTER CHANGES

       

• Airman's weapon has been completely changed, as seen above.  His attack now fires a stream of tornados instead of three at once.  The tornados follow a set pattern, instead of firing at randomized angles.  Flashman's shots now follow a pattern as well.
• Crashman and Metalman's projectiles now fire faster.
• The Crash Bombs and Heatman's teleport deal greater damage.
• Most normal enemies now possess a weakness to one character's weapon now.
• Quickman cannot jump quite as high.  Those super jumps were too powerful to leave in.
• No more infinite pause jumps
• Grabbing onto ladders now only requires the up/down buttons to be held down.  You no longer have to press the buttons at the exact right moment.

MENU AND INTERFACE CHANGES

       

• The save system was changed to a more traditional setup.  Hopefully this will avoid the confusion caused by the current method of saving and loading.
• The character you play as can be chosen from the level menu.  The first eight levels will automatically start with the preset character but all the rest use whichever character you choose.
• Text in the pause menu has shadow on it.  Also, an icon appears in the bottom right representing the character currently selected.

BOSS CHANGES

       

• Hardman, Topman, and Doc Cutman have altered boss fights.
• The two boss fights against Doc Elecman have been scrapped and replaced with new ones
• Bosses are not invincible for as long after being hit.  A couple bosses take less damage to compensate.
• Flashman's Time Stopper now properly freezes bosses who are weak to him.
• The second Doc Gutsman boss fight should work correctly.  No more getting thrown outside the screen or being teleported onto the Gutsdozer when it runs over you.

And that about covers it.  Most of the outstanding bugs from the previous release have been fixed already so all that's left are those new stages and their bosses.  With any luck, the wait will be over fairly soon.  Thank you for your continued patience!

[Splyser]

  AWESOME! I can't wait for the next update! This is going to be so cool. 

[MegaSergio92]

Seems very promising, River. Keep going!

[Chaos.Tiki]

I can't wait to test the new features.

[EvilMariobot]

Well, it looks like that turtle boss might not be a pushover this time.