Challenge Minis

Challenge minis, what are those? These are feature length minis that span multiple weeks and multiple deadlines. Do you have the sticktoitiveness and foresight to complete back-to-back minis?

JOE’S MYM14 MYMini CHALLENGE [Attempt #3]

Stop ‘n’ Swop

WEEK 1:

Banjo Kazooie

banjokazooie

Nothing difficult at all this time around. All you gotta do is create a set of 4 specials for the characters Banjo & Kazooie. Think you can put a unique spin on the eponymous bear and bird?

  1. Conren’s Entry
  2. Katapultar’s Entry
  3. Junahu’s Entry

 

Week 2:

Stop n Swop!
Remember this infamous feature? This time around it is actually implemented, just amongst the contestants!
Simply put, each section of this ChallengeMini is going to SWAP whoever is working on the moveset for each part. Meaning that the standards of Banjo-Kazooie…
  • CONREN makes Standards for KATAPULTAR’S Specials.
  • KATAPULTAR makes Standards for JUNAHU’S Specials.
  • JUNAHU makes Standards for CONREN’S Specials.
As an added catch, you are to also flesh out the specials you have been given to work with some and make 1 minor change. Hopefully this will give the three of you some insight into how each MYMer works, oh and have fun!

 

JOE’S MYM14 MYMini CHALLENGE [Attempt #2]

STAGE WARFARE

An often neglected feature from MYM, Stages are really a titanic part of Smash Bros that we really should put in the spotlight! They can make or break match ups, determine certain playstyles, and in general shape how you play your character just as much as the character’s moveset themselves. So for this challenge we will ultimately be making 3 community stages for our characters to play on:
  • A Small stage for 1 v 1 combat
  • A medium size stage suitable both for 1v1, teams and FFA
  • A large stage suitable for teams, FFA and possible other special matches

Each one will be built over time by each participant, creating what could hopefully be a new standard example to use in our sets in the future!

WEEK 1:

FEATURES
This week you are tasked with creating 1 new type of feature that could be seen on the stages, such as an interact-able piece, a new type of hazard, or a new way a stage could behave.
The rules are:
  • The feature mustn’t be overly polarizing (example: whoever touches it first is invincible)
  • The feature must be usable by all characters, but nothing says all characters must use it the same way!

Try and think of either which stage to create this feature for beforehand, or possibly make note of how it could play out on different sized arenas.
You have 2 weeks, good luck!

 

JOE’S MYM14 MYMini CHALLENGE [Attempt #1]

WEEK 1:

Items

This week you are not only tasked with creating a new item, but changing how items behave when they appear!
The rules are:
  • Your item must either be neutral, or cater to certain character archetypes with explanation of how they help.
  • Your item must not do too much to the characters using/being effected such as what happens with Starman / Spicy Curry, etc. Aim for things like the Home Run bat.
  • Even better, your item should play off the character! Lord Magnemite won’t use a held item the same way as the Ant Hill Mob for example.
  • Speaking of MYM sets, try using the cast of MYM14 for examples!
As for the latter portion, the main issue with item play in high level smash is how they spawn randomly on the stage. There is no set timer, no particular area, no nothing determining when that Bob-omb will fall in front of your Fsmash, or that starman lands on the opponent you were going after.
Think of ways either through the item menu or by revamping the way the items spawn altogether to alleviate this issue!

WEEKS 2-3:

I’d like you all to explain how the items you’ve all created would work with your various mechanics. You have plenty of interesting material from the other MYMers, use it as a chance to flesh out the ideas!

JOE’S MYM13 CHALLENGE

Hey all, JOE! here with an idea to bring some activity to the thread while we wait for the next batch of sets: a weekly Mini event emulating the actual design process a character would go through to get into a fighting game such as smash. Unlike normal minis, the challenge minis will build upon each other to create the finished product. At the due date of each part, I will collect the entries together and judge them similarly to the rankings various people have done. Judging will be based on things such as creativity, balance, practicality, etc, and each week the submissions will be averaged to create each entrant’s overall score. At the end of the process, the top two entries will be put up for the community to vote upon, with the winner receiving glory and a custom avatar/signature from me! Now for the premise of the first ever challenge:

THE BEST OFFENSE…
Is a good defense! The first Challenge Mini revolves around ways a character can defend themselves or otherwise play defensively. The catch however being that they must focus on the “5 types” of defense listed below.
EVASION
Put simply, the ability to not get hit at all. Evasion generally comes in two flavors: avoiding hits via movement/dodging, or blocking attacks with a shield/clash to stop it from hitting you. Arguably the best form of defense, evasion is also infamous for being black and white in that it either works or it does nothing.
NEGATION
Best visualized as “negative damage”, negation is subtracted from incoming damage. For example, a character with 3 negation subtracts 3 from all damage, turning 5 into 2, and leaving them immune to 3 and below.
RESISTANCE
Where the last entry provides a flat barrier against damage, resistance makes the damage itself smaller. For example, a character with 50% resists would turn 2 damage into 1, as well as 30 into 15.
ABSORPTION
This type is generally seen in overshields and such, and acts like a secondary HP for the character. There are a few varieties of this, but most common are regenerating shields and temporary boosts to the character’s max HP to let them take a few extra hits worry free. Many forms also carry bonuses or negatives based on the current amount of absorption, such as being stunned when it runs out!
HEALING
Last but not least, after all is said and done, why not just recover the HP you lost? Usually seen in bursts or regenerated over time, healing’s only downside is that it requires you to have gotten damaged to work!

WEEK 1:

THE PITCH

Create a central concept using only 2 of the 5 defenses listed, with one being a primary focus and the other being a weaker secondary. This will be the “hook” for your character’s playstyle down the road.

Submissions shouldn’t be too long, a paragraph should be fine. You should be able to get across what the defenses are and how exactly they use them.

  1. Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me by KholdStare
  2. Barbariccia Hair by Junahu
  3. Tiger Blood by Katapultar
  4. Rooting by Big Mac
  5. Nimble Fighter by Hyper Ridley
  6. Absorbing Guard by ForwardArrow
  7. Return Damage by Getocoolaid
  8. Shield and Amour by FrozenRoy
  9. Magic Shield by Smash Daddy
  10. Take a Knee by n88_2004

Results

WEEK 2:

CHARACTER CREATION

Using the concept created in Week1, create a character that will use the defensive measure in their gameplay. You must describe the general “archetype” your character will fill (tank/rushdown/whatever) and whether or not the defensive focus from last week plays a central or side-role to their playstyle, as well as the exact input the maneuver will have if it had an input.

You don’t have to -create- a character from scratch, a simple description of a character-type you had in mind be it a “knight” or “some type of earth elemental” would do. A bit more fleshed out than that however! Think of it as giving your concept a character to work off of this time around.

  1. The Monk by Getocoolaid
  2. The Pink Knight by FrozenRoy
  3. The Paladin by KholdStare
  4. Final Boss by Junahu
  5. Doppelganger by Smash Daddy
  6. Thunder Golem by Hyper_Ridley
  7. The Vigilante by n88_2004
  8. Crovault by Big Mac

Results

WEEK 3:

CHARACTERIZATION AND ENGINE

Now that you have a skeleton for a character, put some meat on it! This week is about giving the audience an idea of how your character behaves and moves about, so you’ll need to include the following:

  • A picture (if you haven’t already)
  • Stats
  • Walking, Running and Dash animations
  • Jump animations
  • Crouch / Idle animations
  • Any other animation you feel is relevant to portray your character

You may also want to flesh out your character a bit more in background and or description.

On top of this, you all collectively have a challenge: Submit a proposal for a global mechanic change / addition. This can be as simple as faster falling speed to having HP bars on top of normal smash KO mechanics. It is important you be careful with this proposal as the best ranked mechanic will be used as part of the engine from Week 4 onward! Keep in mind that this new feature will have to work well with all the other entrants as well as your own.

  1. The Monk by Getocoolaid
  2. Thunder Golem by Hyper_Ridley
  3. Desco by Junahu
  4. Doppelganger by Smash Daddy
  5. The Dark Knight by FrozenRoy
  6. The Vigilante by n88_2004
  7. Crovault Stats by Big Mac

Results

WEEK 4:

SPECIALS AND PLAYSTYLE

Your character has been approved! Now to move onto the fun part, their signature moves. This week you need to think up the following:

  • Neutral Special
  • Side Special
  • Up Special
  • Down Special
  • Their use of the SPECIAL MECHANIC (TBA)
  • Final Smash
  • A summary of their strategy/playstyle if you were to explain to someone why they would pick up / main your character

Be sure to try and supplement / create a playstyle with the specials only, with the other moves expanding on it later. You should also take care to look back on the core defensive ability you have for your character, and decide how it plays into their gameplay overall.

  1. Thunder Golem by Hyper_Ridley
  2. Bubble Witch Marin byUserShadow7989

WEEK 5:

Finals

The time has come for the final phase of the first Challenge Mini, and we have 2 entrants remaining! Seeing as they are the only two who got in their week 4 submissions, we will be skipping right to the final part.
Final Showdown:
VS
Each contestant will finish their sets and incorporate Shield Specials as stated by UserShadow. Once completed, the COMMUNITY will vote on who created the best set! As stated, the winner will get their pick of custom avatar, custom award on their avatar, or custom signature by your’s truly.
Things to look out for from voters:
  • Who used their defensive mechanic best?
  • Who used the community mechanic best?
  • Who had the cooler shield specials?
  • Which set had better overall ideas given the character?
  • Standard MYM things.
You have until next monday to get them done!
  1. Bubble Witch Marin by UserShadow7989

What do you think?