04-29-2011, 02:02 PM
i decided to finish it up here
here are some calculations/ideas, and btw, if you don't see a stat, that means it hasn't changed:
MOLD - no longer an AST, but a light version of the SHADOW (in all honesty, that's what the makers initially intended). it's weight will be the same, the precision will get a bit better, ammo the same, but ATK will go up like the SHADOW at 305 (i dont like 303 ATK). it will have the highest range of all rifles. it will probably stand as Mirage's most accurate rifle.
weight: 440
lock: SP
ATK: 305
ammo: 120
range: 520
firing int.: 30
damage/frame: 9.8387
damage pot.: 36,600
RA - since i'm OCD, and you know this since i changed SHADOW's ATK by 2 just for the heck of it, i cant see this thing being lighter than RA2, and i have no use for a rifle this heavy. so i thought to transpose the current RA2 over this:
weight: 530
ATK: 245
ammo: 180
range: 420
firing int.: 19
mag cap.: 15
mag reload: 120
damage/frame: 9.1646 (better than the current RA2)
damage pot.: 44,100
RA2 - ok, so since i copied this thing's original over RA, i decided to come up with a new AST. the idea for this thing came from a hybrid of ACFA's AR-O700 (so friggin cool looking) and MARVE qualities. high DPS (not the highest though, that goes to SHADOW and R3), somewhat light, good rof and ATK, but somewhat low on the ammo and damage potential ends of the equation. it's precision (and as a result, its accuracy) is slightly better than the other AST, save HITEN, so as to compensate somewhat for its ammo count.
weight: 425
ATK: 260
heat: 1755
ammo: 120
range: 395
firing int.: 17
mag cap.: 12
mag reload: 100
damage/frame: 10.4348
damage pot.: 31,200
GAST - basically, since this was the AST that was a two hander, i decided that it should be balanced in as many ways as possible. since i stole the 260 ATK for the new RA2 in order to achieve the DPS i needed, i thought of a way to reconcile both GAST's DPS and fixing it so that it had complete mag sets (150 ammo does NOT divide into 16 evenly!). yeah, and it has a standard window now too...this thing would actually be very good in the current meta - enough to make people that use RA2 think twice about their AST choice
weight: 446
ATK: 250
ammo: 160
range: 410
lock: standard
firing int.: 19
mag cap.: 16
mag reload: 108
damage/frame: 9.7799
damage pot.: 40,000
HITEN - the thought behind this one was similar to what FROM had envisioned: an AST that was designed almost purely for accuracy. HITEN currently has better precision AND velocity than all other rifles - AST and normal! it will remain this way, but the DPS will be improved a bit, and the weight reduced to make it more playable
weight: 470
ATK: 225
ammo: 130
range: 445
firing int.: 20
mag cap.: 10
mag reload: 70
damage/frame: 8.6538
damage pot.: 29,250
SPECTER - alright, this thing looks like a Crest rifle to me...and i'll describe it as such. this thing currently sucks - flat out sucks. as small as this thing is, it should be an ultra-light rifle. and of course, with the stat changes, i needed something to make it worthwhile, so i made it a hot rifle too...the accuracy on this thing is similar to normal Crest rifles.
CR-WL06R
compact model using a new, high-heat round. based on the CR-YWH05R3.
weight: 377
ATK: 270
ammo: 100 (can't change this in the coding, so it'll stay at 100)
heat: 2611
range: 430
firing int.: 25 or 26 (i'm thinking 26, but this may not be all that great; i'll be testing this baby out in my next hack)
damage/frame: 10.3846 or 10.0000
damage pot.: 27,000
-----
i feel i have to do some explanations here. from my experience overhauling other games, i can say this:
if you do too little...
-it wont affect gameplay practically at all, tiers will still remain the same
-you won't spark any new interest to play again
if you do too much...
-you'll find yourself re-balancing your re-balance! basically, it becomes hard to predict the shifts in power if you're not careful
-it becomes quite a time consumer
the things that need to be done
-there are many ways to skin a cat. by this i mean the best way to balance something isn't always balancing it directly, but indirectly (i.e. if you wanted everyone to have an extra optional, reduce the slot cost of the AMINO by 1 as EVERYONE uses it!)
-each part niche needs to be rewarding. hovers are not rewarding, that's why no one plays them seriously. this not only applies to frame parts, now. shotguns, for example, need to be awesome in their intended combat scenario, that is. FROM understood this, that's why bideps couldn't use cannons in LR. but we've seen in ACFA that this can be achieved without restricting them completely. the cannons available to bipeds would have to be noticeably inferior to restricted ones, like low damage potential, high drain, inefficiency (En weapons, like 6800 drain for a 1800 ATK shot), etc.
-parts that cross over into another part category's niche need to be carefully regulated. if you don't know what i mean, think of what DINGO/-2 and COUGAR2 midweight legs do to the competitive viability of lightweight designs. it truly is sad when you come up with a great LW design and find out that it would be better in the vast majority of ways simply by replacing whatever LW leg with DINGO2/COUGAR2...
-restricting tournament viable stages should be kept to a minimum. i remember seeing some list of restricted stages at ACO, and most of them were explained as being "too small," while non of them were restricted for being "too big." it appears that whoever came up with these intentionally/unintentionally engineered a meta that punishes CQC. it's hard enough to get in there to do damage with a rusher, but having a stage with too much room makes it really tough...for example, aqua hole was restricted and i have no clue why, as i think this stage is perfectly balanced in size (not necessarily geography, though...)
----
well, i guess i'll put some more ideas up another time
here are some calculations/ideas, and btw, if you don't see a stat, that means it hasn't changed:
MOLD - no longer an AST, but a light version of the SHADOW (in all honesty, that's what the makers initially intended). it's weight will be the same, the precision will get a bit better, ammo the same, but ATK will go up like the SHADOW at 305 (i dont like 303 ATK). it will have the highest range of all rifles. it will probably stand as Mirage's most accurate rifle.
weight: 440
lock: SP
ATK: 305
ammo: 120
range: 520
firing int.: 30
damage/frame: 9.8387
damage pot.: 36,600
RA - since i'm OCD, and you know this since i changed SHADOW's ATK by 2 just for the heck of it, i cant see this thing being lighter than RA2, and i have no use for a rifle this heavy. so i thought to transpose the current RA2 over this:
weight: 530
ATK: 245
ammo: 180
range: 420
firing int.: 19
mag cap.: 15
mag reload: 120
damage/frame: 9.1646 (better than the current RA2)
damage pot.: 44,100
RA2 - ok, so since i copied this thing's original over RA, i decided to come up with a new AST. the idea for this thing came from a hybrid of ACFA's AR-O700 (so friggin cool looking) and MARVE qualities. high DPS (not the highest though, that goes to SHADOW and R3), somewhat light, good rof and ATK, but somewhat low on the ammo and damage potential ends of the equation. it's precision (and as a result, its accuracy) is slightly better than the other AST, save HITEN, so as to compensate somewhat for its ammo count.
weight: 425
ATK: 260
heat: 1755
ammo: 120
range: 395
firing int.: 17
mag cap.: 12
mag reload: 100
damage/frame: 10.4348
damage pot.: 31,200
GAST - basically, since this was the AST that was a two hander, i decided that it should be balanced in as many ways as possible. since i stole the 260 ATK for the new RA2 in order to achieve the DPS i needed, i thought of a way to reconcile both GAST's DPS and fixing it so that it had complete mag sets (150 ammo does NOT divide into 16 evenly!). yeah, and it has a standard window now too...this thing would actually be very good in the current meta - enough to make people that use RA2 think twice about their AST choice
weight: 446
ATK: 250
ammo: 160
range: 410
lock: standard
firing int.: 19
mag cap.: 16
mag reload: 108
damage/frame: 9.7799
damage pot.: 40,000
HITEN - the thought behind this one was similar to what FROM had envisioned: an AST that was designed almost purely for accuracy. HITEN currently has better precision AND velocity than all other rifles - AST and normal! it will remain this way, but the DPS will be improved a bit, and the weight reduced to make it more playable
weight: 470
ATK: 225
ammo: 130
range: 445
firing int.: 20
mag cap.: 10
mag reload: 70
damage/frame: 8.6538
damage pot.: 29,250
SPECTER - alright, this thing looks like a Crest rifle to me...and i'll describe it as such. this thing currently sucks - flat out sucks. as small as this thing is, it should be an ultra-light rifle. and of course, with the stat changes, i needed something to make it worthwhile, so i made it a hot rifle too...the accuracy on this thing is similar to normal Crest rifles.
CR-WL06R
compact model using a new, high-heat round. based on the CR-YWH05R3.
weight: 377
ATK: 270
ammo: 100 (can't change this in the coding, so it'll stay at 100)
heat: 2611
range: 430
firing int.: 25 or 26 (i'm thinking 26, but this may not be all that great; i'll be testing this baby out in my next hack)
damage/frame: 10.3846 or 10.0000
damage pot.: 27,000
-----
i feel i have to do some explanations here. from my experience overhauling other games, i can say this:
if you do too little...
-it wont affect gameplay practically at all, tiers will still remain the same
-you won't spark any new interest to play again
if you do too much...
-you'll find yourself re-balancing your re-balance! basically, it becomes hard to predict the shifts in power if you're not careful
-it becomes quite a time consumer
the things that need to be done
-there are many ways to skin a cat. by this i mean the best way to balance something isn't always balancing it directly, but indirectly (i.e. if you wanted everyone to have an extra optional, reduce the slot cost of the AMINO by 1 as EVERYONE uses it!)
-each part niche needs to be rewarding. hovers are not rewarding, that's why no one plays them seriously. this not only applies to frame parts, now. shotguns, for example, need to be awesome in their intended combat scenario, that is. FROM understood this, that's why bideps couldn't use cannons in LR. but we've seen in ACFA that this can be achieved without restricting them completely. the cannons available to bipeds would have to be noticeably inferior to restricted ones, like low damage potential, high drain, inefficiency (En weapons, like 6800 drain for a 1800 ATK shot), etc.
-parts that cross over into another part category's niche need to be carefully regulated. if you don't know what i mean, think of what DINGO/-2 and COUGAR2 midweight legs do to the competitive viability of lightweight designs. it truly is sad when you come up with a great LW design and find out that it would be better in the vast majority of ways simply by replacing whatever LW leg with DINGO2/COUGAR2...
-restricting tournament viable stages should be kept to a minimum. i remember seeing some list of restricted stages at ACO, and most of them were explained as being "too small," while non of them were restricted for being "too big." it appears that whoever came up with these intentionally/unintentionally engineered a meta that punishes CQC. it's hard enough to get in there to do damage with a rusher, but having a stage with too much room makes it really tough...for example, aqua hole was restricted and i have no clue why, as i think this stage is perfectly balanced in size (not necessarily geography, though...)
----
well, i guess i'll put some more ideas up another time
