Messages

61

Events / Re: Cutstuff Community Classes Contest #2

« on: April 27, 2014, 02:44:35 AM »

My thoughts about the classes:

Treo: What the hell is Treo's weakness? Also his second bar recharges way too fast; you can just tees for days.
TankSnail: He's completely gimped by his weakness. It's also really gimmicky and not very well executed imo. Alas, it's actually one of the few actually noticeable weaknesses.
Knux: Bubble jousting. Bubble arrows. Bubble mines. He's all around fun, but his weakness isn't nearly as noticeable as it should be.
Tsuyoi: Another class with a weakness which gimps him to death. He needs to be able to hit things...
Vis: ...OK, the functioning LeBlanc jump scores you some points imo. And you can easily tell what this class's weakness is supposed to be.
Awadphec: More melee classes! ...Standing still for longer than a few seconds is kind of a death sentence in this game, especially on a close-range class, and I'm not entirely sure the attacks really justify it.
Crystal Maiden Deer: ...The second crystal wall should have
Zangief: Jax gets points for spectacular animations and actually having a noticeable weakness of melee + self-stun, then loses them for other questionable design decisions. Seriously, 70-damage AoE Atomic Buster that renders him basically untouchable? Mad sprint that moves at Chargeman speed for 30 damage and disorientation? Flying Zangief?
Zard: ...Patchouli taught me the hard way that "find cover" isn't exactly a viable answer to the question "how do I dodge this attack?". Let's just leave it at that.

And finally the explanation that no one was really looking for:

Juri: Gummy you messed up the painstates how could you. I do admit that the Paranoia Creepers ended up being on the silly side, though that was partly because the idea came to me halfway through development. Basically, the class's weakness was supposed to be that she would have to be in battle a lot to keep herself from taking extra damage and she had to set up her big damage attacks by stacking roaches on people. Of course, the roaches ended up being the most obnoxious thing in the universe. The roaches were originally supposed to fly at targets and boomerang back after a few seconds, but I had the idea of homing search snakes and I couldn't pass it up...

62

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: April 09, 2014, 07:10:15 PM »

...Wow I didn't even see the really obvious pun there.

The original intent was supposed to be more along the lines of "troll harder scrub" directed at the bugs.
Of course, it kind of works both ways considering she's sentient data, but idk.

63

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: April 09, 2014, 07:10:36 AM »

woo 3AM writing spree

The following profiles have been updated:
- Annette Navya (again, though the changes are very subtle)
- Sarah Navya (who needs to be put on the front page)

64

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: March 20, 2014, 05:07:48 PM »

The following profiles have been updated:
- Annette Navya
- Celeste Alaron

65

General Gaming Discussion / Re: Guild Quest ~ discussion [OOC, signups, "devlog", etc]

« on: March 16, 2014, 04:14:21 AM »

GuildQuest is finally actually coming to Cutstuff
Get hyped
[/reallylatepost]

66

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: March 12, 2014, 03:21:59 AM »

Annette, Juliana, Juri, Katrina, and Lucy exist.

I generally put my adult/young adult characters in their 20's or low 30's because it's young enough that they can be energetic and in fighting shape without being a little kid. But yeah, I do agree I should probably broaden my age range a bit, and figure out how to write a male character who isn't either a raging stereotype or my author avatar.

67

Projects & Creative / Re: TMK4's Workshop (Saxton Hale Rebirth v1a Official Releas

« on: March 12, 2014, 02:48:13 AM »

Oh hey, feedback.

Rage Idea 1: Mrs. Beakley

The first rage honestly seems to favor the players more than Scrooge. Maybe one of the other rages you listed might be better...
This one was more done out of "what would make the most sense in-universe", and the "players can grab it" mechanic was an attempt to balance what is otherwise potentially one of the most potent healing rages in the game. Not really surprised by the "iffy" reaction; I wasn't sure if it would get received well myself after I typed it up.


Rage Idea 2: M-Coin

This kind of sounds like an improved version of one of Saxton Hale's old rages (there was a time his rage made him unable to take damage). The only thing really creative about this is the name of the rage. Next one...
Also an attempt to make something that makes sense with the game of origin. It's based on the invincibility pickup from Ducktales, and everything after that part was just me trying to make it not terribly generic.

Rage Idea 3: The Five Treasures

Now we're talking. This sounds pretty good for a rage, though probably a bit tricky to program. If this rage ends up getting accepted, I'll probably ask for some help on this rage, since my knowledge of Decorate and behaviors is limited. At least unlike a majority of the rages requested for bosses that I have reviewed already, this actually sounds useful. What about the last one?
Ironically enough, this is the rage I like the least. It doesn't really make sense in canon and doesn't really seem all that interesting apart from the initial "OH SHIN SPLINTS IT'S DRACULA DUCK." Apart from that, he's not all that interesting; it's a guy who warps around and shoots bats at people randomly. ...Woo.


Rage Idea 4: Gizmoduck

Not quite as useful as the third rage, but I think if this gets accepted, this might be a good enough rage to improve a bit and put it among the greatest of rages (as in equal to Gilgamesh's and Dio Flash's rages).
This is probably the one that I liked the most out of these, actually. Just imagine Gizmoduck getting plopped down in an open stage and everyone desperately trying to flee and find cover from the hail of death missiles...

Thanks for the feedback! I'll post again if I come up with anything else.

68

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: March 12, 2014, 02:28:30 AM »

Oh hey I actually made this profile.
Le gasp.

(click to show/hide)

Sarah Navya
"Just because I performed ONE unplanned test doesn't mean you have free reign to touch my stuff. Now stop before I force you to."

Appearance: A human woman (appears to be in her early twenties) with fair (typically even a bit pale) skin, long brown hair, and matching brown eyes. Even in the community, she tends to wear her lab attire, consisting of a labcoat embroidered with the Fusion Labs logo, a white shirt, tan dress pants, and orange boots. Typically seen carrying a memo pad and pencil in case an idea strikes her out of the blue.

Personality: Matter-of-fact, straightforward, pulls no punches. Generally doesn't sugar-coat anything, but very good at giving criticism and instruction. Despite this, she tends to also be very whimsical, imaginative, and (most importantly) curious at heart, willing to take risks and try new things if it means making the next big advancement. May or may not have a crush on her employer, and frequently tries to impress him with her designs, though he hasn't exactly picked up on it yet.

Backstory: A recent graduate of the Cutopian Grand University of Science and the Arts (also known as the "Q-Niversity" to some thanks to a sponsorship from TGOT Inc. during its construction), Sarah is one of Fusion Labs's most recent hires. Her great knowledge of the art of digital construction and her powerful drive netted her an unofficial status as "second-in-command" despite the company not really having a very strict hierarchy. She's been the head behind a variety of projects, the most important of which was the internally infamous "Project Victor." The other researchers admire and fear her ambition, waiting quietly for the moment when something she does goes terribly, terribly wrong...

Weapons/Other Abilities:

Portable Digital Construction Gauntlets - Despite its name, the PDCGs, often reffered to by others as "Digi-Gloves," typically take the appearance of a leather glove, though the hardware for them can be put in any similar clothing item. One of Sarah's proudest accomplishments, they have become a mainstay in the Fusion Labs toolkit. The Digi-Gloves are outfitted with an array of sensors that detect the user's nerve impulses and hand motions, allowing the user to control them quickly and easily as a portable digital construction platform. Sarah has become proficient enough to wield a pair of these potent multi-tools, each outfitted with a potent fusion core and the latest in memory storage, making them both incredibly useful and incredibly dangerous if put in the wrong hands.

Sarah stores a wide variety of scripts on her Digi-Gloves, of which several are listed below:
> Data Catcher - Sarah throws out a net which binds itself around the target, yanking them towards her. She typically uses it to stop unruly experiments and researchers, though the potential whiplash risk keeps her from using it too often.
> Rapid Restraint - Sarah compiles chains that coil at her target's feet, binding them fast to the spot where they stand. She can also use these to bind multiple people together if she can aim the shot properly. This script is fairly taxing on her resources, often enough to completely burn out the glove that uses it until it can fully recharge.
> Data Hammer - Sarah combines the power in both gloves to compile a massive hammer that smashes down on a location in front of her. The immense drain this script causes means she typically doesn't use it unless it's necessary.
> Helper Sprite - A script given to her by "a friend", creates one of a small assortment of allies that Sarah can command to do simple tasks. They aren't very combat-worthy, but it's good to have an extra hand now and again. She hates how ridiculous some of the "sprites" look, though, and frequently contemplates altering the code to fit her style more.
> True Fusion Bomb - An experimental script that arose during a lab brainstorm, and was deemed too potent for actual use. Sarah throws a bomb that creates a miniature black hole, pulling anyone and anything close to it towards its center before exploding. Sarah keeps the script around "just in case", but she doesn't typically use it for fear of what havoc she could cause with it.
> Experiments - Sarah typically keeps a small allotment of prototypes and whatnot on her glove, meaning she has a script for pretty much any situation. Whether or not these scripts actually work properly when they need to is another matter entirely, however.

Inventor's Spirit - Sarah is constantly trying to develop new things, even outside the realm of digital construction. Give her a few tools and a pile of scrap metal and spare parts, and she'll be a happy lady.

Other:
- Sarah is generally very gentle in combat, preferring to disarm or disable as opposed to going straight for her foe's throat. However, if she snaps, don't expect her to abide by her normal stance on lethal force. Or ethics of any kind, for that matter.

Wait what's this

(click to show/hide)

Sarah's Inventions
Yes, I'm giving these their own section, since these can (and probably will) change possession fairly frequently.

Mercury Unit - Designed for rapid personal transportation, the Mercury Personal Electromagnetic Propulsion System is a pair of boots outfitted with special circuitry that, when the heels are clicked, causes them to emit an electromagnetic field that pushes the user a few inches off the ground. This allows for near-frictionless movement that can reach surprisingly high speeds if controlled properly. Clicking the heels again allows the user to turn them off, returning them to the ground, a useful feature considering their battery life can be measured in minutes. Currently owned by Annette Navya.

Hydra Unit - This special harness was designed as a multi-tool for Sarah's inner mad scientist. The harness can be outfitted with a variety of "heads", metallic tendrils of various lengths and shapes that the user can control through a nerve impulse recognition system that allows the user to communicate with the "heads" mentally. These heads include gripping arms, cutters, beam cannons, and various other implements of varying levels of safety. She occasionally uses it to give herself a prehensile tail, partly because it's useful and partly for the hell of it. Currently owned by Sarah Navya.

Datakeeper - One of Sarah's simpler inventions, the Datakeeper was originally intended to be used for keeping her work and notes in line. In essence, the design is a cross between a tablet and a clipboard, allowing her to keep her physical and digital data in one place. Over time, she slowly made the thing more complex; it now contains a scanner for quick digitization of forms, a 3D camera and microphone for quick capturing of data, and even a small decorator for quick proof-of-concept compilations. However, the Datakeeper went missing mysteriously one night, though Sarah wasn't particularly bothered by its disappearance.

69

Projects & Creative / Re: TMK4's Workshop (Saxton Hale Rebirth v1a Official Releas

« on: March 11, 2014, 02:59:58 AM »

OK, my biggest complaint is one that I've mentioned a few times already:

Scrooge's Rage is bad and should not exist.

A few proposals for its replacement:

Rage Idea 1: Mrs. Beakley
"Mrs. Beakley?! What are you doing here?!" Mrs. Beakley teleports in, then throws out three items, randomly selected from the list below. Each one can be picked up by either the big duck himself or by a player, and the effects vary.

(click to show/hide)

Ice Cream Cone - The most common one. Scrooge has a small portion of his health refilled (About 10 per remaining player?). Players have 50 HP filled, up to a maximum of 200 if you eat enough.
Cake - Big and tasty. Scrooge heals a decent portion of his health (About 25 per remaining player?). Players gain 100 HP, up to a maximum of 200 if you eat enough.
M-Coin - Ooh, shiny! Scrooge becomes invulnerable temporarily and moves slightly faster. Players gain the same effect.
Scrooge Doll - Now with cane swinging action! Scrooge gains a temporary allotment of health based on the remaining number of players, which causes him to feign death and teleport when it's depleted. Players automatically go to 200 HP and feign death and teleport when the first 100 is depleted.
Ruby - Where did she find this?! Scrooge is refunded 25% of his rage bar. Players have their held weapon completely refilled.
Heart Container - It's so pretty... Scrooge heals a great amount (About 50 per remaining player?). Players gain 100 HP, up to a maximum of 300 if you're somehow lucky enough.
Treasure - One of the Five Treasures. Incredibly low chance of spawning, but it doesn't actually do anything of relevance. It's shiny, though.

Rage Idea 2: M-Coin
Scrooge picks up an M-Coin, causing him to be enveloped in energy. Scrooge is invulnerable while this is active, and moves slightly faster than normal. In addition, his cane swings and pogo lose their "error margin," becoming instant kills regardless of whether or not the duck scores a direct hit.

Rage Idea 3: The Five Treasures
Scrooge reveals the Five Treasures, summoning the great Count Dracula Duck to aid him. Drake has health equal to about half his master's current amount, and a duration of about 30 seconds before he vanishes in a flash of bats. The Count summons bats that move erratically towards players, teleports around the arena, and swoops down on players who dare venture too close.

Rage Idea 4: Gizmoduck
Scrooge summons Fenton and his glorious Gizmoduck suit! After putting on the suit in a blur of energy, Gizmoduck unloads fast-moving missile payloads upon any man foolish enough to wander into his line of sight. These missiles have great target tracking and explode on impact, dealing enough damage to level a player if they make contact. ...There's also a very small chance that the suit will drop a slow-moving, non-homing nuke or a pair of boxers that float down harmlessly instead of the normal missile, but don't count on either happening with any frequency. Gizmoduck has about 25% of his employer's health at time of summoning and will automatically beam away after 30 seconds of service.

70

Events / Re: Cutstuff Community Classes Contest #2

« on: March 02, 2014, 04:58:31 AM »

Ironically enough, I was planning for another theme and it still fits
Mark me down for this round!

71

Events / Re: Cutstuff Community Classes Contest #1 [DONE]

« on: February 28, 2014, 02:21:48 AM »

An additional note for people still complaining about "But it's not an ice class":

Be glad I didn't submit my idea to the competition
It was half ice, half fire.
And it was also pretty spectacularly generic to boot.

72

Events / Re: Cutstuff Community Classes Contest #1 [DONE]

« on: February 28, 2014, 01:58:02 AM »

To be honest, I'm not especially happy with the fact Smash got a medal either; I had Mech Unit Beta towards the bottom of my list of everyone, yet it seems to be rather popular among many of the other Cutstuff members. To be honest, this round was sort of a trial run and the judging rules were sort of made up on the spot. We're currently discussing how said rules will work for next round, but I'm not calling to upturn the decision.

As for Mech Unit Beta not being an ice class, I'd like to point to Weavile and Weo Weo Ice. (Also a little bit at Adara, though as previously mentioned there's arguments that can be easily made for her.)

Also, in interest of full disclosure, Smash gave himself his third place vote. The other point came from Korby.

Honestly I'm displeased with ANY of the classes winning a medal.

I know we're all entitled to our own opinion, and I admit that some of the entries were... far from stellar, but I don't see your name on the contestants list, so I'm unsure you have a right to call out every single contestant. If you think you can do better, join the next one. I'd be interested in seeing what you can come up with.

73

Events / Re: Cutstuff Community Classes Contest #1 [DONE]

« on: February 27, 2014, 06:28:46 AM »

Thanks to everyone who submitted classes! Even if you didn't make the top three, you all provided us with some entertainment and some really interesting class designs!

Congratulations to Rui for your first place finish! Who knew singing and ice could fit together so well? I'll be looking forward to see her in action in CSCC!

Congratulations to Kapus for your second place finish! Freon was certainly an interesting class and I'd love to see her fixed up and added to CSCC as well!

An honorable mention should go out to Woohoo and his spectacular Weavile class that almost made the runner-up position! Sorry, man, but Uki's siege tank mechanics made the choice kind of hard, and I ultimately ended up going with him. If I had another third place slot, you would have gone right in with him!

Special thanks to JaxOf7 and his Frost Walrus for reviving my interest in making Cutstuff All-Stars Racing!

Special thanks to Daveregis for reminding us how it's easy to make a class too complicated and situational without realizing it! If you are going to submit this to CSCC, I'd recommend making the item trigger a bit easier to understand by making its range a little less oddly specific. Otherwise, it's not bad overall; it just needs a little fine-tuning!

Special thanks to Lego for reminding us how not every idea works out as intended on the first try! Bozu was certainly an interesting concept, so I'm sorry to see that it didn't exactly work out well in practice. A bit of work and some more testing, and he could turn into something awesome!

Special thanks to Wengar for somehow making a class that both does and doesn't fit the theme, and reminding us that you don't need to spam to make a class that's at least playable! I would prefer if you actually stuck to the theme a bit more closely, though. The Cat Planet shenanigans made the class a little hard to take seriously.

Special thanks to KirbySonic1 and his Ice Mage class for reminding us why charge times are a dangerous toy to play with. Word of Advice: Instakills should be reserved for weapons that require a bit more effort to use, and having to run around for 7 seconds doesn't exactly excuse that. Keep trying; class design is an art form that takes a little bit of trial and error!

74

Anything Goes / Re: Character Catalog

« on: February 24, 2014, 03:05:54 AM »

I originally intended for this to be a civilian
then ideas started flying through my head
so here have a thing

(click to show/hide)

Juri Kitai
"They don't bother me at all... as long as I make sure to feed them once in a while... They don't like it when I don't feed them..."

Appearance: A young woman (appears to be in her late highschool or early college years) with tanned skin, brown hair, and eyes that seem to shift color with the light. Most frequently seen in a navy blue maid uniform, as required by her job, though her "casual" fashion is quite similarly frilly and (occasionally) ridiculous in nature. Wears a pair of round, thin-rimmed glasses for her eyesight; she's legally blind without them.

Personality: Normally very reserved, yet tends to be rather volatile. Tends to sway between periods of quiet calm and periods of intense anxiety and flightiness, seemingly at random. While calm, she isn't very sociable, tending to be a bit pessimistic and even a tad grim. Many of the other maids tend to avoid her when she's in her panicked state, as her bitter and resentful personality in said state tends to wear on the spirits of those around her...

Backstory: A poor girl from a poor family, Juri was forced to work at a young age to provide for her family and has thus been in the cleaning business since she was able to hold a mop. Having held a wide variety of strange and wonderful contracts throughout her years, she's one of Cutopia's most experienced and skilled maids, a fact which got her hired into the Ampere Manor very quickly. It is unknown when or where she picked up her... stranger habits, but her fluctuating mood doesn't appear to get in the way of her work, so Elena has kept her around despite her odd behavior.

Weapons/Abilities:

Apprentice - Juri was once under the employ of a great magician, and picked up a few of the old man's secrets. Unfortunately, she never got very far in her studies, meaning she is hardly competent in the art of spellcrafting.

Creepy Crawlies - Juri may not be very potent on her own, but she does have a secret weapon. Juri has a small army of roachlike bugs that follow her around, often hitching rides in her pockets and on the underside of her skirt when they're not supposed to be seen. Apart from the normal advantages of being small, semi-intelligent creatures (about the size of their owner's hand), these bugs have a few nasty tricks. Their most commonly-used ability is a limited mind-reading; while perched on a person's head, the bug can gather the target's deepest fears and insecurities. Second, the bugs can telepathically communicate with a person they are perched upon; they frequently use this ability to incite fear in their foes using whispers of the images they've gathered. Third, the bugs can feed on negative emotion, gaining energy when perched upon someone who is depressed, angered, or frightened.

Other:
- Juri would much rather hide the pests that surround her, though when she does discuss them she refers to them as if they were pets.
- Through a combination of having to deal with less than ideal working conditions and occasional feedback from her insectoid friends, Juri is a bit masochistic, ignoring and sometimes reveling in any pain she receives. Whether the reaction is genuine or not is unknown, but it causes Elena a bit of unease regardless.
- Annette is strangely unaffected by the bugs' influence. In fact, Annette tends to burst into uncontrollable laughing fits when wearing a bug. Any potential reason for this behavior is still unknown.

75

Anything Goes / Re: The Cutopian Writers' Guild

« on: February 18, 2014, 06:33:18 AM »

Oh shit this one's old
I should probably post it though

Written at some point during Cutstuff War 2

Initiation Starring Celeste Alaron and Elena Ampere
(WARNING: Intense Violence and Torture Trigger Warning.)

(click to show/hide)

Celeste sighed. It was nice to get fresh air every once in a while, especially when it meant getting away from that Oshiro fellow. He drove her crazy; couldn't he have at least a little respect for her, considering she was the most competent member of his forces? He just treated her like an intern, a job which she utterly resented. She was too important to be stuck doing the doctor's busywork, anyhow-

Something caught her ankle. The world seemed to stop in place. Celeste's entire body went numb.

A sudden jerk awoke her once again, flinging her into the alleyway. The motion loosed the mage's crystal ball from under her robes, sending it clattering down the alleyway. Celeste found herself in a strange embrace. Her mind was too clouded with confusion to think clearly.

“Celeste Alaron... Just the girl I wanted to see...”

Celeste felt herself be tossed aside yet again. Her head struck a wall. She fell to the ground, clutching it in pain. What the hell was going on?!

The figure stood over her. The shadows of the alleyway concealed her appearance, and the immense pain didn't help the situation. “I was just looking for you so I could give you a little... 'initiation.'”

Celeste began to panic. She didn't like the sound of this “initiation” at all. She held her hand up, chanting a spell in her head. Her hand began to glow as she mustered up as much power as she-

CRUNCH.

Celeste's focus scattered to the winds. She cringed in intense pain, holding back a scream. Her assailant grinned maniacally, her boot rubbing itself into the star child's ankle. “I'm sorry, my dear. You don't get a say in the matter.”

Celeste tried again. It was the only thing she could do, the only way to get out of this situation. All she had to do was just cast one spell, and she would have a chance.

“You're a persistent little twerp, aren't you...”

CRUNCH.

Celeste grit her teeth as her other ankle met the same fate as the first. The spell fizzled, the agonizing pain shattering the mage's concentration. “Try it again. I dare you.”

Celeste wasn't sure what to do. She prayed to the stars for guidance, for help, for something. She couldn't cast a spell, for fear that her wrists would be the next to be broken. She had to think of something...

The Will of the Universe! Her only hope was to reach the end of the alley. She would have to be careful not to make it obvious what she was doing; she was sure to be punished even further for this. She started to slowly slide herself over...

Celeste felt something strike her on the cheek. She collapsed to the ground, her body going numb briefly.

CRUNCH.

Celeste fought tears once again as her hand was crushed under her assailant's boot. This time, it was unsuccessful. She began to whimper in pain. What have I gotten myself into? I should never have left the lab... I'm such an idiot...

CRUNCH.

The horrid sound echoed in her head. With it, the last of her hope shattered. She was stuck at the mercy of the horrid devil standing over her. There was nothing left for her. She laid on the ground, crying in pain, praying that by some miracle she would be saved.

“Are you having fun down there? C'mon, stand up!”

Celeste felt something coil around her neck, pulling her upright. She cried out in pain, her whole body crushing her already-injured ankles. She collapsed onto her back, her head striking the pavement. She wept uncontrollably. She begged the stars to save her from this fate. She didn't deserve this. No one did.

“How does it feel, kid? How does it feel to be hopeless, defenseless, searching for a mercy you'll never find?”

The figure raised her whip. Celeste closed her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks. The blows bounced off her. They were nothing compared to the pain she was already in, yet at the same time they hurt more than anything. She couldn't stop them. She had to just sit here and suffer. She begged. She pleaded.

Her prayer reached her lips. “Make it stop...”

The demon stopped, stunned. “...Well, well, well, our little star child here can speak! Tell me, how does it feel to be stuck with nothing left? How does it feel to be completely without control?”

Celeste cried. She couldn't do anything else.

“Well? Answer the question. It's not polite to ignore someone.”

Celeste said nothing. She didn't have the strength.

The figure laughed. “Let me give you a little advice, kid; sooner or later, you're going to be in this exact same situation, whether you want to or not.” The devil leaned closer. Celeste started to whimper in fear. “I haven't even shown you the worst that can happen, either. There are people who will torture you in ways no living being should ever be. There are people who will view you as nothing more than a toy or a tool, something to use however they see fit. If you're not ready to face that fact, if you don't think you can handle being unimportant, if you don't think you can handle being treated as less than human, as less than animal, even, then pack up your pretty little ball and leave now. This isn't the place for you.”

The figure stood up and turned away. “If you can, however, then welcome to the war.”