1. I know this was discussed before, but since Jax recently mentioned changing the game mode to TLMS, what are your thoughts if this change is going to be made?
Sounds good. Maybe we can have homing weapons that actually target the boss now.
2. It's common knowledge now that Hyper Saxton and ++ are merging. I have considered myself adding a few of ++'s hales to Rebirth. What hales/features should be merged in from ++, or should we even bring anything from Hyper/++ into Rebirth at all?
I'm not very familiar with Hyper apart from the fact that it has a Hitler hale that I reeeeeeally don't like as a character idea. As for ++, here are my thoughts on each of the added bosses:
Remilia Scarlet:
I'm fine with the character idea, but in terms of gameplay, she's not particularly special (apart from being absurdly fast). However, I'm not necessarily opposed to adding her just because she would be another melee boss. With some tweaking (and preferably some form of her actual theme music), I think she'd fit in well enough.
The Unknown Robot Master:
Eh, I guess the character idea is okay. His gameplay concept isn't bad either, though his rage seems fairly lackluster. I'd be fine with having him in, though there's still some room for improvement.
Dio Flash:
I'm not familiar with the character myself, so I'm not sure what to think of his presence in the mod. In gameplay, Dio's unique normal attack is somewhat interesting, but his rage is incredibly cheap and does not add to the gameplay. Players should at least have a chance to try to avoid a rage attack, not just be completely helpless while Dio goes on a killing spree (assuming the random spread of knives goes where he wants it to). I wouldn't be averse to seeing him added to the roster, but he definitely needs some work first.
Dawn of Moodkipz:
Absolutely awful character idea; every appearance of this boss is met with a chorus of groans from the players. Gameplay is...okay. That is, until Treecko shows up and starts constantly healing the boss. This gets especially obnoxious if Mudkip decides to start hiding from the survivors while Treecko builds up its health. And as if that weren't enough, Treecko can sometimes spawn in a wall, becoming an essentially invincible source of constant healing. If any boss deserves to get the boot, it's this one.
The Genesis Unit:
Probably the best character idea so far; they're from the Mega Man universe, after all. The ambitious idea of having a trio of bosses with completely different play styles holds plenty of potential; unfortunately, the execution is rather lackluster. Playing as Mega Water S is downright boring on most maps; in between shield renewals (which is all Mega Water S is really good for) you can try to push people into Hyper Storm H, but it's very unreliable. His rage isn't particularly helpful either, and usually just gets him killed. With Buster Rod G often dying early due to his extreme frailty, it falls to Hyper Storm H to pick up the slack, and while he can be a fairly effective killing machine, his extreme durability (especially if Mega Water S shields him) and the fact that he's too big to fit into certain areas can cause marathon matches sometimes.
Slender Man:
I don't think anyone is particularly impressed with the character idea, and the "run away to win" gameplay is generally disliked as well. Probably not worth keeping at this point; we have better boss ideas at our disposal.
Pissed-Off Roll:
Personally, I never liked the character idea. Roll is already part of MM8BDM as a normal character (and besides that, I just can't take anything with "Pissed-Off" as part of its official name seriously). Opinion seems to be sharply divided among other characters whether she's a good character to have or not, but beyond that, her gameplay manages to be dull even by Saxton clone melee boss standards. Her rage is particularly uninteresting, doing very little beyond increasing her health pool in a slightly different way. To me, there doesn't seem to be anything about her that's worth saving; I wouldn't miss her if she were cut from the roster.
4. Any other possible ideas you want to see implemented? Rebirth is meant to be a revamp of Saxton Hale, so if there's anything that would help set the mod apart from other Saxton Hale mods, we will consider them.
There are a couple things that I've mentioned in server chats before that I'd like to elaborate on a bit.
The first thing is the rage system. Rebirth switched it from being based on number of hits to being based on damage. However, I prefer the old system because I feel that it creates a better balance among your various weapons, encouraging you to use the one appropriate to the situation. With a per-hit rage system, the usefulness of a weapon that deals out a lot of low-damage hits (good for rebuffing the boss's approach) is counterbalanced by the amount of rage it builds, while weapons that deal a lot of damage per hit (which tend to have a lower rate of fire, making them more unwieldy) are good for keeping the boss's rage low. However, when you switch over to a purely damage-based system, that balance goes out the window, and there's no longer any reason to use, say, Thunder Bolt instead of Yamato Spear. As far as I can see, the damage tracking doesn't have to be linked to the boss's rage buildup, so I'm really hoping a rage system like the old one can be used instead.
The other issue is (of course) classes. I don't believe that adding classes of any kind to this mod will inevitably wreck the gameplay balance. (Remember, TF2 itself, the game from which the Saxton Hale mod originated, is class-based.) I've been told that Silversin's classes are being brought back in some form, which I think is a good place to start. I have a few ideas of my own regarding the classes that I've probably mentioned in server chats before:
1. Add a melee-only class (a "Brawler," if you will). Getting up close and personal with the boss is always risky and goes against the usual survivor strategy, so I think this could make for a unique play style. In order to be effective, they should have a bit more mobility than the average class (probably between the normal class and the Speedster) so they can catch bosses who would be inclined to keep their distance (such as Morshu) and they should deal more damage than normal (to balance out the risk inherent in their fighting style). This would allow them to fill the role of glass cannons, capable of dealing a lot of damage quickly, but at considerable risk to themselves.
2. Make each class receive a different set of (copy) weapons. This is the only way to have a melee-only class like I've proposed above, and would also be important for Supporters. Supporters should receive weapons that will aid them in crippling the boss (such as Flash Stopper, Time Slow, and Spark Shock) and possibly have the ability to produce health and weapon energy instead of weapons, allowing them to fill an actual support role in combat instead of just being a glorified Eddie who mostly hides from the boss. Tanks could receive power and/or explosive weapons, Speedsters could receive rapid-fire weapons, and the normal class could just receive a balanced set as usual.
3. Since bosses with non-lethal attacks seem to be increasingly common now, it may be wise to give the different classes other than the Tank varying levels of durability. The Speedster would probably be the least durable, with the Brawler falling in between the Speedster and the normal class in durability. The Supporter probably would be either on par with the normal class or only slightly less durable or mobile.
As for features that could make it different...How about people getting an item to use the next round if they do well enough? This idea isn't completely original as I saw it in Super Demon, but it's still something I've never seen in Saxton Hale before. The items could be stuff like extra health that passed the maximum capacity, a special weapon, and other little goodies that increase their chances of surviving.
I would add a stipulation that if you do manage to earn such a bonus, the requirements in the following round for you to earn a bonus again should be more demanding to compensate for the fact that the bonus you've been given will help you to a certain extent. The bonus shouldn't create a runaway effect where whoever becomes MVP will be given such an advantage that it's difficult for the other players to catch up and become MVP themselves.
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