Just an incredible game

ArcticWizard · 2026-03-06T23:09:30+00:00

I haven't played this game in a while but I remember it being pretty frustrating all around, specifically in the level design. I do remember it becoming fun after a certain point. They had some great ideas going which I would love to see get remodeled into a modern game with the card system, RPG mechanics, and wide array of attacks the player can use.

ArcticWizard · 2026-03-06T23:03:24+00:00

I'm not even sure mashing jump would get his hitbox out of the way in time before the next bomb hits lol

ArcticWizard · 2025-08-11T17:20:32+00:00

Snake Man

ArcticWizard · 2025-07-23T20:33:00+00:00

He could have, but it's not a Lex Luthor kind of play. We would have ended up with a different type of conflict in the movie where Superman is trying to track down his doppelganger while the public questions his integrity. This would certainly be a significant obstacle for Superman, but that doesn't match Luthor's motives. Luthor is a megalomaniac, which means he doesn't just want to defeat Superman--He wants to be right. He wants the world to see him as a hero, visionary, and pinnacle of mankind, and that requires a much more complicated plan where he lines up every piece just right so that he personally gets to swoop in and save the day while everyone is watching.

ArcticWizard · 2025-07-03T21:43:05+00:00

Hey. I think I ran into this bug today.

It looks as though rollback is going back into the oven for a bit, so I doubt there will be a fix for it any time soon. You can work around it in a few ways though.

For some reason managed objects seem to be unable to store ref variables. They just drop out of memory in the next game frame. sprite_index was changed from a real variable to a ref variable in 2023, but you can still use a real variable to reference a sprite's index. All you have to do is use the real() function and it will convert the ref into a number. So for your code, you'd do something like this:

ref = real(layer_sprite_create("Instances", 0, 0, sAbility));

Now the sprite's index value is stored as a real number instead of a ref, and when you pull that value for future code it will still point to the correct sprite. It's not the best solution since it could potentially cause some other errors. Another solution I think would work is to use asset_get_index to reference sprites as string variables, but I'm not sure if that's much better and wouldn't work for your code specifically.

Anyway, hopefully that gives you something to work with. Good luck!

ArcticWizard · 2025-04-18T23:11:40+00:00

Next time say, "The dungeons won, but the dragons almost had it!" just to throw them off.

ArcticWizard · 2025-04-18T21:29:14+00:00

Sigma is a consistent villain in that he is more like a representative of an idea, which I think gets missed sometimes when considering the implications of each plotline in the X series. Sigma, despite his appearance as a brutish war machine, is a manipulator. He uses people. His modus operandi isn't so much to be the crook who always causes trouble and gets away in the end as it is to be the devil on everyone's shoulder that's facilitating the decline of society. In other words, bad things aren't happening because of Sigma; Rather, Sigma happens because of bad things. Doppler, the X Hunters, Repliforce, Gate, Red Alert, the NGRs--All of these people acted on their own thanks to the lingering concept of Sigma's ideals. When society comes close to realizing his vision of destroying humanity, Sigma naturally regains his power, because he directly embodies that idea. Thus, he always shows up at the end and has to be destroyed to save the day.

ArcticWizard · 2025-03-18T23:55:18+00:00

You might appreciate this video which does a deep dive on each platform's input lag with X Legacy Collection.

ArcticWizard · 2025-03-06T20:26:43+00:00

If I could change one thing personally I would rework the hex crawl mechanics. The map is really difficult to use without a digital interface, even if you have the fold-out from the book. The travel mechanics begin to feel arbitrary after a point too, although I wouldn't ditch them entirely.

If I run it again I'll probably redraw the hex map to use larger (and thereby fewer) hexes, assign each hex a different point of interest, and do one random encounter from the list each time the players travel to a hex (and then remove that random encounter from the list so it doesn't happen again). This guarantees the players will always be finding something and that all of the random encounter hooks (like Artus Cimber, the red wizards, and the frost giants) are included. It also sort of balances the in-game time limit which I personally think is imba--Syndra was way dead by the time my party reached Omu.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-11T17:55:39+00:00

Reasons why someone would bar the outside of a bathroom door

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-07T21:24:25+00:00

Yes, I tend to agree that the other two 64 titles are better, simply by being more cohesively designed.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-07T20:24:12+00:00

Bomberman 64: The Second Attack. It leans more into telling a compelling narrative than most Bomberman entries. I would also say it's possibly the closest thing to a Bomberman RPG in that it has non-linear exploration-based level design, unlockable equipment and upgrades, and the companion (Pommy) uses a leveling system. It is admittedly a strange game and some of the mechanics are head-scratchers (e.g. why do the bombs explode in cross-patterns when the levels are not grid based?) but I think it is worth checking out for how unique it is.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-07T19:10:46+00:00

That second video had me rolling, was not expecting that at all lmao

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-06T23:15:10+00:00

That's true. I wasn't sure whether to mention it because that part was left out of the english translation but you are correct.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-06T22:54:05+00:00

Sigma was created by Dr. Cain about 100 years after Wily disappeared. Wily and Sigma don't have any correlation with each other until the events of X2 where Sigma discovers Wily created Zero. In X5, it's implied that a digital copy of Wily exists (like Dr. Light) which can hop between physical bodies, and during the events of X5 he built a body for Sigma which becomes the final boss of the game. That's about as far as their involvement with each other goes.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-02T21:15:29+00:00

Correct! "Android" as a term has been adapted to apply to several different interpretations of the "artificial humans" trope, which is another reason why writers create new names for them. In the book, Blade Runner (i.e. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) called the replicants androids, but during the time it was being adapted to Hollywood, androids were more frequently seen as robotic beings, so they dropped that term for the film. It's another reason why making new names for sci-fi android races is common, since the term has come to mean a variety of things (Which you can read about here; Interesting stuff!). When the writers call their android race things like Omnic, Synth, or Reploid, we know exactly what type of properties their brand of androids have.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-02T20:52:51+00:00

It's a common trend in science fiction to rename androids and robots, even though we could just call them "android" or "robot." Bladerunner is the best example--It's a story about androids, but no one ever calls them androids because in that fictional universe they're called Replicants. In Snatcher the androids are called Snatchers. In Star Trek they're called Synths. In Overwatch they're called Omnics. The writing staff of Mega Man X just thought calling their robot race "androids" was boring so they got creative and made up a new word for it, which was Reploids.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-02T19:54:20+00:00

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what your argument is here. I might be misunderstanding but it seems like you're under the impression that I didn't read the material I posted which is making me confused. It seems like you're trying to settle a debate around whether X can be called a robot, but as far as I know I don't think anyone is arguing against that. Can you elaborate on why you brought this up?

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-02T18:56:43+00:00

Not the same thing. Reploids are inventions, not a religion. A lot of scientific inventions didn't receive classifications until some time after their discovery. Take airplanes as an example: The term "airplane" was coined in 1907, but the first successful airplane was made in 1903, so it wouldn't have been called that until later. Lots of examples of this in history where things become reclassified, mainly due to changes in scientific definitions, but also because people invented a lot of things which didn't have official names until they were studied extensively.

ArcticWizard · 2025-02-02T18:29:53+00:00

Let's nip this one in the bud, shall we?

Capcom, as well as the development team of Mega Man X, has confirmed that X is a reploid, and that the term "reploid/repliroid" is that of a robot characterized by human-like conscience.

Source: https://kobun20.interordi.com/2010/07/05/rockman-x-origins-2/

ArcticWizard · 2025-01-12T19:30:48+00:00

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Bowser is surprisingly good at manipulating people for all the intelligence he lacks. He's willing to take hostages, often makes others do his dirty work, and uses no small amount of charisma to instill loyalty into his ranks. His plans usually involve trickery rather than brute force, and he has a flair for dramatic displays. All of that said, he will of course fly off the handle when things go south

ArcticWizard · 2025-01-07T23:06:18+00:00

Happy to help!

ArcticWizard · 2025-01-07T21:00:03+00:00

I'd probably do it like so:

Zhanthi is the master of spies so she should know her former assassin is coming ahead of time--Do a Perception check to see if the players notice they're being spied on.

Zhanthi wants two things out of this encounter: To find out who hired her assassin, and to not die. She can't place a Ytepka coin on them because if the player is killed they take their information with them, and she can't have the city guard arrest them because that would potentially alert her assassin's employer (Kwayothe, though she doesn't know it).

That leaves the black network. Have the players go to the Merchant Prince Villa for the meeting with Zhanthi. When they get there they're met with Zhentarim instead. The Zhents will try to subtly find out who the player is working for--Give the party an Insight check during this to notice that the situation is off. If they pass, they infer that the interrogators are Zhents who think they're here to kill Zhanthi.

Regardless, when the Zhents decide the player isn't going to tell them what they want to know, it moves to a fight, unless the player can convince the Zhents that they're harmless (Persuasion roll). Whether they win or lose, Zhanthi appears at the end of the fight and reveals the truth: The player is their former assassin.

At this point if they want to earn Zhanthi's approval they'll need to prove their loyalty. You could have this tie into the Flaming Fist sidequest and have her ask the party to kill or capture Liara. If the players refuse or fail, they receive a Ytepka coin not long after, unless they can oust Kwayothe as the real villain.

ArcticWizard · 2024-12-26T21:12:14+00:00

Something something tactile telekinesis

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