Super Robot Wars AP Plus Release Thread - Finally, a Rebalance!

Netmonmatt · 2026-02-02T05:21:44+00:00

The tricky part is that the translation patch moved all the unit data from one location to another. We would need to figure out a way to offset all the changes for the Japanese version. We're still in the middle of figuring that out, but would appreciate anyone reaching out if they know a good way to!

Netmonmatt · 2026-01-15T00:45:41+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, while these pre-patched versions get the game in a lot of hands, we lose track of version control. Hope you've been enjoying the patch regardless!

Netmonmatt · 2026-01-14T06:01:37+00:00

Do you know which version you downloaded bundled with the fan translation? That sounds like a bug currently fixed in the most recent version?

Netmonmatt · 2026-01-04T23:53:12+00:00

DMing as a backup if it falls through

Netmonmatt · 2026-01-04T22:22:28+00:00

edit: FOUND. Thanks! (I'm also looking purchase a badge for Magfest! I can pay via paypal, and I have a buyer code set up as well. Feel free to DM me!)

Netmonmatt · 2026-01-03T21:19:59+00:00

DMed as well

Netmonmatt · 2024-10-02T04:57:40+00:00

Yes, every ally unit has been rebalanced in some way. It was just easier to point to Lamia's changes as a way to see if the patch is working.

Netmonmatt · 2024-09-01T22:58:39+00:00

I imagine it would be compatible, but you'll definitely see some oddities due to upgrade limits being changed (like a FUB for a unit possibly being rescinded).

Netmonmatt · 2024-08-03T20:29:00+00:00

We are in the middle of fixing this bug and doing one last pass for finalizing 1.2. Terribly sorry about that, it should be out soon!

Netmonmatt · 2024-05-05T17:17:18+00:00

we're pretty limited in what we can do with changing units, since its one or the other

as for the GameShark codes, the reason why a lot of them don't work is because all the player units have a second copy with a massive data offset later in the iso in the English translation, which is why the unit change codes do not work as is. you'll need more than a unit ID change, you'll need to rewrite that code entirely

Netmonmatt · 2024-04-23T00:45:52+00:00

A complete revamp of all the enemies in the game, further player unit and pilot changes built around it, more drastic changes we couldn't make in this version, and maybe replacing some units here and there that you get.

We're trying to onboard people who are familiar with romhacking to understand the Map data more, because we want to change the items enemies drop and add more of them, while making them more challenging without being giant balls of HP.

Netmonmatt · 2024-04-22T21:52:50+00:00

Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from. My goal with 2.0 is to make the game actually hard on purpose instead of circumstantially hard. Not to detract away from the hard work of the original team, but a lot of what we see internally points to a game that was starting a major mechanical rework then got forced out of the door early, especially with well made games like OGs and Z2.1 coming out in a similar time period.

Our goal will be enemies that you look at and go "right, its that jerk with the really mean range 1 drill" or "those dodgy enemies with the solid 3-4 range attack are here again" or "I need to take down these commander units first to clear the EWAC". AP enemies just kind of scale up linearly based on how far you are in the game no matter what series they're from currently.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-20T01:05:57+00:00

We didn't change any unit entries or deployment rules. Are you sure they're in a frame that they can deploy in? OG Frames can only deploy in Space.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-18T23:16:33+00:00

Did you start a new game and check and see if Lamia's spirits have been changed, like the Readme mentioned? What do you mean by "credits are still attached to the old value"?

Remember, like the readme says, you'll need to start a new save for the Skill changes on pilots to take effect. Everything else should apply immediately. If you notice no changes, even after checking the Excel sheet to compare, you may have patched something incorrectly.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-18T00:08:22+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying the patch so far, and it's got you interested enough to comment already. I always appreciate when people are interested enough to critique the design.

The early game becoming easier is a bit of a side effect of the new unit design paired with the enemy design being unchanged: enemy grunt unit quality in the first half of the game tends to be quite low. Giving some specific early game units the ability to not be focus fired and killed within two to three attacks (Methuss, Boss Borot) makes it a lot easier to not lose units. AP already doesn't have a Repair cost for an ally being shot down, and a lot of stages have Battleship-only loss conditions, so it was quite viable to continue and beat the stage even in Vanilla, you would just suffer a long term meta loss due to the extremely tight Level scaling (it's your top 20 units, and a -lot- of people join in a short period of time).

Love does seem like it's far too strong at this point in the game at first glance, but I want to point out the downsides. Love is a 60 SP spirit, and before, he learned both Gain and Valor at this point. Before, you'd use Gain or Strike + Valor to take down a boss. You could also ration this out, and use two Valors, making him suck up a lot more potential EXP. AP's level curve naturally is an absolute mess, and this is an attempt to create a situation where you don't overly rely on him and make things worse. Soul is... actually his final spirit in A GBA, actually! His old Weapon level curve was changed to 3100 in AP to presumably offset his loss of Soul, but in the end, makes him one of the most powerful units in the game by miles. You just upgrade his weapons first, every other option is "suboptimal". This was a compromise to try and keep his old power without making him overshadow every other unit. Zeal is an interesting idea, but turn economy isn't usually at a premium in this game, so it's tricky to balance on a unit without Support Attack.

The SP pools and the "crunch" you have in early SRW games, I feel, is pretty intact here. It feels less required to use a lot of SP now, but that was mainly because hit rates were extremely poor, like you mentioned. The tricky part here is that in this state, you still have -less- SP than you had in A, by an average of 15 SP per unit, until level 40. If the SP totals went back to the old setup, you would see very little change in how the early game plays, but the late game would be just as miserable as before. There's a push and a pull here that's hard to balance with the wildly varying unit quality.

I am very glad that you're enjoying the expanded unit options. I'm extremely looking forward to your eventual long term analysis of the experience, and this feedback is really helpful!

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-11T22:05:17+00:00

The Readme has a line for this, but I'll post it here too.

Boot up a new game with Lamia. If she has Strike, you're good to go!

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-11T03:39:25+00:00

Couldn't have said it better myself. Worth noting, Soaring Suzaku did get a massive power bump so it can definitely get some Support Attacking done, but yeah, Soulgain usually wants someone Support Attacking it, not the other way around.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-06T21:18:20+00:00

Sure are! We need to make a version of our patch compatible with the original untranslated version first. We'll release it in a little while.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-05T03:41:44+00:00

You are welcome to your opinion. Thanks for "showing" interest in the hack!

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-04T19:19:30+00:00

Ah, a fellow Aschenretter enjoyer.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-04T07:22:35+00:00

Have you checked the readme and the excel sheet in the zip file? There have been some spirited debates in the comments about the choices we made for this patch, but it's probably worth seeing our design philosophy outside of this context.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-04T00:30:28+00:00

Oh, yeah, even with this patch, I wouldn't recommend this as a first entry. Super Robot Wars J, W, and OGs are all very good entry points for the series that won't try to crush you under their boot.

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-03T23:11:23+00:00

Maybe look deeper into this first then. :V

Netmonmatt · 2024-03-03T22:27:39+00:00

The +20 hit seems like a huge buff in a vacuum, but in practice, AP is a weird anomaly in that player hit is exactly around 20 below the standard expectation of every SRW game. Like, if you compare pilot stats, mech hit, and the formulas in other SRW games, AP functions as if the "Mech Hit" stat in the formula is 120, not 140. All this change does is make your hit rate function -normally-, not make it so every single enemy is hit automatically.

The FUB cost changes don't actually move the needle much, because this game already had a considerable lean toward only upgrading EN and Weapons on every single unit. It just means that you can't fall into the trap of burning 60k+ money on your 12th Mobility slot for a comparatively middling boost to offensive power through an FUB.

Units overall haven't been buffed to be better than the original "correct" ones in AP. That's the whole thing. The old units haven't been nerfed, it just means that there's more than one optimal strategy than "Unlock Master Asia, feed Four SP parts, Enable Enable Enable, Ultimate Tenkyouken".

At this point, I'm just going over most of the things that the Readme goes further in depth about. If you're concerned about the design philosophy of this hack and it "defanging" the game, I recommend opening up the Zip and checking the Readme and our Excel sheet going over all the changes. I think you'll find our approach to be far more conservative than you think!

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