Hey everyone! After 10-11 months of work, my first character, Pencil from the Battle for Dream Island series, is finally released!Taking cues from the POTS/CVS style with a hint of MvC, Pencil is a zoner who uses her vast array of projectiles and her friend, Match, to wall out the opponent.Pencil is equipped with 2 control schemes during the start of a match:The standard 6 button control scheme, with Z acting as a dedicated button to call Match as an assist, and C functioning as a shortcut for both kicks.A 3 button control scheme that uses A for Punch, B for kick, and C for Special Moves.Heavy Normal Attacks are done by holding forward while pressing Punch/Kick, or pressing Punch/Kick again after landing a Light Normal Attack.Special Moves are done by pressing the Special Move button and a holding a direction.Simple Mode is geared towards people inexperienced with fighting games, or have trouble doing motion inputs.I hope people enjoy my first release!alternative link if the image breaks...
Interesting character choice.Tested for a few minutes, she is very fun to play. I like the gameplay style, sprites, sound effects and stuff. They all match very well. Also very good job for a first character!I don't have much to say in regards to feedback because, as I said, I only tested for a few minutes. But I might be back if I find something (hopefully I don't, lol).Congrats on the release, hoping to see more of your work!
Not bad. Interesting how when you run, the only way to stop her from running is by either jumping or pressing the key to walk backwards. She's also well balanced, and she has no broken features.I also like how her icon is just a pencil. Well, what would you expect, she is a pencil after all.Keep up the good work!
This is really good for a first character. Here's some stuff I found:- sLP sound effect plays after the hit- cLP has a very awakward hitbox. I get that you didn't want it to be too good but it doesn't look right the way it missed up close- She can double jump by holding (not pressing) up- jLP should be active longer- Letting go of forward should stop the run- I know this is not a CvS2 character, but in that game the attacks you can do from a dodge include a knockdown (check) and a cancellable attack- Twinkle of Contagion readme input is wrong for advanced mode- She always uses fall recovery (states 5200/5210) automatically- Normally one can't use normal throws while running- She can't block from a super jump but can from an air dash. Just mentioning this because they use the same visual effects. But if anything the other way around makes more sense- She can block from a super jump after doing another action, like jLP- Doing the air throw close to the ground makes it end too fast. Maybe there could be a pause before the chars start descending- If P2 presses X or A during a throw they will get the throw tech penalty, even though they can't tech with those buttons (on that note think about SF3 and up characters who throw with A+X)- That said having a throw tech penalty is probably a bit too much. That's what the throw itself already does- Fireballs are a bit too safe. Even if P2 sees them coming they're hard to punish. For reference Ryu's Hadouken is usually around 45 frames- The assist call itself also hitting is a bit much. It's like a built-in cover for the assist- Hold F, sHK, jHP is an infinite- During Twinkle of Contagion you can do loops with assists and Ice Cold for easy massive damage- Rather than not allowing normals to cancel into Ice Cold, you should probably rework the move so it comes out slower (thus not comboing even if you cancel into it) and only freezing once per combo- Ice Cold freeze effect may be a bit too long- Having one type of fireball out should forbid you from using the others. Facing the AI is like playing an obstacle course- 623 kick is an awkward command for a fireball- Orange bowling balls mixed with lows create easy unblockables. I think the fact they stay on screen a long time is already strong. No need to also hit overhead- Assist cooldown seems too fast- Elimination Prevention Plan should not kill. Otherwise the round is all but won when P2's life is low and Pencil has access to it- If you do Don't Prospect, Detect! close to P2, the back dash does not leave Pencil at pos y = 0- I put AI vs AI and at one point the chars spent like 10 seconds taking turns punching and dodging. Probably needs more randomization- The AI probably doesn't need the simple/advanced mode selection popup at the start of a match- Assists are immune to fireballs- Air frisbee done just before landing may secretly be her best move- Could probably use a special that's not a fireball- The van always faces left. Is it because of the letters?(Note: char was tested in Ikemen)
Thank you for the feedback! I'm working on an update for her that should make her more fair to fight against, but as of now I'll respond to your feedback:PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- sLP sound effect plays after the hit- Twinkle of Contagion readme input is wrong for advanced mode- Normally one can't use normal throws while running- Elimination Prevention Plan should not kill. Otherwise the round is all but won when P2's life is low and Pencil has access to it- If you do Don't Prospect, Detect! close to P2, the back dash does not leave Pencil at pos y = 0Fixed.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- cLP has a very awakward hitbox. I get that you didn't want it to be too good but it doesn't look right the way it missed up closeMade c.LP hit up close. It's frame 10 anyways, probably won't be hitting anyone who's smart enough to use a faster button up close.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- She can double jump by holding (not pressing) upDunno a fix for this atm ^^; seems to be related to holding left/right while holding up, but I'll try to find a fix for it.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- jLP should be active longerj.LP active frames increased from 3 to 5. It's mashable so if you miss the first j.LP just hit Light Punch again.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Letting go of forward should stop the runDecided against this as it would lead to misinputting heavy normals more frequently in Simple Mode.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- I know this is not a CvS2 character, but in that game the attacks you can do from a dodge include a knockdown (check) and a cancellable attackAs of right now, none of her Kick attacks besides c.LK look well visually if done out of a dodge, and s.HP already took the slot of the knockdown dodge. c.LK is super cancellable regardless of being done out of a dodge so that's what I settled with.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- She always uses fall recovery (states 5200/5210) automaticallyTraining mode thing. If she detects that she's in training mode she'll auto recover out of everything unless you hold down. Might make it more obvious in the later update that her Training mode Recovery is active.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- She can't block from a super jump but can from an air dash. Just mentioning this because they use the same visual effects. But if anything the other way around makes more sense- She can block from a super jump after doing another action, like jLPIn the new update, I've made it so Pencil can't air block after using up an Air Dash, Double Jump, or Super Jump (all tied to the same variable.)Should make it easier to anti-air her.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Doing the air throw close to the ground makes it end too fast. Maybe there could be a pause before the chars start descendingShe now does a little hop before descending. Also removed the horizontal velocity during the descent to decrease the amount of corner carry.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- If P2 presses X or A during a throw they will get the throw tech penalty, even though they can't tech with those buttons (on that note think about SF3 and up characters who throw with A+X)- That said having a throw tech penalty is probably a bit too much. That's what the throw itself already doesX+A is added as an additional option to throw tech, alongside holding back and pressing Y/Z/B/C. I'll probably remove the HP penalty and keep the red flash & crunch, I like the idea of being told you teched your throw too late.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Fireballs are a bit too safe. Even if P2 sees them coming they're hard to punish. For reference Ryu's Hadouken is usually around 45 frames- Orange bowling balls mixed with lows create easy unblockables. I think the fact they stay on screen a long time is already strong. No need to also hit overheadFrisbees and Bowling Balls have been changed to be punishable on block if done point blank. Syringes deal no chip in the update I'm working on so it gets to be much safer. The added recovery to Half-Strike! should make pulling off unblockables harder. The Orange Bowling Ball itself is faster, so it's harder/impossible to get in position to set up an unblockable.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- The assist call itself also hitting is a bit much. It's like a built-in cover for the assistChanged to be -2 on hit. Kept the assist calls as attacks because Pencil's only other 4 frame attack is her stubby s.LP as of now.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Hold F, sHK, jHP is an infiniteFixed, s.HK is no longer cancellable on contact.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pmDuring Twinkle of Contagion you can do loops with assists and Ice Cold for easy massive damage...Hopefully this is no longer possible with the changes to her custom Jumping Wake Up state, reduced freeze time for her syringe, and increased cooldown for her assists.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Rather than not allowing normals to cancel into Ice Cold, you should probably rework the move so it comes out slower (thus not comboing even if you cancel into it) and only freezing once per comboTook the first suggestion and made it able to be cancelled into. However, its startup becomes significantly slower if cancelled into, acting as a sort of equivalent to an overhead.EDIT (9/15/2023): After some testing, comboing into Ice Cold. wasn't doing it for me, so I ultimately scrapped that idea.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Ice Cold freeze effect may be a bit too longReduced the freeze time from 2 seconds to 1 second. Gives Pencil less time to capitalize on a successful freeze.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Having one type of fireball out should forbid you from using the others. Facing the AI is like playing an obstacle courseDone. Hopefully fighting her AI isn't a bullet hell anymore ^^;PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- 623 kick is an awkward command for a fireballNoted. Might revert it to a HCF/41236 command which it how it was in earlier stages of her development.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Assist cooldown seems too fastCooldown increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- I put AI vs AI and at one point the chars spent like 10 seconds taking turns punching and dodging. Probably needs more randomization- The AI probably doesn't need the simple/advanced mode selection popup at the start of a matchAI has been adjusted to not dodge as much. The popup actually disappears when the opponent is in state 0/after 3 seconds so you aren't forced to wait on her. The popup is also a more obvious visual cue for the assist order, since the AI in the new update actually follows the set order of her assists in Simple Mode, as opposed to randomly selecting one in Advanced Mode.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Air frisbee done just before landing may secretly be her best moveNot anymore! ^_^ Air frisbee inflicts the same landing state as j.HK when landing on the ground, making the move much more committal. It also can't be done during short hops anymore.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Assists are immune to fireballsOriginally did that as compensation for the slow startup during the Slap assist, though in the update her assist no longer goes through Super Projectiles.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Could probably use a special that's not a fireballMight go back and sprite an idea I had for a special back in October of last year. Fits this suggestion perfectly, could even use the 623 motion that she has for her bowling balls as of now.PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- The van always faces left. Is it because of the letters?Yeah, the van itself is a scaled down asset from the YouTube series she's from, and I thought it was funny that the Van backed up if Pencil was facing left. Might make a version of the Van that faces right if it bothers me enough though.Again, thank you for the feedback! Really appreciate it when I've mostly been testing by myself as of now ^^;
PotS said, August 23, 2023, 07:41:33 pm- Letting go of forward should stop the runI agree, it's very frustrating to have to press a different key to stop running.But if you want to keep it that way, fine by me.
I for one loved this Original Character and I also loved that fact is the perfect pixel art Master pieces I hope they make this one The Character of the Month
Hi everyone! Just wrapped up making an update for Pencil!This update gives her a new Command Normal, Cherry Pitfall, and a new Special Move, Lightning, Strike!Alongside these new moves, Pencil has gotten a bunch of balance changes that should make her more interesting to play as/against, with the full list of changes listed in her _READ_ME.txt file.If you still prefer her previous version, it's now listed under Pencil/Pencil_Aug08_2023.def.I hope everyone enjoys the new update!
