[Important Discussion] Assist Characters

[TomGuycott]

NOTE: this is NOT the official Assist Character discussion thread. This thread is only intended to related to how the assists will work. So far Assists have been good in individual threads, since it allows room for Critique. This thread's only intention is to decide what the community wants Assist Characters to be so that progress can be made to including them in the games proper.

Assist characters have been a part of TFR for a long, long time, and now that the game is coming to fruition in one or two programmed forms, it's high time we decide exactly how we want them to work.

What is important to note is that I am still tiptoeing around the limitations of the 2D Fighter Maker engine. For example, I can't have any custom selection screen as far as I know for Assist selections in the main Character Select screen.

There are some workarounds I have been experimenting with. There are three main topics I want us to discuss in this thread: selecting the assists, using the assists, and at what cost. I will go through the viable options I have and leave them here for consideration with the community.

Selection:
These are the main options for this I have toyed with in my concepts:

1. A secondary select screen after the character select screen. The issue with this is, although I have a theory for how to make this work, it ONLY is viable in Story mode unless I find something different in this program. Basically I'd be able to make a menu sort of from scratch in place of a cutscene in story mode, so it wouldn't work in Vs.

2. Each character has a predetermined roster of Assist characters. This, however, makes Assists more like a special move than an assist character, and makes matchups less unique. It is by far the easiest to program, however.

3. Pickups appear on the battlefield and summons a random assist. This is my least favorite option, because making functional pickups on the battlefield is not only harder to program, but it is also unfair and random.

4. Whatever way the assists are summoned, they are always random. This would limit the effectiveness of the assists because you don't know what you'll get.


Usage:
There are three options I have considered:

1. They are summoned by the use of a single button command, similar to Marvel vs Capcom.

2. They are summoned through a button command, making them more like a special move.

3. This is dependent on whether or not they are summoned via a pickup, but if pickups did exist then this option entails they appear instantly after it is picked up.


Cost:
Again, multiple options-

1. Costs a number of Gognio letters. Was thinking one or two, maybe dependent on assist's power.

2. Health, which is probably not the best option, but an option nonetheless.

3. A separate "assist" meter, probably just a ball that lights up to let you know you can call an assist. It is doable, though more work overall in engine.

4. Limited use in battle. You can only summon a specific number of assists per battle. Again, a little harder to do, but not impossible.



These are the concerns I've had regarding assist characters in this engine, and I want to know what you all think should be done. The game is for the community, and I want to know what the community wants. Get to discussing so I can get started on these crazy goofballs soon!