Ray Mk x(Custom Robo)

[Alpha Six]

Then don't have progressive unlocking of upgrades, and make the upgrades wear down with use. I haven't played Custom Robo so I'm not sure how well that would work with the theme of the game, though.

[Koopaul]

There that works. B Down could be used to switch weapons but using the same weapon too much will wear it down.

[Alpha Six]

Should B Down affect all of the B moves or should it be limited to just neutral B? Or maybe some upgrades would change some things?

[Koopaul]

Hm... Well that neutral b thing might get complicated with Kirby and all.

But I don't know.

[Kitsu]

Okay, no personal offense or anything, but that idea is essentially PokeTrainer, except with fewer differences between abilities.

I have no problem with the upgrades (or sidegrades) wearing down over time, but simply switching like that just feels... I dunno.

Either way, my previous idea involved picking up various items (parts) in order to change your weapons, and these other weapons would be just sidegrades, not upgrades and not downgrades; they would have their own specific uses, advantages, and disadvantages, in a way that's almost comparable to the Team Fortress 2 unlockable items. I guess an additional way to balance this is the wearing down idea. I guess it's kind of a similar idea as playing as Fox, then grabbing one of the various projectile weapons and using that instead of neutral B, except this idea could apply to all applicable B moves (guns would change neutral B, bombs would change whatever is used for bombs [side B, likely], and pods would change whatever is used for pods).

Looking back, I suppose it's kind of like an extended Kirby, except it uses items instead of opponents.

Now the idea originally had that these parts might be some kind of gun, bomb, pod, or maybe even something that could specifically affect stats, but if that seems too much or OP, I can leave it at just one item type.

I'm sorry if I sound pushy, but I feel like this is pretty important. I don't really like the "press down B and get something different" idea, since we have at least 3 other characters that already use something very similar, and others might possibly use it, too. However, if I get a lot of opposition, I'm willing to leave it at that if we have to.

EDIT: I took too long writing this stuff...

BTW, Kirby would likely just get the basic neutral B, which would likely be just some kind of gun.

[Koopaul]

What if the different colors that you choose before battle had different weapons and quirks? What you're saying sounds a little too inconvenient. Picking up weapons during battle well... I dunno. items are usually free game for everyone.

[Sol]

What if the different colors that you choose before battle had different weapons and quirks? What you're saying sounds a little too inconvenient. Picking up weapons during battle well... I dunno. items are usually free game for everyone.

I don't know about that idea. If we did that, then you'd basically have a separate character for each color. Not to mention that in team battles, you'd be forced to use a certain version of Ray.

That being said, I'm not sure I agree with Sploder's idea, either. A character whose powers rely on items seems a bit....unbalanced? I don't know. Considering you can remove items from play.

I don't really have any better ideas, though... Maybe have his moves change each time he dies, in a cycle?

[Kitsu]

True. I forgot entirely about turning off items.

Changing after every death would be kind of annoying for people who have favorites and want to switch, but it does sound to be more like the source material, in which you can't customize in the middle of battle.

I guess, if we went with my idea, maybe turning off items would be kind of like just enforcing vanilla Custom Robo parts? But that does also sound kind of limiting, and makes down B sound a bit better.

@Koopaul, the items would likely be usable as just plain throw-ables (like Wario's bike pieces) to other characters.

Anyway, here's a list of the weapon switching ideas we have so far, but all of them have their own advantages/disadvantages.
1) Special items
2) down B
3) Specific colors
4) dying
5) pre-battle menus (not many people liked this one)

Considering what we have, there may still be some better ideas. The ideal route would allow the player to choose which thing to use without having to rely too much on external factors, especially ones that can be turned off.
... down B is starting to look better... T~T

[Locked Achievement]

Maybe his different taunts could change it?

[Ton]

Why are people so hung up on this taunts-changing-attacks thing? Not just for Ray, but I've seen it in several discussions.

[Alpha Six]

Probably because Brawl introduced the Special Taunts thing for multiple characters, and now people want to use it for alternative methods. I don't really blame them, myself.

[Tarvonas]

If there isn't going to be any customization... we could at least have it so the pods released via pressing down B change here and there, like DeDeDe's Side B minions.

What was the Final Smash idea again? I remember reading it before, but it slipped my mind now. I was thinking we could implement this "customization" thing into it. Say... he equips the BEST EVER armor and weapons in Custom Robo for the FS? Like a transformation?

That's just sounding like a pain in the backside to sprite, though.

Just as I got up to get a drink... I thought of another very simple and... rather bland idea, but it could work.

How about one of his B moves actually... swaps guns? Y'know, he just unequips and re-equips another one? There could be maybe three of them. Like with the pokemon trainer, say you press Down B for example, and instead of changing characters you'd change your gun (which would be used via neutral B). One would shoot rapid-ish single bullets, one with slow-ish triple bullets and one that stuns the opponent a little?

[GrooveMan.exe]

Well considering the best way to represent his moveset would be to swap basic guns, a move which swaps guns would be a bit underwhelming.

Swapping Bombs might be a better idea. There are a limited number of bomb types; the variation shows up in the kind of explosions they do.

Let's say his Neutral B (for sake of argument) fires his Bomb arm. Pressing Down B (Also for argument's sake) will switch the type of explosive ammo. Someone hitting the blast gets thrown in a specific direction. The types of explosions are:
Normal-diagonally upward (orange/red blast)
Gazer- upward (small weak blast)
Horizon-slowly to the side (large white blast)
Burst-blasts sideways (medium pink blast)
Destroy-diagonally upward (skull blast)
Stun-paralyzes foe (small green blast)
Pillar-upward; leaves a blast zone (tall orange blast)
Flipper-knocks foe to the side (light blue pillar)
Cyclone- slowly upward (large blue blast)
Traction- toward robo that fired the bomb/pod (small yellow blast)
Knockdown- Knocks opponent down (medium size brown blast)
X (Explosion)- Diagonally upward high into the air (small brown white blast)

You can choose pretty much any three of those. They'd cycle with each press of Down B. Pods also use the same explosion-type system, so your Pod weapon would most likely also be affected by it.

[Locked Achievement]

lol I just spotted that you wrote 'choose three of these' and was gonna write 'isn't that a bit too many?'

How about something showed which current state you are in (like just next to your health meter, it says which form you are in, to prevent confusion)

I would say Horizon, Knockdown, and Stun for the bullets.

How about for each one, there is a little charge allowed (like Ikes Standard B) that allows the user to aim the gun either horizontally, vertically or diagonally?

[GrooveMan.exe]

Well that's how Bombs work anyway. You hold down the button to put out a targeting reticule, aim it with the D-Pad, and release to fire it there. It's obviously blocked by obstacles if one is in the way of the flightpath.