Cave Story - Rise of Ballos

No it's not instakill and from my testing I've made sure that it's possible to win even if you get hit by the dark energy orbs, and that it is also possible to avoid that attack altogether by killing it faster.

What you fail to realize is that it is entirely possible to get to Berserk Core with less than 127 HP. Thus, the boss possesses the ability to instantly kill you with projectiles that blend into the background of the arena.

 

What you fail to realize is that it is entirely possible to get to Berserk Core with less than 127 HP. Thus, the boss possesses the ability to instantly kill you with projectiles that blend into the background of the arena.

They don't blend in anywhere because of their outlines. Right now the max health you would have by then is up to 175.

EDIT: Changed the colour of the Berserk Core's super orbs to red, as they kept glitching up and becoming half transparent, and going behind doors and such. Made the red orb shots 4 instead of 5, so you can't be damaged by them if you don't move! But the white orbs still can damage you. Also fixed First Cave transition.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uf8yz9vzzpz852t/Rise_of_Ballos_v0.8.0.9C.zip?dl=0

 

Decided to play up until the Core to check what you've changed.

Spoiler: i can't even

mod notes 4: live free or note hard

you still haven't put all the mod's files into a single folder
please consider doing this as this is at least the third time i've had to remind you

i thought you said you removed First Cave

ok so it still skips First Cave
but the choice is still there

you STILL haven't put a <KEY here

>try to skip grabbing weapons
>fall off cliff to get onto island (somehow)
>die
what the fuck

you say "Opened the chest" but you didn't play the sound or change the chest to "open"

nice to see that the blade is still complete garbage

why do you keep not opening chests when you should
you loot them while they're closed and it's dumb

and now the machine gun chest vanished
ok

i still don't have a missile launcher

remove shadow critters aaaaa
oh they have 120 hp now
thank god

this would be better if you gave us the map system
but you didn't
so it's bad

sand zone hidden block mazes are literal cancer because it's impossible to tell what blocks are fake
i actually have to open it up in Booster's Lab in order to figure out where the fuck i have to go

not even giving myself a Map System can help me with this shitty maze

wow
i was actually able to find this
good job

finally finding save points, albeit bullshit hidden ones
also god damn enough of the critter spam

it feels like you didn't just nerf the Blade's shot number, but its exp capacity as well
why did you make the blade such utter garbage

well that's one life capsule i can't get now
because your shitty terrain has trapped me in this corner

if i didn't shoot the walls out of frustration, i would've never found this
fix this

HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND THIS?

words cannot describe how stupid this boss fight is

brb giving myself infinite missiles

these green critters do 25 damage
and there are a billion of them
what the FUCK

oh
ok
save editor'd too hard

ohhey, a life capsule that requires a level 3 blade or machine gun to get thanks to that fake block above
not okay

and now outer wall because lmao why not

what the fuck is this design

yeah okay
just hide a life capsule UNDERNEATH DEATH SPIKES

>can't even invincibility frames my way to the savepoint
wow ok

couldn't even tell that this life capsule was cracked
another 8 hp that requires blind luck to find

ohhey, yet another place that needs a level 3 weapon
and this one is required to progress

i released the balls
they aren't working

why the fuck does it regenerate health with its mouth open
that's stupid considering how the balls decided to group up
it outheals the damage dealt by the balls and it's all too likely that the player's weapons can't do shit

entirely too many explosions
game is lagging hardcore

this is still a bad life capsule
you shouldn't expect the player to find something this out of the way in this clusterfuck of ice and falling blocks
it's very easy to miss this MASSIVE 21 hp

yes of course
hide the Booster v0.8 behind a fucking block
surely that will be good level design

this played the item get fanfare
i didn't even pick it up yet

having to redo that """""puzzle""""" is bullshit

this life capsule still requires you to take damage twice
for 8 extra hp

for the love of god
stop making literally everything bouncy
you're supposed to be able to phase through SOME enemies
but even their projectiles are bouncy
their PROJECTILES

IT'S FINE IF THEY ARE HIDDEN IN BLOCKS AND UNDER LAVA AS LONG AS HAVE SHITTY VISION AND SLOW SPEED :^) :^) :^)

you deleted all the entities in the corridor
but left these guys
why

ok wise guy
how can you safely cross this gap with only the Booster v0.8 and without taking damage?

i tried to fly over the wall at the end of the pit
and appeared here
quality

my air keeps going back up whenever i take damage

QUALITY

yeah ok
just hide the life station behind these not obvious fake blocks

you somehow made it even harder to find the way to progress
good job

that block is water???

i like how the only chest that has worked so far has been pixel's arms barrier chest

you fix this so it doesn't go to Grasstown
but break it so it doesn't go back to Labyrinth M
good job
good thing i had low expectations and didn't save

now i'm convinced that you don't playtest your own shit
you would've found out that placing star blocks on top of mobs doesn't make them immobile
this shadow critter jumped/glitched out of it to get to me

orly

oh neat, booster upgrade

what's the point
why not just give me an air tank like Pixel does

you may have removed the lava and spikes by the terminal, but this still looks shitty

I'm at Berserk Core and I have 173 health (I gave myself 5000 extra since I'm not in the mood for bullshit)
However, upwards of 40 or more of that health is easily missable
Therefore, the fact that the Berserk Core possesses a spray of -127 red orbs is bullshit, especially considering that you can take damage BEFORE the -127 red orbs
You CANNOT defend this

would you look at that
the arena is still fucking garbage
there are still critters and lava drops everywhere
there are still moving blocks everywhere
the clusterfuck in the middle is still there
water physics are still everywhere

it still isn't clear
where the FUCK is the boss's hitbox

you can fuck right on off
that's not dodgeable

wait
why the FUCK does it regenerate health
WHY

THIS
IS
NOT
DODGEABLE

these fucking things go at least three times as fast as the white orbs
and it recharges a fuckton of health whenever the main core is damageable, so you have to be up close to hurt it
i'm just
i'm just speechless at how fucking bad this is after your """""improvements"""""

but hey, at least you finally fixed that typo :^)

i told myself i would stop there, but i'll go on a little longer because fuck me

my air didn't go back up even though i'm above the water

without the upgrade to the booster and """""air tank""""" this would be literally impossible

what the fuck

why couldn't it have just been that and not this shitshow of a level
outrunning the water was kind of okay even though it rises super fast
this is just ech

you still left a yellow critter in the water
remove instant kills

help i'm stuck

 

What in hell's name is wrong with you? From reading your posts, you probably haven't even downloaded the mod yourself. If so, why are you posting all these hate posts? You don't even know anything about it apart from everyone else's comments.

I see you like to assume things about random people telling you your shit game design is shit. If a victim complex makes you feel any better feel free to have it, but it doesn't make some of the awful design choices you've made in development of this any better. I'll admit my last post wasn't entirely the most helpful but seriously dude, practice a bit of small scale design. It doesn't matter how crazy your ASM is if none of it shines through the level design being not very good.

 

Decided to play up until the Core to check what you've changed.

Spoiler: i can't even

mod notes 4: live free or note hard

you still haven't put all the mod's files into a single folder
please consider doing this as this is at least the third time i've had to remind you

i thought you said you removed First Cave

ok so it still skips First Cave
but the choice is still there

you STILL haven't put a <KEY here

>try to skip grabbing weapons
>fall off cliff to get onto island (somehow)
>die
what the fuck

you say "Opened the chest" but you didn't play the sound or change the chest to "open"

nice to see that the blade is still complete garbage

why do you keep not opening chests when you should
you loot them while they're closed and it's dumb

and now the machine gun chest vanished
ok

i still don't have a missile launcher

remove shadow critters aaaaa
oh they have 120 hp now
thank god

this would be better if you gave us the map system
but you didn't
so it's bad

sand zone hidden block mazes are literal cancer because it's impossible to tell what blocks are fake
i actually have to open it up in Booster's Lab in order to figure out where the fuck i have to go

not even giving myself a Map System can help me with this shitty maze

wow
i was actually able to find this
good job

finally finding save points, albeit bullshit hidden ones
also god damn enough of the critter spam

it feels like you didn't just nerf the Blade's shot number, but its exp capacity as well
why did you make the blade such utter garbage

well that's one life capsule i can't get now
because your shitty terrain has trapped me in this corner

if i didn't shoot the walls out of frustration, i would've never found this
fix this

HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIND THIS?

words cannot describe how stupid this boss fight is

brb giving myself infinite missiles

these green critters do 25 damage
and there are a billion of them
what the FUCK

oh
ok
save editor'd too hard

ohhey, a life capsule that requires a level 3 blade or machine gun to get thanks to that fake block above
not okay

and now outer wall because lmao why not

what the fuck is this design

yeah okay
just hide a life capsule UNDERNEATH DEATH SPIKES

>can't even invincibility frames my way to the savepoint
wow ok

couldn't even tell that this life capsule was cracked
another 8 hp that requires blind luck to find

ohhey, yet another place that needs a level 3 weapon
and this one is required to progress

i released the balls
they aren't working

why the fuck does it regenerate health with its mouth open
that's stupid considering how the balls decided to group up
it outheals the damage dealt by the balls and it's all too likely that the player's weapons can't do shit

entirely too many explosions
game is lagging hardcore

this is still a bad life capsule
you shouldn't expect the player to find something this out of the way in this clusterfuck of ice and falling blocks
it's very easy to miss this MASSIVE 21 hp

yes of course
hide the Booster v0.8 behind a fucking block
surely that will be good level design

this played the item get fanfare
i didn't even pick it up yet

having to redo that """""puzzle""""" is bullshit

this life capsule still requires you to take damage twice
for 8 extra hp

for the love of god
stop making literally everything bouncy
you're supposed to be able to phase through SOME enemies
but even their projectiles are bouncy
their PROJECTILES

IT'S FINE IF THEY ARE HIDDEN IN BLOCKS AND UNDER LAVA AS LONG AS HAVE SHITTY VISION AND SLOW SPEED :^) :^) :^)

you deleted all the entities in the corridor
but left these guys
why

ok wise guy
how can you safely cross this gap with only the Booster v0.8 and without taking damage?

i tried to fly over the wall at the end of the pit
and appeared here
quality

my air keeps going back up whenever i take damage

QUALITY

yeah ok
just hide the life station behind these not obvious fake blocks

you somehow made it even harder to find the way to progress
good job

that block is water???

i like how the only chest that has worked so far has been pixel's arms barrier chest

you fix this so it doesn't go to Grasstown
but break it so it doesn't go back to Labyrinth M
good job
good thing i had low expectations and didn't save

now i'm convinced that you don't playtest your own shit
you would've found out that placing star blocks on top of mobs doesn't make them immobile
this shadow critter jumped/glitched out of it to get to me

orly

oh neat, booster upgrade

what's the point
why not just give me an air tank like Pixel does

you may have removed the lava and spikes by the terminal, but this still looks shitty

I'm at Berserk Core and I have 173 health (I gave myself 5000 extra since I'm not in the mood for bullshit)
However, upwards of 40 or more of that health is easily missable
Therefore, the fact that the Berserk Core possesses a spray of -127 red orbs is bullshit, especially considering that you can take damage BEFORE the -127 red orbs
You CANNOT defend this

would you look at that
the arena is still fucking garbage
there are still critters and lava drops everywhere
there are still moving blocks everywhere
the clusterfuck in the middle is still there
water physics are still everywhere

it still isn't clear
where the FUCK is the boss's hitbox

you can fuck right on off
that's not dodgeable

wait
why the FUCK does it regenerate health
WHY

THIS
IS
NOT
DODGEABLE

these fucking things go at least three times as fast as the white orbs
and it recharges a fuckton of health whenever the main core is damageable, so you have to be up close to hurt it
i'm just
i'm just speechless at how fucking bad this is after your """""improvements"""""

but hey, at least you finally fixed that typo :^)

i told myself i would stop there, but i'll go on a little longer because fuck me

my air didn't go back up even though i'm above the water

without the upgrade to the booster and """""air tank""""" this would be literally impossible

what the fuck

why couldn't it have just been that and not this shitshow of a level
outrunning the water was kind of okay even though it rises super fast
this is just ech

you still left a yellow critter in the water
remove instant kills

help i'm stuck

Do I have to be so obvious about everything? Even Pixel was never this obvious, for example the jump over Professor Booster in the Labyrinth. How is anyone supposed to know that you aren't supposed to look after him?
The lack of a <KEY in Curly's text is because I wanted it to be like as if Curly was repeating her sentence to you slowly, since you obviously weren't paying attention.
If you get stuck inside a stone block, wouldn't you run out of air?
And it's your fault for standing right in point blank range to the Berserk Core; you're not meant to kill it that fast.
It's also your fault for jumping right into the middle of a gaudi swarm.
But I've already noticed the enemies in starblocks glitch, I've fixed it already.

 

Do I have to be so obvious about everything? Even Pixel was never this obvious, for example the jump over Professor Booster in the Labyrinth. How is anyone supposed to know that you aren't supposed to look after him?

This is generally an example of something Pixel did "wrong", or at the very least was obtuse about. It wasn't good design in the original Cave Story since not only was it not obvious, it was counter-intuitive. It makes little to no sense for booster to be fine if you don't check on him (and for that to grant you the booster 2.0).

So yeah that's not a very good example on which to base your level design.

 

you're not meant to kill it that fast.

and that it is also possible to avoid that attack altogether by killing it faster

Sorry, but am I missing something here or...?

 

Do I have to be so obvious about everything? Even Pixel was never this obvious, for example the jump over Professor Booster in the Labyrinth. How is anyone supposed to know that you aren't supposed to look after him?
The lack of a <KEY in Curly's text is because I wanted it to be like as if Curly was repeating her sentence to you slowly, since you obviously weren't paying attention.
If you get stuck inside a stone block, wouldn't you run out of air?
And it's your fault for standing right in point blank range to the Berserk Core; you're not meant to kill it that fast.
It's also your fault for jumping right into the middle of a gaudi swarm.
But I've already noticed the enemies in starblocks glitch, I've fixed it already.

Pixel wasn't perfect, sure, but he also didn't try to hide every important thing behind a thick layer of bullshit. It was practically impossible to miss 95% of his life capsules. The remaining 5% required short detours that were easily noticeable themselves. He also never tried to hide weapons like the Missile Launcher or tools like the Booster v0.8 behind breakable walls.
Intentional or not, not using a <KEY in any kind of dialogue with an NPC is pretty sloppy looking.
Oh really? Try and explain the countless other times I got smashed into solid stone thanks to your moving block addiction and my 9999 health only to not start running out of air. What were you even doing using a block like that in the Labyrinth?
Where else am I supposed to stand? The Core loiters around the right side of the arena, the main core is invisible, and there are still a ton of blocks and walls in the way. How else am I supposed to out-damage the regeneration it gets upon becoming vulnerable and ultimately "kill it fast"?
It's less my fault for jumping into a horde of gaudi to grab a proper screenshot and more you thinking enemy spam to that degree is a good idea.

 

Pixel wasn't perfect, sure, but he also didn't try to hide every important thing behind a thick layer of bullshit. It was practically impossible to miss 95% of his life capsules. The remaining 5% required short detours that were easily noticeable themselves. He also never tried to hide weapons like the Missile Launcher or tools like the Booster v0.8 behind breakable walls.
Intentional or not, not using a <KEY in any kind of dialogue with an NPC is pretty sloppy looking.
Oh really? Try and explain the countless other times I got smashed into solid stone thanks to your moving block addiction and my 9999 health only to not start running out of air. What were you even doing using a block like that in the Labyrinth?
Where else am I supposed to stand? The Core loiters around the right side of the arena, the main core is invisible, and there are still a ton of blocks and walls in the way. How else am I supposed to out-damage the regeneration it gets upon becoming vulnerable and ultimately "kill it fast"?
It's less my fault for jumping into a horde of gaudi to grab a proper screenshot and more you thinking enemy spam to that degree is a good idea.

No.
You're not meant to stay in one spot and keep shooting at the Core.
You're meant to move around when it's about to shoot energy orbs.
Only use missiles when it is on low health, then kill it to prevent its final attacks of 8 red orbs and 5 white ones.
But I'm going to take a further look at why you're finding it really difficult to see those hidden items/capsules.

 

But I'm going to take a further look at why you're finding it really difficult to see those hidden items/capsules.

You mean you're starting to realize it's not the player's fault to why they can't find those?

 

I am under the impression that implementing a boss attack which is designed to force the player to avoid encountering that attack shouldn't be implemented in the first place.
If you mean it as an enrage timer for the boss fight then that's a little more acceptable, but combining that with a regenerating boss does not make for an enjoyable boss fight.

 

I am under the impression that implementing a boss attack which is designed to force the player to avoid encountering that attack shouldn't be implemented in the first place.
If you mean it as an enrage timer for the boss fight then that's a little more acceptable, but combining that with a regenerating boss does not make for an enjoyable boss fight.

Did I not mention that I changed it to fire 4 orbs that are pretty spread apart, so you can avoid it by doing nothing and standing there, since the Berserk Core stays a certain distance away from you! You'll have to dodge the other attacks as well, though. It's just there to pressure the player a bit. It's not designed to be instakill anyway. But if you guys think it's too still powerful, I might halve the damage. Also I'm planning to fix the HP bug, where occasionally immediately after you are damaged, picking up a heart will fill all your HP.
Also as the boss regenerates, his health goes up, which means he won't have the ability until you damage him again.
Finished bug fixing, https://www.dropbox.com/s/53doolymumzre0w/Rise_of_Ballos_v0.8.0.10.zip?dl=0
+ Removed Yellow Critter in Labyrinth W
+ Increased spread of Berserk Core energy blasts
- Fixed health bug (I realised I was using DWORD [49E6D0]!)
+ Fixed enemies in starblocks
+ A few minor level adjustments

 

Did I not mention that I changed it to fire 4 orbs that are pretty spread apart, so you can avoid it by doing nothing and standing there, since the Berserk Core stays a certain distance away from you! You'll have to dodge the other attacks as well, though. It's just there to pressure the player a bit. It's not designed to be instakill anyway. But if you guys think it's too still powerful, I might halve the damage. Also I'm planning to fix the HP bug, where occasionally immediately after you are damaged, picking up a heart will fill all your HP.
Also as the boss regenerates, his health goes up, which means he won't have the ability until you damage him again.
In fact, here's a little video of how it should be done. Flawless, even without the upgrades before that, which you were not supposed to get if you wanted a better upgrade later. Sorry for the lag at the start.
Notice how I used a missile to allow me to pinpoint the location of the Berserk Core!

Finished bug fixing, https://www.dropbox.com/s/53doolymumzre0w/Rise_of_Ballos_v0.8.0.10.zip?dl=0
+ Removed Yellow Critter in Labyrinth W
+ Increased spread of Berserk Core energy blasts
- Fixed health bug (I realised I was using DWORD [49E6D0]!)
+ Fixed enemies in starblocks
+ A few minor level adjustments

...just a heads up - your video is private and thus I can't actually watch it.

 

New minor update:
- Made Berserk Core launch 4 volleys, with the last two very fast.
+ Made Berserk Core launch more red wisp projectiles.
- Made red wisp projectiles less likely to drop pickups
+ Made Berserk Core push back pickups (Hearts, EXP, etc) during water current attack
+ Increased damage threshold when Core will shut

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4188i1bpx2ddx3/Rise_of_Ballos_v0.8.0.10B.zip?dl=0

 

Hmm, maybe this mod won't be bullshit like when I last played it? ... Time to replay it, then...

EDIT: I'm going to take notes (no screenshots because I'm lazy) and put them here to (hopefully) help the mod improve.

Spoiler: Notes

-This mod (or at least the first little bit) is unpolished as fuck. There are small TSC/sprite/tile errors everywhere, and at erratic intervals.
-Jumping off this weird island reveals that it has really flat sides. Also you somehow randomly land into the Sand Zone... wait, WHAT?!
-All the music so far sounds... OK, but kinda odd. The Sand Zone remix is the worst one so far.
-The blade kinda reflects off surfaces. It's quite apparent, even with the lvl1.
-1/3 NPCs drop EXP, and it's very scarce. Also you take too much damage to level up anyway.
-Against all better instincts I got the Machine Gun.
-Regenerating destroyable blocks; cool.
-Can't get back up to my save point because you're a dick; not cool.
-All the enemies look like they're straight out of the Windows XP MS Paint colour palette.
-You used <PRI rather than <KEY for the Machine Gun chest... so enemies can push me around while I'm getting the gun... and I can still take damage from spikes during this time.
-Oh god. A yellow critter, I've heard tales!!!! Oh, nevermind it's stuck. *kills it, instantly gets level 3 machine gun* Oh, sweet!
-Oh cool, you left the health to the right of Jenka's House... OMG ALL THE XP YES!!!!!
-*Levels down the machine gun to lvl 1 and dies* Not impressed.
I give up. I'll try it again some other time.

I see there are quite a lot of people on this forum who like to classify things by how bad they are.
Wait. ONLY 1/3 of the enemies drop XP? It's supposed to be a 1/12 chance NOT to drop pickups!
Looks like I'll have to recode the EXP mechanism... AGAIN
EDIT: Looks like you're just unlucky... it didn't happen like that for me.
EDIT2: Okay, I figured the problem, like some other maps, THE ENTITY LIMIT SCREWED IT UP
Also:

-You used <PRI rather than <KEY for the Machine Gun chest... so enemies can push me around while I'm getting the gun... and I can still take damage from spikes during this time.

That's the wrong way round. I'll fix it anyway, if you know what I mean.

-All the enemies look like they're straight out of the Windows XP MS Paint colour palette.

Yeah, maybe they got messed up by the colour system. I'm too lazy to fix them, mostly as I never was that great an artist.
Another small update:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iaxqwlaxlcrbpze/Rise_of_Ballos_v0.8.0.10C.zip?dl=0
+ Fixed some small bugs in tsc and tile placement
+ Reduced amount of entities in Sand Zone
+ Slightly enlarged Rainbow Critter Boss fight arena
+ Fixed numbers showing XP gain
BTW @zxin, your previous save file would probably still work, I didn't modify any flags

 

I see there are quite a lot of people on this forum who like to classify things by how bad they are

That tends to be how criticism works

 

Despite the amount of flak this mod gets for being insufficient in some departments that core battle video was pretty damn cool

 

Okay whoever wrote 'ur a faget' on the video, you'd better not do it again