OK, now that beta 16 is available, it's probably time mention the extra modes in SFZ3, and whether or not it should be split for these modes. The difficulty with these modes is that they are time released after some weeks of use. There are codes to speed this up (can be found at CPS-2 Shock, in the game list), but these require F3 to be used for resetting, which is not recorded in an inp. But it is stored in NVRAM, either by using the access codes beforehand, or by hex-editing sfz3jr1.nv (offset 0x75 should be set to 0x04 to activate all the extra codes). The codes also allow the selection of Juni, Juli, and M. Bison/Balrog.

Briefly looking at the extra modes (hold the listed keys after inserting a coin and push start):

Classic mode (LP+LK): Similar style to SF2 - no air recovery, no ground recovery, no missed throw animations, no taunts (except Dan), no air blocking, no super meter, no alpha counters, no guard meter and maybe some others I've missed.

Mazi mode / LO mode / Serious mode (MP+MK): moves do double damage as well as taking double damage, game over when you lose a round, although you still have to win two rounds per battle.

Saikyo mode / Strongest mode (HP+HK): attacks do a little bit less damage, really short guard power, no chaining normal moves into specail moves or super combos, twice as easy to become dizzy. There are some glaring bugs in this mode too...

Dramatic Battle (all kick buttons): Two on one, 1P controls one character, 2P takes the other (the other player is CPU controlled if only one player is playing). Six stages.

Survival mode (all punch buttons): One round battles, energy carries over from battle to battle. 27 stages.

Final Battle (LP+MK+HP): One stage, against Shin Vega.

Well, I've rambled on too much already. Let's discuss this.

-- Barry Rodewald (bsr@hnpl.net), July 01, 2001

Answers

Using the time-release NVRAM to split up new modes seems kinda strange... but anyway, what I think:

Classic Mode / Mazi Mode / Saikyo Mode - these are all just different modes for the main game. If it's not going to be split into X-ISM, A-ISM/Z-ISM, and V-ISM, it's not necessary to split into these. Personally I think there should be only one category for the main game.

Dramatic Battle - I dunno... probably.

Survival - Yes, this should be split.

Final Battle - no. A one-battle recording? That's kinda lame IMO. Especially since Shin Bison is hella easy when you know what to do.

And let's take into consideration that the game's already got 3 clones, only 1 of the 4 romsets work now but later on down the line the others will have XOR tables. So there'll be plenty to play.

-BBH

-- BBH (lordbbh@aol.com), July 01, 2001.

Barry, my initial reaction is NOT to split these up as you describe. These are really "hidden" features of the game and people would need to know the key sequences without looking them up. What I mean, is if another game mode is readily apparent (e.g. VS), then of course the game should be split up. This is not unlike Bubble Bobble with the use of Power Ups to start the game. We don't have a split for each of these possibilities. It just doesn't make sense to split them for this reason. Also, as BBH points out it would 4x the splits. Ugh!

FYI, hexediting any type of MAME file is a BIG RED FLAG in my book!!

-- ***PL*** (laffaye@mail.com), July 02, 2001.

Pat, I am not terribly concerned if the various modes aren't split, with the exception of Dramatic Battle and Survival Mode, which are very separate and distinct ways of playing the game.

As for the NVRAM, there are codes to activate the time releases (you can find them in the game list at CPS2Shock) but these involve resetting which MAME inps don't record. And watching 6 week long inps wouldn't be fun either. :) And, of course, there would be no way of telling if a .nv has been hex-edited anyway (not that I would advocate that sort of thing anyway, it's just the end result for either method is the same).

-- Barry Rodewald (bsr@hnpl.net), July 03, 2001.

The only mode I think should be split with normal mode is Survival Mode (both in SFZ3 and SFZ2A). This is a main feature of the game, is challenging and has a score, unlike Dramatic Battle which has a few stages, no score and is easily beaten. Is it really a hidden feature? Sure it's not readily accessible, but it isn't that difficult to go to gamefaqs or a similar website to find out how the codes are accessed. And I'm sure anyone who cared enough about the game to submit or view a recording would know the codes anyway. Also on most of the arcade machines I played (moreso on SFZ2A than SFZ3) the control panel overlays had instructions on how to access Survival or Dramatic Battle mode- it was more a part of the game than a hidden feature.

-- JSW (usagi@dingoblue.net.au), July 03, 2001.

Dramatic Battle has no score only in SFZ2A. Scoring is the same in Dramatic Battle in SFZ3 as it is for regular play.

-- Barry Rodewald (bsr@hnpl.net), July 03, 2001.

Here's my opinions(according to the fact that I've played all the various modes on PSX and DC and not arcade/MAME):
classic/mazi/saikyo modes:no,because they aren't an important variation of the game
dramatic:1p+2com vs. 3com =NO(Because it's a 2-player related mode,and can be slighty lame sending cpu character to the battle while you stand behind and throwing fireballs);1p vs. 2com+3com =YES (Can be really fun I think).Besides I don't know if in the arcade version can be played a "1-player versus the world" match!:)
survival:YES
final:NO

Bye,

-Kale

-- Kale (angelo.salese@tin.it), July 07, 2001.