Mash floor,
skill ceiling
Keep mashing fun and add places where timing, variety and physics pay more. Nothing on this board takes a move away or makes a press worse. Three groups follow: timing, physics, and five combo routes storyboarded beat by beat. My picks are at the end.
"i am mostly kinda button mashing which tbf is fun"Jonas, day-2 playtest
00 · diagnosisWhy it mashes today
Read from player.gd on main. None of this is a bug; it's the floor we keep.
COMBO_WINDOW 0.3 s, and the buffer holds presses for 0.15 s. Fast, slow and uneven all produce the same three hits.The rule for everything below: the mashed version still works; the timed, varied or physical version pays more. DMC's style meter, Bayonetta's pause combos and Smash's stale-move negation all work this way. Sakurai frames it as risk and reward sitting close together.
01 · timing and depthReward skill, never punish the mash
Each card: what it is, the reference, our numbers (60 fps), the cost in hours, and whether mashing is still safe.
T1Pause combo: HOOK
- What
- X, X, then wait 12–30 f before the third X. Instead of the drive you get a HOOK: a sideways haymaker that sends the thug flat along the lane into the nearest wall or body.
- Reference
- Bayonetta's pause combos (a gap in the input picks a different branch); DMC's delayed Rebellion strings.
- Numbers
- Mashing (a gap under 12 f) still gives the drive. A gap of 12–30 f gives the HOOK, which is readable because the cross's follow-through holds. Past 30 f the string resets as now (
COMBO_WINDOWbecomes 0.5 s for the cross only). HOOK push (11, 1.5) with 110 ms of hitstop.
My call: yes. It adds a timing branch to the string you already use, and it feeds the wall splat (P2).
T2Just-frame drive
- What
- Press the third X in the first 3 f after the cross's hitstop ends and the drive CRITs: ×1.3 damage, a red spark, the sound pitched up, and a small BREACH bump.
- Reference
- Tekken's just frames (the Electric Wind God Fist), Nero's Exceed in DMC; the chime is the reward.
- Numbers
- A 3 f window (50 ms). Mashers land it by accident now and then, which is a nice surprise rather than a flaw.
My call: later. It's cheap, but the payoff is cosmetic until players know the window exists. Pick it if T1 feels good.
T3Directional enders
- What
- On the third hit, back + X is a spin backfist that turns you and hits behind; up/down (depth) + X is a lane sweep that launches across the belt.
- Reference
- DMC's directional commands, SoR4's back attack.
- Numbers
- Stick direction read on the third press; neutral or forward is the drive, as now.
My call: not this week. The animation cost is highest here, and T1 gives the string its variety cheaper.
T4Fresh moves pay
- What
- Moves earn BREACH and rail charge by variety. A move repeated in your last 6 earns less; one not used recently earns ×1.25. Damage never changes, so mashing still kills; variety fills the meters faster.
- Reference
- Smash's stale-move negation (a 9-move queue, 9 % off the latest, ×1.05 when fresh); DMC's style rank, which stalls on repeats.
- Numbers
- gain × max(0.4, 1 − 0.15 × repeats in last 6); fresh ×1.25. A small FRESH tick on the BREACH gauge makes it readable.
My call: yes, first. It's the cheapest real depth: it changes what players choose without taking anything away.
T5Wall and floor extensions
- What
- A thug hitting a wall that holds at ≥ 8 m/s splats: he sticks for 12 f (hitstop, dust, shake), then peels off toward you at 3 m/s up. Hit him in that window to juggle. Keep the existing one ground bounce per combo.
- Reference
- SoR4 (at most 3 wall bounces per combo; one OTG); Tekken's wall splat and screw once per combo.
- Numbers
- At most 3 splats per combo, then he just drops. Brick walls that break still let him plough through, as now.
My call: yes, as the physics pillar's centrepiece (see P2).
T6Perfect dodge
- What
- A back dash or sidestep that starts within 6 f before an amber/red swing's active frame: blue flash, world at 0.5× for 0.3 s, and your next hit within 0.5 s is a crit that ignores armour.
- Reference
- Bayonetta's Witch Time; the tells already use the colour grammar (amber, red).
- Numbers
- A 6 f window (100 ms); it uses
Juice.slowmo, which slows you too. That's the cheap variant, and the counter crit is the reward. A late dodge is still a normal dodge.
My call: yes. The new back dash is only defence today; this makes it a reason to read the tells.
T0Fix first: air apex sync
- What
- The launched thug and the jump-cancel must peak together, at the same height. Air hits then stall both bodies by the same amount, so air strings stop whiffing.
- Reference
- The Sakurai and Smash research, §5, J1–J2; DMC's jump-cancel reset.
- Numbers
- Juggle gravity 25 m/s² (in), launcher push up about 10 m/s, and an equal stall of +3.5 m/s that shrinks 25 % per hit. Check the apex again after the double jump landed.
My call: do it regardless. Every air route below depends on it.
02 · physics emergenceLet the physics make the combo
Costed against the debris budget (150 live bodies; Wreck caps destruction per frame). "Bodies" is the worst case each adds.
P1Newton's cradle
- What
- A thug hit by a flying body at ≥ 7 m/s doesn't just flinch: he tumbles on at 60 % of the speed and can hit the next one. Bowling lines of thugs becomes a plan.
- Exists
- Bodies already deal impact damage and ricochet (Captain America). New: pass the tumble on, with a chain depth cap of 3 and +1 f of hitstop per link.
My call: yes. Cheapest emergence there is: the bodies are already in the scene.
P2Wall splat, wall through
- What
- The wall decides: a strong wall splats and returns the thug to you (T5); a brick wall breaks, he goes through, and the rubble keeps him airborne a beat.
- Exists
- Brick walls break and bodies plough through them. New: the splat state (12 f stick, peel-off), capped at 3 per combo.
My call: yes. It turns every room's walls into combo tools, and T1's HOOK aims at them.
P3Quake pop
- What
- A spike, dive or stomp landing near loose debris pops it up; popped debris hitting an airborne thug refreshes his juggle float.
- Exists
- The stomp already throws debris up. New: pops from spike and dive landings, and the debris-hit juggle refresh.
- Perf
- Awake bodies cost the solver. Cap at 12 pieces within 4 m, prefer small pieces, and skip it at the Web frame budget.
My call: later. Spectacular but costly, and it overlaps P1.
P4Blast juggle
- What
- Explosive barrels push mostly up (70 %) instead of out, so a blast is a group launcher you can follow up.
- Exists
- Barrels explode when thrown or hit hard. New: the push direction, plus the juggle state on everyone caught.
My call: cheap yes if there's time. It's a tuning change with a big payoff.
P5Environmental kills
- What
- Toppling racks and falling slabs crush whoever is under them: a knockdown, damage by mass × speed, and an "ENVIRONMENTAL" tag on the KO feed. The core throw already exists (Big Rat through the core).
- Exists
- Racks domino, slabs drop, the core breaks. New: crush damage on thugs and a KO label.
My call: yes on F71 racks only, with Drywall; slabs next if cheap.
P6Skewer
- What
- A rail shot through three or more airborne bodies is a SKEWER: +0.2 BREACH, a 200 ms slow-mo beat, and a refunded cell. Juggles and chain collisions line bodies up; the rail cashes them in.
- Exists
- The rail already pierces every thug in line. New: counting the airborne ones and the payoff.
My call: yes. It ties the physics pillar to the gun you pay for with combos.
03 · signature routesFive combos, beat by beat
Frames at 60 fps from the current constants. Green beats chain today; amber needs tuning; red needs a new link, with the option that adds it. Once you pick, Armature's tools/anim_study.tscn can render the routes as flipbooks.
04 · my picksWhat I'd build, in order
- T0 apex sync (1 h). It's a fix, and routes 1, 3 and 5 need it.
- T4 fresh moves pay (1.5 h). Depth for the price of a multiplier; mashing keeps its damage.
- P1 Newton's cradle + P6 skewer (2.5 h). Physics becomes the combo, and the rail cashes it in. No new bodies.
- T1 HOOK + T5/P2 wall splat (6 h). One timing branch aimed at the walls: that's the signature. It also opens routes 1 and 5.
- T6 perfect dodge (2 h). It gives the new back dash a reason to exist.
About 13 h in total. Later: T2 just-frame (after T1 proves itself), P3 quake pop (perf), P4 blast juggle (1 h, whenever), P5 on F71 racks with Drywall. Not this week: T3 directional enders (animation cost).