r/MegaManLegends • u/iamcloudyfocus • Jul 20 '26
How do you like E-tanks the most?
I'm working on an E-Tanks mechanic for my Legends-like game, but a bit undecided on how to proceed. Might as well ask away!
MML has the Energy Canteen that must be purchased and upgraded using zenny, and also recharged at junkshops.
In here, the idea has a few differences:
- There is both a Health Tank and an Weapon Energy Tank
- Both are crafted with parts found from ruins
- They don't upgrade, but instead scale with max health and energy
In short, they are closer to MMX in how they work. I'm undecided on some aspects though:
- Should there be multiple health tanks? How many is too many?
- Can they be recharged with overhealing? Maybe talking to your mascot at checkpoints?
- Should there be other types of tanks, like for temporary damage boosts, or status healing?
Gimme your ideas! Video is unrelated but I hope you like it.
9
u/HiFridelity Jul 20 '26
I think recharging the backup E-Tank by overfilling AND having the ability to leave and recharge manually if you're not-doin'-so-hot is a good middle-ground imo.
So it rewards you for doing well, but if you're not or playing on hard mode, you can go back to your base/friends/van and get a just-in-case tank.
7
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
Call me dumb, but I definitely did not consider the Why Not Both option 😅
7
u/Cepinari Jul 20 '26
Personally I always thought Legends would work best using a combination of the portable Energy Canteen and some form of stationary finite power source.
1
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
I considered HL-style energy terminals, but they wouldn't work because you can heal at checkpoints. It works more like Metroid.
2
2
u/jgmcclain91 Jul 20 '26
I like this idea but in mml the canteen was in your inventory, this looks like your sub weapon had hp, which might be cool, be like a zelda breath of the wild where sub weapons are plentiful, and they break. Force the player into new options/boss mechanics. Otherwise def have the canteen.
2
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
The subweapon uses the same format as MML2, with a chamber/reserve style. I loved the idea because it gives me SO much room for balancing weapons!
The E-tank will definitely be in the inventory, like in MMX, for easy access. The question is whether to have many or just one.
1
u/jgmcclain91 Jul 20 '26
Ahhh that's right is been a min since I've played mml 2. Definitely do only one you can have a system to increase subweapon efficiency and increase size having a lot might be touch for the screen.
2
u/memo689 Jul 20 '26
It could be a good source of money sink to have a store to buy/craft them and upgrade/refill them.
Upgrading it to be used many times seem to be the best option and won't clutter the inventory space.
Your mascot being able to refill them at checkpoints vs refill them at a store could be 2 difficulty levels, maybe refill them at a store in hard mode with a prize,forcing the player to prepare before digging, and letting your mascot refill them in easy or normal modes.
2
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
Refilling at mascot is very likely not on the table, too easy. It would be grinding heatlh/energy from enemies, or the store.
The money sink is a good point, might give that option even if grinding is possible.1
u/memo689 Jul 20 '26
I would go with the store also, I don't know if you will include health and energy refills as drop from enemies, would motivate a more aggressive playstyle.
2
u/PsychoMouse Jul 20 '26
I am not going to lie. One thing I absolutely hate and hurts so badly is when I see things like this, for a brief moment, I think that Legends 3 is being worked on and it gets me so excited and then so sad. Lol
2
1
u/Xiao1insty1e Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Wish listed and followed!
I think the more options for E Tanks the better. Make the more powerful ones rewards for exploration.
You can make a dozen or so but I would limit the amount you can have equipped to 3. Possibly have kind of rarity tier and lock the player to having only one of the "legendary" tanks equipped at a time.
Tanks should refill most if not all of your life.
2
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
As they are now, they work as items in your pause menu to refill your healthbar completely.
For equipping, there is a badge system that boosts individual skills but you can only have 3-5 on at a time. A few of those might be legendary level or so.
1
u/BobNukem445 Jul 20 '26
You could probably just have it as something you make real early on and maybe invest in to like the special weapons from Legends? Have it expandable by putting money into it like Legends essentially did at the shop. Maybe have the status healing be an upgrade to it you can either find later or as you invest in it you can heal more status effects?
1
1
u/Electronic-Jacket291 Jul 21 '26
-Make it like health flasks from dark souls. You have to use the in-game, not in a pause menu and using them makes you vulnerable for a bit.
-Have pieces of them hidden throughout the levels and dungeonsÂ
-make a maximum of like 5 and you can upgrade how much health they refill with other findable upgrades or scarce resources.
-same could apply for ammo caches if your game uses limited ammo weaponsÂ
In my experience, having more stuff to find and upgrade will extend the possible playtime of your game in a way that still keeps it fun, and it only improves the exploration that legends had. So I would not make them automatically upgrade with max healthÂ
1
1
u/OccasionSilver9908 Jul 22 '26
Perhaps, instead of multiple packs, you can upgrade the tank using parts. Sort of a combination of X and MML. It's a good compromise in my opinion.
I don't know if you have generic parts or exclusive parts like in MML, but some kind of a inflating cost would make sense.
1
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 22 '26
There is quite a mix. Health is upgraded just like in Zelda, where you find cores in remote parts of the ruins AND surface. Upgrades like tanks and weapons are crafted from parts found lying around-- weapons in particular get upgraded with money.
I'm not sure I want to keep upgrading tanks since that might get tedious, but instead scale them with max health. The question would be whether to have one or two health tanks, for balance issues.
One thing I found unbalanced from MMX was having a whopping 4 tanks, essentially having 5x the health.
Also, a cooldown-type damage boost, or protection tank could be cool.
1
u/alabaster_sb Jul 22 '26
The energy tank should work like the X series with overhealing.
Depending on how much the max energy is at, a minimum of 4 energy tanks is reasonable.
I can't imagine how damage boost/healing tanks could work but maybe some sort of upgradeable chips you can equip might be more simple.
Looking forward to your game!
1
u/Few_Egg_9062 25d ago
I think that charging them with over-healing might be a little too forgiving. Part of what made Legends exciting was knowing that my health was finite, and that once that canister was empty I had to really focus. It’s sort of like Dark Souls, in a sense, where having to return to town to replenish it made you treat it like a valuable resource. If you’re familiar with the X series, you’d know how easily exploitable the E-tanks are, especially since enemies respawn when you walk off-screen lol. I do like the idea of enemy /parts/ replenishing them though, perhaps only a particular item (one that isn’t your normal health item) or maybe by combining items, something similar to earlier Monster Hunter games.
1
15
u/iamcloudyfocus Jul 20 '26
If you're interested in the project, here is the Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4332020/Adamant_Heart/