Here's what is WRONG with the VP encounter

[MaxCheezyPocket]

Ok...This is a major rant....Disney went WAY overboard with the VP fight...It's completely stupid the way they expect PERFECT coordination in order to get through successfully.

Here are the problems I see with the overall design:

1) Aiming the pies at the boss is virtually impossible, unless you realize how to use the power meter with the pie button and know EXACTLY where to stand in order to stun him or score a hit.

2) 80% of the toons I'm with are clueless and don't know that you can throw pies at other toons and it's like a toon-up.

3) The angle at which you have to hit the VP in order to score a hit is almost impossible to achieve. Most people are just tossing pies at the boss without regard to the power meter.

4) There is definitely an unfair advantage on the side of the VP. I was with 7 other 102+ toons and we failed on it...mostly because others were not hitting the boss correctly.

5) Tooning up others is almost impossible because every time you get hit, the stupid game turns your toon around to FACE the VP again. What's up with that???

6) Just how does Disney expect toons to effectively communicate with each other as to how to fight correctly with the grossly-limited speedchat? I'm about ready to say I will never go to VP again with anyone who is not an SF.

7) There's absolutely NO way to tell how much progress you're making through the final fight. Other than the fact that he gets closer to the "target platform", there's no way to tell how much damage you're doing. A health meter or something would be nice; especially since once he's at the target platform, he's still alive.

Once again, I appeal to the Disney lurkers on this board...(and yes, I know who a few of you are)...This is a KID'S game. The VP fight almost requires a ******** college degree in logistics, engineering, war-fighting, etc. in order to take him down with any kind of remote success. All it takes is for one or two people to not know how to do it right to cause infinite failures.

If you disagree with my post because you were LUCKY enough to get through the VP however many times, I don't want to hear it. Speaking as a game designer myself, I can tell you this portion of the game is insanely unbalanced. Requiring 100% perfect coordination from everyone for a particular encounter with zero room for error is retarded. Period -- especially when some people are lagging out and may not be able to keep up with the fight as well as others, or are simply inexperienced at it; therefore, lending to the failure.

[Mildew McBumble]

Also, the rest of the game has a very structured logic. The VP battle is totally chaotic. After doing it a number of times, and watching others do it, I still don't feel like I understand it.

[FlipNickelmouth]

Originally posted by MaxCheezyPocket

Here are the problems I see with the overall design:

1) Aiming the pies at the boss is virtually impossible, unless you realize how to use the power meter with the pie button and know EXACTLY where to stand in order to stun him or score a hit.

If you are facing the boss you are aiming at him. If you throw enough you will see the different elevations and forces that come with different release times. But I agree, it is hard to do it if you dont know how...

2) 80% of the toons I'm with are clueless and don't know that you can throw pies at other toons and it's like a toon-up.

It doesnt matter. If you jump you wont need a tune up. If they cant read the window going into the battle, then they will not know till they hit someone on accident. I think it is more likely that they just dont want to.

3) The angle at which you have to hit the VP in order to score a hit is almost impossible to achieve. Most people are just tossing pies at the boss without regard to the power meter.

Again, it is hard if you dont know how. But with just a very little bit of practice, you will find that it is not that difficult. I let my 6yr old play the pie toss part, he did fine.... (didnt miss a jump either)

4) There is definitely an unfair advantage on the side of the VP. I was with 7 other 102+ toons and we failed on it...mostly because others were not hitting the boss correctly.

How is it unfair? There is one of him, and 8 of you. His attack has a shorter range than yours. As long as you jump you will not get hurt. Af far as hitting him correctly... as long as atleast one person is hitting the box, the rest can lob or throw at the wall as long as a few hit him while he is stunned.

5) Tooning up others is almost impossible because every time you get hit, the stupid game turns your toon around to FACE the VP again. What's up with that???

Right, if you are needing to use tuneup that means already that you are missing jumps. Or that others near you are. If you turn away from him you will miss another. If you find you must tune up a clumbsy friend, (I have many that cant keep thier feet), I reccommend backing up till you are behind them, and keeping an eye on the boss, while splatting your friend. When you hear the stun buzzer though, ya better not be splattin your friend.... leave them and hit the VP, then come back again and help till the next buzzer.

6) Just how does Disney expect toons to effectively communicate with each other as to how to fight correctly with the grossly-limited speedchat? I'm about ready to say I will never go to VP again with anyone who is not an SF.

While I would love to have a neural connection, so that I could transfer my thoughts to my fellow players, Disney has not yet implemented this technology. The speedchat is not great, but it does have "I need a tune up"... but by the time you find it you will need another.... I go with SFs all the time, we rarely talk though during this part. Except perhaps to put a life number over our head.... ie.... (.102) so that they dont come peltin ya with pies. And instead spend thier pie time on the newbies that cant jump.

7) There's absolutely NO way to tell how much progress you're making through the final fight. Other than the fact that he gets closer to the "target platform", there's no way to tell how much damage you're doing. A health meter or something would be nice; especially since once he's at the target platform, he's still alive.

There is no life meter, because "life" is not a factor. He does not loose life. You can tell your progress by how far down the ramps he is. It is harder to push him further, the further you push him. So when you hit the bottom of the last ramp, you are about half way done. He is as healthy as the day he was constructed while ar the platform... and even as he goes over the edge, till (I assume) he hits the bottom... I dont know though, he may still be alive then, but you can rescue the toon then....

Once again, I appeal to the Disney lurkers on this board...(and yes, I know who a few of you are)...This is a KID'S game. The VP fight almost requires a ******** college degree in logistics, engineering, war-fighting, etc. in order to take him down with any kind of remote success. All it takes is for one or two people to not know how to do it right to cause infinite failures.

I disagree... Like I said my 6yr old did the pie stage with no troubles... you say that one or two that dont know how can ruin it... I disagree... I feel that as long as you have one ot two that DO know what to do you will be fine.

If you disagree with my post because you were LUCKY enough to get through the VP however many times, I don't want to hear it. Speaking as a game designer myself, I can tell you this portion of the game is insanely unbalanced. Requiring 100% perfect coordination from everyone for a particular encounter with zero room for error is retarded. Period -- especially when some people are lagging out and may not be able to keep up with the fight as well as others, or are simply inexperienced at it; therefore, lending to the failure.

I do not disagree with your post because of any mystical 'luck' factor. I disagree because the opinions you posted are rudimentry and borish. The term unalanced would normally refer to the balance, between toons and othe toons, or different gag tracks, etc... if you are just saying it is too hard, then why not say that? If that IS what you are saygin, I would reccommend that you try again and again, or perhaps practice getting your hand eye coordination together with some fishin for a month or two before attempting a harder part of the game.

The lagging is horrible, the buggs are horrible! The inexperianced are only that way for a short time. The coordination does not have to be that great... I have done it with a group of 3 a number of times... (and that is not luck, nor the reason I disagree with you)... 0 room for error would be if his attacks hit you for 100% of your life each time. They do not. They hit for what, 2 and 3 pts? If ya dont jump then 10 pts? So you can fail to perform properly atleast 10 times if you are 100laff and still be alive. That is hardly 0 room for error. I say buck up little camper, rub some dirt on it and get back in the game!

[ecwcwwe]

its not luck you need to beat him.. everytime you beat him, it gets easier, so there is no luck
and, you dont need a college degree, or whatever. its fairly simple.. the captured toon even tells you hints on what to do.
and whats the point of a health meter?? you know how well you are doing, by how far he goes down.. thats good enough
you dont need to aim at the vp to get it hit.. just close enough and rappidly tap the insert key..its like a few other games kids play.. tap a button as fast as you can.
and i do agree on the speedchat thing. it is extremely hard to communicate when you are rapidly hitting the insert key. its hard to even ask for a toonup.. but, thats why you need to go in with s/f.. so its faster to ask.
and it is simple to toon others up..just get behind them, then you can see the vp still, and know when hes gonna jump

and on a side note for the health meter; if we did get a health meter, people would complain about it going up in health slightly and not making sense.. everytime he jumps, he moves up, so that would throw people off

---edit---
i just read FlipNickelmouth's post, and thats a good idea for the health.. put up a bubble everytime ya get hit, so people know if ya need health.. it will only help with s/f, but thats bette than having to click on them

i mean, i seem to do that constantly to help people live.. i do so well at lobing the pies into the door, that i have time to help others.. the more that live, the easier it is to win.. mostly cause, we will have more people to get yellow hits

[Sauce]

Originally posted by MaxCheezyPocket

2) 80% of the toons I'm with are clueless and don't know that you can throw pies at other toons and it's like a toon-up.

Aren't you told you can?

5) Tooning up others is almost impossible because every time you get hit, the stupid game turns your toon around to FACE the VP again. What's up with that???

Maybe the game is trying to tell you something, Mr. Game Designer? Stand behind a toon and toon him up so you can both face the VP from now on. If you're not facing the VP, how do you expect to jump to dodge his jumps?

7) There's absolutely NO way to tell how much progress you're making through the final fight. Other than the fact that he gets closer to the "target platform", there's no way to tell how much damage you're doing. A health meter or something would be nice; especially since once he's at the target platform, he's still alive.

Then you haven't beaten him yet. The goal is to push him off the edge. You have a progress meter -- his distance from the edge. If he's close to the edge, you've almost won. If he's far from the edge, you have a way to go.

If you disagree with my post because you were LUCKY enough to get through the VP however many times, I don't want to hear it.

That's very bad form, my friend. I was "unlucky" enough to lose to him the first 7 times I played him and "lucky" enough to beat him the next 10 times I played -- once with only 4 toons on hand against the VP.

It's unfortunate that you should dismiss people's opinions because you're having a bit of a hard time with something.

Speaking as a game designer myself, I can tell you this portion of the game is insanely unbalanced.
Requiring 100% perfect coordination from everyone for a particular encounter with zero room for error is retarded. Period -- especially when some people are lagging out and may not be able to keep up with the fight as well as others, or are simply inexperienced at it; therefore, lending to the failure.

Yes, that's why:
* It's optional, if you don't like it, don't go in there
* You have the ability to pummel him infinitely with infinite ammo
* You have the ability to toon each other up infinitely with infinite ammo as well

Sounds like the folks at Disney made a few game balancing decisions. It's really hard at first, but then it becomes doable. I'm sure I'm due for a loss or two or ten in the future, but I've had a pretty good streak -- 10 in a row is something I can live with. Even now I'll lose a DL building now and again.

Hang in there you can do it. And don't take out your frustrations on people who happen to be "luckier" than you. There are a few strategies to getting this done, once you learn them you'll be less frustrated.

Sauce

[MaxCheezyPocket]

Maybe the game is trying to tell you something, Mr. Game Designer? Stand behind a toon and toon him up so you can both face the VP from now on. If you're not facing the VP, how do you expect to jump to dodge his jumps?

First of all, don't disparage my comment of being a game designer...content balancing is usually left up to the game designer, with little or no input from the players. Only when they see people are not using what they've designed do they go back and change it. Active "feedback" (ie e-mail, "tell us what you think" forms, etc.) means very little to most game developers once the game has gone out of beta...

Second, the time it takes to run behind another toon is not enough to prevent from getting hit and being RESET back to the original spot you were running from. What do you think I meant?

[trixie_mouse]

also my computer crashes when i even try! =( also, the bean counters and downsizers are currently missing their hats. im scared of it yet its funny. and the skirts on test and open are currently ripped looking when u walk, and the patterns are messed up on the back.

[FlipNickelmouth]

Originally posted by MaxCheezyPocket

Second, the time it takes to run behind another toon is not enough to prevent from getting hit and being RESET back to the original spot you were running from. What do you think I meant?

You are not reset to the same position you started from... and if you jump you are not hit... do this... toss toss toss from close when he is stunned... then hit your "down arrow" and you will see that you walk backwards... when you are behind your friend, hit your forward arrow and your right or left slightly to align yourself with them.. hit your ins key to hit them with a pie. Do not take your eye off the vp, and jump when you see him in the air.

That is exactly how I explained it to my son... he is not a game designer, nor has he yet graduated college with a degree in engineering, and at 6years old, he has only a fundamental grip on the more complicated concepts of physics. I am sure that someone with your vast knowledge base can understand it if you think it through enough.

[FlipNickelmouth]

I was just looking at your signature... you have a bundle of really advanced toons, I am sure that you had to figure out some aspects of the game to get them that way. Perhaps they came hard at first, but you got it right? Take your time and I am sure you will get this too.

[Petunia_Bagelp]

Well said, I'll take the tips ^^

[DrnTootiN]

I agree,its too hard. I only won once, and i've tried nine times!!! The only way is if people know wut they r doing and actually do stuff. The only reason i won is because i'm extremely good at throwing and can lodge it in his carriage every other time it opens.

[FlipNickelmouth]

Originally posted by DrnTootiN
I agree,its too hard. I only won once, and i've tried nine times!!! The only way is if people know wut they r doing and actually do stuff. The only reason i won is because i'm extremely good at throwing and can lodge it in his carriage every other time it opens.

Well there ya go, one of you, and two others up top hittin him down when he is stunned, and you've won... piece of cake...