[X] My Assistant

[Big Bidoof]

Update: Sorry, forgot about one little thing that would have limited normal members from using it, but now it should be okay for everyone with beta access, yup yup.
Update 2: I've added another ~300 randomly selected people to the beta testers, yup yup.
Update 3: Starting now, Matchmaking battles can only be cancelled both after 5 minutes and after you've chosen your Pokemon. "No effect" attacks, such as fighting vs. ghost, rather than doing no damage, will do very little (1/4) damage, like in PMD games. I also added in types to the in-battle profiles, and reduced the idle timeout from 2 hours to 30 minutes, yup yup.
Update 4: I rewrote some portions of the code and changed around the DB structure a bit in order to both facilitate some new, future features, and also to hopefully combat some of the bugs that there have been (that I still haven't been able to reproduce myself...). You can continue battling now, though this probably means the Battle Tower won't be available to everyone else till later on in the week, yup yup.
Update 5: I've added the tabs both for viewing your past battles, and also viewing other active battles. From the active battles tab, you can also elect to watch them. I've also added the stats for the Battle Tower to the stats tab in the Poketch/user pages. Note that in the past battles tab, some data may not display properly for some older battles, yup yup.
Update 6: Added the ability to cancel actions in battle after you've made them (provided your opponent hasn't acted yet, of course), yup yup.
Update 7: You can now forfeit your battles. Doing so will end ALL active battles in losses for you, and also prevent you from battling for an hour, yup yup.
Update 8: The Battle Tower is now open to everybody! I've also added the ability to cancel Matchmaking requests, yup yup.
Update 9: Idle player handling has been updated. Please see the information tab in the battles page for more information, yup yup.
Update 10: I've added in the ability to challenge someone to a Rotation battle, just as they are in B/W. Starting now, Matchmaking battles can now have all the same options as Challenges (other than specifying the user, obviously). I also have one new major addition that I'll be revealing in the coming days hopefully, but that'll stay a secret for now, yup yup.
Update 11: The new feature I alluded to in the previous update is now available as well: NPC battles. Right now you have three "preview" battles of the system featuring Professor Cypress, but we have very big plans for this feature in the future, including a GPX Gym League as well as integration into Explorations. To start an NPC battle, go to the NPC battles tab in the Battle Tower, and select a trainer to battle. Note that there are cooldown periods on the battles, and certain battles will require you to defeat another trainer before battling them, yup yup.
Update 12: I've added in two new features for the Battle Tower: more attacks, as well as hold items. The new attacks available are a list of attacks with various effects for raising and lowering statistics, as well as other strategical effects, and can be equipped on your Pokemon using the new "Attacks & hold items" option in their options dropdown. The new Hold Items include the Gems that were given out as prizes from the Christmas Survey, as well as various other items I've added in. They'll be available as prizes for certain Achievements and for winning certain NPC battles exclusively (as well as in the shop's back room if somebody sells one). More information is available in the updated "How do my Pokémon learn attacks?" and "Are there status, ablilties, hold items, or battle items here?" sections in the information tab of the Battle Tower, yup yup.

At long last, I'm ready to release "PROJECT V" to the site. For now, it's going to be in a closed beta, and won't be available to everyone, though it should be available to everyone hopefully within a week or so.

If you have access to the system, you're one of ~550 randomly-selected people to participate in the beta; if not, then you'll have to wait till the full release, which will hopefully be within the week.

Contrary to the Vs. Seeker, this is a live battle system, much like the handheld RPGs. You choose a team of three or six Pokemon to battle with, and you and your opponent exchange attacks as you would in a normal Pokemon battle. There's more information in the Battle Tower itself about how everything works, which I'll paste below for your convenience. I advise you read it before asking questions and battling, as there are a few things you need to know.

How does this work?

If you've ever played any handheld, main series Pokémon game ever, you already know the basics to the battle system here on GPXPlus. The basics are all mostly the same or similar, with a few important differences here and there that you need to watch out for.

To start a battle, follow the directions in the "Start a battle" tab. Once you're in a battle with another user, you'll need to choose either three or six Pokémon to be used in the battle, from your selection of Pokémon that are stored in the Battle Tower. In battle, you may attack with any of your Pokémon's four attacks, or you may switch to another Pokémon, though there are no items that may be used.

Do all types work the same here?

Yes, with one exception and one other difference from more recent games. First, for balance reasons, since typing plays a much more important role in this battle system than in-game, Normal attacks will be super-effective against Ghost types, as opposed to having no effect. On top of this, the battle system on GPX takes cues from the first generation of games, in which Poison is super-effective against Bug types.

How do my Pokémon learn attacks?

Attacks aren't learnt here in the traditional way you'd expect from handheld Pokémon games, and the attack system is much simpler. Rather than having a list of attacks that Pokémon can learn via leveling up, breeding, TMs/HMs/tutors, and so on, attacks are assigned based on the Pokémon's typing.

For every type, on GPXPlus, there are four attacks - two physical, and two special, one of which of each is classified as "strong," and one of which of each is classified as "weak." All strong attacks, regardless of what power they and effects they may have in the canon games will have the same power and effects (none), and the same applies for all weak attacks.

Pokémon with only one type have access to all four attacks for their one type - both special and both physical, and both strong and both weak. Pokémon with two types, on the other hand, have access to all four weak attacks from their two types.

Attacks also don't have PP here, but rather, a Pokémon will have one PP score shared by all attacks. This PP score, however, is only used by "strong" attacks, meaning that "weak" attacks can be used an unlimited number of times. This also means that dual-type Pokémon won't have to worry about PP at all. A single-type Pokémon can use any of its "strong" attacks a combined total of 3 times in a battle.

How are stats determined?

The formulae for determining stats are almost the exact same here as they are in-game, with one minor difference pertaining to how levels are handled. On GPXPlus, stats are consistent across a large range of levels, corresponding to the four level settings you'll see in the "Start a battle" tab. That is to say, a Pokémon will have the same stats from level 1-25, and then from 26-50, and then from 51-75, and finally from 76-100.

Pokémon base stats are derived where possible from the in-game ones (Novelty Pokémon stats are completely made up, for obvious reasons), however rather than leaving every Pokémon with a different base stat total, we've normalised these totals so that every Pokémon has the same amount of base stat points. All fully evolved Pokémon, with the sole exception of Arceus (which has a base stat total of 720) have a base stat total of 600; all first-stage Pokémon have a total of 300, and all middle evolutions in a three-stage evolution (such as Wartortle or Chansey) have 450 in total.

Note that there are no EVs (Effort Values) on GPXPlus, though there are IVs (Individual Values), which are randomly determined from 0-31 when an egg is created. These are a base value specific to that Pokémon that are added to each stat, functioning exactly as they do in-game. Natures are also present, and function the exact same as they do in-game. There are presently no ways of changing either IVs or Natures.

What rewards are there for battles?

For participating in a battle, you'll earn a number of points based on the number of Pokémon you defeated in the battle, and also the level of the battle. Your entered Pokémon will also all gain an equal amount of EXP based on how many of your opponent's Pokémon were defeated, however, they'll never gain enough EXP to push then up to the next level bracket. This means that if you're entering in the level 26-50 bracket, for example, you'll never be able to level up beyond level 50.

Note that both the winner and the loser will earn EXP and points, though the winner earns more.

What happens if my opponent leaves just as I'm about to win?

All battles that are inactive for two hours or more are automagically ended. We use an algorithm to predict the likely winner, and then the battle is ended in their favour. If the battle is too close for judgement to be made, then it's ended as a draw. There is no penalty if this happens to you, however people whose battles are frequently ended in this manner may have their battling privileges revoked.

Are there status, ablilties, hold items, or battle items here?

No, there are not. The Battle Items you see on GPXPlus are for use in the Vs. Seeker, a separate feature that pits Pokémon in random one-on-one matches. They cannot be used in the Battle Tower.

Is this connected with the Vs. Seeker at all?

No, the Vs. Seeker is a completely separate and independant feature. In the Vs. Seeker, Pokémon are placed in random, one-on-one battles. This section here is for live battles, akin to the canon RPG games'.

Any questions or errors can be posted here, yup yup.

This post has been edited by Big Bidoof: Mar 22 2011, 11:48 PM

[Zerxer]

Yay. I fail at battling, though.

[InsaneMoments]

o3o wow

[Jen]

Yay.

Really late edit, but this turned out way better than what I dreamt about. o-o

This post has been edited by Jen: Feb 8 2011, 09:10 PM

[Jimera0]

Now what's this here? A full battling system? I'm curious how this will play into everything... good for me though, I used to battle competitively lol

[Commander Wymsy]

This will be fun.

[Radoka Kaname]

cool!

[Luneon]

Yay! Finally

Too bad I can't access the Battle Tower :<

This post has been edited by Luneon: Feb 7 2011, 04:15 PM

[Yamper]

AWESOME

Yeah... I can't use it yet

This post has been edited by Samoo: Feb 7 2011, 04:18 PM

[Kazyx]

Oh god. I've been waiting for this you don't even know.

[Shiny T]

Might be awesome. i don't know yet

[WaterUser]

Cool beans. This sounds so awesome.

[Rhapsody]

Aw yiss, battles. This should be exciting.

[Zakariah]

Yipee

[Silverwing]

So excited!

[GiZmo]

Huuuuuurrrrrrrrraaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!
Have fun all +)

[BlackMamba]

finally

[Keith]

bah no battle tower for me. xp ah well. I can't wait for full release.

[lileep]

sounds really good cant wait till i can do it

[goluigi]

this looks good