a way to implement ex stages in the main game, from irc:
example 1:
requirement: collected (x milestone number) medals (should not be achievable without miclus) and achieved 100k mode by end of a stage, earliest possible being 2
effect: at the end of stage, should the player qualify, ask the player whether they want to "investigate an interdimensional rift that has been detected" and give a yes/no prompt
if yes, then go to EX stage n (according to milestone)
if not, then notify the player that EX stage n has been unlocked in the level select menu and can be played standalone
using medals poses a particular problem should one get enough medals to qualify for two milestones on a normal stage in which case prompt for the second available EX stage after the first EX stage made available during the normal stage.
(making it possible to chain one EX stage after the other isn't a problem as psyvariar revision would illustrate.)
stage path would end up being 15(16?) stages under your current plan in that case if this system is implemented...allowing the player to access all EX stages in a single run would make a short per-stage length necessary, though. it won't be as much of a problem given a reasonable amount of extends (two to four?) but games going beyond 40 minutes total wears down players.
example 2:
reward single credit runs with EX stages, with the same prompt in example 1, but allow prompts regardless of medal unlocking or collection
stage path would look like this:
Code: Select all
EX6 (true true last boss?)
/
EX3 EX4 EX5 S9
| \ | \ | \ /
S3B-S4B-S5B-S6B-S7B-S8
/ X X X X /
S1-S2-S3A-S4A-S5A-S6A-S7A
| / | /
EX1 EX2 (these should have an additional branch to the B stages, but just for a chart's sake)
so a person playing the A path on a single credit will be given the option to play the easier EX stages, but fewer of them, while the player playing the B path will be given the option to play the harder ones.
this presents a problem on how one would unlock them as standalones in level select, though. in this case i would unlock them through any condition; such as based on whether they've cleared the game
(inclusive) or played the game a preset number of hours
(inclusive) or attained them through normal game play.
misc:
you can also address difficulty concerns by rank, i.e. one who would play the EX stage in the game would be playing at high rank, one starting an EX stage from level select will at a lower rank (if rank is selectable) and putting in a scoring incentive (extra micluses designed to make 100k mode easy to get in the EX stage could be used for even more points when played in the main game)
| My games - 
