Try out this 25% bigger Pichu with a HurtBox that covers its ears.

[Gold_TSG]

Nobody really enjoys random chance unless it's GW's judge. If Pichu only sometimes gets hit like everyone should, that might as well be tripping, cause at that point, both players have to account for the chance the intended attack works as it should. Random chance like that isn't fun casually or competitively.

 

[player_03]

gets hit like everyone should

Yeah, about that...

Mario:

• The full combo always hits Bowser.
• Jab 3 almost always hits Jigglypuff.
• Jab 3 usually hits Ganondorf.
• Jab 3 usually hits Luigi.
• Jab 3 usually misses Mario.
• Jab 3 usually misses Pikachu.
• Jab 3 almost always misses Olimar.

Snake:

• Regardless of opponent, Jab 2 sometimes misses at long range, allowing the opponent to shield before Jab 3.
• Jab 2 usually misses Mario at long range. Jab 3 sometimes misses at long range. At medium range everything connects.
• Jab 2 rarely misses Jigglypuff, and only at medium range.
• Jab 2 sometimes misses Pikachu at any range.
• Jab 2 sometimes misses Olimar at any range.
• Jab 2 usually misses Squirtle at any range.

Captain Falcon:

• The full combo always hits Bowser.
• The full combo always hits Jigglypuff.
• Jab 3 very rarely misses Mario at long range.
• Jab 3 very rarely misses Squirtle at long range.
• Jab 3 very rarely misses Meta Knight at long range and low %.
• Jab 2 can pop Olimar into the air, but this only happens at long range, and it may have been a result of the CPU using DI (even though it was set to "stand").
• Jab 2 sometimes misses Pikachu, allowing it to shield Jab 3. However, this only happens at medium or long range.

Wolf:

• At medium or long range, Jab 3's second hit usually misses. Sometimes, Jab 3's first hit misses but the second hit connects. Even though one hit misses, it's usually still a true combo. (Applies to most of the cast, including Bowser.)
• One hit of Jab 3 usually misses Mario, regardless of range.
• One hit of Jab 3 usually misses Olimar, regardless of range. If Jab 3's first hit misses, it isn't a true combo. (In fact, the CPU managed to midair jump away, despite being set to "stand.")
• At medium or long range, Jab 3 sometimes misses Squirtle entirely. At long range, Jab 2 rarely misses, but if that happens, both hits of Jab 3 connect (unless Squirtle shields). Even when all four hits connect, there's a small chance that it won't be a true combo.
• Jab 2 sometimes misses Pikachu at long range and rarely misses at medium range. If that happens, both hits of Jab 3 connect (unless Pikachu shields). Assuming Jab 2 connects, one hit of Jab 3 almost always misses Pikachu, regardless of range.

Samus:

• Jab 1 hits everybody except Pichu.

(For reference, I'm using "sometimes" to mean "less than half the time," and I'm using "usually" to mean "more than half the time." "Close range" means "as close as you can get without the game pushing you apart," "long range" means "near the end of Jab 1's reach," and "medium range" is anything in between.)

As you can see, four of these five jabs simply aren't reliable against short characters. If you don't like unreliable jabs, then changing Pichu won't fix it. On the other hand, maybe these characters were designed that way, and they have other tools to make up for their weak jabs.

Samus is the only real problem here. That being the case, I support buffing her jab slightly, rather than changing Pichu more than necessary.

The 25% size increase is clearly necessary. The NeckN hitbox change is not.

 

[Gold_TSG]

That doesn't change what I said. I specifically said "as they should." No jab should be unreliable. Besides, have you ever considered that the change in gravity might have affected some jabs? I wouldn't put it past anyone to overlook something like that and not fix it with a global change.

 

[player_03]

I'm not disagreeing you about reliability. I agree that unreliability is bad, and that it makes the game slightly less fun for competitive play.

What I'm saying is that it's mostly reliable, and I don't think it's worth messing up Pichu's appearance to fix something so minor. I'd support buffing Samus's jab or adjusting Pichu's hurtbox just enough that that jab connects. But I definitely don't support taking it as far as Bent took it.

Yes, Brawl- has some silly-looking victory/defeat animations, and I'm personally a fan of the "Minus art" character portraits. However, the characters themselves are meant to look good. This does not look good.

that might as well be tripping

Tripping allows your opponent to tech chase. Whiffing a jab means your opponent takes a little less damage. If they somehow predict the whiff, they can respond with a weak punish.

Besides, have you ever considered that the change in gravity might have affected some jabs?

When someone escapes Mario and Snake's jabs, they do so by sliding backwards along the ground. Their feet don't leave the ground for even a single frame. Gravity has nothing to do with it.

The first hitbox in Wolf's Jab 3 is low; that might be gravity-related. However, it's usually the second hitbox that misses, not the first. When the second one misses, it's because they've moved too far sideways, so again, that isn't related to gravity.

 

[Gold_TSG]

I never said anything about what Pichu looks like, first off. All of this revolves around simply him being hard to hit.

Forced tripping allows a tech chase. TRIPPING tripping, which happens at complete random when you try to dash in vanilla brawl, is RNG. Your mention of unreliability in jab successiveness amounts to RNG. Thus, neither is fun.

I said it MIGHT have to do with gravity. I haven't played minus in quite some time, and I don't recall most of those attacks being such issues, so I was simply suggesting a possible reason as to why it could have happened, since that's one of the larger changes that have been made since I stopped playing. It sounds more like they need to adjust KB values or angles to keep characters from falling out of attacks (something that even smash 4 still needs on a few chars.)

 

[player_03]

I never said anything about what Pichu looks like, first off.

You didn't, but I did. I think it's is an important consideration, so I brought it up.

Forced tripping allows a tech chase. TRIPPING tripping, which happens at complete random when you try to dash in vanilla brawl, is RNG. Your mention of unreliability in jab successiveness amounts to RNG.

Yeah, that's why I compared random tripping to pseudo-random jab whiffs. They both happen unpredictably, but my point was that "TRIPPING tripping" messes you up in a very big way, but whiffing a jab only messes you up in a small way.

Thus, neither is fun.

Perhaps not, but they are different levels of non-fun. One of them seriously hurts the experience, and the other barely affects it at all. People ragequit over random tripping; could you imagine someone ragequitting over a whiffed Jab 3?

It sounds more like they need to adjust KB values or angles to keep characters from falling out of attacks

Yep.

 

[Bent 00]

player_03, if Pichu's "squished" crouch is the main thing that's bugging you, I might be able to make it only 10-15% shorter instead of 20% shorter, and still have it dodge the appropriate attacks. IIRC, I experimented with it a little already and got Idle Crouch and Forward Crawl working properly at 10%, but the problem is the Backward Crawl gets hit by stuff like Falco's lasers at 10%.

Give me some time, I'll see if I can make Pichu's duck and crawl less "squished" and still work as a crawl should.

 

[Gold_TSG]

Yeah, that's why I compared random tripping to pseudo-random jab whiffs. They both happen unpredictably, but my point was that "TRIPPING tripping" messes you up in a very big way, but whiffing a jab only messes you up in a small way.

There's nothing really all that fun about characters' attacks failing to work as intended. Although I don't play competitively, I play on that level, with that mindset. While I'm playing, I'm using actions based on a flowchart I have worked up in my head, and it takes every controllable aspect into consideration for every following action. If someone falls out of an attack I know should function properly, and am expecting to work properly, the flowchart breaks, and I'm forced to stumble around until I fix things or set everything back to neutral. That kind of RNG just shouldn't be in the game, whether it be minus or smash 4. And no, I do in fact take DI and SDI into consideration for those flowcharts, as those are both controllable situations you can force or predict.

Point being, everyone looks at issues like that differently, and I find it to be a rather large one, since it could very well cost me a stock in the worst scenarios.

 

[player_03]

IIRC, I experimented with it a little already and got Idle Crouch and Forward Crawl working properly at 10%, but the problem is the Backward Crawl gets hit by stuff like Falco's lasers at 10%.

I'm a bit less worried about the backwards crawl. Crouching is common, but in my experience, crawling is rare.

Actually, crawling backwards is semi-frequently used as a mindgame. Run up, then crouch-dash back to bait out a move. However, in this case, the goal isn't to duck under a move, it's to slide backwards out of reach. I guess Falco could shoot a laser at an approaching Pichu, and that would counter the crouch-dash, but Pichu could instead choose to slide under the laser and punish. Whoever made the better prediction would land the hit, which is how it should be.

Anyway, yes, squishing by 10% should look a lot better. My prediction is that most players would notice 20% but won't notice 10%.