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1. What's new? *
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This requires a Mega Man X 3 (U) ROM! Most emulators support this ROM project now, however, BizHawk may not work from what's been tested by others.
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1A. Changes for X and Zero in Zero Project V4.0 (Base Mod)
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1. Zero is playable at any time including the introduction level! However, if you obtain the Z-Saber as per usual, Zero is unavailable.
2. Zero can use sub-weapons, although at double the cost and he cannot charge them.
3. Zero starts off with his air-dash and double jump.
4. Zero can collect all upgrades and use them. This includes: Heart Tanks, Sub-tanks, Ride Armor Chips, Capsules and Chip Capsules. However, capsules garner no benefit, but they can still be collected for X.
5. Zero can no longer use capsule upgrades like X. The Golden Armor/Black Armor capsule is the exception as they do give Zero benefits. He will have an overall speed increase, defense increase, and his Z-Saber will deal an extra +2 damage making him nearly as effective as X in his full armor. Also, his air dash time and ground dash time have been lengthened in his Black Armor state as well. His Z-Saber will be colored purple to display the damage increase.
6. Z-Saber damaged is varied per boss based on their credit roll statistics. It uses their speed + power as the general idea. Whomever has more, takes less damage.
7. Zero can use Ride Armors.
8. Zero has +4 more health than X to help offset his size difference.
9. Zero CANNOT use the Hyper Charge (Hyper C.). However, X can use it at any time if the ammo is +4. Though, X CANNOT use the Z-Saber when using the Hyper Charge. It will only use Charged Shots.
10. X and Zero both have increased animation speed with their buster and Z-Saber animations. Zero is swifter at the Z-Saber than X, while X is quicker at using his buster than Zero is. X’s vertical dash speed has been increased slightly as well.
11. X no longer has a ‘shield’ with any of the armor upgrades, but he does retain the overall defense increase.
12. X’s health regeneration is much quicker with the Helmet Chip and it also heals more over time. If health is regenerated successfully, it’ll double each time capping at a max of 08. So, it’ll heal 01, 02, 04, 08. This GREATLY reduces the time X must wait to refill Sub-tanks and his own health.
13. The Helmet Upgrade has been changed to also cut the sub-weapon ammo usage in half. The code indicates that you had to have both Helmet and Armor upgrades, but sometimes in other instances the code only checked for the helmet. Either way, it has been changed to Helmet only as it was heavily implied in the code itself that this was the case. The dialogue has been updated as well to compensate for this change.
14. Various normal game bugs have been fixed including (Hopefully) the ‘Lemon Bug’ in which you would be stuck using base buster shots until you opened the menu screen and switched to a new sub-weapon.
15. X and Zero have separate ladder coordinates when getting off them so it appears more smoothly for both characters.
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1B. General game changes in Zero Project V4.0 (Base Mod)
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1. Stated above but once again, Zero CAN be played in the introduction stage now with his own unique dialogue!
2. Dialogue has been updated to reflect both characters being usable in game. Both X and Zero have entirely separate dialogue now in all instances. Nothing is shared.
3. X and Zero are swapped during events. If you're playing as Zero, X will appear, vice versa. All events have this case even ones that shouldn’t ever happen. (IE: During the Mosquitus event to obtain the Z-Saber, when Mosquitus lands on Zero and starts exploding, if you cheat and have it load X instead, it’ll display Zero teleporting down with new dialogue and X will be unavailable for the rest of the game.) This is done to prevent any kind of crashing instances but also as little fun easter eggs for people.
4. When playing as Zero, when X shows up in an event, he will now properly display his armor!
5. Menu text has been altered so both X and Zero have their own text.
6. Sub-tanks work like Mega Man Zero. If you're health is filled during a Sub-tank's use, it will stop healing.
7. The game remembers who you played as last after you've beaten a level or died.
8. A ‘combo system’ has been somewhat put in place but is only viable with the X-Buster and the Z-Saber at this current time. This is a feature similar to X2’s and is more dynamic, but the dynamics on other weapons goes unused due to balancing issues. With this at least in place, you can combo your charged buster shots into an enemy to deal consistent damage and even the Z-Saber afterwards too!
9. X’s cross-over combo shot has been altered so the smaller buster shots on the side will ‘cross’ each other on screen. The overall movement is faster as well. Also, each shot hits SEPARATELY dealing INCREDIBLE damage on bosses if it all hits. It’s even more powerful than Zero’s base buster/Z-Saber combo! This makes X ridiculously powerful when it comes to the Hyper Charge as he can continuously deal combo shots and wreck nearly anything.
10. Zero can fire his buster shots and Z-Saber directly one after another. X, however, cannot do this but his buster damage more than makes up for it.
11. The unused buster frames Zero has are incorporated into his animation making them 'slightly' smoother.
12. The Ride Armor pad has been slightly updated so you can use Ride Armors at ANY TIME IF you have at least ONE Ride Armor chip obtained. You are no longer required to go straight for the chip located in Blast Hornet’s stage.
13. The 'X' on the stage select screen is now used for switching characters. It will change to an X or a Z to reflect who you're currently using.
14. When pressing the ‘R’ button to
switch to Zero in the menu, the menu now slides MUCH faster.
15. The dialogue when switching characters has been hastened tremendously.
16. New portrait palettes if you have Golden Armor/Black Armor.
17. New feature in which before the Z-Saber boss in Doppler's level if you're playing as Zero, it forces the menu to load and X warns Zero to be careful.
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1C. New additions in Zero Project V4.0 (Base Mod)
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1. Passwords have been entirely removed. In place of this, a brand-new Save/Load Game system has been implemented. There is a total of 20 saves! There are four pages worth of saves and five on each page. If you’re loading a game, press ‘Select’ to delete a save file.
2. The Save/Load Game screen displays all data throughout the game. Sub-weapons, health upgrades, lives, which character you’re playing as (Whomever you’re playing as appears first), armor upgrades, chip upgrades, whether Bit/Byte/Vile have been defeated, Sub-tanks, Z-Saber upgrade and a New Game+ feature called ‘Clear’ in the save menu.
3. New Game+ is a brand-new feature into V4.0 and the Base Mod. Upon game completion and the credits finish, you’ll see text that will say ‘Press any key to save’. Once this is done, it’ll load the save screen. Save your game then back out. It’ll reset the game back to the Capcom logo. Once back to the title screen, just reload the NG+ save and you’ll have everything from the last game, but no bosses defeated! This means you can CARRY OVER all upgrades INCLUDING the Z-Saber AND keep Zero alive!
4. The regular X3 MSU-1 patch SHOULD be compatible with this new version of the Zero Project. No code overwrites any of the changes the MSU-1 uses.
5. Separate patches are included for headered and unheadered ROMS. They also include a patch that gives Zero X’s sub-weapon colors when he’s using sub-weapons, albeit with some disastrous results on color schemes at points.
6. X, Zero and any other one or two PCs that were possibly going to be added have their RAM ENTIRELY moved to a new location. Any Game Genie codes from normal X3 will more than likely not work on this project anymore. However, a new file with all the locations of changes will be included!
7. The Golden Armor can now be collected in two manners instead of one.
a. The first manner is the same as the original game with all upgrades.
b. The second manner is based on the Chip Capsules obtained. You can now collect ALL Chip Capsules instead of picking just one. If all four are collected, go to the Golden Armor capsule like normal and you will obtain the Golden Armor! This bypasses the need for full health, all Sub-tanks and all Heart Tanks!
c. However, you cannot mix and match these to obtain the Golden Armor. You can go either route, but both routes don't mix to allow obtaining it.
8. The in-game menu now displays what Chip upgrades you now have! When you obtain a Chip Upgrade, it will display the armor piece in the menu and turn Golden noting that one is active. However, you can
switch which chip is active at any time by going to the original capsule location. If you have the Golden Armor, all four Armor Chip pieces display and are golden in color.
9. New icons are in the menu to display each character’s main weapon or upgrade. (IE: Zero will have his own icon for the Z-Buster while X will have his own. However, if you have the Z-Saber upgrade on X then it’ll display a Z-Saber icon.
10. The Frog Armor has been greatly changed on overall gameplay. It now functions properly on land where you can walk and dash properly. If you’re underwater, the dash is still replaced by the swimming mechanic, but you can still properly walk which makes it much easier to maneuver overall.
11. The boulders in Tunnel Rhino’s stage are destroyable objects now. You can use the Charged Triad Thunder like normal, but you can also use the Z-Saber, Spinning Blades, Charged Spinning Blades and Tornado Fang to destroy it as well. This makes upgrades obtainable very early on and not in a specific route.
12. The ‘Gravity Well’ platform in Volt Catfish’s stage has been entirely replaced with a spike wall jump instead making the Armor Upgrade obtainable at any time.
13. The Hawk Chip location in Crush Crawfish’s is a destroyable object now. You can use the Charged Triad Thunder like normal, but the Z-Saber also works (If one were somehow able to hit it), all instances of Ride Armor weapons (Obviously most cannot hit it) which INCLUDES the Frog Armor’s missiles that fall after a period of time, and Tornado Fang as well.
14. Tornado Fang’s spread distance has been increased so it can be used to destroy the platform in Crush Crawfish’s stage but also cover more ground in general, making this a bit more useful.
15. Zero now has a unique GET WEAPON portrait thanks to Metalwario64.
16. X’s GET WEAPON screen has been slightly updated so he’ll display his base ‘blue’ color when he first appears. Once the screen flashes, it’ll display his sub-weapon color.
17. X’s face graphics in the introduction story sequence when pressing no buttons has been updated by Metalwario64. Zero’s chest orbs now also display their proper color in that same sequence.
18. X and Zero have their own 1-up icons now entirely separate from one another!
19. Bit/Byte encounters are entirely random now. It’s a 50/50 chance on whoever will spawn. If 7+ bosses are defeated and either Bit or Byte is dead, the other will always have a 100% chance of spawning unless they've been fought once as well.
20. Bit/Byte/Vile encounters have had their music changed to Doppler’s battle theme.
21. Bit/Byte are encounterable even on stages when bosses have been defeated! However, if all 8 mavericks are defeated and the Doppler stages are loaded, they can no longer be fought. This gives ample time to do whatever the player wants instead of being stuck in specific spots.
22. Dialogue can be skipped entirely along with most events if you press the ‘Start’ button during dialogue sequences now.
