Generation One Questions

[Jierdan Kain]

So I recently rediscovered my old copy of Armored Core 1 hidden in a drawer. After freaking out in delight for twenty minutes because I'd found my childhood, I realized just how little I understood about the original titles. Hopefully you all can help with this! Mostly this will be mechanics questions, but I'll have some other ones in here.

 

First off, speed; is your speed affected only by weight class and booster, or does your actual weight factor into speed? I ask because PLOW ACs seem to move the same speed regardless of how much weight I load up on them. Even the lowest weight capacity legs and the heaviest everything else still lets me be fast as hell so long as I have good boosters. Is this a PLOW thing, or is it just how the game handles speed?

 

Second, is Project Phantasma worth getting? I've never actually played that game as I started with Master of Arena, and obtained the original AC years later. By the time I learned PP existed, I was deep into Silent Line, and had no interest in playing a "crappy old PSone game". Now that I'm less of a child, I'm more interested in playing as much of this series as I can, but only if its fun. Ninebreaker for example was boring and no fun at all. Is PP the same way?

 

Third, is there anyway to stop enemies from launching me several hundred feet in the air, and to reduce stun? I keep getting hit by missiles which in modern games would inflict damage, and slow me down a bit. In AC1, I get a nice birds eye view of the battle after every missile pegs me, and don't even start me on cannons; Valkyries stun gun was launching me nearly to the moon after two shots! I assume its an early game problem which is caused by poor stability, speed and a lack of optional parts... Hopefully.

 

Fourth, is it possible to use the analog sticks for this game? I was using them at a friend's house, but when I tried to with my controller it didn't work. When I popped in LR, SL, AC3 and AC2:AA, the sticks all worked just fine, so its not the controller(unless it only is broken for the PSone era games in which case sad panda).

 

Fifth, do the ACs attack you with full hp in this game? I know in future titles, aside from Nexus and LR, ACs have reduced AP values in missions to make them easier to kill, as is evidenced by how easily they die in two or three blade swings. However in this game, I dumped nearly one hundred and fifty rounds on Valkyrie, plus a blade strike from the best blade you can buy(the one before the Moonlight) and she didn't chunk, which leads me to assume she has full AP.

 

Six, is drain even a thing in this game? My energy gauge fills up in no time at all if I let go of the boost button, and I can blade strike almost infinitely. This is without H+ or any optional parts. I am using the 9900 EN output and 34000 capacity generator on an AC with around 4200 drain, which may effect things. But it seems just crazy fast in this game compared to future titles, especially LR, where I often have to lay off the trigger on energy weapons to make sure my energy guage stays healthy.

 

Seven, are missiles as worthless as they feel? Without relation missiles they just feel so darn weak. Sure they're fast and accurate, but they just do such pathetically low amounts of damage, and can't even be dropped to reduce weight; its almost better to just not use them at all. This of course does not apply to the six launch dual missiles which seem to annihilate all the things even better than a Sawa + Nade Launcher.

 

Eight, my current end game PLOW plan is a midweight biped with a nade launcher, Sawa, Moonlight, and one other back weapon. I'm leaning towards the 80 shot plasma cannon because it just cuts things in half, but I wondered if there might be better options than this tiny terror(though I doubt it highly).

 

Nine, and lastly, is there a guide anywhere that details all hidden parts locations? I don't want to have to work too hard to 100% this title.

 

Thanks in advance, look forward to your comments!

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

ok bro i like u and i happen to think ac1 is the only truly good game in the series so im gonna try to answer these, also gonna be fast on this so there u have it:

 

First off, speed; is your speed affected only by weight class and booster, or does your actual weight factor into speed? I ask because PLOW ACs seem to move the same speed regardless of how much weight I load up on them. Even the lowest weight capacity legs and the heaviest everything else still lets me be fast as hell so long as I have good boosters. Is this a PLOW thing, or is it just how the game handles speed?

 

overall weight doesn't matter in ac1-moa; p much just the boosters n legs tell u what ur speed is

 

when ur OW iirc u either couldn't move or u moved at wild reduced rate, plow just removes that penalty

 

this mechanic changed in later games cuz of a bunch of stuff, mainly related to dropping parts (ac3 era)

 

Second, is Project Phantasma worth getting? I've never actually played that game as I started with Master of Arena, and obtained the original AC years later. By the time I learned PP existed, I was deep into Silent Line, and had no interest in playing a "crappy old PSone game". Now that I'm less of a child, I'm more interested in playing as much of this series as I can, but only if its fun. Ninebreaker for example was boring and no fun at all. Is PP the same way?

 

pp is no good tbh the story sucked the arena sucked (altho the bios were cool) and the parts sucked, also the mechanics suck and i think moa actually lets u buy all the parts that were hidden in pp anyhow

 

Third, is there anyway to stop enemies from launching me several hundred feet in the air, and to reduce stun? I keep getting hit by missiles which in modern games would inflict damage, and slow me down a bit. In AC1, I get a nice birds eye view of the battle after every missile pegs me, and don't even start me on cannons; Valkyries stun gun was launching me nearly to the moon after two shots! I assume its an early game problem which is caused by poor stability, speed and a lack of optional parts... Hopefully.

 

get your stability up, thats the only answer, switch legs if you cant handle the lighter ones

 

iirc the stab optional in ac1 is required always but i forget

 

Fourth, is it possible to use the analog sticks for this game? I was using them at a friend's house, but when I tried to with my controller it didn't work. When I popped in LR, SL, AC3 and AC2:AA, the sticks all worked just fine, so its not the controller(unless it only is broken for the PSone era games in which case sad panda).

 

its a ps1 era game so no, they wont work

 

Fifth, do the ACs attack you with full hp in this game? I know in future titles, aside from Nexus and LR, ACs have reduced AP values in missions to make them easier to kill, as is evidenced by how easily they die in two or three blade swings. However in this game, I dumped nearly one hundred and fifty rounds on Valkyrie, plus a blade strike from the best blade you can buy(the one before the Moonlight) and she didn't chunk, which leads me to assume she has full AP.

 

p sure it depends on the opponent but yeah she prolly had full AP (or maybe more)

 

Six, is drain even a thing in this game? My energy gauge fills up in no time at all if I let go of the boost button, and I can blade strike almost infinitely. This is without H+ or any optional parts. I am using the 9900 EN output and 34000 capacity generator on an AC with around 4200 drain, which may effect things. But it seems just crazy fast in this game compared to future titles, especially LR, where I often have to lay off the trigger on energy weapons to make sure my energy guage stays healthy.

 

drain is better in that game than later ones yeah, especially NX-LR era; drain is definitely a thing tho, be mindful of it

 

Seven, are missiles as worthless as they feel? Without relation missiles they just feel so darn weak. Sure they're fast and accurate, but they just do such pathetically low amounts of damage, and can't even be dropped to reduce weight; its almost better to just not use them at all. This of course does not apply to the six launch dual missiles which seem to annihilate all the things even better than a Sawa + Nade Launcher.

 

missiles are god tier as fuck in ac1 era, mainly cuz decoys dont exist yet and a bunch of them has insane properties

 

moa in particular is when missiles are at their best (hell all of ac1 era mechanics and shit are at their best in moa LONG LIVE MOA)

 

Eight, my current end game PLOW plan is a midweight biped with a nade launcher, Sawa, Moonlight, and one other back weapon. I'm leaning towards the 80 shot plasma cannon because it just cuts things in half, but I wondered if there might be better options than this tiny terror(though I doubt it highly).

 

i wouldnt call that a plan, you literally just said 'im gonna use standard legs with best gun sword and cannon in the game' hahahah, no there prolly isnt a better 'plan' any weapon would be fine on the shoulder or no weapon, its plow so anything goes

 

i'd consider a chain gun tho i guess i remember liking the chain gun in ac1

 

Nine, and lastly, is there a guide anywhere that details all hidden parts locations? I don't want to have to work too hard to 100% this title.

 

there are prolly guides on gamefaqs, i'm almost sure there are in fact, hell you might even be able to find save files that way bruh bruh

 

hope this answered ur questions

[Ataraxis]

Project Phantasma is one of my favourite games in the series. It's very short, and pretty goofy at times, but it features some of the most memorable moments of the series as far as I'm concerned (mostly due to a character named Stinger). I wouldn't compare it to Ninebreaker. If I had to describe it in relation to other AC games, I'd say it's like an add-on for AC1.

 

I think I may be in a significant minority that enjoys it as much as I do, but I always got the impression that a lot of the lack of enthusiasm stemmed from the length and how that almost makes it feel unfinished. For that reason, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to pick up a copy, but given the opportunity, I would definitely recommend playing it.

Edited October 16, 2014 by facebataraxis

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

i mean pp storywise is amusing but not good at all man, those missions are dumb and the characters are goons, stinger in particular

 

i agree with u tho keanu its not a fair comparison depending on how u look at it

 

i took it as him saying quality wise its as bad as ninebreaker but i see where ur coming from for sure

[Ataraxis]

I want to react with "Of course the story is bad, it's AC," but we're comparing it to some of the better games in that regard so I gotta hold back a bit. Still, it's entertaining, and even right now, at a time when lack of enjoyment is making it a struggle to play through some of the games for parts (to prep for ACDC 3.0), I can say I legitimately enjoy playing Project Phantasma. I actually have fun doing so.

 

That said, it's probably one of the most half-assed games in the series.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

oh ur right to react that way tho lol, ac in general has shit stories

 

thing is ac1 has an incredible plot and setting, like that game imo is a legitimately great game and worthy of respect from anyone

 

ac1 has a special place in my heart because of that, it affected me playing it the first time the way demon's souls did, and what has allowed from software to con me for so long

[Ataraxis]

I felt bad for you until I realized I basically activated the same trap card. Fuck.

 

http://i.imgur.com/WK63FRZ.png http://i.imgur.com/WK63FRZ.png

[Jierdan Kain]

Best trapcard I ever activated. I'd do it again. Armored Core knows its stories are crap, and it doesn't matter, because people buy AC games because of the customization, the awesome gameplay, and the deep meta game of intense, competitive PVP battles. Story is irrelevant. Except that one time they created Nineball and everyone shat themselves when we found out he was a badass AI who made everyone retry that mission like fifty times cause he kept owning them. I look forward to no less than three reloads while trying to clear Enter Factory.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

Armored Core knows its stories are crap, and it doesn't matter, because people buy AC games because of the customization, the awesome gameplay, and the deep meta game of intense, competitive PVP battles. Story is irrelevant.

 

thats just not true bro, there's years and years of interviews and article proof that the story and 1p experience was their primary focus in the AC series up until AC4 (after 4 I stopped paying attention to AC cuz fuck AC)

 

the pvp was always a bi-product to them

 

the grim reality is they made a VERY niche game that caters to a very specific experience, we loved that experience, and since they were the only seller of it we kept coming back for it even tho its mostly garbage hahahaha

 

we are/were crack fiends

 

that's from software since its inception: make games they want to make, fuck everyone else's opinions (especially if you're not in japan)

 

that philosophy goes all the way back to their first game too, kings field

 

thats what makes the whole souls thing so incredible tbh, their belief system finally paid off and it was with by going back to the beginning, go figure

 

i'm sure i've said this before but I guess it's worth saying again: AC wasn't great cuz of AC, it was great cuz of us, the fans. The series overall is trash.

[Jierdan Kain]

Your post makes me sad. Like everything I thought I knew of this game was a lie... I'll ignore it because it is better for me to do so; I like this series(prior to AC4) too much to be bothered by other peoples statement.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

its its fkd up lol, i think my SL book (the big one that came with original OST back in the day) actually says it too I forget

 

you can have all kinds of fun with older games, especially ac1

 

like i said ac1 is a godly game

 

most important thing tho is there are fans here at least willing to talk about these old ass games lol me and keanu just proved that

[Jierdan Kain]

New question; how many times do I have to get a game over to be a maxed out H+ pilot? I've done it 8 so far just to be safe, but am concerned I need more since the internet is full of inconsistencies.

[YUNG MASTERLESS GLENCOUR]

its not number of times you get a game over lol, you have to go into debt

 

if you're bank account goes below like 100,000 credits or maybe more, than you get H+

 

what happens is you sell your body to the Human Plus lab because you're broke and desperate

 

to get all the modifiers you have to do it 5 times

 

getting game overs is actually the worst thing you can do since it wont lower your bank charge at all hahahahahhhahaha

 

its the game's way of saying "man youre such a sissy we have to genetically modify you to not be one"

[Harakiri Tiger]

Just -50,000c to get an H+ upgrade. Like PD said tho, game overs are just killing your time.

 

~

[Shirtless Crackhead]

Pick up some missile or rocket launchers and burn the ammo and die.

 

Makes getting H+ way easier if you burn up money using ammo.