Version 0.02 is out! Check the first post for the link.
Also...
Open Version 1 is out! This is an unpassworded version of the quest so you can see the massive scripts used for the quest and a few of my more unusual approches.
Version 0.02 Changes: Too Many to Remember!
Improved Collision: Now the battlers collide with each bit of a tile instead of the tile as a whole. Weapons also follow these changes. In theoroy, the hookshot attacks should ignore hookshot combos, although I have not tested this and I don't need this feature until adventure mode.
New Battlers: Now there are 7 battlers to play as. Of course, they are both hidden by default and must be unlocked.
No one seemed to mention the "odd" character that showed up in the prototype on occasion when randomed. That was a hidden character.
Hidden characters can be unlocked in 3 ways:
Encounter one in a battle randomly, win, and get lucky (you have a better chance if you are the hidden character).
Pay 100 rupees to unlock one. Hidden characters include a level of rarity, and buying one may still yield a 75 rupee refund if the game cannot find a hidden character with a low enough rarity. Currently, 2 of the 3 hidden characters have a higher rarity level, and will only be unlocked through the shop around 30% of the time.
If you win 50 or more rupees from a match, the game acts as if you just spent 100 rupees at the shop to unlock a character. Just like the shop, the game will look for hidden characters of a certain rarity level, so there are no guarantuees to unlock a character this way.
New character data, including the hidden one from the prototype:
-Identity Still Unknown- (#5) 30HP, 9MS, 6Jump
A: Double Sword Swing A+Moving: Double Sword Beam A+Air: Double Sword Spin Attack
B: Fire Shuriken B+Moving: Dash Attack B+Air: Fire Shuriken Storm
Not a lot to say about this guy, except he is fast. Really fast. His dash attack is really hard to hit with, but his spin attack is deadly.
Rafael (#6) 40HP, 3MS, 6Jump
A: Sword Swing A+Moving: Sword Beam A+Air: Din's Fire
B: Enchanted Arrow B+Moving: Elementa B+Air: Wistle Whirlwind
The main hero from Hero Of Elements, Rafael is a master of both swordplay and magic. Elementa is a very powerful magic, and it can even hit multiple opponents in a line. Overall, this guy is a little strong, but he leaves himself open when he casts Din's Fire.
Arcana (#7) 32HP, 4MS, 7Jump
A: Magic Spread A+Moving: Elementa A+Air: Bomb Medalion
B: Energy Aura B+Moving: Energy Beam B+Air: Force Teleport
Arcana is also from Hero Of Elements, but I won't say where. Her magic is powerful, including Elementa, and her screen spanning beam attack is dangerous. However, she is open to attack when using the beam, and her magic spread sometimes needs a delay to use again. Just don't get to close if she uses her Energy Aura or Bomb Medalion. Also, her Force Teleport will do minor damage to enenmies she touches in the air.
New Stages: 3 new stages!
Stage List:
Battlefield (from the prototype)
Hyrule Enterance (a revamped version of the starting screen from the original LOZ)
Death Mountain (a revamped version of the enterance to level 9 from the original 1st quest) - the lava will damage characters on it!
Final Arena (a reference to Final Destination from the Smash Brothers series, but more Zelda like. This stage is hidden.)
To unlock a stage, either spend 200 rupees at the shop or random the stage, win, and get lucky.
More victory icons: The victory screen in battle mode now shows how many rupees you won and will show an icon if you unlock a hidden stage.
New Attack Types: The newcomers use some new attack types, including a screen-spanning beam, area-of-effect attacks similar to dins fire, and projectiles that act like golden arrows (the don't stop upon enemy collision).
Better AI: Now the AI will home in on enemies and occasionally wander around a bit (in case two enemies get stuck when homing in on each other)
New Options: Show Dead and Show HP
Show Dead: When toggled on, battlers with 0 lives in lives mode will still have their icons appear at the top.
Show HP: When toggled on, the actual amount of HP each battler has will be displayed below their icon (so you can see how much damage an attack does)
Better tile management for battlers. But since the prototype wasn't open, you wouldn't guess that would you?
Shadows for characters in the air!
A momentum system for characters to go with the new collision. Specifically, characters need to accelerate up to their top speed, instead of automatically moving at top speed.
EDIT: I rembered one other cool new feature. If you select random for a battler of the stage, it will remain random when you return to the battle menu. No more switching battlers back to random after every battle or every time you leave the battle menu.
Now for the quiz answer: The cap is 256 because there are 256 DMaps! To properly keep track of unlocked stages and characters, I use the map and boss key items of the DMaps. I also have the compass reserved for progress made in adventure mode.
Coming Attractions:
More battlers, attack types, and stages. Pretty obvious.
Character defenses and attack damage types: Characters will reduce damage taken from attacks if they have a defense against the damage type of the attack. For example, Zelda will take less damage from most of Wizzrobe's attacks because she will resist magic attacks, which the Wizzrobe uses.
Character Special Abilities: Though not all are planned out, this will give some characters the ability to double jump, ignore most tile affects, or even use a shield. bigjoe's Darknut is among the planned battlers, who will use a shield and have good defense at the expense of limited movement.
More CSets for battlers: Expect at least 1 to 2 more.
Long Distance Attractions:
Arcade Mode (excluding bosses)
Items
Some Adventure Mode Stuff
More Battle Modes
Team Colors Option (needs all 8 battler CSets made first)
Gambling on Battles you are not in
FFCs for special effects in stages (such as custom traps)
Finally, I have a little to talk about regarding the open version...
But this post is already very long and I don't want to double post either...
So if you have a particular subject regarding how I did things in the quest (after viewing the open version), let me know. This includes character creation, in case you have an idea for a character you want to demonstrate.
Oh, and newcomer "The Arrow" in the open version as a base to see how characters are set up.