First and foremost, the counter gimmick here (being input sensitive) and the idle animations with a sheathed sword, how impossible are they?
Is it possible to modify command inputs for attacks? And on that topic, is it possible to ADD moves to characters with commands? Like say I wanted to add Air Dashes to all characters by having a SMASH (Left or Right)+Air Dodge input= Air Dash, what about High Jumps by pressing Up+Jump. Or taking one of the free Jump buttons and making it a new attack button? Or having two different Blocks, the traditional, block EVERYTHING shield, and an arcade fighter Hi/Lo block that merely reduces damage. I know this gets into modifying the engine a lot, and I'm aware it must be much more difficult, but I'm merely wondering if it's at all possible.
Also, say for example, adding Soul Calibur/Tekken-like strings to the game, where putting different commands during a certain animation leads to a different move. For example, Jap>FTilt>UTilt gives a different UTilt than if you just pressed UTilt normally. Is that doable? I know in fighter factory it is, and I also know that Project M gave Lucario some new inputs with the use of A+B.
On the topic of Project M, what exactly did they do to modify the engine as a whole? I know the source code is not public yet, but I'm still curious. I'm wondering how far we can take modding. Like, say for example I wanted to make a more traditional HP based arcade fighter using the Smash Bros physics engine and 3D models. How far-fetched is this? What if I wanted to modify all movement to make it so that your character always faces their opponent (obviously this implies yo mod the game so it can only be 1V1) so that by Tilting Backwards, your character walks back, but Smashing Backwards you character actually dashes in that directions just like in Smash, thereby offering the freedom of movement found in Smash, but focusing the fight more on your opponent and less on field control and thus giving more options to defensive characters like Heavies and Zoners.
One last thing, this relates to character models. Can we resize them? I know this is a bit of a newbie question as I'm sure we can, it seems like it'd be rather simple. But what I mean is say I wanted to make Ganondorf taller, or make Ike bulkier and more muscular. I know we use Blender to work with 3D models, and I've seen what's been done to Skyrim with blender so I'm sure we can, I sure giving ZSuit Samus for example, a more realistic and feminine frame isn't too difficult. Oh, also, what about modding the way the screen behaves? What if we wanted to have it more Zoomed on the fighters and less on the field; is that possible?
I know I asked a lot of questions, and I'm sure I'll learn the answers to them the more I dive into this. I apologize if this is in the wrong place and would appreciate if I was pointed in the right direction where I must ask these things.
Anyway, the tl;dr...
7 Questions:
-How much can we modify idles? Is it possible to have a sheathed sword that is only unsheathed for attacks?
-How far can we modify moves? Can we make them more input sensitive (See Lyn's Counter)?
-Is it possible to add moves and inputs to characters such as Air Dashes, High Jumps, and Soul Calibur-like strings?
-How did Project M modify the engine to make it play like Melee's? How can we do this?
-Is it possible to modify the Smash engine radically enough to make a totally different fighting game with the same physics? Will it be possible sometime in the future?
-Can we modify the Screen so it Zooms more and behaves a little differently?
-How much can we modify character appearances? As much as Skyrim for example?
Thanks in advance for any replies, I have a lot of ideas I'd like to work on, and I'd like to know my limitations, or if it's at all possible. Difficulty isn't a problem as with enough time I can learn all of this stuff, it just takes dedications more than anything, but if something is IMPOSSIBLE...