Mortal Kombat gets secret balancing updates

NetherRealm has included new technology in Mortal Kombat that allows it to secretly adjust game balancing without user-end patches.

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Say goodbye to infinite combos! NetherRealm has revealed that they've incorporated a clever piece of new tech in Mortal Kombat that allows them to make behind-the-scenes adjustments to game-balance without requiring folks to download annoying patches.

Mortal Kombat series creator Ed Boon remained secretive about the exact nature of how the technology worked when he revealed its existence to Eurogamer, but did refer to it as a "mini-update."

"We've seen other fighting games, including our own, have characters we wish were more balanced, more powerful or weaker," explained Boon. "So we devised a system that lets us modify the rules of the game, dynamically."

While not confirmed by Boon, these covert updates sound very similar to the tactics employed by other titles, namely to circumvent the arduous console certification process. Super Meat Boy's 'Teh Internets' gave owners of XBLA version of the game free levels, and Monday Night Combat has also been receiving invisible balance updates in a similar way.

Even if the idea is not entirely new, it's true that the length of the certification process for official patches makes it tough for developers to deliver timely game-balancing updates. Given that exploits and balancing issues are both cancerous to the fighting genre, Boon's promise to "monitor what things players may have an issue with and then correct them as needed," sounds like a great way to keep the fighting fair - at least until you rip out the other guy's spine.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 20, 2011 5:30 PM

    Comment on Mortal Kombat gets secret balancing updates, by Jeff Mattas.

    • reply
      April 20, 2011 5:32 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        April 20, 2011 8:28 PM

        The demo felt that way to me, part of why I didn't care much for it.

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        April 20, 2011 8:57 PM

        The same way every MK has felt over the years... That's why I'm not even jumping on this hype train. I have been down this road before. So yeah I'll pass or wait for a price drop and sale before I pick this up.

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          April 20, 2011 9:08 PM

          [deleted]

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            April 21, 2011 10:17 AM

            Well at least in IMHO that how the MK games have always been unresponsive controls . Oh I am not sayings its not a great game but I'll just wait .I'm enjoying MvC 3 and I just picked Blazbue CS for 30 bucks... I'm full on fighters atm.

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        April 20, 2011 10:05 PM

        I actually had the exact opposite reaction. The demo seemed slow as hell, and the retail game seems much faster paced to me.

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        April 21, 2011 7:07 AM

        I had the same reaction- there are a couple combos I could pull off with ease with Scorpion on the demo that are either way harder or just not possible in the final release. That really annoyed me at first, but this game has so much awesomeness packed in that I find myself overlooking that stuff pretty quickly and moving on to what does work in the final product.

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      April 20, 2011 7:22 PM

      good news indeed

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      April 20, 2011 8:27 PM

      Best MK yet. Best fighting game ever made. Having such a blast with this game!

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        April 21, 2011 7:09 AM

        Seriously, people who aren't playing this game are missing out! Unless they're playing Portal 2 which is probably kickass, but I'll get to that game later. MK takes priority.

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      April 20, 2011 8:30 PM

      [deleted]

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        April 20, 2011 8:34 PM

        [deleted]

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        April 21, 2011 4:48 AM

        Or you can use Kombat Code 234 234 to have rainbows come out of people instead of blood.

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        April 21, 2011 5:57 AM

        Well, the game is rated M...unless your kids are 17 years old or older, of course..

        I got my first MK when I was 12 years old, and I probably am the most non-violent person in real life (in video game, anything goes though), although yes, I will want another video game after this, it's just my hobby...

        Unless you are trolling/joking, why is the game broken and ugly? Btw, it is supposed to be nasty and violent, so not sure where that complaint is coming from...

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        April 21, 2011 6:02 AM

        Dubstep makes me want to kill animals not games silly.

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        April 21, 2011 6:37 AM

        i'm not sure if you are joking. i don't find it funny but i find it even harder to imagine a person who is able to switch on and use a PC to be that moronic.

        so i will go with joking. good one, fella. those damn, animal-killing little brats!

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        April 21, 2011 6:47 AM

        Derp!

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        April 21, 2011 9:46 AM

        really dude ??? lol im 31 and have been playing since MK 1 and i have never done anything from these games in real life... thats the ignorance of sarcasm i hope

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        April 21, 2011 11:28 AM

        [deleted]

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      April 20, 2011 9:04 PM

      Flawless Victory!

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      April 21, 2011 4:10 AM

      The magic of server-side xml files !

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      April 21, 2011 4:32 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 21, 2011 6:22 AM

      If it's so secret then how did you hear about!? Huh!?

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      April 21, 2011 7:09 AM

      I got a small taste of this game last night before bed. It just reeks of MK2 and that's super neat! Unskippable movies are sad times, however.

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        April 21, 2011 7:59 AM

        i can see it getting annoying on the third, possibly 2nd playthrough, but are they that bad that you want to skip them? i like watching them at least once.

        or do you have to keep watching them if you lose or something cos it loads in the background?

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          April 21, 2011 8:46 AM

          I've been annoyed with them when one is playing and my phone rings or when my dogs want to be let outside or something, because not only can you not skip them, but you can't pause them either. Not that the MK storyline is something so riveting that I just have to have every detail of it, but once the scene is finished playing you're thrown right into the fight. So if I don't wanna lose a round, I have to wait for the scene to end just so I can pause at the start of the next fight.

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          April 21, 2011 8:53 AM

          Cutscenes are skippable after 1st playthrough.

          Fucking IGN

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            April 21, 2011 9:46 AM

            No big deal then, however would be nice if you could pause them at least during the 1st playthrough.

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          April 21, 2011 10:35 AM

          I always watch ingame movies at least once. It became noticably annoying yesterday as controller config isn't available past the main menu, and I was trying to come up with a comfortable config for my Fightpad. Sure, I could've gone into the training mode (which I did later) to configure it, but I wanted to check out the story mode at the same time.

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      April 21, 2011 9:42 AM

      Yeah Kratos is a BEAST !!!!

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      April 21, 2011 10:28 AM

      Anyone having problems connecting to online games on Xbox Live? It just spins forever for me and never connects.

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        April 21, 2011 10:34 AM

        could be that you're just trying to connect when there's no one to connect to?

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          April 21, 2011 10:53 AM

          I think there are plenty of people online playing :)

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        April 21, 2011 10:41 AM

        Yes, me and few shackers tried last night and had problems connecting to eachother on xbox live. They are def having some network/lobby server issues.

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          April 21, 2011 10:53 AM

          Hopefully they work that out...

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            April 21, 2011 11:04 AM

            I like to think that they are aware and working to fix the network bugs.

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      April 21, 2011 11:22 AM

      Sounds like a great way to change the rules of the game between matches and a great way to confuse the hell out of someone who trains on something being a certain way, then finds a day later that the things he counted on working, even ones that weren't as extreme as exploit, don't work the same way...

      That could get really frustrating if they don't have a great way of documenting what they're changing...

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        April 21, 2011 11:47 AM

        If they only fix things that are a problem then I am fine with it... things like infinite combos or glitches that get exploited and ruin the experience.

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          April 22, 2011 6:36 AM

          I agree. But when has "only fix things that are a problem" ever kept someone from NOT overdoing it?

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