Okay, there are three other people in the chatroom with me and I can't see anything the type. What's the deal?

What time is it?

BTW, happy Independence Day. Hope the weather's nice wherever you live, Hurricane Arthur's really making a mess of things up here in New England. I've spent the entire day downloading music on iTunes and watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the SyFy channel.

Here are some more ideas for field names, this time for the MM6 and MM9 Robot Masters.

Flame Man: Arabian Refinery
Blizzard Man: Yukon Island
Plant Man: Overgrown Conservatory
Tomahawk Man: Cowboy Lane
Yamato Man: Impregnable Fortress
Knight Man: Medieval Abbey
Centaur Man: Sunken City
Wind Man: Mechanical Windmill

Hornet Man: Botanical Garden
Splash Woman: Marine Preserve
Concrete Man: Hydroelectric Dam
Galaxy Man: Orbital Observatory
Jewel Man: Gemstone Cavern (Again, already suggested, but here for consistency's sake.)
Plug Man: Assembly Line
Tornado Man: Metrological Network
Magma Man: Geothermal Generators

I noticed Trill doesn't have any quotes yet. As a counterpoint to his appearance in Rockman EXE Beast, I wrote him as an obnoxious, arrogant little brat. Think those shrieking little kids you see in most FPS multiplayer games (COD, Battlefield, Etc.), but as evil space robots.

Start: "If you wanna get to Miss Slur, you're gonna have to go through me first!"
Taunt: "Just 'cause I'm a kid doesn't mean you're stronger than me!"
Victory: "Go ahead and cry, you big baby!"
Defeat: "B-but there's no way you could have won! *sob* You must have cheated!"

Now we move ahead to Mega Man 8. But first, we need to go back a bit. Now, we assume that the battle between Duo and the Evil Energy Robot (who I shall refer to as EER) occurs right before the events of the actual game. However, space is far more massive than science fiction portrays it (TV Tropes has a nice article on this, and by current estimates, it would take 3 years to travel from Saturn, where the battle seems to take place, to Earth. What’s not to say that a few parts of the EER (more specifically, those big ol’ jewels on his head and chest) broke off as it hurtled towards Earth, particularly during the rough trip though the asteroid belt? And what’s not to say those parts reached Earth first?

That’s right! The energy elements from Mega Man 3 are actually fractured parts of the Evil Energy Robot from the opening of Mega Man 8!

Just as luck would have it, Duo and the EER land on a desert island those houses one of Wily’s outposts. The mad doctor whisks away the EER’s power core for further study, and sure enough, it’s the source of the energy elements. Wily uses the EER’s corrupting virus, which is actually the “Evil Energy” that Duo seeks to eradicate, to power up Bass his new line of Robot Masters. Fortunately, Mega Man is able to defeat Wily with the help of a rebuilt Duo. This time, Wily is gene-savvy enough to hide a few Evil Energy samples before the destruction of Wily Tower. He continues his experimentation with the extraterrestrial substance while beginning work on his own magnum opus: Zero. Robots don’t come cheap, though, and Wily is strapped for cash post-Mega Man 8. By reprograming Dr. Light’s expired Robot Masters and pinning the blame on him, he manages to extort funds from the naive public with the promise of combat robots to put down Light’s supposed rebellion.

Previously, Evil Energy could on spread to robots that were in direct contact with its original source: the EER. Wily’s experimentation allowed infected robots to spread it, creating the Roboenza Virus. Wily pretends to help Light manufacture a cure in order to infect Mega Man, but his scheme fails thanks to Roll sacrificing herself to save her brother. Even so, Wily realizes that Roboenza is far too easy to cure, and decides to start from scratch. To give himself a blank slate to work with, he gives Light enough of the cure to eradicate Roboenza.

With his health rapidly declining, Wily quickly finishes Zero and uploads a new version of Evil Energy into his system. Christened the “Zero Virus”, this form of Evil Energy not only causes robots to lash out at whatever they see, but also alters their mind to conform with Wily’s twisted dream of a human-free world. Wily seals Zero away, dying soon afterward.

Zero awakens a century later. The Zero Viruis is far more effective than Wily could have imagined; rather than being a simple carrier (ala Typhoid Mary) , Zero becomes a savage berserker, killing any Reploid that crosses paths with him. What few Reploids survive Zero’s rampage are repaired, now unwilling carriers of the Zero Virus. Instantaneous teleportation allows the Zero Virus to become an epidemic in mere days. Since Wily did not account for advances in robot technology, the virus lies dormant in highly-advanced Reploids, only causing primitive Mechanaloids to become what the media dubs “Mavericks”. Disturbed by this course of events, Dr. Cain creates the Maverick Hunters to protect innocent humans and Reploids. Cain appoints Sigma, one of his most advanced Reploids, as the unit’s commander. Sigma manages to track down Zero, and the two get into a scuffle. Sigma shatters the gem on Zero’s forehead, which simultaneously frees Zero from the Zero Virus and infects Sigma with it. Unlike the Mechanaloids, Sigma is smart enough to infect other Reploids and begin an organized rebellion against humanity. I trust you all know how the story goes from here.

In summary, Mega Man 3 is the first sighting of the Maverick Virus that literally plagues the rest of the timeline up until Mega Man Zero. Funny how something that started with a peacekeeping robot named after a Greek letter ended with a peacekeeping robot named after a Greek letter.

Alrighty, here’s my theory. It’s long and complicated, but I’m fairly proud of it overall. So I was playing Mega Man 3 the other day, when I realized something. Why exactly are the Robot Masters revolting? It’s implied that Wily reprogramed them, but why would he want to delay Gamma’s construction if he was planning to steal it? Was Wily even involved in the first place, or did he just capitalize on the chaos the Robot Masters were causing? Maybe the energy elements the Robot Masters were collecting be responsible?

To understand this, we need to start at the beginning: more specifically, Mega Man 3. After his second defeat at the hands of Mega Man, Dr. Wily abandons his evil ways and begins working with Dr. Light on the peace-keeping robot Gamma. Being a 50-story titan brimming with weapons, Gamma’s power requirements exceed any practical method of generating electricity (fossil fuels, solar, nuclear, etc.). While the doctors try to find a solution, geologists investigating a meteor impact in some distant corner of the world discover strange crystalline formations. These crystals are found to output massive amounts of power, and are dubbed “energy elements”. Believing that more energy elements are located on the earth, Light and Wily construct a third set of Robot Masters to find said energy elements and establish facilities to mine and refine them.

At first, all goes well. In addition to the first site, the Third Numbers locate 7 more energy elements in various locations, and initial excavation goes off without a hitch. However, the energy elements slowly begin to corrupt the Robot Masters’ AI, eventually causing them and their mechanical underlings to go berserk and attack humans. Shadow Man, being of alien origin, is exempt from this, but Wily orders him to go along with his comrades in order to A) hide his true nature, which could arouse suspicion in Light and Mega Man, and B) gather intel on why the Robot Masters have gone rouge. Proto/Break Man is dispatched as well, but he forgoes the mission to get revenge on Mega Man for “replacing” him as Dr. Light’s son.

Of course, that wily Wily is secretly planning to steal Gamma for his own nefarious ends. While Light and Mega Man are distracted with the robot rebellion, Wily begins to reprogram Gamma. But the Blue Bomber defeats the 8 Robot Masters quicker than Wily expected, forcing him to deploy his experimental “Doc Robot” line (which had been safely hidden away in his third Skull Castle prior to his second defeat) to stall our hero further. While Mega Man has his (not very) climatic showdown with Break Man, Wily overpowers Light and makes off with the incomplete Gamma. The energy element’s virus seems to affect Gamma as well, leaving Wily unable to complete colossal peacekeeper before Mega Man destroys it, along with the energy elements themselves. Wily, having faked his death with a robotic duplicate (Wily had a body double piloting his Wily Machine, so why wouldn’t he have one controlling Gamma), escapes his ruined fortress and reviews the data Shadow Man collected on the energy element’s negative effects.

Flash forward to Mega Man 7. While analyzing the data files Bass stole from Light Labs along with the Super Adaptor plans, Wily discovers that Light is building a next-generation robot: Mega Man X. An infuriated Wily decides to build his own next generation robot (with blackjack and hookers!). However, Wily reasons that since he is using Light’s blueprints, his will (as usual) be inferior to Light’s. That’s when it hit him: what if his robot could infect others with the virus spread by the energy elements? Light’s robot would not just be squaring off against Wily’s, he’d potentially be facing a millions-strong army of renegade robots! One small problem: the only known energy elements were destroyed along with Gamma. Wily desperately scours the globe for more energy elements, building dozens of small outposts in remote corners of the world. (Cont.)

A tweak to Bomb Man's quotes, partially in celebration of his new sprites.

Start: "Let's have a little fun with my explosives!"
Taunt: "Watch it! Bombs aren't toys, y'know!"
Victory: "Ka-BOOM! What a blast!"
Defeat: "What? But you're supposed to blow up, not me!

EDIT: Some new quotes for Wave Man as well.

Start: "Hey, who said you could come here? Go away!"
Taunt: "On your foot...sludge? This is the last straw!"
Victory: "Maybe now I can get some peace and quiet."
Defeat: "I just want to be alone! Is that too much to ask?"

Maybe each player's intro field could have a different mecha? It's kind of boring having to fight [Mets]{neutrals} three times in a row.

Dr. Light-Met
Dr. Wily-Sniper Joe
Dr. Cossack-Bladder

Each mecha's highest stat would be the one each doctor specializes in (Met has high defense, etc.).

EDIT: Actually, each doctor's intro stage should be (aesthetically) different as well.

Dr. Light-Default
Dr. Wily-Wily Stage 1 from Mega Man 2, with the Mega Man 2 Wily Fortress in the background.
Dr. Cossack-Cossack Stage 1 from Mega Man 4, with Cossack Citadel in the background.

The sprites for Wily and Cossack's backgrounds would be the fortress stage maps from Mega Man 2 and Mega Man 4, respectively.

We have a chat room?

A tiny tweak to Crash Man's class to differentiate him from Grenade Man.

Crash Man: Aggressive Artillery Robot

I see that Plug Man's sprites have been completed!

EDIT: Looks like the Mega Man 1 Robot Masters are getting a revamp! Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man all have new sprites! Cut Man still needs one, though...

I feel that since our version of Color Man is Crystal type, he should be more prism-themed than clown/artist themed. I mean, Solar Man was originally going to be light-themed instead of fire-themed. Maybe his attacks could involve different forms of light?

I know we just finished Mega Man 3, but I have some suggestions for field names for the remaining Mega Man 5 Robot Masters.

Communications Satellite
Gravity Research Center
Mobile Airbase
Crystal Catacombs (Already in-game, but I put it here for consistency's sake.)
Arms Storehouse
Barren Highlands
Rail Transport
Water Supply

Words do not describe the excitement I am feeling. Instead, I bring you music. Funny how our MM3 update came a few weeks after the release of The Mega's MM3 album...

So the update might not come out today?



Nah, I'm just joshin' ya. Adrian can take as long as he needs to.

The update's coming out tomorrow!

So each model of Nitron has a different core type? Interesting...