NetherRealm can rebalance Mortal Kombat on the fly, no patches needed

by Richard Mitchell on Apr 20th 2011 3:57PM

Reptile's acid spit too powerful? Does Raiden have a super cheap infinite combo? Not to worry, as Mortal Kombat maestro Ed Boon revealed to Eurogamer that the latest entry in the series can be balanced at any time -- without the need to download a patch.

Boon noted that if a character is discovered to be too powerful, or if an inventive player discovers an infinite combo, developer NetherRealm is able to "make adjustments and address those things immediately." Precise details on how this works were not revealed, with Boon stating only that the dynamic updates are "built into the system" and don't require a patch.

Mortal Kombat isn't the first game to utilize dynamic updates. Certain Xbox Live Arcade games have managed similar on-the-fly updates using Title Managed Storage, a limited amount of Xbox Live server space Microsoft grants its developers. This system allows Monday Night Combat to receive balance tweaks and is also what powers "Teh Internets" levels found in Super Meat Boy.

Source: Eurogamer

Tags: microsoft, mortal-kombat-2011, Netherrealm-Studios, playstation, ps3, xbox

Reader Comments (41)

Please nerf goro and lion-o in story mode.

@Special Agent Bob

Seriously, Joystiq, what were you thinking?

@Special Agent Bob
Kintaro.... You on the bit with *SPOILER*

where Cyber Sub Zero protects the US Soldiers?

@Acosta02 Huh?

Hell I'm having too much of a blast playing this to complain about someone being overpowered.

It's a blissful ignorance. You won't notice/be bothered by any lack of balance until you play it competitively - ranked matches.

@KazamaSogetsu

Yep...haven't played online ranked at all. I can see Scorpion used many times.

@KazamaSogetsu

I haven't played this MK yet, but if I were to play it competitively, I would think this would be more of a ignorant annoyance... and by that I mean an annoyance due to ignorance. If I knew my main inside and out and understood all the timing necessary only to discover that one day I couldn't pull off what I used to prior, it would drive me batshit crazy. I would suspect whether or not it was due to losing my training or a silent update. Not to mention if I had an opponent character that used certain tactics which I've adjusted accordingly for only to discover that the common strategy used is switched up without warning... when dealing with fighting games, I think any update that changes any part of the game requires a patch download... or at least a log note for any changes made... changes should never be silent when it comes to fighting games.

So... the patch that I downloaded on day 1 was for...

@Drew327 stability or bugs perhaps?

@Drew327 Probably for a few bugs related to unlockable costumes, as well as a couple glitch fixes.

@Drew327 You're right, THEY COMPLETELY LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING!

@WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco Ah, noted!

That's fine and all, but will it notify that the game has been changed? What if you get used to playing a character a certain way and then all the sudden it's changed on you. You won't know if it's them or something wrong with the game. I foresee a lot of people complaining on forums that their copy of the game is broken.

@fwacce The fighting community is pretty on-the-ball with game changes. I doubt it will get that crazy.

@fwacce

The other reply temporarily disappeared, but to add to what he said: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 has had some patches lately, and the community almost immediately figures out what changes have been made... but that probably won't matter for MK because theyll probably actually release some patches.

That's awesome...if they actually do it. In the several hours I played yesterday in the Story Mode, it's clear that some of the fighters are VERY unbalanced (especially during the 1 vs 2 matches) ...and Shao Kahn is ridiculous!

@trenen Shao Kahn is supposed to be ridiculous and cheap. It's a Mortal Kombat tradition.

I could go for some nerfing to the final fight in story mode.

@SgtDookie

That was so easy man.

Teleport, uppercut, repeat. Use X-ray when you got it. Simple.

I hope they fix the stuttering, whether through this system or a regular patch, that occurs when I play story mode. After nearly every battle, the game stutters a bit before awarding my koins. It's also done this during matches a few times. Very frustrating.

I'm pretty sure that's not what Johnny Cage had in mind when he said "let's play hot hands," Scorpion.

The fact that more console developers don't understand the simplicity of pulling and putting data over a network is sad.

It's as if the "social" game developers and console game developers never meet or mingle.

Updating and patching are two different things. One is data, one is machine code. Now you know and can avoid making ignorant comments like this.

More and more games should be doing this.....as more and more games are released unfinished.

Unlimited combos (to use the example in the article) should be found out BEFORE shipping, not after.

WHAT IS THIS VOODOO MAGIC?

what about people that play this offline? are they just screwed?

The story mode 1 v 2's and the bosses are just no fun. I just spam a single ability until I beat it. Seriously?

So if they make the "on-the-fly" changes when my console is off, when I turn it on and launch the game I'll have to download something so my game knows about the changes that were made.....I think that's called a "patch"

@kgoo867
-patches add data
-updates change numbers(stats)

Cool beans, Boon!

Now bring custom soundtracks to PS3!!!

@MLC
Yeah it was in the demo! What gives?!?
Also nerd Kintaro, Goro, and most importantly Shao Khan. HATE those guys

Interesting. Hopefully I can resist FO3 tonight and get to handing out beat downs.

Sounds like simple INI files.

must explain why i get so many damn freezes

Good. Now they can fix the region lock.

they need to fix shao kahn. the sledge is cheap, the shoulder block is cheaper and the fact that his attacks get through and damage you when you're already landing attacks on him is clown shoes.

this game is blast and i love it, but this is the only thing that bothers me so far. even stryker's not horrible....ya know besides being stryker of course

how able get rid of the online pass you losers

I've played a decent amount of MK, and I've been waiting for this game since UMK3. I couldn't be more happy with the game.

It's very early to start calling it, but Ermac's telekinetic grab grab seems way too good. It has a huge vertical and horizontal hitbox: if you're anywhere in it when he uses the move you're getting hit by it. It then throws you to the other side of the screen, making his zoning game absurdly effective and easy. It also has next to no recovery time on it, making an already safe move even safer. Characters without a teleport simply can not get in.

The game is incredible and if you're looking for a fighter that has the old MK feel while bringing in new features, or just want to check out a solid fighter, definitely give it a shot! NetherRealm studios really poured a lot of care into the game, and after so many crappy MK games it's a breath of fresh air.

The game is absolutely gorgeous, too.

They act like people will care that much about Mortal Kombat in a few months.

Games like Street Fighter and Marvel have built-in fanbases of dedicated fighting game players through series that have been around for a decade or more.

MK has a bunch of casual fans that remember playing it back in highschool, and picked it up because it's "LOLMK OMG FATALITIES".

Good luck Mr. Boon.

We need to know the criteria that will warrant a balancing. I say if someone figures out how to do a 100% combo, that warrants balancing.

But a bunch of people complaining on the internet about getting their ass kicked by scorpion does not mean he's overpowered.

Note: I never use scorpion but it always seems he is overpowered, maybe because he's boons favorite. But the more people that use him the less spectrum of players I have to learn to defeat

Mortal Kombat (2011)

NetherRealm can rebalance Mortal Kombat on the fly, no patches needed

Reader Comments (41)

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:00PM Special Agent Bob said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:09PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:14PM iceytoa1 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:48PM Flesseck said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:01PM Mareado said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:15PM KazamaSogetsu said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:18PM Mareado said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:58PM Morisato13 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:07PM Drew327 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:09PM danthe57 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:12PM WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:16PM jediyoshi said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:22PM Drew327 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:10PM fwacce said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:12PM WiNGSPANTT from TopTierTacticsco said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:18PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:24PM trenen said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:26PM PercyChuggs said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:28PM SgtDookie said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 10:14PM Mechazawa Prime said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:35PM Xeno378 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:36PM MGTrey said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:48PM jsx said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:50PM jsx said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 4:51PM iceveiled said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:00PM Alcidias said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:02PM eat it said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:04PM Wolfpac05 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:21PM TheAngryIntern said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 5:24PM Major Pyr0 said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 7:11PM MLC said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 7:37PM ChaosBladez said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 7:34PM Nook said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 7:39PM Extinction said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 8:46PM The BZA said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 9:38PM HuitZiloP said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 9:51PM kiss0fthebullet said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 10:00PM dblue said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 10:01PM holmcross said

Posted: Apr 20th 2011 11:00PM jynxycat said

Posted: Apr 21st 2011 10:20AM MRL3G3ND said

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