Hey all, SS | Myougi here!

I've been an active Smash player for some time now, and the PMDT's decision to cease updating Project M saddens me a lot. I won't let it get me down though, as PM stopping updates will finally give us a chance to create a solid meta for the game and advance characters to their maximum potential without the fear of buffs or nerfs in the future. This is a big opportunity for Project M Netplay!

Project M is in a very unique situation with lots of possibilities, both online and off. There's a lot of potential for PM, and I feel like we should come together as a community to help it's journey into the future. PM Netplay is huge on Anther's ladder - it's one of the reasons Anther's ladder was created in the first place. PM netplay isn't going anywhere either, it's going to be enjoyed by the thousands that log onto the ladder every day. With so many people playing online and the lack of future updates, I feel like we're in a situation where we can create a 'final' netplay build of Project M. No, this doesn't mean we should add the leaked characters like Knuckles and Lyn or start using the 3.61 patch, but rather improve upon the netplay experience people are having for Project M 3.6.

With PM stopping updates, we won't have to update our PM builds anymore, so we can create one final version to use specifically for netplay. This 'final' PM build would be a single ISO without a bunch of extra files. This would solve countless desyncing problems between players, fix Dolphin's bug of crashing when hosting Melee/PM back and forth, skip the boot loader (the .elf) and go straight to the game, remove the requirement to have a specific version of a Brawl ISO (there's many versions that desync on netplay), and give us a huge opportunity to expand/improve on the cosmetics of the netplay build like it's music and stages.

Almost if not all fixes of the Project M SD Netplay method can be integrated into the ISO - more stages, more music, new character unlock code, etc. With this proposed build we would only have to have to setup the ISO once, and we'd be good to go. No hoops to jump though when booting the game, whatsoever. Playing a couple of friendlies would be quicker without having a larger margin of error.

Here's my proposal: 

Revert Project M Netplay to using a modified/patched Brawl ISO than using the SD Version of netplay.

This will allow multiple versions of dolphin (both older and future builds) to boot the game and have less desyncs. This also removes the requirement to have specific Brawl ISOs, since files that differ between the 1.01-1.02 ISOs are patched over. We won't always have to set Brawl as our default ISO either. Since we only have to build the ISO once, we can keep it and delete our Brawl ISOs when we're done so we can save some space on our hard drives. (Also, using an ISO benefits non-netplayers in some ways. Offline players who like to boot PM though alternate means need to use ISOs and not .elf files - TASers also need to use ISOs or else the game will desync.)

Fix any/all bugs in the current netplay build.

The current netplay build has a couple of bugs. Some do and don't affect online play. The music section is more or less broken right now and could use a fix for the sliders, among other things. The community would need to list these in order for them to be addressed.

Note: Any fixes that change characters would be omitted. Fixing Link's grab would be a balance change more than a bug since it would make the character different from how he is in official PM tournament builds. These are not the 'bugs' we should aim to fix.

Add/modify the alternate stages and the music list.

This will be voted upon by the community on Anther's ladder instead of all the stages and songs be selected by one person. Everyone's suggestions should be taken accounted for. We can have weekly votes for music on a stage which the top picks being added to the netplay build. Same goes for alternate stages. This may take awhile, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Include any extra features that could be added, if wanted by the ladder community.

Costumes such as headband puff and awakening Roy could be added to this build, but only if the community is behind it. 3.61 content is more or less public domain now after the PMDT's disbandment, and I'm sure the creators would rather see us enjoy their work than forget it existed. Again, this is only if the community on the ladder is behind including these.

@E2xD @Anther @The PM Netplay Community - 

I hope you all consider this and decide what should come of the future of PM netplay. There's a lot of potential to expand upon how the game is played online by making one final PM netplay build. So many things could be fixed and improved - less desyncs, less hoops to jump though when playing, more features added, etc! I really hope the PM netplay community takes this opportunity to come together and work on a final build of PM for the ladder. That means music and stages picked by the players, for the players. Powered by players from the beginning, PM will live on as long as we actively support it.

Project M forever!