Balance Mod is a rebalance of certain items, enemies, and bosses in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. I have plans to rework many things in the game while still keeping the core ideas the same.
Join the Discord to help: https://discord.gg/J74B4cRuWs
The goal of this project is to make the game more fun. I want to change things that aren't fun or are unfair in order to make the game more enjoyable. I believe that Isaac is meant to be a skillful game about resourcefulness, positioning, and choice-making, and I want to help fulfill this vision.
I might, it depends on a lot of factors. It's more likely that I'll just nerf certain synergies between items.
Delirium isn't planned for a rework right now. That will be wayyy in the future, and only if this project actually kicks off.
I may do this with the configuration menu mod, not sure yet. Let me know if you want this!
When I look at a mechanic or item, I look at 1.) what it's core idea is, 2.) what's wrong with it, and 3.) why it should be improved in the way I want to improve it.
Let's take Dataminer for example. The core idea is corruption. It corrupts your stats, the room, and your tear effects. The problem was that it would increment one and decrement another stat by a big amount, making the reward not good enough for the drawback.
My solution: Sprites get corrupted more chaotically, but you now get +1 damage and +0.5 fire rate on use for the room. This keeps in mind the quality level of 0 (stat boosts are noticeable and helpful, but not as significant as something like Book of Belial), the core idea of corruption, and the idea that Dataminer affects your stats. It doesn't make Dataminer great and some would say it's still bad, but it has it's niche and uses while still feeling like a quality 0 item.
My point is that you should expect changes that don't significantly change the item's core idea or behavior (unless the item is in dire need of something like that).
It depends on if it's an item, enemy, mechanic, and a whole lotta other factors. For items, I look at the pros, risks, and use cases then go from there. For enemies, I typically look at how fair each one of their attacks are (fair =/= difficult), the floor they appear in, and the core idea behind them. I will also try to study how they're placed in rooms so I can better understand what the developers were aiming for when making the enemy.
Which commonly regarded as overpowered/underpowered enemies or items are you for sure not planning on changing?
I noticed that somewhat recently (as of 9/25/2022) the Binding of Isaac subreddit did a poll on what the worst items are in the game. Here are some of the top 30 that I, at least right now, know for a fact I won't be changing:
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The Poop - This item serves it's purpose. You poop, you sometimes get a collectible, you knock back projectiles. It's not good, but that's okay.
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Isaac's Tears - It is essentially an alternative to Tammy's Head. Tammy's Head typically applies a damage bonus on your tears, while this does not. This item recharges really quickly though, and also has a quick use time. I don't think it is bad for a quality 0 item.
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Isaac's Heart - I think this item is extremely strong. It positions itself near you, gives Isaac massive contact damage, and releases creep and tears around you when it's charged. It definitely has a skill curve, but if you can master this item you can become really, really strong.
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Kamikaze - Free bombs, instant use, lots of damage, though it takes a heart. I don't think this item is bad, but it's outclassed by lots of other items. That is okay! The game needs "bad" items so that players are forced to use what they have and adapt to survive.
I prefer to do the bulk of the coding myself (though I am new to modding on Isaac). The main thing I'm looking for are bug reports and any players willing to contribute their ideas and voice their opinions about the game's balance. Think an item is too weak? Let me know! Think a change I made was poorly implemented? Let me know in a constructive manner!