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Combat Core - 3D Arena Fighter

MABManZ

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KICKSTARTER - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1518707381/combat-core-high-powered-4-player-arena-fighter

Steam Store Page - http://store.steampowered.com/app/405670/

Combat Core is a 3D arena fighting game that borrows elements from classic games like Power Stone, Custom Robo, and other fighters. The fighting mechanics focus on fast-paced combat, strategic use of your environment, and weapons in the arena. Here are the key features (more depending on stretch goals!):​

  • High-Powered Combat from 1v1 to 4 player battle royale or team modes
  • Physics-based environment destruction and interactive ragdolls
  • Original Characters with fun, unique movesets and strengths
  • Combat Cores can boost fighter stats and grant special attacks to fit your play style!
  • Local Multiplayer + Online Multiplayer using Exit Game's Photon Networking Framework
  • Interactive Arenas with a variety of mechanics and hazards
  • Weapon Pickups ranging from lazer swords to energy grenade launchers, with multiple attacks and uses
  • Full Character Editor to create custom fighters with different gear, stats, and skills
  • Oculus Rift Compatible - The first fighting game with native Oculus Rift support!




Features Character Designs by Robert "Robaato" Porter of UDON/Cryamore, and guest character designs (stretch goals) by Alex Ahad (Skullgirls)

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Yo, shouldn't Rob be working on Cryamore?? Where does that guy find his free time? I know he's just the artist on this one, but sheesh!

This game does look cool though. Their campaign is already showing more promise than Airdash Online's, and by comparison, I think their character designs are a lot more interesting too. I just wish the rocket-pants girl Alex drew was the main character instead of that blonde dude.

Hopefully they get funded, but I also wonder how they're breaking down that lowball budget. Even with the demo content, it doesn't seem like it'd be enough to handle some of the features they have planned. However they've set it up, we'll have to see if they're able to deliver.
 
I've actually been quite interested in the potential of non traditional 3d fighters for a while. Will definitely back for Alex and his artwork as well.
 
Hey Kaboom, thanks for checking out the game! On the budget- here's a post I made on NeoGAF this week:


First off I think most of your analysis is coming from the assumption that I am outsourcing most of the work on this game, which is incorrect. We don't really have a "team of 4" so much as me getting some freelance help from everyone else on board. I have done and will continue to do the bulk of work on the project myself - including ALL programming, ALL animations, ALL rigging, ALL sound effects, ALL game testing (along with backers), and most of the modeling.

30k - Base goal

I'll share that I am currently in a situation where I am staying with family for support and the cost of living for myself is MINIMAL. Most of the early goals are to pay for other people's work (music licenses/production, 2D art/concepts, some 3D modeling), at rates that they have already agreed to. 5 of the 8 base characters are already modeled, animated, playable and thoroughly tested (but not perfect I'm sure).

From my perspective, the Kickstarter only covers a fraction of my own worth/salary, and I'm hoping for it to payoff on the actual game launch. I've worked for 2 years full-time on the project already with NO income and fully intend to complete it, regardless of the Kickstarter outcome (although it will be shifted to part time and delay development time)

45k Arena Fund - Again, I am doing most of this modeling work MYSELF. Jordan (other 3D artist) will be HELPING me and the cost was calculated based on his estimate. Also consider that a lot of the basic coding framework is DONE at this point and I can shift more of my focus on art assets going forward.

Rob is VERY skilled with environment art (he's doing the bulk of 2D environment work on Cryamore, btw) and agreed to help with arena concepts (and concepts for visual improvements on the VR themed stages) if the goal is met. So, basically all he will need to do is produce 8 arena concept drawings, and me and Jordan will take it from there to make it into a 3D set. Also, Rob is only assisting on game design - he is only giving his input and feedback on my ideas and and I tweak them accordingly.


60k Extra Characters - I'll take the guesswork out for you. The 5 current characters took roughly 3-4 weeks to get to a near-complete stage (modeling, animation, attacks, voice) with ZERO modeling help, so it's not unreasonable to produce 7 more over 7 months with an extra modeler on board. Again- I am the animator, rigger, designer (mechanics), and tester for all of these characters. This estimate is based on my OWN speed in which I have already completed 5 characters + a custom character editor.

80k Extra Modes - A lot of these modes are new rules that can be added to the existing framework in a reasonable time without needing to create new art assets. Again- I am the coder! I made everything in the game right now in less than 2 years from scratch and set it up to be flexible with these things.


90k Console Ports - This number is not based off the 10k difference from the previous goal, but is considered more "programming work" (from me) past the previous character goal, so it is more accurate to compare it to a 30k difference. I don't know where you're getting your numbers, but according to the Nintendo Dev Portal and the ordering form for dev kits, it is considerably LESS than $5k to get a CAT-DEV kit for Wii U. (I don't think Nintendo wants the actual price public), and Microsoft provides dev kits for FREE to qualified developers. There are other fees such as foreign licensing and insurance but it's not a gigantic sum - see this article for a breakdown http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...-to-Make-5-000

The game is developed in Unity so the game literally builds to another platform with 1 click. Most of the work will be optimizing the performance and adjusting the UI to meet the publishing guidelines for each respective platform.


100k Story Mode - We're not producing a 60-hour RPG here. I can't imagine the dialogue for each character surpassing 5-10 minutes, and again the people involved (the voice actors and casting director) have already given the rates needed for their services. Not that it needs to be mentioned, but I won't be hiring a writer either. The story ideas will be developed by core team members.



Team Size - If you're concerned with the team size please consider that the current build is essentially the work of 1 person (Jordan did 2 characters models) . With the Kickstarter it will essentially be increased to 2 (Jordan will be helping a lot), with Rob only handling 2D concepts in which he is incredibly adept in producing quickly, and also giving feedback on game design, and not so much building the design itself. Chris's work (voice director) has also been very quick (our current 5 character's voicework was ALL completed in less than 1 week).

Admittedly, Q1 2016 is an aggressive date but not unreasonable based on what I've achieved so far. And alpha backers will continue to receive new builds and updates during the entire development process. If you are expecting the game to make a huge leap into AAA quality visuals then you're simply overvisualizing what we are aiming for.


TLDR; The kickstarter covers the cost of everyone ELSE on the project. I'm underpaying MYSELF because I can afford to. I'm not going to "burn out"- it's a passion project and I've already done this for almost 2 years non-stop, but I've run out of savings to pay for ramen noodles and energy drinks. Anything past the base goal for Kickstarter is basically my making life easier, not harder.
 
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I'm sorry but these characters are so cheesy.
 
Oh my god it's Alex. Didn't even know.
 
Hey Kaboom, thanks for checking out the game! On the budget- here's a post I made on NeoGAF this week:
Hey, thanks for the info. Well, hopefully the second leg of development is just as productive as the first (or better). You've certainly done a lot of work so far, so it'll be nice to see this project fully realized.

Make sure you don't burn yourself out though. Sometimes the real pressure doesn't build up until you start to reach the finish line, and that's where your team and budget will matter the most. Good luck!

Cheese is love. Cheese is life.
Cheese might be love, but Peanut Butter is life!
 
man this looks awesome hope you get all the monies. you definitely got mine
 
On Saturday we reached the 25% base funding mark! Thank you again to everyone for your generous support and believing in Combat Core, we have to keep pushing! Support the game on Kickstarter!

I'm sure a lot of you have been tried the demo out, here are some combat tips to help learn some of the basics!

Character Stats
Every character has a spread of different stats that will change various aspects of their abilities.

Speed
This stat affects your character's move speed (not attack speed). Speed can be important for evading attacks or quickly navigating the arena to grab pickup, energy orbs, or weapons. Larger sized characters will have a negative effect on their speed rating, and smaller characters will inherently receive a boost!

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Here you can see the clear difference of speed between Ember and Skatie

Health
Determines the maximum health that your character will have per stock, and can range from 1000 points up to 1500 depending on the character and core you pick. As with the speed rating, large characters have an inherent health stat boost, whereas smaller character receive less or no boost.

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Skatie has a very low base health compared to Ember, but with the "Fortress" core she can get more HP
Energy
The energy rating determines the maximum amount your character's core can hold. Energy is used for executing "Core Attacks" or other special skills such as most projectile attacks. Your core shield (guard) also shares the same energy pool. Having more energy means you can utilize these skills more often, or be able to guard stronger attacks for longer.

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Weirdo Dude is going to have trouble w/ guarding or using core attacks!

Damage

In Combat Core, all attacks have a base damage which is then increased (multiplied) depending on the character and core's damage rating.

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Bruizer's air punch has a base damage of 44 (using the basic core), but when you equip the “Money Shot” core, the damage is increased to 51.

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A Beam Uppercut core attack from Pugi will do 406 damage while equipped with “Skyland”, but will do 462 damage with “Money Shot”.

Charge
Likely the most obscured stat, the Charge stat determines your energy regeneration rate. However, it's not a flat value. It's actually directly linked to the number of energy orbs you hold. During matches, there will be 20 orbs available for players to possess, and each orb will increase the player's energy regeneration. A player with a high charge will regenerate energyVERY quickly when they are holding many orbs. However, orbs will be dropped when players take damage! A player who focuses on picking up loose orbs will hold the advantage!

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Picking up orbs give you more energy regeneration, depending on your charge stat.

That's it for today's update! We'll continue to expand on game mechanics in the future and hopefully some new surprises soon!
 
This game reminds me of Power Stone 2.
 
3 days left guys!
 
I wish i had a job, so i would be able to donate something, never played anything like that but the artstyle got me interested