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Air Dash Online (Indie game inspired by Smash Bros)

80% Lean

80% Lean

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Parasoul Filia Cerebella
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Similar to what Skullgirls did to the traditional fighting game space, Air Dash Online is attempting to do the same thing except in the platform fighting space (which really only has the Super Smash Bros. series in it).

Think of it as Super Smash Bros. except it is designed to be competitive from the ground up. They just started a Kickstarter today and it will end on Sunday November 10 at 7:55 PM EST. Here's the Kickstarter link where you can find more info on the game and contribute:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1289882404/air-dash-online-the-competitive-platform-fighter

You can also check out the website at: http://airdashonline.com/
Find the game on Twitter too at: http://twitter.com/airdashonline

MikeZ is also consulting for this game, so it should be interesting. You can also see him introducing his cat's butt in the developer introduction video. :D
 
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Dagnabit another kickstarter I want to fund. Why'd they have to do it so close after the Shantae one ;_;
 
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I'm not usually a big platform fighter fan...but if I played one, it'd be this.

Dat music though, it's so catchy.
 
Looks interesting. When one door closes, another one opens.
 
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Just because it's Mike Z approved, and they're going to be asking him for advice throughout the whole process, I will probably get this game.
 
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I have a few issues with the visual design of this game, but it's early days so I'm willing to give them some breathing room while it's developed.

I do hope they expand the tiers on the KS though. They're going to find it tough to hit that goal with just the current ones. More digital stuff like a digital OST and the like are a must.
 
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Woah, Tesla is like a super pikachu! I should find money it looks neat.
 
Cellsai said:
I have a few issues with the visual design of this game, but it's early days so I'm willing to give them some breathing room while it's developed.

I definitely agree. At the moment I feel the characters are too plasticy with that typical AAA realistic game look. It may look good in most AAA games that are trying to go for the modern vibe, but I feel that the game would better fit a more cartoony/serious look to it, more like the concept art. Judging from how it is now, it looks like it might be going down a similar art direction to Injustice except a little brighter. Of course it doesn't need to be cartoony and kiddy, but I feel it can still get a mature cartoony look like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or even Street Fighter 4. Then again it's very early in development and it might be too early to judge, but you have to admit right now the only similarity between the 3D models and the concept art are the body shapes and colors. Their styles are completely different which is a little disturbing!!

Besides that, from a gameplay standpoint it looks extremely interesting and could possibly be the next step in competitive platform fighters.
 
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80% Lean said:
I definitely agree. At the moment I feel the characters are too plasticy with that typical AAA realistic game look. It may look good in most AAA games that are trying to go for the modern vibe, but I feel that the game would better fit a more cartoony/serious look to it, more like the concept art. Judging from how it is now, it looks like it might be going down a similar art direction to Injustice except a little brighter. Of course it doesn't need to be cartoony and kiddy, but I feel it can still get a mature cartoony look like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or even Street Fighter 4. Then again it's very early in development and it might be too early to judge, but you have to admit right now the only similarity between the 3D models and the concept art are the body shapes and colors. Their styles are completely different which is a little disturbing!!

Besides that, from a gameplay standpoint it looks extremely interesting and could possibly be the next step in competitive platform fighters.

Yeah, the game looks good and I'm interested in playing it. (Despite the fact I suck at brawl, but hey don't knock it till you try it.) But the designs and art are kinda making me so iffy, this is probably because I'm an artist and honestly, incredibly picky with designs but I would love a less realistic-looking game in general with 3d models.
 
It's not the actual quality of the models that bug me, or the shaders they use on them. It's that that characters all seem to have very similar shapes (skinny humanoid) with similar, very detailed designs. Zoom the game out in a 4v4 brawl and the characters suddenly become very hard to distinguish.
 
Cellsai said:
It's not the actual quality of the models that bug me, or the shaders they use on them. It's that that characters all seem to have very similar shapes (skinny humanoid) with similar, very detailed designs. Zoom the game out in a 4v4 brawl and the characters suddenly become very hard to distinguish.

Yeah! Not a lot of the characters have shapes to suggest they float or fall which is pretty critical in a game caleld Air Dash online, the only one I see so far is the tiger-dude and the big burly demon one. (not a fan of either design but it's easy to tell them apart and make accurate judgement based on appearances.
 
I'm excited that a new IP is approaching Smash from a different perspective, but I'm with some of you that the current art direction feels a little off. The artwork is good, and the 3D models are very well done, but I think the character designs themselves need something more. A lot of them have similar color schemes too.

As Cellsai mentioned, Nintendo mascots work well in Smash because they have very bold colors and silhouettes. Those qualities help them stick out even when the action gets crazy. I'd like to think the Air Dash characters could achieve a similar degree of personality in their own way, without needing alt costumes. Perhaps the Air Dash team should add some more varied concept artists to their group, just so they could expand their range of ideas.

Or hey, they could just team up with Labzero! Maybe it's not too late to turn this into Vulcan Heel? j/k

But yeah, I hope they reach their goal!
 
I figure that the color schemes the characters have now are supposed to put them in factions or something. There's 4 light blue guys that all look like good guys and now there's this demon fella in red. Again, I don't think that's a terribly good idea from a gameplay direction, even if each color has a dozen other palettes they shouldn't have similar default colors.
 
I really hate the term "platform fighter". Really, I don't see Smash as anything but a fighting game.
 
Cellsai said:
It's a very different genre to a standard 2D fighter though, so a sub catagorization is just efficient.
I disagree. Competitive combat is competitive combat, even if it has different mechanics, controls, or optional party modes.
 
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Squire Grooktook said:
I disagree. Competitive combat is competitive combat, even if it has different mechanics, controls, or optional party modes.
3D fighters are fighting games too but they definitely need a sub category to distinguish from 2D fighters.
Platform fighters are also different enough to warrant one.
Arguably action fighters like the DBZ and Naruto style games should have one too.
 
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Cellsai said:
3D fighters are fighting games too but they definitely need a sub category to distinguish from 2D fighters.
Platform fighters are also different enough to warrant one.
Arguably action fighters like the DBZ and Naruto style games should have one too.

If you're going to acknowledge it as a fighting game in the same way a 3d fighting game is a fighter, than I guess that's fine. My problem is the people who outright say "smash isn't a fighting game" and than call it a vs platformer or whatever. While it may belong to a particular sub genre, it's still definitely a part of the overall genre.
 
Chrono_Tata said:
DotA is "competitive combat". Quake is "competitive combat". We categorise games to be helpful to players looking for similar games to play, not to be elitist.

Like I said. I'm fine if you wanna call it a sub-genre of fighting games, the same way 3d fighters are a sub genre, but anybody who says outright "Smash isn't a fighter" or tries to classify it as under any other genre umbrella, is just too close minded to recognize anything 2d that doesn't use street fighter styled controls as a fighting game imho.

A fighting game to me is a game where you competitively fight one on one against other players(though the option to have more players in a match doesn't detract from this, as long as it's optional and not the primary source of the games depth) , where fighting is the main and primary focus of the game, and where the combat mechanics and design promote strategy and skill based play, and are the main focus of the game.

Perhaps my original comment was a bit uncalled for, since the game is being called a "platform fighter" after all.
 
An update on the KS
People have been asking about the budget and console releases so we posted an update to the FAQ. We will be posting our Steam Greenlight page tomorrow along with our prototype build! Check back for updates and leave us plenty of feedback. We are always excited to hear from you.

Posing the prototype build? Sounds good to me!
 
Looks amazing but... it´s going kinda slow sadly ):
 
I think the reason this isn't doing so well at this moment, is a big reason of Smash Brothers appeal is in it's complete and utter fan service that allows you the ability to fight with Iconic characters against other Iconic characters using their Iconic movesets.
 
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I tried playing it at Evo. Given it's an early concept, it seemed it could be great. I liked the active parry system they had.
 
Broseidon Rex said:
Given it's an early concept, it seemed it could be great.
That's a big problem right there. They didn't have enough of a product to show off for the amount their asking and with no previous titles under their belt.
I wish they'd spent longer prepping and researching for this KS.
 
dwam that goal number is huge
 
They need to exaggerate the character's silhouettes. The characters already have the features they need for that too, so I hope they realize this before they get too much work done. Not being able to tell the characters apart is why Sakurai used various nintendo characters in the first place.

They need to get the game fully working with one character. Why did I donate to Skullgirls and Yatagarasu? because I knew what I was getting, and I knew it worked.

From a psychological standpoint, their kickstarter tiers have too big of jumps. The idea is that if you're getting the game for $25, $35 is an easy jump to get the soundtrack. Hey look, only $10 more than that gets me an art book! And then it's only 5 more for a t-shirt! You get people to climb this ladder. $5 to $25 is too big. And then they've got $155 to $555 to $2,555?!

I really like the looks of this, but they just aren't selling me on it. It's not in a position to do well.
 
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Wow, I totally wasn't expecting their campaign to progress this slowly. Maybe turning this into Vulcan Heel wouldn't be such a bad idea!

Seriously though, they'd better be getting some major feedback. Right now the Smashers are hardly showing up, and if the art style and presentation are actually holding people back, then it might require a 2nd campaign to address those issues.

It's possible that the "Online" tag in the title might be hurting them too. If I was clueless and didn't watch the video, I might think this was another MMO game. I dunno about you guys, but I gloss over those hella fast when I'm flipping through crowdfunding projects.

Anyway, it's too bad to see them like this, but if the experience helps them improve the game, then maybe it'll be for the best.
 
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KaboomKid said:
Right now the Smashers are hardly showing up,

It's not just them that's not showing up. The ADO devs are nowhere to be seen either. It's had 2 updates in 6 days? They're not even posting on SmashBoards.
You can't just make a KS and then leave it hanging in the wind like this.
 
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Cellsai said:
It's not just them that's not showing up. The ADO devs are nowhere to be seen either. It's had 2 updates in 6 days? They're not even posting on SmashBoards.
You can't just make a KS and then leave it hanging in the wind like this.
Yes you can. Just don't expect much.
 
Broseidon Rex said:
Yes you can. Just don't expect much.

LOL This. As evidenced by it's paltry take so far. Plus like Mr.X stated, the name absolutely sucks. Instead of creating a universe bursting with great characters and naming the game after that, you simply named it after it's mechanics and functions.

It's like if Labzero decided not to use the name "Skullgirls" and decided upon "2D Assist based Team Anime Fighter GGPO"
 
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I thought it was just a place holder title.
 
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