Curiosity: What If There Weren't Corners?

[The Dave]

Hi! I had an idea, and was wondering what the ramifications of that idea could be. Specifically: A 2D fighting game without corners.

Instead of backing into an invisible wall, as characters advance in a particular direction, the background would scroll and both characters would be dragged closer to the center of the screen, effectively rotating the fighters around a central pivot. There'd have to still be a max distance between the characters to prevent wrap-around and not mess too badly with zoners. On the other hand, it might be interesting and make corner combos less of a thing.

I'm sure it'd break a bunch of other things, though. I'm at a fairly low experience level and am curious what those sorts of things would be, so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

 

[Maji]

Been done before, Shuma's stage in MSH comes to mind. It makes run away too strong.

 

[skull person]

It would be really easy to just back peddle with a life lead and wait for the perfect chance to strike.
It would also be really silly to chase Peacock for fourty Skullseconds because she never has to take a risk since there is no corner for her to back herself into.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Been done before, Shuma's stage in MSH comes to mind. It makes run away too strong.

Galaxy Fight has a stage like that too. Run away is similarly strong.

IIRC Shuma's stage makes infinites easier, since the scrolling treats you like your always in the corner during combos.

 

[North888]

I think wall-less stages CAN work, but the way you do it really matters. It would need some weird coding for sure :/

 

[Cadenza]

If there was no corners then i believe keeping mind of postioning would be less relevant.

For example you keep backing up. Normally there's a corner and people go "oh shit" if you take out corners. Zoners wont really have to worry about being stuck in a tight space and run around.

It would mess up of spacing in general imo

 

[KaboomKid]

Not quite the same idea, but turning on Stamina Mode w/ World Wrap in Project M is a ton of fun. You can basically just go wherever you want, and usually everyone ends up pingponging around in space going for crazy aerial kills. Reminds me of Psychic Force, but without the walls.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't agree that shuma's stage makes run away too strong.

There is basically no run away/zoning game in MSH. Blackheart is the closest thing and he's pretty low tier with his lack of chip damage and the insane speed others can get in on him safely. Shuma's stage doesn't have a problem in that regard purely because the game is pure aggression.

 

[Maji]

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't agree that shuma's stage makes run away too strong.

There is basically no run away/zoning game in MSH. Blackheart is the closest thing and he's pretty low tier with his lack of chip damage and the insane speed others can get in on him safely. Shuma's stage doesn't have a problem in that regard purely because the game is pure aggression.

Wasn't the best example with the way the meta works, Galaxy Fight is a better example.

 

[SaltedIce]

Done in a few of capcom's gams and some more obscure titles, Dino Rex comes to mind. Reduces pressure, but damn if you have to be more creative with your combos

 

[Dime]

Tekken has stages like that but they were balanced by having a run forward into unblockable shoulder tackle of either character moves to far away, while there was no run backwards, and the fact that forward movement was just much stronger than backwards movement.

Wallless stages in tekken were always my favorites if only because of dumb walls were in tekken.

Totally wouldn't work for streetfighterish games unless balanced specifically for that.

 

[Mike_Z]

The problem with corner-less stages is that there is nothing to force a confrontation.
If it is possible in the game to get a life lead and back away to win by timeout, there is nothing stopping you from doing that.
Conversely, if it is not possible to win by timeout, there is STILL nothing forcing you to move within the other person's damage range.

Even in games with corners, avoiding a confrontation can be effective enough that some games have implemented measures to prevent it even more forcefully, like Negative Penalty in Arc System Works games.

If the win condition can be altered such that this problem does not exist, then corners can be eliminated. For example, give everyone an old-RPG attack that just always hits, or very fast homing bullets, or something. But boredom and the fact that people dislike "lame" play is an unavoidable issue anyway.

-- off topic --
Shuma's stage in MSF did make runaway much too strong, but only if you had the life lead already.
It also made Shuma worse, because on Shuma's own stage was the only place he couldn't do his 100% since it required enough Flying Screen hits to eliminate the wall. :^P

It would need some weird coding for sure :/

Spoken like a person who is clueless about how programming works. :^)