Fighter Game...In theory

[jam1220]

So what we're gonna do is make a fighter game...in theory. Go through all the steps to make a fighter game but never actually make one. So in the end we just end up showing what goes into making a fighter game. Why would we do this? mmmm~ well...cause I actually do have an idea for a fighter game however I also know my art style would make for a pretty boring looking fighter (it wouldn't catch anyones eyes sadly). And finally cause I like knowing how things work so I wanna know how to make a fighter game. This also seemed like something fun to do together so I wanna try it out. The information we put here could also be used as a template for others who want to make a fighter video game in the future

I guess in the end we just boil what I said down to "Let's play pretend! Today we're gonna make a video game" but with more realistic things happening. You can contribute where ever or when ever you like. I'd like for anyone who has knowledge on any of the steps of making a video game to let their voices be heard

I know what you're thinking "jam why are you doing this here? this is fighter game community not video game making community" and the answer is simple, I like seeing(er reading) how you guys brains work when you think. I also know someone is probably thinking "pretty someone else has already done something like this already". Which of course you're probably right but you know what they say, repetition is the key to learning. Plus I really want to do it

Again we would just be making a game in theory. There would be no game actually made and even if it was made it would probably be free seeing how there is no way to actually pay all of us. It's going to be like a library book. It's everyones. If anyone does make the game in this thread and get money for it, all who contribute have a right to get paid and have credit for it. Again it's just a theory.

That being said I will start it off if it is alright with everyone

No clue where to start with making a fighter game so I'll just do what I know draw some shit. We can use these lame concept art for characters I was going to scrap. They can be the main roster I suppose, I'll just start talking about them then.

 

[jam1220]

Spoiler

Main character. Name was suppose to be Barboros but I want to have an ice cream name theme with the characters for some reason so his name is Vanilla for now

He's your stereotypical out of shape cop but with a twist, he's an ex-gang member. After awhile he started realizing how much of a monster he was, he did alot more than the average bad kid in a bad neighborhood, he decided to grow up and clean up the mess he made himself. He never got caught so he just slip out the gang life and started being a cop. Few years later he's let himself go a bit but he's still committed to his cause of fixing his wrongs in city he lives in. However a threat has appeared and it has a name attached to it that sends a sensation down Vanilla's body, a sensation he thought was long dead and makes Vanilla take on this personally.

No one save a couple people actually know what he did in his dark past, so when the topic of his past is brought up he just says he use to be in some small gang and left before anything bad happened. Most people see this as nothing unusual seeing as some have the same backstory and just drop the subject. Most people just view him as the older out of shape cop trying to put on a tough guy act for everyone.

Personality wise his a villain reminding himself he's trying to be good. He usually ends up saying something super dark and scary and then realizing "oh wait I can't do that anymore" trying to play it off like a joke. He's very calculating and a street wise person...book smarts leaves alot to be desired however. When angry and serious is when he really starts showing glimpse into how he use to behave before he started correcting himself. He also has too good a sense of humor and will start laughing at even the lamest jokes.

he's suppose to uses handcuff as a main weapon. short summary plays like Gordeau from Under Night in Birth but instead of claw thingy he's got hand cuffs and instead of scythe he has bigger cuffs (he hides on body somewhere)

No wait I like ghost rider so maybe something like that too
maybe some gamagori in there too
maybe these for supers?

Spoiler

Unknown Ice cream theme named guy was suppose to be Rjd but it's ice cream stuff now. Maybe Rocky Road? That way he be called R.R.

Backstory is he was a partner in crime of Vanilla, while Vanilla was plotting and scheming Rocky was the face of the gang and getting the credit for it all. After awhile Vanilla decided to leave the lifestyle and be a cop Rocky and the rest of his former gang was his first bust. Without anyone else knowledge the two stage the whole thing. Vanilla would get on everyone good side being the cop who single handily brought down the fearsome gang, while Rocky got even more infamous. The story begins the day after Rocky get's out of jail

Personality wise he's a guy who just got out of prison and there's a bunch of stuff he wants to do now. He's generally up for anything and will try anything at least once. He didn't particularly like the part where he did bad things he did however like the part where he got all the respect money and power from others so he isn't really sorry about what he did. He's a more in the moment guy who while be super mad today but tomorrow will go back to being your best friend. he doesn't like holding on to grudges or lost love etc cause it's just unnecessary stuff to remember and keep track of

Gameplay style I had some ideas for him.
First idea was he could play with or without the boom box, with the boombox his punch moves are more strong cause he hit with it. With the beatbox being place down it would work like Rachel from Blazblue lighting poles and would strike you with very loud music and while that's happening he attacks you with moves (probably have breaking dancing fight moves like Duck Kings. I like how he moves)

Next idea was he could play like Guile. He would throw out cds like his sonic boom and use the boombox as a platform so he can pull off things like a flash kick. Boombox could be thrown and bounces back to him kinda like Litchi poll staff

The other two idea for him were Kanji if wanted to make him like that but he don't got no persona I dunno and the other is Sol which could work but I'm not that crazy on the idea

Fürst Pückler seeing how so many people wanna talk about him I left him uncolored to see what color scheme people have in mind

 

[Soitenly]

I can't say I know anything about making games... but I think your art style is absolutely lovely and definitely eye-catching. It's simplistic but very endearing.

 

[Denizen]

mmmm~ well...partially cause @Denizen seems to be surprise anything I do on the internet when he's away and I wanna see how he reacts to it.

 

[Detective Q]

The Scorpion-T-Rex with Boxing Gloves looks really cool. Since the names should be ice-cream-themed, can I suggest some for him/her?

Amaretto - Sounds hard and tough but also creative, giving the hint there’s more to him/her than meets the eye.

Biscuit - The art of naming big and dangerous things like your cutest little puppy.

Caramel - I simply like the sound of it.

Cashew – Get it? Sounds like "chew", I bet he/she loves chewing things.

Kahlúa – Sounds exotic and unique, I bet he/she is too.

Mocha – Also like the sound of it.

Fürst Pückler – That one is my favorite. He/she could be created or discovered in Germany, and since he/she is made up of many parts (T-Rex, Scorpion, part-men I guess), he/she is named after the ice-cream that is basically made up of 3 different flavors of ice-cream frozen together in one bucket. I think in England and the USA it’s called "Neapolitan", that name would also do, but Fürst Pückler sounds more unique. "Pückler" is a personal name, it’s named after the man who brought it first to Germany, "Fürst" is a German title of nobility, could mean something like "Lord" or "Prince" in English.

And here are also some else I like because of the sound; I post them for completions sake.

Nutmeg

Papaya

Raspberry

Snowflake

Tequila

Toffee

Zabaione

 

[southpawper]

You could use Mugen to test out your characters/mechanics. It's free and made for 2-D fighters.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

My understanding of game design is that trying to theory craft an entire game is a disaster waiting to happen. It'll take forever, and the things that will fuck it all up are the things you'd never catch while theory crafting. Not that discussing theory isn't good, especially for fun or as practice like here, but any serious application of it would be more likely to be flawed than not.

Also this

I get that it's just for fun though. Still though this thread would have to be loooong because fighting game design is so complex. All those balances of risk vs reward and all sorts of shit, hurts my head to think about making one.

Also I like your characters

 

[jam1220]

My understanding of game design is that trying to theory craft an entire game is a disaster waiting to happen. It'll take forever, and the things that will fuck it all up are the things you'd never catch while theory crafting. Not that discussing theory isn't good, especially for fun or as practice like here, but any serious application of it would be more likely to be flawed than not.

Also this

I get that it's just for fun though. Still though this thread would have to be loooong because fighting game design is so complex. All those balances of risk vs reward and all sorts of shit, hurts my head to think about making one.

Also I like your characters

i can accept that

 

[jam1220]

You could use Mugen to test out your characters/mechanics. It's free and made for 2-D fighters.

never used it before. How's it work?

Fürst Pückler – That one is my favorite.

Fürst it is then (sounds like a guilty gear character now :p)

has gray man indifferent feelings

dangit. well at least you can't say I didn't try

 

[Cellsai]

Question to ask yourself: What game do you want to make?

You have characters and nothing else. You need to decide what kind of fighter you actually want to make here before you go any further at all.

EDIT: Also, for the love of god, reply to multiple posts at the same time. Don't make a new post for every one of them.
To reply to multiple posts just keep clicking the reply buton on each post that you're interested in. It'll add them all to the post editor.

 

[jam1220]

I can't say I know anything about making games... but I think your art style is absolutely lovely and definitely eye-catching. It's simplistic but very endearing.

you're just saying that. If anyone would to do the art for this game, it would be Coreyyy (Sharknife vol 1 Coreyyy not Sharknife vol 2 Coreyyy)

Question to ask yourself: What game do you want to make?

well this suppose to be group thing and sense I'm putting this on skullheart I just decided it would be a fighter. Having a bit of trouble coming up with the gimmick for it though (like is it 3 on 3, do it got burst, barriers, drives, xfactor, 2 vs 2 and junk like that). If you have an idea feel free to dump it, if you want

 

[southpawper]

never used it before. How's it work?

It's a freeware fighting game engine that looks and behaves like (IMO) Street Fighter Alpha 3. You can create moves, graphics, etc. for all your fighters and you can tweak how much damage they do, how much health they have, how fast they move, hitboxes, etc. There's a generic fighter you can edit right at the start to give you an idea, and you can jump in and test the gameplay.

Go ahead and download it here: http://www.elecbyte.com/mugen

It comes with a tutorial and manual, so just follow the instructions to get started. There's also a beginners' forum here: http://elecbyte.com/forum/index.php?topic=5.0

I haven't used it in a while (I actually only played the demo character and some characters I downloaded from other devs, I didn't mess around with the editor or anything) so I can't really offer too much more advice other than to just try it out.

There's also the free version of Gamemaker Studio which I'm more familiar with but it's not specialized for fighters, so you'll have to do a lot more work with it. I know there are probably other options out there but I recommend trying M.U.G.E.N. for now and give it a test run to see if it works for you.

 

[WrestlerGuile]

To make a fighting game is this process, excluding the whole publisher process.

1. Have an efficient engine
2. Get a dev team
3. draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(td;lr draw!)
4. Render all visuals
5. have those visuals do something like move and attack with adobe flash and hit boxes
6. make the HP and super bar function
7. make a really good netcode
8. advertise it cost-effectively
9. Balance as best you could
10. Veila, check on it every few weeks, look at reviews and tinker with the game game
11. Sit back and relax

 

[jam1220]

eeeeh?! but the way you say it make it sound so quick and easy~ That's no fun

 

[Fedora_Ninja]

1. Sit back and relax

more like sit back and watch scrubs cry for character buffs/nerfs.

 

[WrestlerGuile]

Spoiler

He needs this theme

Just for his mustache

I'd be more interested in him if he turned out to be a woman :^)

 

[Balder]

*concept art*

That T-Rex looks so freakin' rad. I can just imagine him bob and weaving into a launcher headbutt followed by a flurry of punches.
Also 360º tail sweep into uppercut.

Overall, I'd just say that if all those designs are for one "world", they appear to lack aesthetical coherence but then again, that didn't stop Waku Waku 7 from, well, being Waku Waku 7.

Also surprised there's no amazons. :3

*ice-cream names*

 

[Detective Q]

I'd be more interested in him if he turned out to be a woman :^)

Yeah, I saw the mustache too and thought: Maybe it’s a "she" and she is really pissed off about others automatically assuming she’s a guy because of the mustache. Would be a nice characteristic, and something to play with when other characters address her as a guy and she totally flips out about it.

The name "Fürst Pückler" would really take the cake here if she turns out to be female, since it’s the name of a man with a masculine title.

But I see Jam has already taken my name suggestion (Yippy!), so its now up to the creator to decide which gender the nice boxing Rexoscorpion has. Or leave it as a mystery, so nobody really knows what gender he/she has.

SLOBBERS INTERNALLY

Not too much ice-cream dude, think of the brain freeze, it hurts like shit!

Wait… hey Jam, how about instead of "K.O." the screen says "Brain Freeze!" when a characters health bar is down :D

 

[jam1220]

Theme music

So what kinda music genre do you think would be best for a fighter game like this? Also I enjoy both music

I'd be more interested in him if he turned out to be a woman :^)

It is within the realm of possiblities. I haven't told you Fürst backstory or anything yet

Maybe it’s a "she" and she is really pissed off about others automatically assuming she’s a guy because of the mustache. Would be a nice characteristic, and something to play with when other characters address her as a guy and she totally flips out about it.

Totally ok with Fürst being a maybe lady, but I put my foot down on Fürst being such an easily angered guy/gal. Fürst is a lady/gentleman of pride and class. If anyone was to mistake his/her gender base solely on having hair he/she would correct them while also belittling them an appropriate amount and would not resort to violence for a verbal insult...unless if it was about her/his granddaughter

But I see Jam has already taken my name suggestion (Yippy!), so its now up to the creator to decide which gender the nice boxing Rexoscorpion has. Or leave it as a mystery, so nobody really knows what gender he/she has.
:D

No it's an everybody project. if you can get your voice heard your opinion matters

Wait… hey Jam, how about instead of "K.O." the screen says "Brain Freeze!" when a characters health bar is down :D

90's male rapper voice announcer starts the beginning of the match saying "Hey yo! What's the flavor of the day?" 90's female rapper voice announcer goes "One way to find out" both at the same time "FIGHT!". It hella lame but I also want it to be like our version of the wheel of fate is turning

might need some work though kinda long for an intro

they appear to lack aesthetical coherence

No clue what that means but, if you mean they don't seem like they are from the same continuity. I suppose that's true but then again my suspended disbelief around Marvel comic books level suspended so this random cast of characters in one place interacting with each other isn't too unusual for me

But we can do more realistic if you guys want

 

[zanestat]

Well, we need as many waifus as possible!

 

[Denizen]

Are you seriously considering making the mustachioed Dapper Dinosaur Boxer (DDB) female just because it would be funny for her to get pissed off at people for assuming she's a guy?

I'm not even going to sugarcoat this, that's just plain dumb.

 

[Horseman]

I might dump a doc for a fighting game I designed on a whim a few years back.

My understanding of game design is that trying to theory craft an entire game is a disaster waiting to happen. It'll take forever, and the things that will fuck it all up are the things you'd never catch while theory crafting. Not that discussing theory isn't good, especially for fun or as practice like here, but any serious application of it would be more likely to be flawed than not.

Not quite? I mean you have to have something to go off of in the first place. Preproduction is pretty important to not making your game a massive clusterfuck. I mean there are some ways you can screw it up, but if you're ready to catch yourself it's not like your game is irreparable somehow.

I'm not even going to sugarcoat this, that's just plain dumb.

Well shrek did it!
And... yeah it wasn't really that funny as a shtick, but the dragon was still a recurring character so that's something.

 

[WrestlerGuile]

Are you seriously considering making the mustachioed Dapper Dinosaur Boxer (DDB) female just because it would be funny for her to get pissed off at people for assuming she's a guy?

I'm not even going to sugarcoat this, that's just plain dumb.

Not unless there's more writing backbone to this. Maybe she/he doesn't get stereo typically angry about people assuming she's a man, maybe we need to get DNA deep into his/her story. I.E. He's/She's a transsexual.

 

[jam1220]

Are you seriously considering making the mustachioed Dapper Dinosaur Boxer (DDB) female just because it would be funny for her to get pissed off at people for assuming she's a guy?

No I'm thinking about it because this is something that was suggested by a group and this is suppose to be a group thing. But good keep it up Denizen. Not everyone is suppose to have the same idea. We're suppose to clash a bit...right? that's part of the brain storming process right?

 

[Squire Grooktook]

I might dump a doc for a fighting game I designed on a whim a few years back.


Not quite? I mean you have to have something to go off of in the first place. Preproduction is pretty important to not making your game a massive clusterfuck. I mean there are some ways you can screw it up, but if you're ready to catch yourself it's not like your game is irreparable somehow.

Note that I said "theory craft an entire game" you can have a philosophy or a design goal or a general broad idea as well as a pool of somewhat fleshed out ideas to draw on, but ultimately the parts that are going to make or break the game come when things are actually being put into practice.

I've heard a lot of developers talk about how "there are million unspoken rules to X genre that you don't even think of till you really begin". Another good example is Skullgirls itself. Playtested to hell and back by pro players, and good yet still plagued on release by all sorts of classic "first fighter installment" issues.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong though.

Like I said not saying you can't debate and maybe it would be a fun learning experience. Though a lot of people have different philosophies on how games should play so there probably won't be one right answer.

Well shrek did it!
And... yeah it wasn't really that funny as a shtick, but the dragon was still a recurring character so that's something.

The Dragon didn't have a mustache so it wasn't quite as much of a lol random thing.

Besides, female dragons are awesome.

 

[jam1220]

Well, we need as many waifus as possible!

Well like I said before it's a group thing. I got plenty more ideas concepts and characters I could dump on this piece (I could keep that part going by myself it I wanted to) but it's a group thing so I don't want people to be like "Oh look at that thing jam is doing" I want people to be like "Oh look at that thing we're is doing"...that make sense?

 

[Denizen]

But good keep it up Denizen.

The only reason I'm here is because you tagged me in the OP. I don't intend to invest too much of my time here, unless something really catches my interest.

 

[jam1220]

The only reason I'm here is because you tagged me in the OP. I don't intend to invest too much of my time here, unless something really catches my interest.

oh ok. sorry

 

[Denizen]

oh ok. sorry

Don't apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for.

This is getting off-topic, carry on with whatever it is you're all doing.

 

[jam1220]

k~

 

[Horseman]

stuff

"Theory Crafting" can't hurt if you understand that you're not perfect and you're prepared to go back on half the stuff you just wrote if you come to a point where you realize that it's not going to work out, and add onto the game as you learn more about it. You should also have a firm understanding on what you just wrote is integral to the finished game and what could be cut for time/budget constraints and be prepared to make that decision. Basically, don't become Peter Molyneux.

 

[jam1220]

you're just saying that. If anyone would to do the art for this game, it would be Coreyyy (Sharknife vol 1 Coreyyy not Sharknife vol 2 Coreyyy)

Just read the new ghost rider...tradd moore would also be awesome as the video game artist for this hypothetical game. Love to see that style animated

 

[Balder]

No clue what that means but, if you mean they don't seem like they are from the same continuity. I suppose that's true but then again my suspended disbelief around Marvel comic books level suspended so this random cast of characters in one place interacting with each other isn't too unusual for me

"Continuity", yes! Excellently put. But as I said with the Waku Waku 7 roster, randomness isn't something wholly unheard of. And you mention Marvel Comics that also has its very own Devil Dinosaur.

So yeah, just as long as you can make it work, it can be as weird as weird can get, though some folks will need some spicing up to keep up with Dudley-Rex. :3

 

[Detective Q]

And DC has Tyrannosaurus Reich:

I’ll take your creation over these horrible catastrophes anytime.

 

[WrestlerGuile]

She's got a whole Persona and JoJo vibe goin' on! What's her story? Is she a cancer patient? Or does she have a brain freeze?

 

[CaioLugon]

The flying girl looks like a Gardevoir.

 

[jam1220]

View attachment 2154
She's got a whole Persona and JoJo vibe goin' on! What's her story? Is she a cancer patient? Or does she have a brain freeze?

no I just drew them close together...sorry I'll work on my spacing more

 

[jam1220]

View attachment 2154
She's got a whole Persona and JoJo vibe goin' on! What's her story?

well I was actually thinking more eddie or maybe carmine. I haven't thought much on her much yet

The flying girl looks like a Gardevoir.

she's a villian. Most of the villain characters I had in mind are, visually, loosely based off of Hanna Barbera cartoon characters. That way everyone can come up with a idea they like themselves really quickly seeing how we all more or less know about his cartoons and since he made so many we won't have repeats...or at least that's how my mind works
As for which one she's loosely based off of? I'll just let you guess

 

[Squire Grooktook]

"Theory Crafting" can't hurt if you understand that you're not perfect and you're prepared to go back on half the stuff you just wrote if you come to a point where you realize that it's not going to work out, and add onto the game as you learn more about it. You should also have a firm understanding on what you just wrote is integral to the finished game and what could be cut for time/budget constraints and be prepared to make that decision. Basically, don't become Peter Molyneux.

Yeah. Like I said just keep in mind that you might not realize what you'd have to go back on till you get a chance to test it, or at least go really in depth on it. Maybe.

 

[Muro]

This is pretty offtopic, but I like how both Marvel and DC needed to give their T-rex characters a gun. Clearly being a bigass dinosaur does nothing for making the characters menacing, but give them something that goes pew-pew and things get real.