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One man can only dream.
I can't find the proof, but I'm pretty sure I've heard Mike Z, talking very briefly about a potential Pair-Play mode in Skullgirls. For those who doesn't know what I mean, I'm talking about being able for 4 players to play, instead of 2. Either on team-battle or free-for-all, but the Pair-Play name implying pairs, we will only assume 2v2.
Mike already shown that his engine is fully capable to put depth in a 2D-plan, like a beat-em-up. So that the players can move up and down, as well as facing the opposite direction of their opponent(s). So, here's me, just fan-dreaming and connecting the dots, here.
Dramatic Battles in games like SF Alpha 3 or even SFxT is not the right way to do it, IMO. Health bars shouldn't be linked together. Each players should have their own health. And the biggest problem I have with that is that it's mostly done on games with one only lane.
For me, the best concept a 2D fighting game has done to do proper team-battles is what Guilty Gear Isuka already did.
The pros:
- Free-For-All, so you can do any combinations of teams you like.
- The 2-lane system, that can sort the players and open the way to new strategies.
The cons:
- The Turn button. Players doesn't automatically turn away. You have to press a specific button to turn, if you've crossed your opponent up or vice-versa.
- There's no mechanics that limits both the players on the same team to be on the same lane. Basically, the 4 players can just totally ignore one and just fight on only one 2D plane, which kills the purpose of having 2 lanes at all.
Things that can be done to remove the cons:
- Replace the Turn button with a "Lock" button. Just like WWE games or Def Jam Fight for NY. You'll lock one opponent and you'll normally cross him up like in any 2D fighting games. Only on the members of the team that are still alive, obviously.
- The designers should find a way to nerf or disallow 2 team-mates, standing in the same lane for to long. Either you make the game forcing the players to be pushed automatically away, or you drain a ressource, like the meter, to punish a behavior like that, but still allowing players to do team combos and assists.
If there's a possibility that Pair-Play can be something in Skullgirls, I hope it'll be what Isuka did, but with those adjustments. Skullgirls can be the perfect game to have that, because of how the game actually works.
- That mode needs its own HUD.
- Both team-mates will have their own health-bar, but share the same meter bar.
- There's no need for Assists and Hard Tags in this mode, so the Assist shortcut can become the new Lock shortcut, while the Hard Tag shortcut could be the Lain switcher.
- Snap Backs could still be there, but it will push the player back to the other lain. It could give an hard knockdown to the Snapped, or/and putting a cooldown on the team, so that they can't change lanes for a moment.
- The rest is OK. IPS and Undizzy can still work in a 2v2 game mode. And things that are already in the game, like mechanics to prevent high-low unblockables and left-right unblockables, can become pretty handy in a mode like this.
Here's my thought process on a mode like this. There's no guaranty the mode will be worth the hard work, I know. But tons of stuff they need to make a mode like that work, is already in the game. This is a concept nobody has messed around with since Isuka. It could be super great for funsies, but also for high-competitive play. Giving a new interest in Skullgirls and "VS Games" in general.
What do you guys think about it?
BONUS-1
BONUS-2
I can't find the proof, but I'm pretty sure I've heard Mike Z, talking very briefly about a potential Pair-Play mode in Skullgirls. For those who doesn't know what I mean, I'm talking about being able for 4 players to play, instead of 2. Either on team-battle or free-for-all, but the Pair-Play name implying pairs, we will only assume 2v2.
Mike already shown that his engine is fully capable to put depth in a 2D-plan, like a beat-em-up. So that the players can move up and down, as well as facing the opposite direction of their opponent(s). So, here's me, just fan-dreaming and connecting the dots, here.
Dramatic Battles in games like SF Alpha 3 or even SFxT is not the right way to do it, IMO. Health bars shouldn't be linked together. Each players should have their own health. And the biggest problem I have with that is that it's mostly done on games with one only lane.
For me, the best concept a 2D fighting game has done to do proper team-battles is what Guilty Gear Isuka already did.
The pros:
- Free-For-All, so you can do any combinations of teams you like.
- The 2-lane system, that can sort the players and open the way to new strategies.
The cons:
- The Turn button. Players doesn't automatically turn away. You have to press a specific button to turn, if you've crossed your opponent up or vice-versa.
- There's no mechanics that limits both the players on the same team to be on the same lane. Basically, the 4 players can just totally ignore one and just fight on only one 2D plane, which kills the purpose of having 2 lanes at all.
Things that can be done to remove the cons:
- Replace the Turn button with a "Lock" button. Just like WWE games or Def Jam Fight for NY. You'll lock one opponent and you'll normally cross him up like in any 2D fighting games. Only on the members of the team that are still alive, obviously.
- The designers should find a way to nerf or disallow 2 team-mates, standing in the same lane for to long. Either you make the game forcing the players to be pushed automatically away, or you drain a ressource, like the meter, to punish a behavior like that, but still allowing players to do team combos and assists.
If there's a possibility that Pair-Play can be something in Skullgirls, I hope it'll be what Isuka did, but with those adjustments. Skullgirls can be the perfect game to have that, because of how the game actually works.
- That mode needs its own HUD.
- Both team-mates will have their own health-bar, but share the same meter bar.
- There's no need for Assists and Hard Tags in this mode, so the Assist shortcut can become the new Lock shortcut, while the Hard Tag shortcut could be the Lain switcher.
- Snap Backs could still be there, but it will push the player back to the other lain. It could give an hard knockdown to the Snapped, or/and putting a cooldown on the team, so that they can't change lanes for a moment.
- The rest is OK. IPS and Undizzy can still work in a 2v2 game mode. And things that are already in the game, like mechanics to prevent high-low unblockables and left-right unblockables, can become pretty handy in a mode like this.
Here's my thought process on a mode like this. There's no guaranty the mode will be worth the hard work, I know. But tons of stuff they need to make a mode like that work, is already in the game. This is a concept nobody has messed around with since Isuka. It could be super great for funsies, but also for high-competitive play. Giving a new interest in Skullgirls and "VS Games" in general.
What do you guys think about it?
BONUS-1
BONUS-2
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