New kaiju game from Matt Frank + Simon Strange [Archive]

[hammysammy59]

Yeah, elemental attacks and monsters (with the exception of maybe fire/heat beams) always come across as kind of Pokemony to me. I think that's a big part of my bias against Obsidius and Krystalak... they kind of seem more like bad-ass Pokemon than Godzilla monsters.

And giving Ebirah a water blaster kind of feels like giving up on the character. "He's a water creature, have him spit water!" If we're going to invent super moves for Ebirah, they should play to what makes the character unique... which basically boils (heh) down to the fact that he's a big lobster and has rad claws. Being lobstery doesn't immediately lend itself to flashy new super moves--but it would make him an interesting character because of his unique posture, and his ability to move through water much easier than other monsters. Obviously the claws are where it's at with Ebirah. Super moves for him should definitely revolve around his claws somehow. That could include pulling up boulders or sonic-boom snapping or even just brutally slashing and crunching his opponent with them--they're all solid options in my book. He's also got a tail he could slap folks around with, and that weird pointy "nose" that would be great for stabbing.

[Kiryu2012]

So will there be an exact time for donations? Cause I don't know if I could donate without knowing when to do so.

[zilla103192]

I say just cut "beam" moves entirely.

And give all monsters "specials". If it's a monster like Godzilla, KG, etc. That actually have beams, then give them that for their special. Other monsters that DON'T have beams. Make their specials something else.

[Legionmaster]

I say just cut "beam" moves entirely.

And give all monsters "specials". If it's a monster like Godzilla, KG, etc. That actually have beams, then give them that for their special. Other monsters that DON'T have beams. Make their specials something else.

But then monsters with beams have sever advantages over monsters without beams.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

Make the beam button from the other games a "special" button that could be a beam (Spiral Ray) or a mega attack (Kangaroo Kick)

[Goji]

I say just cut "beam" moves entirely.

And give all monsters "specials". If it's a monster like Godzilla, KG, etc. That actually have beams, then give them that for their special. Other monsters that DON'T have beams. Make their specials something else.

But then monsters with beams have sever advantages over monsters without beams.

Exactly. That's even more unbalanced. How are other monsters without long range attacks supposed to deal with being bombarded with beams? Having their special be "something else" does no good if they have no way of stopping a beam assault.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

Well not every monster needs to be equal, maybe for online (if it is in) you could have a beams only, no beams only or optional selection

[Godzillabrawler]

Make the beam button from the other games a "special" button that could be a beam (Spiral Ray) or a mega attack (Kangaroo Kick)

Where have I heard this idea before...

...oh yeah, I brought it up, didn't I?

[Mr. Strange]

So will there be an exact time for donations? Cause I don't know if I could donate without knowing when to do so.

The Kickstarter will be 30 days, probably starting sometime before June. (I will probably attend G-fest, to promote the campaign).

Donations after that time... I'm not sure about. I'll need to talk with my accountant. Tax impacts of non-investments are pretty hard to quantify - that is part of the benefit Kickstarter provides. I'm honestly not comfortable accepting direct donations, because this is part of my corporate entity, not a personal project.

[Mr. Strange]

I wouldn't sign up with a water blast - mostly because making water look good is a huge pain. Atomic Breath is much nicer- because it is supposed to look like a yellow smear drawn on the film! Perfect!

It's certainly possible to create balance characters without beam weapons - but it would necessitate some mechanical changes. The biggest reason monsters HAD to have beams in the past game was because without beams they couldn't complete some mini-games, or fight certain bosses. We can be rid of those excuses in this project.

What IS important, is that all monsters have a secondary resource they manange during the fight - energy. If Gorosaurus doesn't use a beam, then what is his energy for? Maybe he can use his energy to eat - turning rocks / buildings into health? That might be cool. If the health gained from 1 cell of eating is roughly on par with the damage he gets by being hit with 1 cell of ranged damage, it might work out reasonably well.

Here's another concept - a monster could use energy to dash forward quickly (or teleport!). That would totally work, if it were quick to activate. (Gigan's teleport isn't quick enough to use reactively).

I could even riff on King Ceasar's ability, and use energy as an index of "adaption" - This might be good for an insect creature like Gigantis.(sp?) As you get hit by beams, you start to take less and less damage from that beam type - eventually becoming immune after 4-6 shots. That adds some interesting strategic options, because you would actively seek out getting hit by (weak) blasts early in the match. It would also force opponents to use full charges, to get their money's worth out of weapon play.

[Legionmaster]

mostly because making water look good is a huge pain.

Actually, on this point, I want to commend you. GU has some of the best water surface texturing I've ever seen.

[Blackout286]

I say just cut "beam" moves entirely.

And give all monsters "specials". If it's a monster like Godzilla, KG, etc. That actually have beams, then give them that for their special. Other monsters that DON'T have beams. Make their specials something else.

But then monsters with beams have sever advantages over monsters without beams.

Well for Varan, we could give him something more defensive that could aid him against energy projectiles? We could give him Howling Pulse (Made up move), its similar to Anguirus and his Sonic Roar attack in nature, but execution is different. Varan releases a monstrous howl which unleashes a mildly massive barrier of sonic sound surges around him. The barrier could cancel out projectiles and protect the player. Although your energy pool could dry out if the barrier is held up long enough.

Or, for those wanting a slightly more better use, the barrier could absorb the projectile before erupting and channeling the material it absorbed in the form of a pulse. The player is protected, the move uses up a decently large chunk of energy depending on the amount of projectile energy absorbed.

Just a few ideas. May not be to everyone's liking though.

[Brianzilla2004]

This might be good for an insect creature like Gigantis.(sp?)

Gigantis was the named given to Godzilla for the US release of Godzilla Raids Again (titled Gigants: The Fire Monster in the States). Are you referring to Kamacuras? Ganimes?

Anyway, instead of Orga's secondary goo attack, could you replace that with some sort of hypnosis? Orga could open his mouth wide, the inner mouth... thing from the movie could unfold, and monsters close by could be momentarily stunned. It always seemed like he was hypnotizing Godzilla into walking into his mouth in the movie, and it does what the "goo" move does while being more accurate to the movie (and I think Orga's mouth is one of his most unique traits).

Also, I think Orga should have a grapple in which he partially devours his opponent. He could chomp a few times, then spit them out. His stats could even improve this way. If he bites down on Rodan for example, his speed could increase. Bite down on Mechagodzilla, and Orga's defense increases. You could even add a little visual flare by making Orga's skin textures change as he bites down on different enemies. He could be the "Kirby" of the game, so to speak.

[Godzilla 2000]

Not all monsters need a beam attack of some sort.

In the case of Ebirah, instead of something weird like a water cannon, have him instead be able to scuttle around at a much faster pace than the other monsters, which the energy bar draining as he runs along. This could allow Ebirah to play a defensive game and escape danger more easily.

[TitanoGoji16]

This might be good for an insect creature like Gigantis.(sp?)

Gigantis was the named given to Godzilla for the US release of Godzilla Raids Again (titled Gigants: The Fire Monster in the States). Are you referring to Kamacuras? Ganimes?

He most likely meant "Gimantis," Kamacuras' name in the U.S. version of Son of Godzilla.

[Tormentor]

Not all monsters need a beam attack of some sort.

In the case of Ebirah, instead of something weird like a water cannon, have him instead be able to scuttle around at a much faster pace than the other monsters, which the energy bar draining as he runs along. This could allow Ebirah to play a defensive game and escape danger more easily.

Pretty much this. Plus Ebirah could attack faster with his smaller but sharper claw, doing mild but effective damage. While the larger claw could be used for more heavy damage, of course decently slower in execution, and could be used for blocking as well as for grapple attacks.

Also, I think Orga should have a grapple in which he partially devours his opponent. He could chomp a few times, then spit them out. His stats could even improve this way. If he bites down on Rodan for example, his speed could increase. Bite down on Mechagodzilla, and Orga's defense increases. You could even add a little visual flare by making Orga's skin textures change as he bites down on different enemies. He could be the "Kirby" of the game, so to speak.

That's kind of troublesome. One, Orga gaining different physical features would require more model modification, two, you have to think about the animation that has to go into Orga doing all of that. From the whole mouth deal, to growing out the features and using them in some way. It could be a bit too much. And Orga biting down onto Mecha's shouldn't give him anything, only organic living fleshed beings could give anything useful. IMO It would keep the ability within a more balance and accurate format.

And Blackout, I like that Varan idea, it could work out decently well and it would at least give the monster a decent defense against projectile users.

[Living Corpse]

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Exactly. That's even more unbalanced. How are other monsters without long range attacks supposed to deal with being bombarded with beams? Having their special be "something else" does no good if they have no way of stopping a beam assault.

Not entirely, there's a few fighters out there like Tekken where most of the fighters have no projectile but have means of getting around the fighters who do have spamable projectiles. It's hard but not impossible to make a balance fighter where half the cast have no projectiles.

[RedZillaKing]

There are a lot of ways to balance things like that. For example, creatures wiythout projectiles can use objects to interrupt beams. Example, Ebirah can smack rocks, building chunks, or sections of streetwith his claws. Kaiju without beams could have means to dodge them. Not fully charged beams could be extremely weak. Or beamless kaiju could be more resistant to projectile damage.

[Supergeon]

It would be neat to see King Caesar get to reflect beam attacks back at their opponent like the movie, although that would make him somewhat similar to Megaguirus in that way.

I would also like to see Mothra and Battra be able to use their reflective scales in conjunction with their beam attacks to do extra damage (Godzilla Kaiju Daikessen for SNES)

Here is an argument for substituting unique moves for beams (for beamless monsters). If you play a match in the old games and monster A doesn't fire it's weapon for the entire match while monster B does, that does not mean monster A will lose. It might give players more of a reason to play as other characters.

[Mr. Strange]

This might be good for an insect creature like Gigantis.(sp?)

Gigantis was the named given to Godzilla for the US release of Godzilla Raids Again (titled Gigants: The Fire Monster in the States). Are you referring to Kamacuras? Ganimes?

He most likely meant "Gimantis," Kamacuras' name in the U.S. version of Son of Godzilla.

Yes, exactly. I don't see "Gimantis" in the monster listings, but I very distinctly remember the following bit of dialog:

"We have to beware of the Gimantis!"
"The What?"
"Gimantis! It's a name I made up for those mosters - it is a combination of the words 'Giant' and 'Mantis'!"
"Heh. Leave it to a reporter to come up with a crazy word like that."

That's always been my touchstone for how bad a poor translation can make dialog sound.