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

[Supergeon]

I agree to some degree. I don't expect the game to look as good because it isn't funded by atari. So say goodbye to the awesome water rendering.

Actually, since it's the same engine we can totally use exactly the same water rendering code.

By that same ticket can you also use other assets from old games to save time?

[Mr. Strange]

I agree to some degree. I don't expect the game to look as good because it isn't funded by atari. So say goodbye to the awesome water rendering.

Actually, since it's the same engine we can totally use exactly the same water rendering code.

By that same ticket can you also use other assets from old games to save time?

That is an excellent question. All of the assets in the game are owned by Atari - I am only licensing the tech. But it is not impossible that I could license the assets from the game as well - that would be a contract with Atari. I'm already working in it, but have not heard back from them yet.

[ゴジラ]

Graphics aren't really something to worry over, more or less fans are more concerned about different matters. What new monster to add, figuring out what gameplay elements should return (Or possibly be added), and overall just thinking over reasonable ideas. I think most of here know that graphics aren't going to be like the Wii. But so long as it looks good overall and bares enjoyable gameplay with loads of content then I'd say that everyone is a happy camper.


Now Mr. Strange can you possibly give us some kind of idea upon the range that the graphics will look like? Will it look something like STE? Or possibly DAMM? Or maybe, something close to say like this?

(Ultraman Fighting Evolution 0 PSP)

[Mr. Strange]

Now Mr. Strange can you possibly give us some kind of idea upon the range that the graphics will look like? Will it look something like STE? Or possibly DAMM? Or maybe, something close to say like this?

Ok, now I'm getting to be sorry I said anything...

Let's be very specific about what I plan for the visuals on this game:

1 - Monsters. Meshes will be on par with G:U - significantly better than DAMM or StE. Textures will be reviewed by fans, so all of the tiny details people complain about will be eliminated.

2 - Animations. Monster animations will be world-class - on par or better than anything you've ever seen.

3 - VFX. These will probably end up being very similar to the VFX used in G:U and StE. It's the same particle system. If I can hire someone to spend some time making these look better I will.

4 - Terrain. The fighting environments will probably be on par with StE - but sparser. I don't have a huge budget for building environments, so just putting something together that uses few assets but has a good visual cohesion is what I am aiming for.

5 - Objects (buildings) - I simply don't have time or money to create thousands of unique buildings for the games. We are probably going to use a modest number of simple buildings, and that will be it. Moving to just a couple cities, and focusing more on open environments (volcano, ocean, etc) will help a lot here.

6 - Menus. The menus will look great. When I said I wouldn't be spending big $$ on them, I meant I wouldn't have animated 3D scenes behind them (like in StE) or dozens of menus nested in menus.

[Supergeon]

I agree to some degree. I don't expect the game to look as good because it isn't funded by atari. So say goodbye to the awesome water rendering.

Actually, since it's the same engine we can totally use exactly the same water rendering code.

By that same ticket can you also use other assets from old games to save time?

That is an excellent question. All of the assets in the game are owned by Atari - I am only licensing the tech. But it is not impossible that I could license the assets from the game as well - that would be a contract with Atari. I'm already working in it, but have not heard back from them yet.

That would be a huge break If you did attain the rights. I guess let us know how that goes. Who knows maybe they will just foot the bill for everything

[Godz]

"5 - Objects (buildings) - I simply don't have time or money to create thousands of unique buildings for the games. We are probably going to use a modest number of simple buildings, and that will be it. Moving to just a couple cities, and focusing more on open environments (volcano, ocean, etc) will help a lot here."

I'd rather have buildings that destroy well than unique buildings. I don't care if there are only 5 different buildings (but lots of them), as long as they are trashed satisfyingly, thats all I care about. Like someone else said earlier in this thread, I hated in the Atari games how you couldn't "wade through" some of the smaller buildings and had to target them with low attacks instead.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

So it will be like this

Godzilla Game Release
Original Monster Game Release

and they can be easily modded so that Godzilla can be used in the second game?

Also, I found the perfect picture for this game in general

[Legionmaster]

Also, I found the perfect picture for this game in general

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1wvy ... o2_500.jpg

That's been posted a few times about this game already, and has been way overused on the Internet in general for years.

[W2daERN]

Well, I made my list extra complicated by saying "Showa, but I'd by okay with X version", which probably didn't help.

I think a lot of us feel the same way. For example, I voted for Millenium Anguirus, Ebirah, etc. but would rather have the Showa versions than not have them in. Like I said in my last post, I think that the roster should be decided by total votes (i.e. "Godzilla" vs. "Anguirus") and then decide which version by version votes (i.e. "Showa Godzilla" vs. "Heisei Godzilla").

[W2daERN]

^ agreed. GU needed all those different buildings only because it's schtick was being able to fight in real-world cities. I wouldn't mind some generic cities, but I would prefer some more wide-open environments like islands, valleys, and plains, with few or no buildings. The one thing I'd like to suggest is to get rid of the invisible walls. I'd prefer natural barriers like cliffs or mountains, or even just leave barriers out entirely. The GU maps were large enough that most players would get bored of wading through the water long before reaching the edge, and all the interesting stuff was right outside (like the volcano).

[Living Corpse]

I know I keep dewling on the Kamacuras invisibility thing but

It could also work like a teleporting move, like Biollante's. Kamacurus turns invisible, a quick buzzing noise is heard, and the next thing you know, Kamacuras is in a completely different position.

mr strange, you could have kamicuras' camouflage be completely invisible when he doesn't move but wen he does he slowly starts to come out of camouflage, kind of like the camouflage ability in halo.

Either one of these idea sounds like they would work to me.

Off topic, Mr. Strange I'm sure you've been asked this a million times, and I'm sorry but who's your favorite monster?

[Mr. Strange]

Off topic, Mr. Strange I'm sure you've been asked this a million times, and I'm sorry but who's your favorite monster?

Varan. Giant flying squirrels are amazing.

Gigan was my go-to monster for DAMM and StE, so I probably made him a bit better than he should have been. Dhalsim was my main in Street Fighter, and I really wanted to get a teleport move in, and Gigan seemed like a natural choice.

I have a lot of love for most of the monsters - especially the ones I was able to get some really weird mechanics in for. Megaguirus is just awesome - I think I end up defending her a bunch, because she doesn't get much love online. MOGUERA is a holy terror in the hands of someone who knows how to play it strategically.

^ agreed. GU needed all those different buildings only because it's schtick was being able to fight in real-world cities. I wouldn't mind some generic cities, but I would prefer some more wide-open environments like islands, valleys, and plains, with few or no buildings. The one thing I'd like to suggest is to get rid of the invisible walls. I'd prefer natural barriers like cliffs or mountains, or even just leave barriers out entirely. The GU maps were large enough that most players would get bored of wading through the water long before reaching the edge, and all the interesting stuff was right outside (like the volcano).

I've heard that suggestion a ton - but how, exactly could we get away with not having boundaries? Every game has boundaries - Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur - EVERY GAME has boundaries. I don't understand why "having boundaries" seems like some sort of transgression in the G games...

Monster Island, in GDAMM, used a natural look for the boundaries. It was a huge problem. The advantage of the semi-transparent boundaries is that the camera can still see the action if it goes to the other side of them. We had to put in special camera code to cover the Monster Island case, and it just broke a bunch of gameplay in that environment.

Nobody ever complains that Rodan cannot fly infinitely high - or that Megalon cannot burrow down to the center of the earth - I wonder why the boundaries are such an issue? I suspect it might be the rebound effect they provide - it makes them seem very powerful. But fun fact - the boundaries have NEVER dealt damage to the monsters in any of my games. And when they did not repel monsters, it was really strong to corner your opponent and just wail on them forever - the bounce-off effect was designed to prevent that sort of abuse.

[Gorosaurus Rex]

Megaguirus has always felt like the most unique character in the rosters of both STE and GU. Not always my go to monster, but she certainly kicked ass.

[Godzillabrawler]

Megaguirus is just awesome - I think I end up defending her a bunch, because she doesn't get much love online.

Megaguirus is fun to play as in STE. She's so hard to play as or against in Unleashed. I swear, if Megs is put in this game, I'm fighting for a refined STE playstyle for her.

[hammysammy59]

Ha whoops! Looks like there was some Megaguirus discussion between the last few posts about cities and buildings and this one. I don't mean to derail, I just wanted to throw in my two cents on cities/buildings:

I'd be cool with smaller arenas that only have one or two large, iconic buildings. But at the same time I'd want to be able to interact with that one or two building(s) in a variety of different ways. All three Pipeworks games let you destroy and take cover behind buildings, so of course I'd want those options to come back. DAMM (can't remember if it was in StE and GU as well) let you throw monsters up against buildings, which was hugely satisfying and fun--I'd definitely like to see that come back. In addition to those, I'd like to see the ability to push the building over on top of a player (especially a downed player)--I think it would be cool if this could be done physically, or with a beam. Finally, as was mentioned a few pages ago, I'd love to see smaller, more agile monsters like Zilla be able to scale and leap from buildings. This of course, would give other monsters the option to bring the building down while a monster is climbing it or perched on it.

I can't speak for everyone, but for me, part of the appeal of giant monsters is watching them destroy famous landmarks, and in a lot of cases I think you can boil a city down to one or two world-famous sites. If NYC is a level, I want either the Empire State Building or Lady Liberty. If Tokyo is a level, I want the Tokyo Tower or the Diet Building. It was awesome that the Pipeworks games had huge sprawling cities, but I don't need that whole urban jungle to play in. Just give me a landmark, and a variety of ways to creatively trash it, especially if it's at the expense of my opponent's well-being.

[Gorosaurus Rex]

The building environments always were some of the most entertaining parts of the game. Throwing buildings, throwing monsters into buildings, using buildings as melee weapons, and of course the grenade like tanks from the first and second games were always a blast. They are honestly part of what I missed in GU.

[Living Corpse]

The building environments always were some of the most entertaining parts of the game. Throwing buildings, throwing monsters into buildings, using buildings as melee weapons, and of course the grenade like tanks from the first and second games were always a blast. They are honestly part of what I missed in GU.

Really I find the complaint about "no buildings to destroy in G:U" a little silly cause even with the cities partially destroyed there's still some things left to trash. Now I agree that most levels only had a handful of stuff to smash but New York and Seattle had plenty of stuff to smash, it took me a while to destroy what was left of them.

No offense.

[Mr. Strange]

I'd be cool with smaller arenas that only have one or two large, iconic buildings. But at the same time I'd want to be able to interact with that one or two building(s) in a variety of different ways. All three Pipeworks games let you destroy and take cover behind buildings, so of course I'd want those options to come back. DAMM (can't remember if it was in StE and GU as well) let you throw monsters up against buildings, which was hugely satisfying and fun--I'd definitely like to see that come back. In addition to those, I'd like to see the ability to push the building over on top of a player (especially a downed player)--I think it would be cool if this could be done physically, or with a beam. Finally, as was mentioned a few pages ago, I'd love to see smaller, more agile monsters like Zilla be able to scale and leap from buildings. This of course, would give other monsters the option to bring the building down while a monster is climbing it or perched on it.

I've tried a few complex building iteractions over the years, but they tend to be hard to use. The main problem is that the monsters are so FAST. Pushing a building onto another monster sounds awesome, but it practice it was basically impossible when monsters can jump half a mile in 1 second. If we slowed down the monsters a good deal, then we could try things like that - but everyone seems pretty addicted to speed, so I doubt we'll see that.

Interacting with beams & buildings is also trouble. We ended up just auto-targeting beams on opponents, because controlling beams was so hard for most players. Hitting a particular target, or a particular building was pretty much impossible.

I actually played with a Baragon pounce-on-buildings sequence back in the day, but it just wasn't interesting or practical. Jumping is the major "get past these buildings" mechanic, and it was poor design to overload it with "stick to buildings" as well.

I want to encourage more suggestions for monster-building interactions - because I keep hoping that one of them will inspire me with part of a solution for making buildings more interesting in the way fans want.

[Supergeon]

I've heard that suggestion a ton - but how, exactly could we get away with not having boundaries? Every game has boundaries - Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur - EVERY GAME has boundaries. I don't understand why "having boundaries" seems like some sort of transgression in the G games...

I think that complaint is in every video game that gives you the ability to free roam to some degree. In Godzilla you are given a 3D world to run around in, in Uncharted/God of War/Call of Duty etc you are also in a 3D world. There are walls for a reason.

Nobody ever complains that Rodan cannot fly infinitely high - or that Megalon cannot burrow down to the center of the earth - I wonder why the boundaries are such an issue? I suspect it might be the rebound effect they provide - it makes them seem very powerful. But fun fact - the boundaries have NEVER dealt damage to the monsters in any of my games. And when they did not repel monsters, it was really strong to corner your opponent and just wail on them forever - the bounce-off effect was designed to prevent that sort of abuse.

Why cant Rodan burrow to the center of the earth, come to think of it Megalon cant fly either?

[Living Corpse]

I'm fine with Boundaries, I mean don't get me wrong, a free roaming sandbox Godzilla game would be amazing to play if pulled off well but be a total nightmare to actually make and get to work.

As long as the arena is HUGE so I don't run into a wall a lot I'm fine with boundaries.