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

[Kaiju-King42]

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.

I remember my first meeting with Megaguirus as Mechagodzilla III. And because I had not seen the film at the time, the last thing I was expecting was her speed.

Needless to say, I got my but kicked twice in a row. Although that still isn't nearly as bad as my first introduction to Destoroyah in DAMM.

[Living Corpse]

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.

I remember my first meeting with Megaguirus as Mechagodzilla III. And because I had not seen the film at the time, the last thing I was expecting was her speed.

Needless to say, I got my but kicked twice in a row. Although that still isn't nearly as bad as my first introduction to Destoroyah in DAMM.

Sounds like you met a lot of monsters in the games before you saw their films.

[Gorosaurus Rex]

It sounds reasonable that a younger fan may have first encountered a character like Megaguirus in a video game. Her film wasn't widely available or aired in the US at the time.

[Kaiju-King42]

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.

I remember my first meeting with Megaguirus as Mechagodzilla III. And because I had not seen the film at the time, the last thing I was expecting was her speed.

Needless to say, I got my but kicked twice in a row. Although that still isn't nearly as bad as my first introduction to Destoroyah in DAMM.

Sounds like you met a lot of monsters in the games before you saw their films.

Before DAMM, I owned six Godzilla films: King of the Monsters, Mothra vs Godzilla, Monster Zero, Godzilla's Revenge, Terror of Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla 2000. I had also rented Sea Monster, DAM, Hedorah, and Raids Again, but I could only remember Godzilla's fights with Anguirus, Godzilla's last fight with Ebirah, Ghidorah beating on Anguirus, and the infamous cat scene. And even then, I only remembered it vaguely. I also knew Megalon from the game: Godzilla Domination.

So yeah, I did meet a lot of the monsters. Even though I thought Mechagodzilla 2 represented the one in Terror of Mechagodzilla for a while.

So I guess I have to thank the DAMM and STE for raising my interest in Godzilla high enough to look him up on the internet and learn about the franchise, and later watch all the movies.

[Godzillasylum]

When I get the chance I will donate some cash, but my main concern is if this is a downloadable game on Stream, what will the system requirments be? Cause im going to donate no matter what but donating to a game my PC might not handle when it comes out might be fraustrating, and my computer isn't really what you would call high end lol

[Supergeon]

-Ganimes
-Kamoebas
-Gezora
-Zilla
-Battra
-Gorosaurus
-Manda
-Godzilla (Showa Megalon suit)
-Hedorah
-Mothra (GMK) awesome design

After typing that I realized this is the D-list of the monster roster.

[Supergeon]

Played some G:U, it's been a long time. The matches seem kind of slow/boring, I'm trying to think of something that would speed them up and make them exciting.

I was also trying to think of other ways to interact with buildings, the only thing that comes to mind is when Godzilla kills Hedorah in FW. For those who remember the buildings coming out of the ground when "Hedebirah" collided with them. So instead of the monster hitting the building and falling down, it would be cool to them actually crash through them.

But, I guess we might not be looking at stages with too many buildings so maybe a new building mechanic isn't needed.

[Oasis_S]

Is it at least safe to say that fans want Obsidius more than, say, the giant condor or giant octopus.


Totally wish I had the money to back my Gabara support.


I guess TK did a bit of cleaning up? Couldn't find my old account.

[skuzzy-punk-kid]

It sounds reasonable that a younger fan may have first encountered a character like Megaguirus in a video game. Her film wasn't widely available or aired in the US at the time.

Well, how about an old fan who simply didn't have the monetary resources to purchase his own copy of certain movies prior to the release of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee? The first monsters I met when the aforementioned game was in my possession were Destoroyah and Mecha-King Ghidorah. I knew of Orga, as Godzilla 2000 was readily available at the Wal-Mart I worked at (small-town guy I am, sheesh...).
I couldn't figure out how Mecha-King Ghidorah came about until I recorded a midnight programming of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah on the Sci-Fi channel. At first, I thought this was the old 1965 movie (oh how wrong I was). When I watched my recording, I was surprised at the visual changes made during the Heisei era (didn't even know about the different eras until after my Godzilla awakening). After that, I made it a personal goal to get a hold of all the different Godzilla movies I could get my hands on. I eventually went on to purchase my own copies of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II, and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. After watching Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II, I realized this version of MechaGodzilla was the one used for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (I knew there was something off about the design for MechaGodzilla there, but prior to watching the movie, I couldn't place my finger on what that was).
When Godzilla: Save the Earth came out, I was introduced to 2 more kaiju: Megaguirus and Kiryu; and I think this was the point where I found out about Godzilla: Final Wars. I didn't get to watch the 2 movies concerning the 2 kaiju until last year (no kidding). Reason for that big of a delay in watching those 2 movies was not due to financial issues this time around; rather, my attention was simply elsewhere at the time.

[Oasis_S]

Since Monster X has a dumb name that doesn't work with the search function, I'll go ahead and ask this:

Would it still be impractical for Monster X to transform into Keizer Ghidorah? Since we're dealing with the same engine, I'm guessing yes. Which would be too bad. Has the idea been tossed around that Kezier Ghidorah could essentially be a powerful attack (like the "rage" attacks)? I don't quite recall what would have made the transformation so difficult to create, but with this at least, it would drastically reduce the amount of animations to create (especially if Keizer Ghidorah could not be harmed or grabbed). Basically Monster X would transform into Keizer Ghidorah for a few seconds, with access to maybe only three attacks (bite, stomp, ...tail), plus a beam attack and a grab move. I'd like to think having running and jumping animations wouldn't be necessary, as I see it as a "IF I CATCH YOU, you're gonna hurt" kind of move, but I guess there could be problems with that depending on the terrain.

[Mr. Strange]

Since Monster X has a dumb name that doesn't work with the search function, I'll go ahead and ask this:

Would it still be impractical for Monster X to transform into Keizer Ghidorah? Since we're dealing with the same engine, I'm guessing yes. Which would be too bad. Has the idea been tossed around that Kezier Ghidorah could essentially be a powerful attack (like the "rage" attacks)? I don't quite recall what would have made the transformation so difficult to create, but with this at least, it would drastically reduce the amount of animations to create (especially if Keizer Ghidorah could not be harmed or grabbed). Basically Monster X would transform into Keizer Ghidorah for a few seconds, with access to maybe only three attacks (bite, stomp, ...tail), plus a beam attack and a grab move. I'd like to think having running and jumping animations wouldn't be necessary, as I see it as a "IF I CATCH YOU, you're gonna hurt" kind of move, but I guess there could be problems with that depending on the terrain.

The problem was one of memory allocation. On consoles, you have very limited memory. If we want 4-monsters on screen at once, we need to allocate memory for the environment, and then four blocks of memory for the monsters. Monster X and Keiser Ghidorah are both big, complex monsters (unlike Mothra Larva and Mothra), so it would be very difficult to put them both into one memory allocation.

On their own, each monster would be fine. And if we gave up on ever being on console, we could easily up our memory budget. But none of those sound like really good ideas. I'm happy to leave full-on transformation between forms as a special case Mothra thing.

[Brianzilla2004]

Idea for beam battle mechanics:

As the beam battle wages, the monsters become exhausted, gaining fatigue. The typical battle could be viewed like this at the beginning...

Godzilla - - - - X - - - - Mothra

Godzilla and Mothra are on equal grounds, meaning they become fatigued at the same rate. In this state, both monsters are filling their "Fatigue Bar" up 20% per second. However, button prompts appear next to each monster. Hit the correct face button (A, B, X and Y) and the battle shifts in your favor. So if there's an X next to Godzilla, and the player presses X, the balance of the battle will shift like this:

Godzilla - - - X - - - - - Mothra

So now Godzilla only gains 16% fatigue per second, while Mothra's rate of exhaustion increases to 24% per second. From here, Godzilla can take his advantage even further by pressing the correct button again:

Godzilla - - X - - - - - - Mothra

OR, Mothra could hit the correct button and set the battle back to an its initial setting:

Godzilla - - - - X - - - - Mothra

First monster to fill their "Fatigue Bar" loses. Alternatively, first monster to press the wrong button loses.

Some variations among monsters could be made here as well. For example, a monster with a more powerful beam could start out getting less fatigued than an opponent. A beam battle initiated between Godzilla 2000 and Space Godzilla could look something like this:

Godzilla 2000 - - - X - - - - - Space Godzilla

So Godzilla only fills his fatigue gauge 16% at the start, while Space Godzilla fills his 24%.

Assuming elemental damage makes a comeback, this could also play a role in how beam battle advantages are awarded. King Ghidorah could get the upperhand over Godzilla with his electric attack, since that's Godzilla's weakness.

Another variable would be the number of potential buttons to press. Some monsters would have A, B, X and Y, while others with better balance and accuracy could have A, B and X.

I hope that made sense... Sometimes I'm not the best at expressing my ideas.

[Oasis_S]

Awh, but it'd be like the Godzilla game's own little Giga Bowser type character (or I guess more accurately Landmaster). :3

Though I would agree that just because Mothra can do it doesn't mean we need any more characters to hop on her gimmick wagon. Was hoping to add a bit of variety to the idea of transformation type monsters. Like with Hedorah, crouching (probably combined with another button) could transform him into his land form to make him more agile. Standing brings him back to normal. Holding the jump button could transform him into his flying form. I suppose each would have energy costs? Adapting to his environment is more in tune with his character at least than my suggestion for Monster X's type of transformation. Variety is just the very best.


Oh yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with proper scaling, so I would enjoy a mode that scaled monsters according to their height compared to Godzilla. Obviously, having a 50m Baragon up against a 150m Biollante (assuming Godzilla was 100m) would present a few problems, but in some cases I think that'd almost be the point. It'd make the canonically small monsters have a disadvantage to the canonically big. Purposely creating unevenness. I can't rationally say it's the best of optional mode ideas, but my irrational love for proper scaling compels me to mention it.

[W2daERN]

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.

I think you found the problem. Almost every battle in GU ends with both monsters pummeling eachother at one of the walls. Even if there are walls eventually, they should at least be far enough away from the main map that the battle doesn't naturally move there (i.e. far enough away from crystals/buildings that there's no reason to get close to them).

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.

Personally, I'm actually not that big a fan of speed. I always used the slowest monster setting on GU, and it still felt too fast-paced for giant city-crushing juggernauts.

[Goji]

It sounds reasonable that a younger fan may have first encountered a character like Megaguirus in a video game. Her film wasn't widely available or aired in the US at the time.

Huh? The film had already premiered on Sci-Fi, and had been available on DVD for at least a year by the time G:STE was released.

[matrix]

I'm going to pay enough to beta test, so when does it start? I can't wait to try it!

[zilla103192]

There is no official announcement when the game will even begin production. Let alone a beta test.

[Mr. Strange]

I'm going to pay enough to beta test, so when does it start? I can't wait to try it!

This question is answered in the thread "Matt/Chris/Simon talk about the new game." First post.

[matrix]

Ohhh, so the beta is released march 1st.

[hammysammy59]

I just have no idea what you're talking about. How could a beta have been released last month if the game hasn't even started development yet? Where did you get that info? Do you mean March of next year? If so, where did you get that info? I'm completely baffled here.