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

[matrix]

stop ripping on matrix. If he is annoying you, ignore him.

I annoy people? Anyways, Mr. Strange said in a topic that it may not be a fighting game, its whatever the fans choose, but I am with a fighting game, PS please nobody start a argument with what I said in the beggining. PS do you guys agree with my tips eailier? I want to make sure they are right.

[Supergeon]

I agree with your statement regarding monster detail (Titano's skin texture) With Matt Frank at the helm of the art direction of this project you have nothing to worry about.. he is an amazing artists AND he is a GFAN. As far as secrets go Strange has stated that most secrets would be aesthetic changes to monsters, different player cards (icons, titles). Due to the online gaming scene having characters and classes locked is largely unpopular (I am not part of that camp).

Here is the argument for and against locked characters!

FOR- A portion of the roster should be locked so I have a motivation to play through the story mode with every character/multiple times. It will give me more play time in the single player since I do not have any interest in online versus.

AGAINST- The roster should be fully available from the beginning. I am all about multiplayer so I want the entire roster available from the beginning so I dont have to play the story mode first/at all.

Could you imagine if multiplayer contents in a Call of Duty game were only unlocked if you played through the story mode, most COD players do not play the story so I have heard.

If you are into both unlocking and multiplayer there could be a points system in place in which points could be earned jointly in 1P and MP modes, again look to League of Legends. The store in League of Legends allows you to unlock whatever Skins, Runes (buffs), Characters you want with the points you earn through online or bot play.

[Lenbo]

Could you imagine if multiplayer contents in a Call of Duty game were only unlocked if you played through the story mode, most COD players do not play the story so I have heard.

If you are into both unlocking and multiplayer there could be a points system in place in which points could be earned jointly in 1P and MP modes, again look to League of Legends. The store in League of Legends allows you to unlock whatever Skins, Runes (buffs), Characters you want with the points you earn through online or bot play.

Mr. Strange is already entertaining the idea of unlocking monsters only in single player, while multiplayer modes have them unlocked from the get-go. I wouldn't mind that.

[JVM]

If I remember correctly, it was the partnership with Atari that put time constraint pressures on the games (notably STE, I think?), so as long as something like that doesn't happen again?

Well, you must realize that this game was going to be developed by much of the same team that made those games regardless of whether or not Pipeworks were to get involved.

These were both key factors in my feeling that Yes, make it with Pipeworks. As far as I'm concerned, it brings back basically everything good about the previous games and cuts out the main thing that held them back.

[JVM]

@Mr. Strange, yes most of the info is on the first page. I didn't see anything about an official site though. Or are you just going to keep updating the game's progress on this site?

Also, as awesome an idea as it is, I can't imagine you'll be able to get multiple licences for only $300k. I mean I'm sure you could get one(ie: Godzilla), for that much, but you list a few, like Gamera and King Kong. Even if you make $500k, I would think the licences alone would eat up the entire budget. Don't get me wrong, this is awesome and I will buy each and every version if it succeeds, but isn't it incredibly expensive to make video, or PC, games?? I'm by no means an expert though, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Mr. Strange worked on three of the previously released Godzilla games.

I think he knows what he's doing.

[Living Corpse]

It's embarrassing how many fans question Matt, Simon and Chris and don't realize they are actually in the business.

[Mr. Strange]

Just because we know what we're doing - just because I've made 5 "giant monsters destroy the cities" games before, shouldn't prevent people from asking me questions.

Taking time to write clearly, and be respectful? That is an area where I would like to see improvement.

[Lenbo]

I'm not very fond of blocking in general - that's a human-level kung-fu concept, and I don't think it translates very well to monster battles.

In G:U I tried a mechanic I called "bracing" - which let you plant your feet to resist knockbacks, and speed up your reaction times. It also reduced damage somewhat, but the main advantage was that you'd take the hit, then be able to counter-hit before they could defend themselves.

On paper it worked well, but the visual / audio feedback just wasn't good enough. Since damage didn't go to zero, people thought that bracing "didn't do anything" - so they wouldn't use it. It reminded me of StE, where a few monsters would gain 0.2% of their health when blocking Rodan's beam attack, and the community went nuts about "some monsters heal when hit by beams!" I knew that the healing # was essentially zero, but since it was positive and not negative the feedback system confused the issue.

The blocking/bracing/parrying system in all the Godzilla games you've made suffered from feedback problems. It often wasn't clear exactly what was happening when being hit by something.

One of the problems with Unleashed's bracing system was it was very unclear what you could parry and what you couldn't.

Since you don't like the concept of blocking, have you come up with ideas for a system without blocking? Would you like to return to bracing or blocking from previous titles?

I always rather liked the blocking system in StE, and also the concept of using buildings as cover was novel.

[Mr. Strange]

Since you don't like the concept of blocking, have you come up with ideas for a system without blocking? Would you like to return to bracing or blocking from previous titles?

My current thought is to use duck as the bracing mechanic. Ducking can be very clear visually, and I could use unique reactions while ducking to explain the mechanic. That would also free up a face button, which opens up some possibilities.

[Chris55]

Why would we want Pipeworks rushing this?

That's on Atari really. They cut the checks and set the deadlines.

[Living Corpse]

That's not what I meant by "question". I'm saying we've had a few people come and go saying things like can we really trust this complete stranger without realizing you guys have done stuff like this before. Basically they come in and say "how do we know this guys is for real and not just another fan pulling our chain".

BOT, if a fan made monster makes it in does the fan get to decide the creatures stats or would that be up to you guys? I honestly think as long as the fan doesn't make the creature broken to god level then he/she should be allowed to decided it's stats since they made it.

[JVM]

Okay, question time. Will you guys be able to re-use any assets from the previous games besides the engine? This has all been under the assumption of building from the ground up, but I'm a little curious if you work with Pipeworks again, if that will influence your ability to re-use assets.

Of course, I vaguely remember a statement along the lines that the games are so old you guys no longer have access to any assets, so this might be irrelevant.

[miguelnuva]

It would be nice to start with the STE/GU characters and then just work from there.

[Zentenk]

So, Pipeworks wouldn't shut out fan base input?

If somehow you could convince Pipeworks to release bundles after initial release couldn't that help extend your involvement a bit?

Initial = 10 kaiju
pack 1 = 3 kaiju $15 upgrade fee
pack 2 = 3 kaiju
pack 3 = 3 kaiju
or
Initial = 15 kaiju
each month 1 kaiju is released $5 upgrade fee

Also, dedicated servers? Will this fall on you all?

I'm sure, this could be the last hurrah for the big G on games. I played the hell out of the NES version growing up and the series you released was a DAMM miracle. You want to know the main reason that killed it for me? What made me play it less and less?

Bugs and lack of online players!

If we can get constant bug fixes (and include me on a lot of beta test runs =P) that will make a rock solid game. The last bit we need is "constant" online play. Since it will be computer based we can have a lobby to chat prior to match making right? A small window I can have off to the side of my browsers could keep me "logged" into the game without it running and I can friend, invite, challenge, whatever.

Well, I am rambling. I say go for what your intentions are, working with them longer, extending your contract or going on your own. What would be easiest to "reboot" the game after 4 years? Hopefully you won't have to "re-up" on Toho licenses.

[Zentenk]

Anguirus can't block with his shell anymore?

I ordered G: DAMM and G: STE, I will do some research. =D

Guess I will have to retype and edit this one since I can't double post.

Mechagodzilla 2:

Eye Lasers: These work on a low/med charge. Low/Med Damage
Mega Buster: This is fired out of the mouth at high charge. High Damage
Tranquilizer missiles: To differentiate MG2 from MG these will do much less damage but will slow the enemy movement speed for a short duration. Also, they will accurately fire out of shoulder/hips. Low Damage
NT-1 + Plasma Grenade: A seperate bar is charged through enemy energy hitting the NT-1 coating. The energy absorbance does not lower damage taken. This energy storage is what the plasma grenade will utilize. High Damage

I like the idea of dealing damage/receiving damage or destroying the city to activate rage/ultimate (not picking up icons)

Pre-Ultimate: When you are about to hit ultimate Garuda flies in and assists in attacking the enemy for a short duration, then dock onto MG2. Low Damage
Super Mechagodzilla: Garuda will fire laser cannons when you fire eye/mega busters. MG2 movement speed is increased slightly. Garuda acts as a shield decreasing damage taken, but can be destroyed. Med Damage
Ultimate Shock Anchor Assault: Shock anchors are shot into the enemy where they deliver 3 shock pulses, and all weapons are blasted for a short duration. On the 4th pulse a struggle(beam battle) game of RPS is initiated, best 2 of 3 and the loser gets the final hit. MG2 can be knocked away (or stunned) if he loses the struggle much like in the movie. Garuda detach and leaves. High Damage

Other moves can be similar to DAMM/STE builds. (I will review in the next coming weeks when I get both of these games).

[Rossk]

I just want a StE 2.0

[Zentenk]

I would like a single player to have a lot of military blasting me as I trample the city. Maybe have long maps where you actually travel from point a to b and you encounter objectives on the way, then you fight whoever.

That would be cool multiplayer also for long maps and you have to "defend the egg" or something.

[Living Corpse]

I would like a single player to have a lot of military blasting me as I trample the city. Maybe have long maps where you actually travel from point a to b and you encounter objectives on the way, then you fight whoever.

That would be cool multiplayer also for long maps and you have to "defend the egg" or something.

"Defend the egg"...I like it. Hey it's different then the usual destroy more of the city then everyone else.

[Oasis_S]

I just want a StE 2.0

Gross.

[Grayshot954]

^Well since your on gametypes that might be interesting to discuss. So for me I would like to see...
1) Classic FFA Melee
2) Team deathmatch/team combat
3) Destruction Mode
4) Maybe a "Defend the Egg" type of gametype. 2 players for each side of the map defend their egg. Whichever side destroys the other egg first wins.
5) I would also like a horde type mode with one or two people. Each monster gets so many lives and the enemy combatants keep spawning. When the enemy causes the player to run out lives the game ends. This would add a pretty cool leaderboard element in my opinion.
6) Lastly a team ops kind of mode. Something kind of like Spec Ops from Call of Duty if you all know of this mode. 1,2 or 3 players fight movie specific missions like lets say Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster. A super Ghidorah (like that of GU) comes down and a Godzilla, Rodan & Mothra must stop him. Something along those lines would be a very fun addition and would require minimal amount of tweaking of the opposing monsters stats. Another example is Godzilla & King Ceasar vs Mechagodzilla (Showa). Showa would be supered to be able to combat two opponents but it would replay the movie. Then for solo an example could be Godzilla vs Titanosaurus & Mechagodzilla II where it plays down to skill.

Anyway, I hope I did not drive this topic off course but when I saw the Defend the egg line above, my brain pulsated with ideas.