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

[Kaiju-King42]

^ Ahem! You forgot Ghidorah and Destoroyah.

We don't have any word that this will be a Godzilla game, not yet anyway. It's probably best to just refer to it as a kaiju game for now.

[L Lawliet]

^ Ahem! You forgot Ghidorah and Destoroyah.

We don't have any word that this will be a Godzilla game, not yet anyway. It's probably best to just refer to it as a kaiju game for now.

Anyway, Mr. Strange, if this was a Godzilla game, out of the following, who would you choose to be the Final Enemy?

Yeah.....

[Mr. Strange]

damn

Anyway, Mr. Strange, if this was a Godzilla game, out of the following, who would you choose to be the Final Enemy?

Monster X
Bagan
The Monster that will fight Godzilla in the Legendary Pictures Film
Spacegodzilla
A fanmade Monster

Does there need to be a final enemy? Maybe it would be cool to have the end be a fight against 2 or 3 monsters - determined by how you played the game up to that point!

Anyway, I think Spacegodzilla has had his day, so probably not him. The others seem equally likely, to me.

[miguelnuva]

I'd say different last battles for different monsters.

[Mr. Strange]

I'd say different last battles for different monsters.

Sure, but that means things don't change. It is best to walk along that fine line between "always the same" and "total chaos" - giving players meaningful choices is fun.

I really liked the way choices in G:U affected the flow of the story. Unfortunately, the "choice" I provided was "fight this monster or not." Many people just always fought every monster, without considering it a choice - so the subtle changes in the story were lost on most people.

Finding interesting choices is something I'd like to explore in the new game.

[Showa Gyaos]

I'd say different last battles for different monsters.

Sure, but that means things don't change. It is best to walk along that fine line between "always the same" and "total chaos" - giving players meaningful choices is fun.

I really liked the way choices in G:U affected the flow of the story. Unfortunately, the "choice" I provided was "fight this monster or not." Many people just always fought every monster, without considering it a choice - so the subtle changes in the story were lost on most people.

Finding interesting choices is something I'd like to explore in the new game.

Speaking of interesting choices, one thing that irked me in Unleashed was that I didn't feel that the Factions meant much story-wise. I made several attempts to befriend the Earth Defenders as an Alien monster, and when I beat the game, I get the Alien ending. Even when I acquired 100% of their approval, the game didn't recognize that I'd essentially "betrayed" my monster's faction. It made my relationships seem worthless.

I know this sounds weird, but I'd like to take certain characters down routes they've never ventured. You know. Mothra becomes evil, Destoroyah becomes a savior of the planet...that kind of thing. And again, I am aware that this sounds absurd.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

^ As a bit of an addendum to that idea, I've got an idea.

The factions are all nice and fancy, but I don't think they're all that special. To me, it feels like a lazy way to write endings (of course, I haven't touched GU in years, so I don't recall all of the stories).

I enjoy how stories are handled in Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, or Soul Calibur. You beat story/arcade mode, you get an individualized ending for that character. In Soul Calibur III, you even get choices if you input the proper button during the cinematic.

I think endings much like Soul Calibur III would be a good advancement in these games.

[Mr. Strange]

^ As a bit of an addendum to that idea, I've got an idea.

The factions are all nice and fancy, but I don't think they're all that special. To me, it feels like a lazy way to write endings (of course, I haven't touched GU in years, so I don't recall all of the stories).

I enjoy how stories are handled in Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, or Soul Calibur. You beat story/arcade mode, you get an individualized ending for that character. In Soul Calibur III, you even get choices if you input the proper button during the cinematic.

I think endings much like Soul Calibur III would be a good advancement in these games.

I've enjoyed unique ending for each character - it's a pleasing finish to the game.

However, that's X work for each character - which means the cost of adding each new character is increased by X. A fully procedural solution requires Y work - but only once.

How about this - imagine a story mode where you are fighting against 2 opponents - it's a free-for-all, so they also fight one another. When one monster is defeated, you move on to a new fight, which just replaces the KO'd monster.

If you keep the same monster undefeated for a few fights, they become your ally and you switch to 2-on-2 battles. These continue until 2 monsters an knocked out - so you might end up with you and your partner victorious, or you might get a new "partner" - one who might not really trust you much, and might turn on you in future fights!

At the end, if you win every fight, you and one other monster are victorious. Depending on who it is, and who you are, you get one of several canned end sequences about how the pair of you fare after the game. Are you best buddies now? Are you bitter rivals?

Just spitballing.

[Lenbo]

How about this - imagine a story mode where you are fighting against 2 opponents - it's a free-for-all, so they also fight one another. When one monster is defeated, you move on to a new fight, which just replaces the KO'd monster.

If you keep the same monster undefeated for a few fights, they become your ally and you switch to 2-on-2 battles. These continue until 2 monsters an knocked out - so you might end up with you and your partner victorious, or you might get a new "partner" - one who might not really trust you much, and might turn on you in future fights!

I like the idea of dynamics changing during a fight.

Like instead of simply having a fight between you and another monster, have another monster show up in the middle of the fight unexpectedly. You can then choose to fight both of them or concentrate on one.

You mentioned earlier that most people in GU chose to simply fight every monster they came across, even though they could have chose not to. My question is, how do you get players to not fight every monster in a game where the goal seems to be to fight?

[Infinity]

While I can't speak for everyone, my preferences for an ending would go very close to how they pulled it off in the older arcade games. I like this perticular one the most:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkB9JQJsUIk

0:15 to onwards.

You kick your opponents ass and then you see a scoreboard, which asks you for your name. When that is done, you get a satisfying moment in which the player monster walks up to the boss and clobbers him with a few blows before the screen fades out (that was my favorite part in that clip). I also like how that ends with such appropriately deep music. I would probably follow this same formula except, when we are done clobbering the final enemy, the screen fades out and you get a dark screen with a few images in which a narrator woman tells you, "After defeating "boss", player monster..... "

In a nutshell, I believe that if you can afford to budget a good narrator who can give good monologues(sp?) and story tellings, you can do the ending for all the monsters quite nicely for a supposed lower price. It will be an icing if you can have two or three music varieties that play depending on the situation (cliff hanger, sad ending, Happy ending).

[Godz]

At the end, if you win every fight, you and one other monster are victorious. Depending on who it is, and who you are, you get one of several canned end sequences about how the pair of you fare after the game. Are you best buddies now? Are you bitter rivals?



I actually like this idea. I do think endings/story are an important part of the game. And yes I want there to be a "final boss", perhaps a new one for each monster pack. If a Toho pack is made, I vote Destoroyah or Showa King Ghidorah to fill that role. (Though both should be playable in the story, as well). Or if we do a tag route, Ghidorah and Gigan.

[Gailah 1966]

If there is a final boss I vote for Orochi. It´s so big you will need a friend (or two ) to beat this monster.

[L Lawliet]

Godzilla: Kaiju Brawl Finale

[cipher192]

What if the final boss were (dramatic pause) Bagan? That'd be awesome!

[Living Corpse]

What if the final boss were (dramatic pause) Bagan? That'd be awesome!

How about a secret boss that you need to meet certain conditions in order to fight? I wouldn't mind seeing him in 3D. Hedorah would make for a nice normal final boss.

[Godzillabrawler]

Nice. I almost forgot about this project. I agree with JVM that you need to say that "big names" can be added if funding is adequate.

And like Lenbo said, try and put that one part in layman's terms. Overall, really good job. I'm hoping this thing succeeds.

[Godzillabrawler]

What if the final boss were (dramatic pause) Bagan? That'd be awesome!

How about a secret boss that you need to meet certain conditions in order to fight? I wouldn't mind seeing him in 3D. Hedorah would make for a nice normal final boss.

I agree. If we add in the system of fights in discussion, I wonder if certain partners could lead you to certain bosses. Say you partner with King Ghidorah for some reason, you'll be lead down the path to Bagan, but if you partner with MOGUERA, you head down the path to SpaceGodzilla and so on. That might be too complex, but I think it would please people a little bit.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

If we make enough money, would a level creator be possible.

[Mr. Strange]

If we make enough money, would a level creator be possible.

Do you mean something to create stories - deciding who fights when and where? Or do you mean a tool to lay-out buildings - to create fighting environments? The first is ambitious, but possible. The second is not possible, because we are licensing proprietary tech from Pipeworks - and they wouldn't allow us to sell it.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

If we make enough money, would a level creator be possible.

Do you mean something to create stories - deciding who fights when and where? Or do you mean a tool to lay-out buildings - to create fighting environments? The first is ambitious, but possible. The second is not possible, because we are licensing proprietary tech from Pipeworks - and they wouldn't allow us to sell it.

The second was my idea, thanks for answering. But the first could work if you made it so you could save, upload and download stories from other people.