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[Ixis]

This is a thread for voting on the gameplay mechanics for the Indie Brawl game.

Rules:
Everyone has one vote for whatever gameplay mechanic they feel would be best for Indie Brawl per subject. You may also make your own suggestions and vote on them. Voting ends at midnight December 12th (CST).

Subjects:

Structure-Traditional fighter (Street Fighter, KoF, GG, Soul Calibur, DoA, etc) or Non-Traditional (Power Stone, Super Smash Bros., Jump! Superstars, One Piece: Grand Adventure, etc.)

Traditional 2d fighters are based around tight controls, timing, war of space and memorization.
Non-Traditional fighters are based around intuitive controls, items, multi-tiered interactive environments and control of space and resources.

Control- 3-buttons, 2-buttons, 1-button controls.

3-buttons: Attack, Special/Sub-attack and Guard
2-buttons: Special/Sub/Normal-attack and Guard
1-button: Attack (block/special/sub attacks handled by different means.)

Combat- Timing or button-mashing

[MattC]

Voting ends at midnight December 12th (CST).

/checks his new calendar

I didn't think CST was that far off from EST.

[Inane]

Hahaha, he means Jan 12th.
I vote:
Non-traditional two button!

[Stij]

Hmm.

For Structure, I would have to go with non-traditional. I don't really like Street Fighter-style fighting games.

For Controls, three-button would be fine.

Eh, for Combat,I'm not sure what you think the difference is between button-mashing and timing...any fighting game can be a button masher if you choose to play it that way, really. So I guess I'll say button-mashing.

[cag]

Definitely non-traditional for me. I loved the SF/KOF/MvsC/SC/etc. series, but I got into SSB(M) like nothing else.

I dunno about the controls. Seems like an ergonomics problem you need to solve while actually trying out different control schemes. But it'd be interesting to see how one would accomplish a one-button fighting game (albeit awkward?). So 1 button for me (though not a strict vote).

There isn't a distinction between fighting games for button mashing and fighting games for timing, methinks. I would ignore the last category for voting.

[Akhel]

Non-traditional. 2-button. Timing. Awesome.

[moi]

Structure-
Non-Traditional fighter, something more like a platform game actually.
Control-
Unlimited buttons! The whole keyboard could be used with set of keys for each characters and possibly hidden powers(keys).
If not possible,then go for 3-buttons.

Combat- I don't see the difference, it can be both depending on the player?

[Inane]

Structure-
Non-Traditional fighter, something more like a platform game actually.

YES.

[shinygerbil]

Structure-
Non-Traditional fighter, something more like a platform game actually.
Control-
Unlimited buttons! The whole keyboard could be used with set of keys for each characters and possibly hidden powers(keys).
If not possible,then go for 3-buttons.

Yep, and...yep. Except I also kinda like the idea of just two buttons, but I'd probably prefer three

Combat-the simpler the better in terms of trying to pull "special moves" off. Having to actually time your button presses is something that should be saved for a more precise, possibly serious kind of game.

[Melly]

Structure - I believe a mix of both would be nice. Tight controls and timing + items and multi-tiered interactive environment. The items could also be handled with a very small size inventory system, like two or three slots of items you can save to use whenever you feel it's more advantageous, but that's not incredibly important.

Control- 4-buttons. Attack, Block, Jump, Special/Sub/Secondary attack. It's also the number of face button on 360 and DualShock gamepads, which a lot of people will use to play this, but even on a keyboard it's still simple. Fifth button for item use if my first suggestion gets through.

Combat- Timing, but not very extreme. Just make sure there is SOME depth to the gameplay and not make it like an old arcade beat'em up.

[Stij]

I have nothing against "traditional" fighters per se, but I hate having to memorize huge, pointless button combos. SSB narrowed everything down to a few buttons without losing much complexity, which is good.

Maybe we could start a new poll about items?

[Tr00jg]

Non-traditional and 3 buttoned.

I would prefer some sort of skill to combat, so I would say "timing", but I like my button-mashing too.

[Jimbob]

Non-traditional and 3 buttoned.

I would prefer some sort of skill to combat, so I would say "timing", but I like my button-mashing too.

What he said.

[Xion]

Non-traditional and 3 buttoned.

I would prefer some sort of skill to combat, so I would say "timing", but I like my button-mashing too.

What he said.

ditto

the most basic 3-tier/rapid-but-weak combos could be performed by simple button mashing, but the game-winning ones that make you love or hate the character should all be in timing.

[Shoot-em-upper]

Non-traditional with two buttons and directional controls.  To quote my post in the main thread:

Z=basic attack
X=basic block
Z while holding X=grab/hold(press again to throw)
X while holding Z=reflect attack(limited use, for obvious reasons)
Z+X=character-specific special move
Direct blocks and attacks with directional buttons.

[cag]

Z=basic attack
X=basic block
Z while holding X=grab/hold(press again to throw)
X while holding Z=reflect attack(limited use, for obvious reasons)
Z+X=character-specific special move
Direct blocks and attacks with directional buttons.

In that case, I would propose rather a 3 button system. Instead of z+x = special attack, maybe c = special attack, which gives us z+x = throw and z+c = reflect. That leaves x+c to be open (something that would make sense in that vein? maybe a super?), and that way, people won't get confused between the hold one press another deal.

[Massena]

Non traditional (SSB style), 3 buttons, possibly a timing and button mashing combination, as said by Xion:

the most basic 3-tier/rapid-but-weak combos could be performed by simple button mashing, but the game-winning ones that make you love or hate the character should all be in timing.

And about the buttons I think z, x, c, should do. Please no shifts or controls (Nikujin I'm looking at you! )

[Wilson Saunders]

On the topic of Structure I read “Non Traditional” a lot but don’t see many concrete examples of what we could be doing. So let me propose some:

Weapon Collector: Weapons pop up randomly about the level first player who navigates to the weapon gets to pick it up and try and use it on their foe. Each weapon has a limited usage before the player must discard it and find a new one. Perhaps there should be disarming type weapons that don’t do damage but forces a player struck by it to drop their current weapon. Also we could make it so that players can not deal damage unless they have a weapon in hand.

Blood Paint: I already suggested this in the Idea Pool thread on page 5
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=569.60
I figure it was worth bringing up again since it is a fighting game concept and has not been done before (that I know of).

Power Pellet Harvesting: Little power ups appear randomly throughout the level. The players try to collect them to fuel their special attacks. Each special attack drains a certain amount of pellets but can cause your opponent to loose* a lot more pellets if you land the blow. Also regular attacks (which cost no pellets) will cause your opponent to loose pellets, but not as much as the special attacks. The game ends when one player executes a finishing move (using up a lot of pellets) on a player with no pellets.

* “loose” means fly about randomly for anyone to collect.

Damn that was a long post. Anyway here are my votes:
Structure: Non Traditional - Weapon Collector
Control: 3 button (advise we consider gamepad support)
Combat: IMO this should be decided durring beta testing

[Soulliard]

Weapon Collector

I don't know if that would fit the game. The player's options should primarily be based off the character used, not the weapon. Plus, games like this tend to reward luck over skill, since victory often relies on getting a really good weapon quickly.

Blood Paint

Though it's a great idea, I can't imagine this working for Indie Brawl.

The thought of Quote smearing the Floating Island with Juni's blood is disturbing, to say the least. 

Power Pellet Harvesting

I like this idea. Quite a bit. Though it probably deviates a little too much from what people expect in a fighting game.

Random Suggestion: I was considering making a fighting game with a single health meter, that functioned somewhat like a game of tug of war. There would be a dot in the middle of the meter, and each time the player hit his opponent, it would push the dot closer to their opponent's side (and vice versa). If the dot passed a player's edge of the meter, that player would lose. "Tough" characters would have more space between the dot and edge to start. This would make fights between two evenly matched players epic, since either player could easily make a comeback. On the other hand, a system like this would be much more difficult to implement in a game where over two fighters are allowed, and it may be too gritty a system for a light-hearted game. But it might be something to think about.


In any case, my votes are:

Structure: Non Traditional - Smash Bros. style (of course)
Control: 3 button - To give the game enough depth
Combat: Both button-mashing and precision attacks should be supported. Some characters would be better-suited to one of the playing styles.

[Stij]

I'm diggin' the power pellet collecting idea, though I'm sure if it would be good for this particular game. Something to remember, anyway.