My Beatem' up

[Phasmatis]

Hey guys,

I've been working with the UDK for quite a while, learning how it works and learning UnrealScript. I've tried designing a few games but they tended to be too complex and it became too difficult to keep up the momentum of development.

I always wanted to make a fighter like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter and since the main focus is the characters, it plays to my strengths as a character modeller. I started work on this just after Christmas and it's been going pretty well so far. I have a lot of the systems up and coded, a pretty complex move system is in place and the camera zooms in and out as the players move apart from each other, some rudimentary UI for character selection and few other things.

The move system is ready as far as the normal attack moves go but currently I'm working on throw like moves, these are so complicated for various reasons but I think I'm getting there slowly.

I wanted to make the first character even before some of the systems were completely in place so I could have a clear idea how he would move and fight. Here's a few screen shots.

Here's a close up of him in game

Here's a few shots to demonstrate the camera zoom

I know there isn't much to comment on as most of the work has been on the code side but I thought I would make this thread anyway to show what I've been working on.

[bobby 55]

Holy crap, that's awesome Phasmatis. I'd be very interested to see how the finished game plays.

[Phasmatis]

Cheers bobby, it's very early stages and I'm working on my own but it's going pretty well. I can't wait to get most of the coding done so I can start proper work on the graphics side of things.

[bobby 55]

Heh, I've been playing games for a decade or so and the actual making of a game is still smoke and mirrors to me. I do know it involves a lot of work even when it's a labour of love.

[Cybernetic pig]

Another jack of all trades. I need more skills urgently.

Rat man's Looking good.

[Jonas]

Nice one, Phas! You should chuck a video up on YouTube when you're ready, I'd really like to see it in action

[nerdenstein]

Beautiful!

[Phasmatis]

Thanks guys!

I didn't post the plot or setting in the first post as it's not fleshed out at all and will probably change but I thought why not post what I have anyway. It's a bit cheesy but I like it.

Many hundreds of years ago, four civilisations were at war. Many lives were lost and their respective planets were on the brink of destruction. The current leaders of the time called a truce and through many talks decided to hold a tournament on neutral ground. The tournament would pit the best fighter from each species against one another to the death; they would use this to settle disputes or trades.

As peace continued so did the tournaments, eventually they became tradition and as new species travelled the stars looking for life they would join the tournament.

Today, the tournament has become a huge event; each planet hosts battles hoping to become the ultimate champion.

I know fighters aren't known for their story and I know it's a bit like the hunger games too but I would really like to build up the world this is set in.

My rat guy for instance (I really need to come up with names) is actually quite fleshed out.

Ratman: The rat people are deceptively advanced. They are scavengers by nature. Everything they use or produce is recycled, if it can't be used again. When they first mastered space travel, every space wreck they found would be stripped of everything, no matter what kind of material it was. This lead to great advances in technology as well as a few territorial disputes. Though outwardly disgusting, their knowledge and expertise are highly regarded.

Speed: Agile
Offence: Bony bulbous tips to their fingers and toes allow them strike a great blow to their enemy's soft parts.
Defence: They wear an armour made from a genetically modified fungus that hardens and softens around the body where needed.

I may do a range attack for each fighter, I think ratman's would be a spit of some kind.

Jonas, yeah I wouldn't mind uploading a video but I have no idea what I'm doing, does anyone know of a free video capture that saves to a format I can upload to youtube? I'll also have to redo the walk animation, it looked so good in when I animated it but in game it doesn't work well at all.

[Cybernetic pig]

The ratmen mastered space travel but turn up to a fight unarmored and unarmed? Is it in the rules of the tournament to be unarmed & unarmored then? That may restrict character design some (variety, be it combat moves or the characters popular defining features, such as Vega's mask and claws or that dude from Mortal Kombat with the guns & bombs).
I like that they are deceptively advanced btw, it's a cool twist on a fantasy species that are usually primitive. Although they were portrayed as fairly intelligent in Arx Fatalis (used magic, wore clothes, negotiated at first but became hostile etc). I love that game.

Jonas, yeah I wouldn't mind uploading a video but I have no idea what I'm doing, does anyone know of a free video capture that saves to a format I can upload to youtube? I'll also have to redo the walk animation, it looked so good in when I animated it but in game it doesn't work well at all.

Bandicam aint half bad. Better than fraps. 10min recording limit for unregistered users but watermarked.
I've been meaning to make a trailer for GMDX with it but just haven't got round to it plus I need to perfect the mod first anyway.

[Phasmatis]

Thanks Cyber I'll look into Bandicam.

The fungus armour they wear is actually very tough but yeah weapons will probably be left at the door unless it's the only way a species can fight, like for instance if they have no natural offensive abilities, they're too skinny or too big. It all depends on how I design the other characters at the moment. Game design on the fly heh.

[Phasmatis]

I've decided to try and implement a grab mechanic. I'll be using controllers in the animtree to make it look as though the characters are attached to each other. I'm not sure how well this will work yet but I'm hopeful. Once a character is grabbed you be able to move him back and forth, swap places and perform an attack. I'll probably have to come up with a "break free" mechanic too so the player won't have to just sit there and take the punishment. It will automatically release after 5 seconds too.

[Cybernetic pig]

Nice grab mechanic. Has a bit of depth. Arena based Beat em up's have hardly evolved gameplay-wise since Street Fighter from the 80's, you should change that

[Phasmatis]

Yeah I would like too innovate but at the same time keep it familiar.