Producing a fighting game for a long time, I’m currently finishing the 7th background stage out of 8 after an intense production spree (7 stages in 3 monthes during night time, I’m exhausted lol).
But for the 8th, I told myself I could let my Unity fellows to be part of the concept with a little Role-Playing thread.
You can find a link to the Work in Progress thread directly in my sig (levels are at pages 7 8 ), but I’d prefer to stay out of any influence from the game’s already set elements and leave it up only to your imagination.
(except if your idea is already ingame, of course)
So, let’s keep it simple.
I’d like you to put yourself in the following mindset :
Imagine that in real life, you’re an advanced fighter making a living out of official championships and fighting tournaments.
The year is 2064, and the world is globally looking like what you can find in any Cyberpunk/Futuristic novels and movies (Cyberpunk culture is a real keyword in this, you can Google image that word for inspiration).
You got no superpowers, no kamehameha, no magic, but an incredible knowledge and technique about your martial art of choice.
(underlined elements for emphasis)
Question : at what location would you chose to have your next tournament fight ?
I think that it should just be a straight up white room and when you hit eachother, blood covers the walls and floor. That way way over time the whole room will be red instead of white. Bloody, but funny.
@Barracuda771 : You butcher
Unfortunately there will be no blood in the game ^^ (not because of Rated stuff, but because I don’t feel it to be necessary)
I am thinking of the movie “Cube” or Hyber Cube, which has changing environments per room, that or when pinhead was in that huge space station, him and his buddies. A fight on a space station hmm… How about inside a volcano on a distant world, got lava spewing up all around them from time to time and the arena floor is dangling by chains going to all walls, a nice punch and off into the lava you go!
Have you ever seen Wild Wild West with Will Smith? I don’t particularly recommend the movie, but near the end, there’s a scene where Will Smith is fighting a steampunk-ish cyborg within the belly of a giant mechanical tarantula. (No, really.)
The point is, a fight within a moving robot could be cool.
I’d have to say either urban junk yard / scrap yard or completely the other direction and have it be in a upscale apartment building / swanky restaurant. Either totally clean and wealthy or completely dirty and ghetto.
I understand ^^
There’s already a restaurant and some kind of junkyard (Los Angeles Business Center Ruins, page 8 ), but the apartment building sounds cool !
So there seems to be 2 different tendancies over all the thread suggestions :
closed grungy, claustrophobic interiors
wide open space on some suspended ground, showing a cleared landscape (Golden Gate bridge included)
It’s damn interesting to find a common structure to all of that
I think the common thread is an underground theme. Not literally underground, but unsanctioned/illegal.
Even though your fighters are professionals, none of the places they’re fighting seem to be sanctioned arenas; they’re street fighting on rooftops, in restaurants, etc. So where would you hold a fight club event? Either in a deserted, blighted area, or at some rich sponsor’s club or mansion.
Ok, now has come the time to produce, so let’s put down all those great ideas you gave (I mean it, I didn’t expect such uniqueness) :
aiusrage :
That’s an awesome landscape to be honest. From the outside view, it’s stunningly unique. We can feel how dangerous the outside void can be, but on the opposite we would be supposed to fight inside the blue force field, which is giving a sentiment of security. That and the little twinkle lights on the buildings. A very cool mix of nothingness and concentrated confort.
The only thing that prevents me from going it fully is that there is already a space level (the restaurant) where we also have a wide view over space. A hockey rink is a very good idea, though, and it would make a welcomed reference to other sports than fighting. But the terrain is too large for fighting camera views. Technically we would end up with 50% of the screen being white ice.
So I’ll only put in my bag the forcefield and the twinkle lights.
AkilaeTribe :
Metro ambiences always fit for fights. It directly send us to our own daily fears, when it’s late at night, and suddenly pops a group of scums. We know everythings gonna be alright (generalizing), but there is always that “what if …” in our mind, even if there are some people passing by.
Added to that an ultra-confined architecture, oppression is at its top.
To be honest I planned a metro level long ago. But now what’s retaining me from implementing it is that there is already a level on the roof of a train, and players might see too much connection with that level (which is totally different in substance).
Barracuda771 :
I’m sorry to disappoint you pal, but there is no blood in the game :roll:
We could have dug the white room idea by making it something like Cube (the movie) rooms, as Zumwalt mentionned. But it would have required constantly changing ambiences, which is too much work for my deadlines to be respected.
Alvarus :
The abandoned parking could be confusing colors and shapes with the already produced L.A Business Ruins, so I’ll prefer to take the “unofficial place” event.
The Mansion is exciting, I’ll take it.
MrDude :
This connects with the overall underground theme in the thread, I’ll take the condemned aspect and mix it with the Mansion.
Zumwalt :
A volcano is a really nice ambience, I love its burning red overall tone. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t have any instakill mechanic like the punching out of arena. Chains holding a platform is neat, though. Problem is Street Fighter IV already implemented a very broad Volcano level. This would too much slip toward a ripoff, as SF4 is still in fighting gamers memory
WinninGuy :
Simple, a bit cliché at first, but can be driven to something terribly efficient for a background, with a bit of added creativity. I’ll take the Golden Gate bridge for the skybox.
ScreenHotDogCom :
The idea is outstanding, and reminds me a bit of one Kratos fight in latest GoW, or even Shadow of the Colossus. Problem is that inside a robot, you don’t see it’s a robot
Making it obvious to the player would require high graphical tricks, like structure changing, giant body parts moving, etc, and could lead to a low framerate overall to be really efficient.
This kind of level design better suits for adventure games, where you can explore anything.
Vimalakirti :
“Wealthy” is a nice keyword, I’ll mix it with the Mansion
So here we are, we got connections !
Let’s put the final idea :
Borrowed Mansion, San Francisco.
Not so far away from the Golden Gate bridge, the climatic disaster had some dramatic consequences over the global area, turning the Golden gate into a frozen carpet and the overall landscape to white cotton.
But it’s no big deal for rich local corporatists, as their private forcefield can offer macroclimates. It paints the horizon with odd blue bubbles, making it feel like you’re on another planet.
You’re now inside the garden of one of these Mansions, fighting on the edge of a heated swimming pool, as luxurious lights reveals white bushes and classy statues. Corporate at its best.
Thank you all very much, I’ll now start production.
