What features do you like/would like to see in beat-em-up games?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by invulse, Jun 12, 2010.

  1. invulse

    invulse Well-Known Member

    Hi,

    I'm working on a side-scrolling beat-em-up style game in the old school style of 'Streets of Rage' or 'Final Fight' but I'd like to hear from gamers what they like or would like to see in iPhone beat em up games, so I can hopefully make my game more enjoyable to everyone.

    Features I'm so far implementing:

    -Combo oriented fighting (I can't stand games where you just keep tapping and tapping over and over again to do the same 3 moves)

    -Gesture inputs instead of buttons (I feel like this leaves the screen more open and allows for more types of inputs)

    -Upgrades/Purcheses like new moves, specials and combos


    However I'm more interested to see what everyone else likes to see in these types of games.

    Thanks in advance for your input!
     
  2. Nibelung Valesti

    Nibelung Valesti Well-Known Member

    May 22, 2010
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    NOT gestures. Gestures in fast paced games, from my experience, are not accurate enough and simply cause frustration.

    Combo system? Yes. I hate just button mashing (Twin Blades). When I think of an awesome beat 'em up, I think of what OMG! Pirates could become. It's an excellent base in my opinion, but you could add so much more. More combos, weapons, characters, abilities, etc.
     
  3. paulm12

    paulm12 Well-Known Member

    Sep 13, 2009
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    school
    ummm Cali
    Wow, sounds great!
    First off, I'd love to see more emphasis on upgrading attacks and leveling up. Sorry I can't be more specific, but many fighting games start you off with everything unlocked. If an online experience system was created, (if you plan to take the fight online with multi-player), this could create a real motive for players to play the game both online and off. This leveling system could incorporate unlocking different characters and abilities, as well as encouraging use of the same character to unlock special moves and costumes and such. An alternate take on this formula could be allowing players to make their own character, and having different costumes and such (even individual clothing like shirts and hats) unlocked along the way. There are two ways you could implement this; Either a basic leveling system that unlocks everything in a certain order, (Using certain items could help to unlock others, such as winning X number of matches wearing the heavy armor could unlock the heavy helmet, etc), or allowing the player to get credits/money by winning matches and completing challenges to buy certain items at a store, where some items must be unlocked for purchase by winning X number of matches or something. This second option could also be a great opportunity for In-App purchases to be made to boost a players credits. Alternatively, certain costumes, characters, or such could be used also as IAP (In-App Purchases),
    but keep in mind that the majority of the content should be able to be accessed by straight up playing the game, instead of paying for the game and not being able to do anything unless you pay more. A good example of what IAP should be is TowerMadness; where IAP is available, but not needed to enjoy the game or to finish it, only as a bonus to players who like the game and want something extra.
    Second of all, the whole gesture idea sounds absolutely ingenious, and could account for better memorization of attacks and such (unlike Tekken DR for PSP where there are like 100 moves for each player, but some are 10 buttons long). Some of these could be holding your finger on the screen to charge up an attack, building power, and releasing to unleash it.
    Last but not least, decide whether you want a Campaign, Multilayer, Instant Action, or a combination of these. Also decide whether the characters should be premade or custom, allowing the players to select from defult characars or allowing them to create their own.
    Overall, this sounds VERY promising. Can't wait to see it on the app store :D
     
  4. cubytes

    cubytes Well-Known Member

    Aug 25, 2009
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    #4 cubytes, Jun 13, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2010
    depends on how they are implemented ;)

    the key is:
    -small quick & simple gestures
    -responsiveness

    like instead of having to draw a line across the entire screen...

    you could leverage:
    -flicks across an on screen button, if said button is big
    -or just small quick flicks, anywhere on the screen
    -for more complex moves you can throw in shapes and figures where you either draw them on the screen straight up, or highlight shapes and figures that appear on the screen during QTEs or under certain situations; i.e when player lands 3 or more consecutive hits fade in a transparent image of the letter X that the gamer has to trace before it fades away or goes completely invisible after n amount of seconds.

    in fact there was a game i reviewed not to long ago something:Flux (music shooter) that leveraged a unique control scheme that really impressed me, although the depth of the gameplay and the way it was implemented didn't really do it any justice...

    more specifically what impressed me the most was how:
    -the first thumb to touch the screen controls the movement
    -the second one to touch the screen controls the action/attacks/shooting

    no buttons needed at all...

    i have a feeling (although i haven't been able to prototype/test it) that such a control scheme could translate well to the following genres:
    -DSS
    -2D fighters
    -side scrolling fighters
    -action rpgs
    -even 3D action games

    and i would LOVE to be involved with the design & testing of it ;)

    as far as "what features I would like to see" brace yourself:
    -needs to run at 60 fps
    -solid gesture based or gesture enhanced controls (i have been advocating this for ages)
    -well designed gameplay: good flow/pacing, creative scenarios not generic arcade style levels, variety (vs horde, vs boss, lite platforming sequences, chasing & being chased sequences, on rails sequences - you know mix it up) solid battle system (combos, skills, dialed in difficulty)
    -creative art style
    -polished graphics (don't need to be HD, but they need to be polished)
    -phenomenal animations and effects
    -multi-player (cooperative and competitive, local and online)
    -character development, achievements, and unlockables

    Edit: when I say "skills" I mean:
    -dashes/rolls,
    -jumping/flips,
    -blocking/parrying,
    -grabbing/throwing

    not just special moves....

    @invulse im curious....

    are you *interested* in developing this or *actually* developing this? and if you are *actually* developing this, are you working solo or with a team? what's your portfolio? have you worked on games like this before?

    It's not that I don't believe you, its just that I'm kinda being noisy ;)
     
  5. invulse

    invulse Well-Known Member

    I'm actually working on it right now. I started the project back in Feb, and its coming together pretty nicely. It's a solo project which started as more of a test then it was going to be a project with me and a friend of mine, but I decided to flesh the game out and make it a full fledged game.

    The gesture based controls are working suprisingly well so far. It's been my intention from the start to have gesture based input, and out of no where Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came out with gesture based input for a beat em up game. If you haven't played that game the controls work well but it lacks combos and makes just tapping end up being the best way to attack. I hopefully will be able to combat this by making combos advantageous to the user.

    I also plan on making the game free, with probably 1/4 of the levels unlocked, and a time-attack mode unlocked, then an In-App Purchase of $.99 for the other 3/4 of the levels, survival mode, and access to any future content.


    Thanks everyone so far for your input, I will be taking this all into account. The only feature I know won't make it in, (at least not from the start) will be multiplayer. Since this is a solo project I haven't even considered adding that, and haven't taking that into account when building the game.
     
  6. cubytes

    cubytes Well-Known Member

    Aug 25, 2009
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    right on right on :)

    if you need any help with thoughts, feedback, suggestions, and/or beta testing (after the 19th) hit me up.

    congrats! and good luck!!
     
  7. Fruho

    Fruho Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2010
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    Gameloft Employee
    Under Your Bed
    Something that doesn't make your thumb ache like hell after mashing the attack button 50 times
     
  8. rshkhsee

    rshkhsee Well-Known Member

    Feb 28, 2010
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    #8 rshkhsee, Jun 14, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2010
    I hope to see this game come out in the future, all these ideas sound cool! PLease dont forget to implement a Fatality system, maybe needing to trace a complex figure real fast at the end of a battle..It would be good to use the entire screen to trace this final move, then an ominous delay for effect before the death stroke. I know this sounds familiar, but it would be awesome!
     
  9. jow80

    jow80 Well-Known Member

    Jan 30, 2010
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    under some guy's deck
    Anything that keeps a player from getting bored... in my opinion, that is unlockable weapons. High powered weapons.... like nukes..... *drools*.. also maybe an achievement list? Its up to you tho, and good luck
     
  10. funkynubman

    funkynubman Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2009
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    News Reporter/ Superhero
    Right. Behind. You.
    This character: A bear that speaks Chinese and carries a minigun in its robot arm!!!
     
  11. Aurora

    Aurora Well-Known Member

    A clone of final fight that runs perfectly smoothly with proper controls would be exceeding expectations. I don't think such a game exist in the appstore yet.
     
  12. Random_Guy

    Random_Guy Well-Known Member

    Apr 6, 2009
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    Australia, mate!
    Lots of moves, combos, weapons and variations in enemies.
     
  13. DarkeMage

    DarkeMage Well-Known Member

    Apr 5, 2010
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    Sydney, Australia!!!
    A fighter who can use one of the elements.. Like shoot fireballs. Or push you away with the wind. Something like Avatar The last airbender!
     
  14. lord-sam

    lord-sam Well-Known Member

    Feb 25, 2009
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    Interactive environment. So you can pick up crow-bars and hit people or throw them against cars then puck up a bin (trashcan) and throw it at them etc.
     
  15. kiranb28

    kiranb28 Well-Known Member

    Mar 17, 2010
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    Proper hit-physics and grunts/reactions to accompany them would be an important factor for me.

    I want my opponent to react the way I hit them, instead of responding as if the whole character has 1-2 hitboxes.

    Combos would be next in line, along with animation variety. I hate Twin Blades with a passion because it's dull, boring and repetitive. It's the perfect game to re-inforce the fact that even with pretty graphics and a good weapon upgrade system/variety, core gameplay is where it matters most.
     
  16. sammysin

    sammysin Well-Known Member

    Feb 23, 2010
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    Swansea, UK
    ROFL. I'm going to have to completely agree here. :p

    Seriously though, this is a good thread. I'd echo many of the things that have already been said throughout.
     
  17. invulse

    invulse Well-Known Member

    Theres an eskimo riding a polar bear with a bazooka in the game, is that close enough?
     

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