HiveMind Games
Fighters Feelings 2
Original Concept Document (2.20.04)
Updated (3.06.04)
Updated (3.24.04)
Final Design Document (5.05.04)
Version 1.10
Contents:
I. Gameplay
Purpose and Goals
II.
Macro Gameplay
III.
Gameplay Details
IV.
Incentives for
Continued Play
V.
Unimplemented Design
Features
VI.
Technology/Process
VII.
Semester Milestones
Completed
VIII.
Credits
I. Gameplay Purpose and
Goals
1. Introduction
The initial
inspiration for the development of a game like Fighters Feelings 2 was derived from an appreciation for capoeira,
which is a Brazilian martial art/game form which incorporates fighting and
dancing in the context of a unique music style.
Included in the final game is the original music track, “Capoeira Nights,” which gives a
modernized example of what this musical style sounds like. It occurred to us that there has been a
recent influx of rhythm-based games released, and that the genre is one of the
newest and most rapidly developing genres in the world of video games. Despite this, it appears that there has not
been a game developed on a rhythm-based gameplay system that incorporates the
idea of fighting, which is another well-established genre in video games. If done well, the marriage of these two
popular genres should not only be beneficial, but it should also be natural.
More glaring than the
lack of a fighting/rhythm hybrid game is the hitherto absence of a 2-player
rhythm-based experience in which the actions and gameplay intention of one
player has a profound and meaningful effect on the other player’s game. In any fighting game, the idea that players
must respond to one another’s actions has been an integral feature of the genre
since its inception nearly twenty years ago.
Small steps in this direction in the rhythm genre have been made from
time to time; most notably, the idea of a “match play” type of game in Amplitude, in which one player is
allowed to input any on-the-beat button pattern, and the other player must
respond with a to-the-letter imitation of the pattern. Additionally, we noticed that on Dance Dance Revolution, there is a play
mode in which your relative quality of play next to your opponent reflects the
difficulty of your dance patterns.
However, we felt that
in both these cases, the depth of engagement offered to players in terms of
head-to-head competition left something to be desired. We needed a game that would allow people to
compete with a level of human interaction more akin to sports games or fighting
games than what rhythm-based games have thus far exhibited.
Out of this idea, Fighters
Feelings 2 was conceived, and while many twists, turns, and logistical
tweaks have been faced, our best intention was to hold true to this singular
axiom, for better of for worse…
2. Resolving on a Particular Schema
As stated earlier, the pervasive goal that has been
championed by our development thus far is the realization of a 2-player
rhythm-based game (in the vein of Dance
Dance Revolution) where the competitive interaction between players is
meaningful and rewarding. The simplest way
of doing this seemed to be to incorporate elements of another well-represented
genre in today’s video games- the fighting game, which tied in nicely with our
original idea of a capoeira game. We
immediately considered the following two extremes of this “hybridization” of
the fighting and rhythm-based genres:
1. One extreme calls to mind the quirky little title Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo,
originally released as a second-generation title on the PlayStation. While this game was highly enjoyable due to
its colorful visuals and fast-paced Puyo Puyo-style gameplay, it is not a stretch to suggest
that the tiny fighters facing off in the center of the screen were purely
aesthetic, and completely removed from the gameplay. While a company with well-established
unforgettable characters like Capcom can get away
with this, we used this as our model of what to avoid when implementing
specifics of the gameplay; we did not want our game to be a DDR clone with simple visuals of people
beating each other up.
2. The other
end of the spectrum is simply a fighting game where you use the DDR pads to control your character. This maximizes user competition, but it just
creates a fighting game with controls that are cumbersome at best, and with no
apparent reason to have the game set up on a DDR-style floor mat control pad.
In between these two extremes there is a game that
relies on DDR-style “stick to the beat” play mechanics, and somehow creates
meaningful interaction between players.
It appears that in the end, we have wound up with a game that is closer
to Puzzle Fighter 2 than to the
hypothetical opposite extreme that I have expounded. This is because fighting game controls, given
the strict rhythmic nature of a DDR-style
game, are impossible to implement in a real-time environment. Our best effort in this direction is
explained in the following paragraph, but first, we will try to justify some of
the strongest points of the system that we have created, which turns out to be
a turn-based system that will be explained in detail in Section II:
·
Retains and
expands on the interesting design of the original DDR game.
·
Turns are based
on measures of music, so the player feels a satisfying unity with the music
during play.
·
Since the
player is allowed only one move per round, he is forced to think clearly and
quickly in a strategic manner about which move will be the most useful at any
given time (explained in section 3).
·
Backdrop of a
fighting game presents the player with a clear indication of his or her
success, and this success is based on the accuracy of play of the other player,
rather than an absolute scale.
·
The adherence
of the gameplay to the tempo of the music keeps the gameplay urgent and the
player focused. The addition of any type
of critical thinking or decision making in the rhythm-based genre is a
significant step forward, as 99% of the games in the field today simply have
the player mechanically responding to objects displayed on screen.
We initially conceived of a game in which two
players would be forced to a largely DDR type of framework, but then would be
allowed to throw various fighting “moves” at will based on motions in between
the execution of the required DDR patterns.
In other words, as the player is playing a basic DDR-style game, there
are certain preset moves which could be inserted along with these standard
beats. We knew that there would have to
be some delay between the execution of these moves and the display on screen,
because in this type of setting, there would be little opportunity for the
player to block: What if both players
attempted to do different moves at the same time? What if one player was starting a move just
as another player was finishing a move?
Granted, this type of problem is common in standard fighting games, but
we strongly felt that the more difficult nature of executing moves on a DDR-pad
required that the player would always be justly rewarded for properly executing
a move or a block. Further, our system
provides the significant benefit that the gameplay corresponds with the
structure of the music, which, as mentioned above, is a key element in creating
joy in a rhythm-based game play experience.
Additionally, the original free-fighting DDR structure that we developed
has very little to add to the standard format of any DDR gameplay, and the
fighting would feel more like an afterthought than an integrated addition to
the genre.
After
several attempts to restructure this idea, we concluded that the only effective
way to carry out this idea in a way that is comprehensible and enjoyable for
the player, even beginners, was a rigid, turn-based framework, where the
gameplay takes place in stages divided by a given number of beats in the music,
and in each stage, it is very clear to the player precisely what he or she needs
to accomplish.
II. Macro Gameplay
1. Turn-Based Fighting
The tradition of turn-based competitive gameplay,
let us not forget, is far richer than any form of simultaneous play, at least
outside of the realm of sports and martial arts. Before Pong,
which truly ushered in the era of video gaming with its simple, immediately
perceivable and intuitive gameplay, (and in fact was based on the sport of
tennis, or, specifically, table tennis), a large portion of Western games
consisted of board games and card games, both of which intrinsically feature
turn-based play at some level. Since
video games were created, several completely original turn-based games have
been among the greatest contributions, especially in strategy and role-playing
games, most notably Sid Meier’s Civilizaition series,
which have been praised frequently for their depth and engrossing
gameplay.
One important mitigating factor for our choice to
use a turn-based combat system in Fighters
Feelings 2 was the realization that a game based on beat could use the beat
as a tool to ensure that the play cycles moved along rapidly, without too much
waiting time for either player. We also
are incorporating traditional DDR-style gaming to be adhered to while a player
is not executing an attack or a defense, called “dance time,” which would then
have an impact on the player’s well being through the use of a peripheral play
device, which we called the “emotion bar” (elaborated in part III). With these devices in place which would:
1) increase the interest level during all phases of the game,
and
2) keep the game cycles moving at a rapid pace,
We felt that it would be possible to maintain the
feeling of a well-paced action game within the turn-based gameplay format. Here is an overview of a “match” of play in Fighters Feelings 2:
Our game does not occur in rounds, as a typical fighting game such as Street Fighter II. However, each match, which pits “Player1” against “Player2”, is completed after only one round of battle. So, one round is equivalent to one match. Each round is broken up into cycles, which repeat until either the song ends (the timer counts down to zero) or one player takes all the life of the other (one player’s health drops to zero). In general, one cycle consists of an attack move and a defense move performed once each by both players. More specifically, a cycle is divided into eight separate measures, each four beats long and each having a specific purpose. To give a time frame, since each of our songs falls within the range of 80 to 120 Beats Per Minute, each measure of four beats will last between 1.7 and 3 seconds.
2. A Cycle of Play
This cycle bar
automatically progresses during the game, with the current set of states
highlighted each bar. r
One
can follow along by viewing the cycle graph above, which is broken into the
eight separate measures that determine one cycle (the Emotion Bar and the
Emotion Moves will be described following the cycle graph and numeric
chart). A numeric chart describing the
first cycle of any round is also given below the cycle graph. Within the game, the game flow is represented
conspicuously on the top of the screen. During the first measure of any given
cycle, Player1 will have four beats to perform an attack move on the DDR (Dance
Dance Revolution) game pad or on the keyboard if he
or she wishes. The possible array of
moves that one may select is of a specific set, dependent on which character
the player chooses. The array of moves
for each player and how to complete each move will be described farther below
in the “Moves” section. After the first
measure in which Player1 has attempted to perform an attack move, the second
measure occurs at the beginning of which the name of the move that Player1 has
completed will be displayed, if Player1 has indeed completed a valid move. The name of the attack move, for example
“Weak High Punch”, will also be said aloud.
During measure 2, the display of the name of the attack move, as well as
the aural display, are both necessary because during measure 3 Player2 must
defend against the attack move that Player1 performed in measure 1. Because certain defense moves, also known as
blocks, are more effective versus certain attack moves, Player2 needs to know
in advance of his own defense phase (measure 3) what attack move Player1 has
executed so that he has time to prepare and figure out which block he will
perform to guard against Player1’s attack.
After Player2’s attempt at blocking during measure 3, the animation of
the ‘attack by Player1/ defense by Player2’ exchange is displayed during
measure 4. Damage is dealt and health is
reduced during this measure as well.
Now, beginning with measure 5 out of
8, the reverse of what was described above occurs. During measure 5, Player2 gets his turn to
perform an attack move. During measure
6, the name of his move is displayed visually and aurally so that Player1 will
have four beats to choose what block he will perform. During measure 7, Player1 performs his block
on the DDR pad. During the final measure
of the cycle, measure 8, the animation of the ‘attack by Player2/ defense by
Player1’ exchange is displayed, damage is dealt, and health is reduced (if
damage is indeed dealt).
Those eight separate measures
formulate one ‘cycle’. Again, this cycle
repeats until either the song ends or one player defeats another:
First Cycle of Any Round: Measure NumBeats WhichBeats
Player1
Attack: 1 4 beats 1-4
Player1
Move Display: 2 4 beats 5-8
Player2
Defense: 3 4 beats 9-12
Animation: 4 4 beats 13-16
Player2
Attack: 5 4 beats 17-20
Player2
Move Display: 6 4 beats 21-24
Player1
Defense: 7 4 beats 25-28
Animation: 8 4 beats 29-32
Now, you may be wondering what Player1 is doing during both Player2’s attack and defense measures and vice versa; you may also be wondering what both players are doing during the measures that display the moves and the measures that display the animation of the attack/block exchange. To answer the latter question, during measures 2, 4, 6, and 8, both players are in ‘break’ mode, which means that physically they aren’t doing anything on the DDR pad. But these breaks are necessary because mentally they must use this time to prepare what attack or block they will have to perform. Player2 uses measure 2 to mentally ready what block he will perform in measure 3. Player2 then uses the break of measure 4 to determine what attack move he will perform in measure 5. Player1 uses measures 6 and 8 for the same purposes. Please note the “Battle Royale” expert mode featured in our game, which eliminates these break measures for players who may no longer need them.
To answer the final question, that
of what Player1 is doing during Player2’s attack and defense measures (3 and 5)
and what Player2 is doing during Player1’s attack and defense measures (7 and
1), Emotion and the ‘Emotion Bar’ must be explained; please refer to Section III:
“Gameplay Details,” Part 2: “Emotion”
To give the general scope of a
typical match (i.e. round), let’s
quickly calculate exactly how many cycles will take place in the average
3-minute song. Since at 100 BPMs, which is the median tempo of the songs, there are:
10*30 = 300 beats per song
- 16 beats introducing each song before play starts
= 284 beats used during a match
Therefore,
284 divided by the 32 beats per cycle will give the approximate number of cycle
per match, which is around 9 cycles
of play.
This is the most similar balance of rounds in which a player is killed to rounds in which time runs out that we could conceive of to that of a well-balanced fighting game such as Street Fighter Alpha. Even after 4 or 5 rounds, using the Emotion Bar (described in Section III), an advanced player could destroy a weaker player, although on the other hand two players could block and attack at a medium level, and neither would fall before time runs out. Of course, we also considered the fact that many players prefer “infinite-time” mode when playing this type of game, and for this player the final release version would include infinite-looping songs (see Section VI).
3. Endgame
The game ends
either when one of the two characters has lost all of his life, or the song
comes is finished, in which case, the player with more life remaining is the
winner.
III. Gameplay Details
1. Moves
Depending on which mode is chosen (Easy or Hard) and which character is chosen (Mike or Ang), a certain set of moves is available for use during the attack and defense measures. Visually, the moves in both the Easy and Hard modes are equivalent. For example, if Ang performs a Fierce High Kick in Easy mode, the video displayed is the same if Ang performs a Fierce High Kick in Hard mode. But in Hard mode, the arrow combination required to perform the move is substantially more difficult. Regardless of the difficulty level chosen, both Ang and Mike have 11 attack moves to choose from during any given attack measure and 8 blocks to choose from during any given defense measure. Of the 11 attack moves, Ang and Mike have 8 of them in common, meaning that for example in Easy mode to do a Jump Kick, both Ang and Mike must press the exact same arrow combination to complete that move. The other 3 attack moves are called the ‘Unique Moves’ because the arrow combinations for them differ depending on whether Ang or Mike is chosen. All 8 blocks are the same for both characters.
The charts below show which exact
moves which characters can do and how to do them depending on which mode is
chosen. Out of the 19 moves (both
attacks and blocks) in the game, Mike and Ang perform 16 of them in the same
way. Only the unique attack moves differ
between characters, although the unique move blocks do not differ. The charts below also describe how and when
to perform the arrow combination of the move as well as the maximum damage the
attack will do or block will prevent (if the move is pressed with perfect
timing; refer to the section on ‘Accuracy’ to learn about how timing
works). The damage an attack does is
based on the difficulty of the arrow combination of the move. Also, performing a block perfectly will never
reduce the damage of an attack by 100%.
This is to ensure that the game still progresses (life is reduced) when
players perform almost perfect or perfect blocks of attack moves.
We realized quickly that expert
players would have no incentive to
In the charts below, in between the
name of each move and its damage is the arrow combination of how to perform the
move and when to perform the move. As
was stated earlier each measure has 4 beats.
Attack moves can only be performed during a given player’s attack
measure and blocks can only be performed during a given player’s defense
measure. So, during any measure in which
a player can perform a move, he or she has 4 beats to do it in. On the row named ‘BEAT’, each beat is labeled
in bold as 1, 2, 3, 4.
The arrows to be pressed are labeled as U for Up, D for Down, L for Left, and R for Right.
If there is a ‘-‘, that means nothing is pressed on that beat. If two letters such as UD (up/down) are next
to each other without a comma, it means that the two arrows are pressed
simultaneously on that beat. For example,
in Easy mode, to perform Mike’s High Unique Move, on the second beat the arrows
Left and Right must be pressed simultaneously.
In our game, arrows can also be pressed on the half beat. This is the
lesser beat directly in between the full beats of the measure. At this level of complexity, I will now
describe what a measure truly means.
Before, it was stated that measure has 4 beats, but it was not stated
that each measure also has 4 half-beats
in between those 4 main beats. So a
measure really is as such: Beat 1,
Half-Beat/Beat 1.5, Beat 2, Half-Beat/Beat 2.5, Beat 3, Half-Beat/Beat 3.5,
Beat 4, Half-Beat 4.5.
For harder moves, arrows may also be pressed on these half-beats as well
as the full beats. The pressing of the
half-beats is depicted by having a comma in between the symbols of the
arrows. For example, in Hard Mode, to
perform Mike’s High Unique Move, on Beat 1 the Left arrow is pressed. On the next half-beat (beat 1.5), the Down +
Left arrows are pressed simultaneously.
On full beat 2, the Down arrow alone is pressed. On the following half-beat (beat 2.5), the
arrows Down + Right are pressed simultaneously, etc.,
etc.
A final note is that certain blocks
block different attacks with varying damage reductions. Any attack move perfectly blocked by a block
with its same name will reduce 85% of the damage. For example, a ‘Weak High Block’ done
perfectly against a ‘Weak High Kick’ will reduce the damage by 85%. Most blocks block more than 1 move
perfectly. Certain blocks also do varying
damage reductions based on whether the attack move is of the same ‘height’ as
the block. All attack moves except for Unique moves are categorized as either high or low. So, for example, a Jump Kick block executed
perfectly upon a Jump Kick will reduce the damage of the Jump Kick by 85%. A Jump Kick is categorized as a ‘high
attack’. A Fierce High Punch is also
categorized as a ‘high attack.’ So, if a
player happened to use a Jump Kick block against a Fierce High Punch, 33% of
the damage would be reduced because both the attack and block were of the same
‘height’, even though an incorrect block was used to block the attack
move. Refer to the Excel Spreadsheet
below to see which blocks reduce a certain amount of damage against which
attack moves.
EASY MODE
BEAT: 1 2 3 4 Perf Dmg
ATTACK MOVES
Weak
Moves: Weak High Punch: U - U - 8
Weak High
Kick: R - U - 10
Weak Low
Kick: D - D - 8
Fierce
Moves: Fierce High Punch: U - D D 15
Fierce High
Kick: R U R U 18
Fierce Low
Kick: D - L L 15
Special
Moves: Jump Kick: L U D D 23
Knee to
Balls: L D R R 23
Unique
Moves: Mike Unique 1: L LR R LR 25
Mike Unique
2: L UD R UD 25
Mike Super: LR UD LD UD 20
Ang Unique
1: L LR L LR 25
Ang Unique
2: L UD L LR 25
Ang Super: LR LU
BLOCKS Perf Blk
Weak
Blocks: Weak High Block: D - D - 85%
Weak Low
Block: U - L - 85%
Fierce
Blocks: Fierce High Block: D D D U 85%
Fierce Low
Block: U D R R 85%
Special
Blocks: Jump Kick Block: R D L U 85%
Knee to
Balls Block: R U L D 85%
Unique
Blocks: Unique Block 1: R UD L UD 85%
Unique Block
2: R LR R UD 85%
HARD MODE
BEAT: 1 2 3 4 Perf Dmg
ATTACK MOVES
Weak
Moves: Weak High Punch: U U U U 8
Weak High
Kick: R L U R 10
Weak Low
Kick: D D D D 8
Fierce
Moves: Fierce High Punch: U D LR UD 15
Fierce High
Kick:
Fierce Low
Kick: D LR U LR 15
Special
Moves: Jump Kick: L,R U,D LR LR 23
Knee to
Balls: L L,U D,R LU 23
Unique
Moves: Mike Unique 1: L,DL D,DR R,
Mike Unique
2: L,L U,U R,R D,D 25
Mike Super: LR,D -,
Ang Unique
1: L,U D,R
Ang Unique
2: L,R
Ang Super: LR,U UL,D
BLOCKS Perf Blk
Weak
Blocks: Weak High Block: U R U L 85%
Weak Low
Block: D R L U 85%
Fierce
Blocks: Fierce High Block: U,U LR D R 85%
Fierce Low
Block: D,D UD R L 85%
Speical Blocks: Jump
Kick Block: L,LR U,UD LR UD 85%
Knee to
Balls Block: L,
Unique
Blocks: Unique Block 1: L,UL
Unique Block
2: L,DR UR,UD
Attack
/ Block Damage Reduction Spreadsheet:
|
|
Weak High Block |
Weak Low Block |
Fierce High Block |
Fierce Low Block |
Jump Kick Block |
Knee To Balls Block |
Unique Move Block |
|
Weak High Punch |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0 |
|
Weak High Kick |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0 |
|
Weak Low Kick |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fierce High Punch |
0.33 |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0 |
|
Fierce High Kick |
0.33 |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0 |
|
Fierce Low Kick |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jump Kick |
0.2 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
0 |
|
Knee To Balls |
0 |
0.2 |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0.85 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unique 1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.15 |
0.15 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.85 |
|
Unique 2 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.15 |
0.15 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.85 |
|
Super Move |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2. Emotion
Because our game is all about
dancing to the beat and generating sentiment within each player, it was
necessary to tie the concept of Emotion into our game. In addition to the health bars, which are
located at the top of the screen for each player, there is also an Emotion Bar
for each player located just below the health bars. As a player increases his
or her Emotion throughout each turn, this bar gradually fills up. A player can then use various portions of the
Emotion Bar to receive powerups at certain points
during each cycle.
Increasing one’s Emotion Bar occurs for Player1 during measures 3 and 5 and for Player2 during measures 7 and 1. For example, if I am Player1, at the very beginning of measure 2 of a cycle, the name of a randomly selected attack or block move and its corresponding arrow combination will be displayed on the bottom of my side of the screen. During measure 2, the arrows required to be pressed for the displayed move will move up the screen and be timed so that I will have to press the first required arrow of the move on the first beat of measure 3. What I have just described is very