Beta LET'S FIGHT - Simple Two Button Fighter

GarlicGuy

Member
LET'S FIGHT!

Two-button fighter using A and S keys.
A very simple fighter and a small side project!

Project started on: 5/5/19


Each character uses a single sprite with 19 frames. Each character is also from my various unfinished projects.

Right now I have 8 characters planned out. With how simple it is to make characters there may be more.


Characters so far:

Chain - Ninja wannabe. Master of "Fireballs" and his sword skill is so fast you hardly ever see his blade.

Dotta - Young girl with a supernatural cell phone that she is obsessed with. Assaults you with angry texts, filters, and her creepy followers.

Father - Catholic priest and pro wrestler. He is constantly tempted by his demons...But fights them in battle. Will throw a succubus at you or pile drive one onto you by accident.

Paralynn - Was pro baseball player until she was bitten by a vampire...and banned for using her supernatural abilities. Decided to use her baseball skills and vampire abilities for vigilante justice.

Copper Cockroach - Winner of the worst superhero of the year award. His acts of justice result in large amounts of casualties and the bad guy getting away...He's been on the run from the law because of this.

Lorena - A vagrant women who is a master of "Total Balance" a devastating fighting style that she claims came to her in a day. She wants to share this fighting style with the world. Fights with a bowl of water on her head, and she doesn't spill a drop.

Frisco - Self proclaimed "Samurai Fisherman". He's developed a sword that doubles as a fishing rod. Wants to showcase how effective it is at chopping down attackers and catching fish, so he can sell his invention for big bucks. Will occasionally reel various sea creatures (sharks, squids..etc) into battle.

Edith - A giant "royal" spider creature who broke free from a top-secret facility. Uses her trusty battle axe and shoots webs from her behind. She's a big easy target to hit and she's not very quick but powerful.

 
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GarlicGuy

Member
UPDATE#1 - Zooming and Alternate Costumes

Due to the simplicity of the sprites. I can do more than change color palettes. I can add accessories, change whole outfits. Made a new costume for chain complete with shades.

I've also added a camera zoom, so the action doesn't feel distant when characters are close.

Fixed some collisions as well. Up next I'll dress up the HUD. Backgrounds etc will be polished much later.


 

GarlicGuy

Member
UPDATE#2
Added a new character named 'Father' A Catholic priest and pro wrestler. He battles demons as he battles you. He uses them in his attacks (accidentally)...Throws, pile drivers.

 
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GarlicGuy

Member
Thanks for your feedback!

UPDATE#3 - Brutal AI - PHYSICS tweaks - etc

All character's stances only use two-frames out of their sprite, but with the scale effect, I have the illusion of many frames!



I've made the AI very clever! As you see me get my ass handed to me by an AI controlled Dotta.

 

GarlicGuy

Member
UPDATE#3.5 - Character Themes

I compose musical themes for each character as I go. Some tweaking may happen.

The theme of Dotta - "Screen Time" (Joyful and carefree)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/screen_time

The theme of Paralynn - "Blood and Baseball" (Mysterious and focused)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/blood_and_baseball

The theme of Chain - "Weeb Rage" (Chill)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/weeb_rage

The theme of Father - "Holy Might" (Churchy and a little aggressive)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/holy_might
 
I love the dynamic camera, as well as the art style. Its bright and simplistic, but in a good way. Also, your character descriptions are just awesome.

Each character is also from my various unfinished projects.
Making your own Smash Bros., then? Good idea. I could imagine someone doing a really cool version of that with a roster entirely taken from the GMC Work in Progress forum.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
@hewhoshallnotbenamed

Thanks! I’d say it’s more like ‘Dive-Kick’ had a pixelated bastard child with ‘fantasy strike’ LOL.

I just really wanted to put these characters to use. Fighting games normally have strange random characters (yoga masters who spit fire fighting dictators who can fly) which adds to the fun “anything goes” factor.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
@Siolfor the Jackal

Glad it showed in the GIF!

——————

UPDATE#4 - Two new fighters.


Copper Cockroach - Winner of the worst superhero of the year award. His acts of justice result in large amounts of casualties and the bad guy getting away...He's been on the run from the law because of this...Has an arsenal of gizmos...Mainly stolen police equipment he’s spray painted copper. “Copper Cannon” (shot gun) “Copper Stinger” (Tazer)...etc


Lorena - A vagrant women who is a master of "Total Balance" a devastating fighting style that she claims came to her in a day. She wants to share this fighting style with the world. Fights with a bowl of water on her head, and she doesn't spill a drop.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
UPDATE#5 Two new fighters - new themes for the last two.

Composed more character themes.

Theme of Copper Cockroach - "Have Fear" (Urban and a bit "dopey")
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/have-fear-roach-is-here

Theme of Lorena - "Total Balance" (Zen and upbeat)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/total-balance


Two new characters


Frisco - Self proclaimed "Samurai Fisherman". He's developed a sword that doubles as a fishing rod. Wants to showcase how effective it is at chopping down attackers and catching fish, so he can sell his invention for big bucks. Will occasionally reel various sea creatures (sharks, squids..etc) into battle.


Edith - A giant "royal" spider creature who broke free from a top-secret facility. Uses her trusty battle axe and shoots webs from her behind. She's a big easy target to hit and she's not very quick, but she's powerful.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
Your characters, man. If you wanted to do a microtransaction character unlock thing (I wouldn't, but to each their own), you could make a mint. "That's right. I DID spend $3.99 on a girl with a bowl of water on her head last night..."

Keep up the good work.
Not a bad idea! Maybe I will....Lol

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UPDATE#....6 - more new and new-ish themes - Testing to see who's "broken" - more alrernate costumes.
New themes

Theme of Frisco - "Fish Blade" (upbeat island Chiptune)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/fish-blade

Theme of Edith - "Royal Spider" (Heroic fast paced with some techno)
https://soundcloud.com/sean-greenwood-429970669/royal-spider


ALT Costumes - Again, the game isn't animation heavy as the scale effect does most of the work, so its nothing to make a separate outfit for a character with a few clicks of the mouse. I'm playing with the idea of their outfit affecting their move-set. below are some examples/concepts.

 
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GarlicGuy

Member
Play testing - Cheap character fixing

Making sure the core mechanics are in order. Double KO's were a rare occurrence I overlooked but I fixed that. The video shows Para-lynn game-play. The game is taking shape and has all of the fighting game essentials aside from intros.

Upped the character animation frame count to 19 max, to give myself more creative freedom.


I have no demo yet, but just to give those who are wondering. Here’s how the "two-button" controls work:

A (ground) = jump
A - A (ground rapidly) = jump back/evade
S (ground) = Standard attack
S (Air) = Dive attack
A+S (Ground) = Special 1
A+S (Air)= Special 2
S (while evading) = Comeback attack (if the character has one.)

Despite the simplicity of the game, each character feels different and has unique abilities...For example Paralynn can bat opponents projectile back at them with her standard attack...shown in video.

I plan to have spectators and what not in the background just haven’t got around to do it yet.
 
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Khao

Member
I love how minimalistic this whole thing is both gameplay-wise and in terms of design and animation. The characters are freaking amazing too! Some of your description got an actual chuckle out of me, haha.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
I love how minimalistic this whole thing is both gameplay-wise and in terms of design and animation. The characters are freaking amazing too! Some of your descriptions got an actual chuckle out of me, haha.
Thanks for the feedback! That's the idea K.I.S.S (Keep it super simple). Makes it possible to make a whole character + move set in a matter of hours...Of course, then I've got to playtest the crap out of them until they aren't "broken" and "feel right".

-----

Getting more serious about perfecting game feel now, which can take a while to get just right. Don't want to go too far with collisions that are off, and physics that feel weird.

What I've done:

Characters don't jump super high any more. Some characters like Father move forward as they jump to help close the gap from opponents because their "dive kick" doesn't cover much ground, others like Chain still jump straight up and their "dive kick" is what closes the gap.

Added dust effects because all fighting games need that for game feel.

Just messing around with physics to see what feels right.

Unfinished origin:

Managed to find an old video of one of my unfinished games the pixel prospector posted from 2009. Chain is in this game...But he was in a lot of my old games:

 

GarlicGuy

Member
NEW STAGE and some NEW LOOKS

Made Para-Lynns stage "abandoned batting cage". Has spooky flickering light to add to the creepy factor. Speaking of creepy factor I also changed the look fo Dotta's followers to a glitched out bunny like creature.

A.I just keep getting smarter. It doesn't spaz out and randomly do melee attacks. It has the ability to choose the best attack state to counter what you are doing.



Father has a new look! He is a heavy character so I figured he should look like one....And not like some kind of stubby gorilla. He did some crunches and started eating better.




Currently playing with the idea of super special moves...Just trying to figure out how to keep it simple but satisfying.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
Three new fighters (the final three)



Ruff Hauser - A cutthroat mercenary who captures anomalies for a top secret organization. He's seen fought and captured nightmarish beings countless times...but keeps coming back. That or they just keep cloning him when the anomalies kill him...He thinks it's the former.



Puddle - An acidic living blob that can take the form of just about any other fighter after absorbing a sample of their DNA. It's intent is unknown.



Moteod - A succubus queen who just happens to be pregnant with the END OF ALL EXISTENCE. The End of existence kicks a lot. Hitting pregnant demons is OK?

 

GarlicGuy

Member
Hells yeah, you got the echo character!
Still loving these character designs, so fun and creative.
Thanks! Had to call it with those last three. I could probably overwhelm myself with a huge roster if I don't force myself to stop.

-------

Made all of the character portraits. I think I should also mention that I've been drawing everything with my finger on a laptop trackpad and the basic game maker sprite editor.

Just wanted to knock them out while I had time. Will tough up later.

 
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GarlicGuy

Member
You can always add some more after you're finished! I believe in you.
I've got tons of ideas still begging to come out...Like
Copper Cockroaches effeminate side kick 'Pigeon Boy'.
Hipster Elf Tattoo artist.
Heavyset old lady whos a sumo wrestler.
Haunted/Possessed Forklift.
Patriotic kickboxer named 'Eagleburger'.
Malfunctioning cowgirl pleasure robot.
Bounty Hunter Goldie locks.
Big Mutant Lawyer who vomits acid.
Mariachi Guitarist female assassin.

.....

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Each character's "Dive Kick" is now more unique:



Chains - Diagonal dive. allows him to roll on landing, which acts as a sort of dodge against mid to high attacks.

Paralynn - Darting Kick. enters a bat form and does a swift horizontal kick. Once the attack lands she flips back. "hit and run"

Frisco - Diagonal Dive. like Chain rolls on landing but for a shorter time. His dive attack has a higher priority and faster than chains.

Edith - Web swings. Can swing multiple times in the air. Her ax and her legs do separate damage making her attack hitbox as large as she is.

C. Cockroach - Grapple Hook swing. Can also swing multiple times in the air. Swings faster than Edith.

Father - Body Slam. Slams to the ground at a very fast pace. Very high priority.

Dotta - Diagonal dive. Dives Diagonally at a fast pace can attack as soon as she hits the ground making it easy to follow up with an ANGRY TEXT.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
Those all sound fantastic. And I think I need the haunted forklift... XD
Thanks! I planned to draw/animate the stances for each of them sometime.

This is really coming together, it looks great!
Thanks! I’m hoping I can finish it within the next couple months or so.

————-
Update # 6 - Still moving along

Playtested the hell out of the game. Fixed a few bugs with character attacks. Made some attacks more flashy....Made a bit less over powered, made others stronger. Made the hit sparks and dust effects smoother, did more voice overs.

TL/DR - Spent a lot of time fixing “game feel and bugs”.
 
I wasn't expecting so much personality in the character roster as I went through this game's page. Awesome stuff. The almost cel-shaded cartoon style is growing on me, too.

For Ruffhauser, he looks like quite a heavy buff guy, so perhaps not a super high jump? As for how he should feel, he reminds me of those bad biker guys in Fist of the North Star, Zeed I think. He could jump with his knife held in his mouth, I suppose?

Anyway, good luck with this, good job! :)
 

GarlicGuy

Member
I wasn't expecting so much personality in the character roster as I went through this game's page. Awesome stuff. The almost cel-shaded cartoon style is growing on me, too.

For Ruffhauser, he looks like quite a heavy buff guy, so perhaps not a super high jump? As for how he should feel, he reminds me of those bad biker guys in Fist of the North Star, Zeed I think. He could jump with his knife held in his mouth, I suppose?

Anyway, good luck with this, good job! :)
Thanks! Took me a while but I'm proud of my art style. It's simple but leaves tons of room for details.

I did make is jump a little lower. He puts his knife in his teeth for his bomb attack.

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Ruffhauzer Complete

Finished Ruffhauzer. His voice is inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger. "If it bleeds he can kill it"

 
I haven't checked in on this thread in over a month, and that was clearly a mistake. This is too much to take in all at once. I just... I love the way your mind works. You're doing an excellent job making your characters seem different not just in terms of visuals but also in terms of gameplay. Here are some thoughts that came to me as I was reading up on all the updates I missed:

1) No, its not okay to hit a pregnant demon. She could go into labor prematurely, and she's pregnant with the END OF ALL EXISTENCE. You want that coming early?
2) Ruffhauzer reminds me a lot of Abraham from the Walking Dead. But kind of crossed with Kano from Mortal Kombat.
3) I can understand not wanting to bury yourself in an ever-growing roster, but I vote an absolute yes to the possessed forklift. And the... ahem, cowgirl. I can already imagine the creepy, unmoving expression on her face.
4) The actual combat in your devlog is smooth and impressive. Well done. But the individual rounds seem to end way to quickly. What's the reasoning behind the "four strikes, you're out" system as opposed to traditional health bars?

Once again, good work with this. Its clear you're actually putting in the work and not just hoping bizarre characters can sell people on an otherwise mediocre fighter.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
I haven't checked in on this thread in over a month, and that was clearly a mistake. This is too much to take in all at once. I just... I love the way your mind works. You're doing an excellent job making your characters seem different not just in terms of visuals but also in terms of gameplay. Here are some thoughts that came to me as I was reading up on all the updates I missed:

1) No, its not okay to hit a pregnant demon. She could go into labor prematurely, and she's pregnant with the END OF ALL EXISTENCE. You want that coming early?
2) Ruffhauzer reminds me a lot of Abraham from the Walking Dead. But kind of crossed with Kano from Mortal Kombat.
3) I can understand not wanting to bury yourself in an ever-growing roster, but I vote an absolute yes to the possessed forklift. And the... ahem, cowgirl. I can already imagine the creepy, unmoving expression on her face.
4) The actual combat in your devlog is smooth and impressive. Well done. But the individual rounds seem to end way to quickly. What's the reasoning behind the "four strikes, you're out" system as opposed to traditional health bars?

Once again, good work with this. Its clear you're actually putting in the work and not just hoping bizarre characters can sell people on an otherwise mediocre fighter.
Welcome back to my little thread!

1) Good point!
That's the challenge when you fight her as the final boss....you've got to take her out without inducing labor. Was going to add a labor meter. So the challenge isn't just kicking pregnant demon's ass...It's also not kicking it too hard.
2) Nail on the head!
3) Dead-Lift (the possessed forklift) seems to be getting the most votes. And Debbie (Cowgirl robot) seems to be second. Maybe I'll throw them in with this first roster.
4) I did it that way because each character only has 3 attacks. The short health system is intended to make the player focus more on choosing which attacks wisely and builds a sense of urgency. I have been playing with the idea of allowing you to choose health length.

Thanks!

-----

New stage - WTF Foundation which is based on SCP foundation. The home stage to Edith, Ruffhauzer, and Puddle. Just a creepy top secret base where monsters and weird items are kept. Video also shows Ruffhauzer gameplay.

 
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GarlicGuy

Member
update # 7 - two more new characters


Debbie - A cutting edge pleasure-robot-cowgirl built buy a lonely engineer...The engineer wanted her to have more of a "spark"...So he ordered an illegal battery called a "Hell Cell" off of the dark web, and shoved it into her...This, of course, overloaded her and turned her into an over-affectionate electric chair on steroids. She turned the engineer into a pile of ash with a hug. She then wandered off into the unsuspecting public looking for someone else to embrace.



Dead Lift - A gas-powered forklift that was once owned by a superstore...This superstore was built on an ancient burial ground...The spirits within the burial ground were unhappy so they possessed this forklift and began to kill the staff. The store was demolished by way of explosives. The forklift was never found...Several years passed and a secret organization named the WTF Foundation spotted the forklift rolling on an empty highway as if on some sort of mission.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
Update# 9 - Puddle Complete

Puddle is inspired by characters in fighting games like Mokujin from Tekken and Ditto from Pokemon. He assumes the move set of a random character each round.

Video shows his gameplay and Lorena's

 

GarlicGuy

Member
Update #10 - Moteod Complete - Game modes

Moteod is an eccentric female demon pregnant with "the end of all existence". She's so shameless she pushes the arm of "the end of all existence" out of her body to double her Hell-Fire Blast. Though "the end of all existence" won't reach it's full power and be born until "the ritual" is complete.




- Game Modes

Arcade mode - tournament fights with random AI-controlled characters. Each fight is best two of three rounds. This mode doubles as a story mode because there is a character intro and ending.

Survival - Fight the entire roster one after another, no healing in between.

Versus - 2 Player vs mode.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
I can't unsee this. Help me unsee this.
Haha. I’m sorry :D, here maybe this will help.



———

Update # 11 - Proximity based attacks - Flash attacks -


I’m trying to squeeze in a bit more depth, some characters move setts seem a bit “light”. And I want them to feel even more different from each other.

~~Flash attacks : There are certain instances where the character will create “Flash effect”...

....for example:

when Moteod is at the top of her jump she will flash - if you press ‘attack + jump’ (A+S) during this her dive kick will be faster and create a flaming shock wave when she lands.

These attacks will use a ‘special meter’ ...So they are essentially Super moves.

Some other character create a flash at the top of their jump, very bottom of their jump, after being hit, after certain attacks, standing still for a certain amount of time...Etc

~~Proximity Based Attacks - I’ve noticed some attacks feel “off” if they happen when an opponent is too close or too far.

...For example:

Paralynn’s baseball pitch attack (A+S) barely stuns opponents and only does 0.3 damage...(idiotic to use close up)... so instead she does a grab attack where she bites you...Being a vampire it gives her +0.3 health.
 

GarlicGuy

Member
Update # 12 - DeadLift Complete - scrapping proximity and flash attacks (For Now)

Dead-Lift's move set mostly consists of smacking you with a heavy crate. It barely has the ability to jump, so the only way to avoid enemy attacks is by powering through them with a high priority melee, or projectile.


I know I just posted about the proximity and flash attacks, but feel like I'm better off saving them for a possible sequel depending on how well this little project is received
 

GarlicGuy

Member
Update # 13 - Debbie Complete


Debbie is an "adult toy" that is powered by a lethal battery. Her attacks are all electric based.

Inspiration: Debbie does Dallas + Toy story. Years ago I made an unfinished project about her hugging people and electrocuting them until their eyes popped out.


Working on the final boss character. He will be playable.

Then I've got to get to work on the story mode art. Will be storyboard style.

After that just the easy peasy stuff...Character select screen etc.
 
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GarlicGuy

Member
Character Select Screen

The "two button" control scheme is present throughout the game. Even in the menus.

The actual selection is based on a timer that resets each time you land on a character.

Each character has alternate costumes, which are also visible in their portrait.

Not complete look everything is still beta:
 

GarlicGuy

Member
Update # 14 - Pre Fight Dialogue

In arcade mode, each character will have a little verbal back and forth. Adds a little bit more personality I think.

Just noticed and error CAN I* instead of "CAN'T I"....I missed that while making the gif.

Again everything is beta. Not final.





 
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