Arcade Berg aka. "Learning Game Design with Arcade Berg"

1. 

   gutek
   August 23rd, 2009 - 11:42

   i have always like the streets of rage series, particularly streets of rage 2. i find the “grab” mechanic to feel very good. it gives you a nice sense of power and control and is a good counterpart to its stun mechanic. also enemy stun feels good.

   and yes – batman arkham asylum should be analysed.
2. 

   David Lundvall
   August 25th, 2009 - 15:32

   I remember Street Gangs for the NES. Kicked ass!

   If this is a sidescroller, I definitely think you should be able to avoid the fight. There should be a reward for taking the fight and the the player should already know what it is, like money, health.. So there is a motivation to enter the fight, but also the possibility to skip it, in case the player is low on health.

   Being able to approach the fight differently is also interesting, like for example start out the fight by throwing something towards your opponent. Just an illusion of safety, being at a distance. Counter attack incoming objects might be fun too, just hit it and the direction of the object is mirrored and maybe doubled in speed?

   Some enemies might require you to work until it reveals a weak spot, like in the NES game Punch Out. This weak spot might be the only way to inflict damage to the enemy. It doesn’t need to be a weak spot, it can just be the end of him attacking you constantly due to being fatigue for a short period.

   Environment traps, both for your advantage and disadvantage. This can be a lot of things in a 2D scroller. Fighting in a subway station, having trains going away and towards the camera. Lights, sound and maybe time could be things warning you about incoming trains. So don’t stand on the rails for too long! Environment traps could also be things that you have to interact with in order to start them. Depending on trap, you might have to hit it every time you want the effect, or just once to turn it “on” and again to turn it “off”.

   Being able to do taunt gestures in an area with environment traps could be great fun. Just to fool your enemy into doing something real stupid.

   Stunning effect is interesting. Might be a really powerful (or multiple) attack to the stomach creating the effect of the enemy folding his arms around the stomach and leaning forward giving the opportunity to uppercut him and downing him. And yes, beating downed enemies – awesome! Or even being able to pick them up, throwing them around or off the edge of a skyscraper/cliff would be cool!

   Blocking means safety. But blocking only, for a multiple incoming attacks will result in health drop. Block + moving away from enemy could do a dodge? Or even better, switch direction if you are going to use multiple enemies in many scenarios. Block might be a state where you can’t move at all, until you release the block button. Only switch direction.

   I have always found simplicity to be more fun than the endless possibilities of diffferent attacks. This is probably very different depending on who you ask. But being able to do understand the combat early on will boost my motivation to keep playing.

   In most examples, I have thought of humanoid enemies and environments.
3. 

   Arcade
   August 25th, 2009 - 16:38

   @gutek
   Yeah, I like the Streets of Rage series as well. Mostly thanks to the grabbing-parts.

   @David “CozyDave” Lundvall
   Great comment, lot’s of ideas.

   I can see your mind working on this one, because you’re describing such vivid images with environments and everything. I agree with a lot of the stuff you’re saying, especially the preperation phase.

   Throwing someone off a sky scraper would be awesome. Haha! It’s those things that tickle the child inside.

   I see you’re refering to a skill based mechanic, with little or no luck involved. I like that. It’s right up my alley.

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