Air Dash Online - A competitive platform fighter

[Yamer]

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Website: http://airdashonline.com​

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Developer: JV5 Games​

Platform: PC​

Genre: Platform Fighting​

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Intro​

Air Dash Online is a platform fighting game being developed by JV5 Games, a developer that is working with people like M2k(Pro Melee/Brawl Player) and Mike Z(Skullgirls Devevoper). This game has original characters that come from different fantasy genres. Wobbles(Pro Melee IC player) is writing the bio info/lore.

Characters​

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Concept art for all the characters is available here. Tesla's bio is available here.​

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Chai 3D Model​

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Screenshots​

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This screen is from an early pre-alpha build.​

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Stages​

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Background information about the stages is here.​

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Alternate Character Skin​

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More Info​

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Kickstarter announcement trailer:​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6v22GwO6l0​

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Interview with ScrewAttack from EVO:​

http://www.screwattack.com/video/Ca...e-game-like-Air-Dash-Online-succeed--12119780​

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This thread will be updated with more info as development progresses.

Feedback(Survey)​

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Please post feedback/questions in the thread and/or fill out our survey here. We want to involve the community as much as possible in the development of ADO.

 

[JV5Chris]

Hi Smashers! My name is Christopher Emerson and I am one of the 3D artists working on Air Dash Online. I also handle some of our technical tasks such as writing shaders and constructing our lighting system. Huge fan of the Smash franchise, with Melee being the game I typically gravitate to. Looking forward to getting to know all of you.

 

[Mew2King]

I'm part of this project too and so is MikeZ (skullgirls creator), possibly princess aura (voice actress), vex (game tester/designer), skilled artists I'm unaware of who they are exactly cuz they are mike lau's contacts and not mine, Tim Dale (Zydin), some skilled musicians I found who I won't name, Chris (skilled 3d modeler), and some others I can't speak of right now.

If you are skilled with Unity3D programming, send one of us 3 guys here a message.

If you guys want to help the project in any way, send us a message.

 

[Crispy4001]

The artwork/design is so slick. I especially like the double yo-yo girl, seems like someone who'd be fun to play as. Looking forward to seeing what you guys do with this.

 

[Mew2King]

If anyone would like to contribute with programming aspects, please do. This game may be similar to the move cancels done for lucario in project M, the projectM april fools thing, or Melee Impossible.

 

[Onomanic]

What kind of controller does this game use? Fight stick or ...?

 

[Yamer]

What kind of controller does this game use? Fight stick or ...?

Controller, fightstick, or keyboard. You will be able to reconfigure control schemes.

USB Gamecube controller?

That is what I will use.

 

[Onomanic]

USB Gamecube controller?

 

[DarkDragoon]

:D I'm kind of on this project. I'm just messing around with their test character, making animations, while I wait for Tesla's model/rig.
-DD

 

[Kink-Link5]

Definitely looking forward to seeing where this ends up.

 

[V-K]

Looks cool, will it have platforms like in Smash or a health bar?

EDIT: Okay nvm I just read in the title that it's a platform fighter lol

 

[Wind Owl]

Why do your characters seem to have such a strong distaste for clothing?

 

[Yamer]

Why do your characters seem to have such a strong distaste for clothing?

It's harder to get chain-grabbed, have you ever chain-grabbed a Jigglypuff?

All joking aside, some characters will have more clothing and some will have less. Our characters have multiple styles.

 

[Crispy4001]

Controller, fightstick, or keyboard. You will be able to reconfigure control schemes.

Sounds good. Got a question about this. Will you be able to use bair attacks while moving in the direction you're facing (a la C-stick)? If so, how might that work on a keyboard or fightstick?

 

[Sai Winner of Games]

Oh man, if you guys can actually make a game like this playable online, that alone would be quite an accomplishment.

I'm glad you all are trying to do this. Having a game like this on PC could open so many options that people never had with Melee. I would like to try using a 120 Hz monitor and see if I could run the game at 120fps and 1080p, which should make a notable difference for fast paced game like this. Do you guys plan on allowing user generated content like stages and characters? That would be an other amazing option. I would say try to remain engaged with the Smash community throughout the development process if possible -- there are some really dedicated players who really know their stuff.

Also, its okay to put loose clothes and armor on the female characters. You aren't going to get a respectable community if you cater to horny teenagers.

 

[Mr.Jackpot]

Controller, fightstick, or keyboard. You will be able to reconfigure control schemes.



That is what I will use.

No analog movement?

 

[Yamer]

Do you guys plan on allowing user generated content like stages and characters? That would be an other amazing option.

Also, its okay to put loose clothes and armor on the female characters. You aren't going to get a respectable community if you cater to horny teenagers.

Right now we have no plans for user generated content.

Characters will have multiple skins(outfits). We are creating content that appeals to different preferences.

No analog movement?

We are building it for digital first but we want include an analog option.

 

[Crispy4001]

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[Mr.Jackpot]

We are building it for digital first but we want include an analog option.

Yes, Gamecube controller master race incoming!

Can't wait to see footage of this. With Project M devs, Skullgirls devs, and M2K on this I might just pass on Smash 4. Steampunk chicks > Nintendo fanservice

 

[Kally Wally]

Normally I'd be extremely skeptical of an ambitious project like this, but with this many familiar faces, I've been upgraded to cautiously optimistic. Really hoping to go full-on hype soon!

Question: I know the one with the lightning is Tesla, but what about the other four? Do they have names yet? I hope they all up to the incredibly creative and original standard you've set so far

 

[Yamer]

Question: I know the one with the lightning is Tesla, but what about the other four? Do they have names yet? I hope they all up to the incredibly creative and original standard you've set so far

The middle characte is named Chai. More character updates will come this weekend.

 

[V-K]

Do you guys think it would make sense to have this game in 2D or with 3D models? I can imagine 3D models would take a significant amount of work but at the same time it would be closer to Smash Bros.

 

[Aayla]

My friends from Studio Evil, the Italian indie development team I'm part of, found about this on Reddit and thought it was really cool (and so do I). If you guys need some visibility in the future let us know and we will tweet around about that

 

[Crispy4001]

Do you guys think it would make sense to have this game in 2D or with 3D models? I can imagine 3D models would take a significant amount of work but at the same time it would be closer to Smash Bros.

I definitely like the idea of it being 3d more. If nothing else, it helps to further distinguish it from the other fan-made Smash projects.

I can't imagine 2d being much easier, after hearing about Lab Zero's costs for Squigly. Of course, making an aesthetically appealing 3d game isn't easy for an indie house either.

 

[JV5Chris]

Do you guys think it would make sense to have this game in 2D or with 3D models? I can imagine 3D models would take a significant amount of work but at the same time it would be closer to Smash Bros.

Great question. The answer is quite simply both 2D and 3D take a significant amount of work. Each have their own pros on cons to the development process:

-3D requires more work upfront to get the character in game, but has added flexibility when making changes at later stages. Animation is also easily reusable, say for-instance on an alt costume.​

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-2D takes less initial investment to prototype a character, but requires additional foresight. If in practice some move or part of the design is not working, correcting it can be a time consuming proposition if not caught early.​

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For what we are trying to accomplish 3D makes a bit more sense for us. Equally important, it plays to the strengths of the team.

 

[JV5Chris]

My friends from Studio Evil, the Italian indie development team I'm part of, found about this on Reddit and thought it was really cool (and so do I). If you guys need some visibility in the future let us know and we will tweet around about that

Thank you Aayla and everyone at Studio Evil for your outreach! Your Syder Universe game reminds me of this old Mac game I played to death called Escape Velocity, incredibly cool! We certainly would appreciate the exposure in the future and would also love to tweet about you as we grow . Is the Studio Evil email the best way to reach you?

 

[Aayla]

Thank you Aayla and everyone at Studio Evil for your outreach! Your Syder Universe game reminds me of this old Mac game I played to death called Escape Velocity, incredibly cool! We certainly would appreciate the exposure in the future and would also love to also tweet about you as we grow . Is the Studio Evil email the best way to reach you?

Syder Universe is still a concept, we hope we will be able to develop it someday. Escape Velocity seems cool indeed! I pm you my email so you can write there when you need.

 

[zman804]

When are you releasing information on the game system? The art looks good and the dev team is promising, but there doesn't seem to be any info on how it will play.

 

[JV5Chris]

More info relating to that will be announced in the future. The team and overall mission are what we decided to highlight with this initial introduction.

 

[Yamer]

Do you guys think it would make sense to have this game in 2D or with 3D models? I can imagine 3D models would take a significant amount of work but at the same time it would be closer to Smash Bros.

The image slider on the first page shows a 3D sculpt of Chai.

 

[Ryuker]

I was wondering when the first smashboarders would start a game company. This is the first I've heard of.

Interesting concept but not an easy one to start out with. You using Unity3D for this? If so it's the first proper fighting game that I heard of being developed in Unity3D. Will keep an eye on this. Hope the online works out since it sound ambitious and the match making raises all kinds of design and tech questions in my head right now. But if you make it work it could be something really special.

I'm a gamedesigner but not a very good programmer but I do know how to get around Unity3D and read code and stuff. If you ever need a Designer or someone willing to do some Game Testing consider me interested to help. I did a Engine QA internship for a company called Vanguard Games so I have some professional QA experience and I did some testing for Project M as well (one the main reasons I got picked for the internship I think) .

Goodluck!

 

[JV5Chris]

ADO certainly is a large undertaking that will present no small amount of future challenges. To answer your question yes, we are utilizing Unity3D for the flexibility it provides. Having a working knowledge of the engine is certainly something we value, alongside other skills and relevant experience. To keep everything organized, I would like to encourage everyone interested in getting involved to use our contact emails.



Of course we also greatly value everyone's feedback in this thread. There is no shortage of members here with an in-depth knowledge of all-things-Smash, which can only help us make a better game.

 

[Deleted member]

Sounds cool, it's funny because I was talking with other members about doing a similar project, we were still thinking about things and character designs, it was essentially what could be Smash Melee crossed with Blazblue in regard to the playstyle. Looks like you guys beat me to the punch.

I'd love to help out tbh, however, it seems you guys already have an artist, one who's more experienced than me tbh.

Anyway, if you guys wanna hear what we had cooked up let me know, I'd still like to help out in any way I can.

EDIT: Some of the character concepts.

Spoiler

Like I said, your artist is already better than me, regardless, you're more than welcome to use these and the concepts behind them for this project.

I also did a MYM for Smash Bros, for Lyn which I wanted to incorporate into a character because of the unique mechanics behind her.

 

[JV5Chris]

Thank you ManySpirit for your interest and sharing your work. Yuul, the man behind these character concepts, is certainly a talented artist. We actually have some images showing his process up on the website now. While that role is filled, if you haven't done so already please do send us an email. Never hurts to have your name on file with us, along with a link to your work and resume if you have one.

After revealing ADO, we have been approached by a number of fellow Smashers around the world grouping together and exploring similar ideas. It has been very reassuring to learn there is such interest in building indie platformer fighters right now. We would love to maintain contact with all these teams and the Indie developers that have reached out to us. You guys rock!


Switching gears, I would like to mention we also just added a survey that will help answer some important questions for us moving forward. Like Yamer mentioned, your input is very important to us.

 

[Crispy4001]

Noticed that Wobbles is part of the team now. Neat.

 

[MajorMoses]

So is there not going to be any computer AI or quick arcade modes? I hope the game has plenty of graphics options. I just got a gaming laptop so it's not that much of a problem but I'd like as many people as possible to be playing this. I'm really excited to see where this goes. How long have you guys been working together on this behind the scenes?

Also, I'm interested in how you would program the game to allow both digital and analog movement. I sorta first learned about it with that Street Fighter's Guide to Melee video. Since digital movement can only go in 8 directions, wouldn't they be at a complete disadvantage? That being said, if you could find some way to balance the two control schemes so both had advantages and disadvantages, it would be really cool to be able to switch on the character select screen based on what controller is plugged in. It'd be like having two different characters for everyone on the roster. Maybe the digital movement could have an advantage by always turning to face the opposing player like in Street Fighter. I still don't know how that could prevent you from having the most obvious recovery options ever. If you're below the stage, all you can do is go straight up or at an angle. I don't know. I don't play any fighting games competitively so I'm probably completely off-base and my concerns probably have obvious answers. Good luck though!

 

[Yamer]

Also, I'm interested in how you would program the game to allow both digital and analog movement. I sorta first learned about it with that Street Fighter's Guide to Melee video. Since digital movement can only go in 8 directions, wouldn't they be at a complete disadvantage? That being said, if you could find some way to balance the two control schemes so both had advantages and disadvantages, it would be really cool to be able to switch on the character select screen based on what controller is plugged in. It'd be like having two different characters for everyone on the roster. Maybe the digital movement could have an advantage by always turning to face the opposing player like in Street Fighter. I still don't know how that could prevent you from having the most obvious recovery options ever. If you're below the stage, all you can do is go straight up or at an angle. I don't know. I don't play any fighting games competitively so I'm probably completely off-base and my concerns probably have obvious answers. Good luck though!

The analog will be limited to 8-way directional controlling but it will allow you to control run-speed with out double tapping the stick(or holding a button)

 

[JV5Chris]

So is there not going to be any computer AI or quick arcade modes? I hope the game has plenty of graphics options. I just got a gaming laptop so it's not that much of a problem but I'd like as many people as possible to be playing this. I'm really excited to see where this goes. How long have you guys been working together on this behind the scenes?

We are doing what we can to ensure ADO will run on moderate spec PCs. However, if you do have a capable gaming PC, there will be options to increase the quality as well. We actually do have some custom experimental tech that, if we decide is reasonable to implement, could potentially use some of that extra power in a unique way.

The project itself has been under wraps for some time, though members of the team have been joining at different phases. As a result, production has been ramping up in stages. It is just the nature of working on an independent game that requires establishing the right team.

 

[voorhese]

I am hyped to see how this turns out!

 

[Sol_Vent]

My goodness, I am already way too excited about this for my own good. Looking forward to seeing more.