Artsy Omni
Smashified Creator
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Link to original post: [drupal=4515]A Better Stage Builder: Taking a cue from Minecraft and Animal Crossing[/drupal]
I'm sure a lot of people found the stage builder to be a disappointment, with limited possibilities and a lack of flexibility. Well I'm here to tell you that the next step toward a better stage builder already exist in Brawl!
What Brawl's Stage Builder Got Right
While games like Little Big Planet offer a wide array of possibilities, to create a functioning stage takes a rather creative, technically-minded person with some amount of programming knowledge. What Brawl attempted to do was create a stage builder that was extremely simple to understand, giving all players equal ability to create stages. Brawl succeeded in creating an experience that everybody can partake in.
It also based all stage creations on a grid system, which was simple to understand and easy to work with. Being able to size assets according to your needs was an excellent option.
Where Brawl's Stage Builder Fell Short
While it was simple to understand, it lacked a higher level of possibility, which would let those creative, technically-minded individuals excel, while still letting everyday people create something that functions. Can this be done? Absolutely.
While the grid system made things easy to understand, the units in the grid were so large that it limited the formal possibilities of the stage. Also, certain assets took up more units than was necessary, but this was practically unavoidable, given the difference between 1 or 2 units in height or length was so large.
While the stage builder offered thematic options, stages ended up looking like the same 3 locales, no matter what you did. And while some stages offered some value in the way of scenery, all stages were either a fortress, a space station, or a temple in the sky.
My Proposal
You might have noticed that I cited Animal Crossing in the topic description. What do Animal Crossing and Brawl's Stage Builder have in common? The placement of objects on a grid to create an environment. However, Animal Crossing has some tricks up its sleeve that brawl doesn't. I'll get into that a bit later. So here's the fundamental evolution from the first stage builder:
This is a rough example "Small" stage grid in "front view"
Layers
Brawl only had a single plane of grid units where you could place assets. This meant that all focus was on the basic form of the playable terrain, and scenery and thematic flexibility was practically nonexistent.
With Layers, you would have an Object Layer for basic terrain where characters would battle. Behind the Object Layer would be the Scenery Layer. The Scenery Layer would be just like the Object Layer, in that you create terrain. The only difference is that Scenery Layer will allow you to place various Scenery objects (labelled "Scenery") on top of that blank terrain. The Object Layer is in front, while Scenery Layer is behind it.
Editor
The editor would have 2 basic views. Front (like above diagram) and Top-down (Like Animal Crossing). In either view, you could toggle the visibility of the Object Layer and all of the Scenery Layers at once. By and large, the placement of assets would work essentially the same as Brawl, only with 6 planes to work with, rather than 1. To move the "cursor" (the grid unit highlighted) forward or backward in depth, the user must be in top-down view, while front view allows cursor movement up and down, as it did in Brawl's stage builder.
Terrain and Objects
The Terrain in the Object Layer would span all three rows on the grid. However, terrain in the Scenery layer can be placed on an individual grid-cube basis. Terrain can be rotated in the Scenery Layer so that slopes in the Scenery Layer can point forwards or backwards, rather than only side to side. Objects (explained in further detail below) can be rotated in either layer.
Grid Size
To increase of flexibility, use units that are smaller than a Brawl unit, and about the size of brick blocks in Super Mario Bros in proportion to the average character height.
"Top-Down" view. The red outline is the cursor.
So what does Animal Crossing have that Brawl doesn't? A wide array of objects belonging to various themes or collections that can be used to populate rooms.
Quote:
But Animal Crossing sheer amount of furniture is only made possible because of its visual simplicity. With hundreds of trophies and stickers, there's simply no room for that many game assets dedicated to the stage builder.
.... Exactly. There are hundreds of trophies. Why not use those as scenery? Trophies, as they are now, are simple shelf-stuffers, with no actual use. Why not make trophies both a reward for achievement AND an asset for stage building? (Screw stickers. They're a waste of space).
Trophies: Diorama Mode Meets Stage Builder
You would have 4 types of trophies in the game. Normal trophies (not compatible with stage builder), Scenery trophies, Object Trophies, and World Trophies. In the trophy gallery, all trophies would have an indication of what type type of Stage Builder Trophy they are.
Scenery trophies would only be compatible with the Scenery Layer. These would be things like characters, trees, etc.
Object trophies would be compatible with either Scenery or Object Layers. Some of these would actually move, others would be static. This could be things like environmental hazards (Gordo?), sources for items (? Block), Or things to pretty the stage up with (flowers, etc).
World Trophies wouldn't be a part that you place on the grid, but would instead be things that bring the level to life. For instance, a "Team Starfox" trophy could be added to your stage, and when you play your stage, Arwings would fly about, shooting at the stage, much like Corneria.
Because Smash bros stages are generally all about terrain, Scenery trophies would far outnumber Object trophies.
Backdrops and Themes
Brawl's 3 generic backgrounds were boring to say the least. They should offer some generic backdrops, as well as some Nintendo-themed backdrops.
And rather than only having static images, it should offer moving backdrops, like travelling around a Galaxy from Mario Galaxy or watching World 1-1 scroll by in the background.
DLC
There's a lot of talk of DLC for SSB4. Iwata has already expressed a desire to make DLC much easier to develop for the Wii U, and is actively working with other devs to make it happen. While downloading whole stages would be neat, it would force the dev team to stay together to make new stages. Instead, why not leave 1 or 2 people at Project Sora to create downloadable trophies, backdrops, and themes? This creates the possibility of hundreds of thousands of unique stages that are bustling with creativity and that contain authentic Nintendo characters in the form of Scenery Trophies.
Creating Target Smash Stages
I feel like one way to create even more social interaction would be to allow users to create their own Target Smash stages. While Brawl only had 5 different difficulty levels which could be played with any character, I feel that personalizing Target Smash stages, even if only for the user-created ones, would allow stages to really push each character to their individual limits.
Unlike Normal Stages, they would contain no Scenery Layer and would not be compatible with Trophies. This would put the focus entirely on terrain. Before creating the target smash, you would specify which character the stage is designed for, and during the creation process, the player would be testing the stage using that character.
In short, you could describe this as a blend of Brawl Stage Builder with Animal Crossing and Minecraft. I think this would allow for much more unique stages, and would also be the perfect opportunity for DLC. To me, it just feels like the logical next step from Brawl's limited builder that felt almost like an afterthought.
And as always, I'm trying to present the idea in the most non-specific way possible. So please don't try to interpret this as a complete concept. =)
But as always, let me know what you think of the idea. If any of these ideas inspire some of your own ideas, please feel free to share, and tell me how I can improve the idea!
I'm sure a lot of people found the stage builder to be a disappointment, with limited possibilities and a lack of flexibility. Well I'm here to tell you that the next step toward a better stage builder already exist in Brawl!
What Brawl's Stage Builder Got Right
While games like Little Big Planet offer a wide array of possibilities, to create a functioning stage takes a rather creative, technically-minded person with some amount of programming knowledge. What Brawl attempted to do was create a stage builder that was extremely simple to understand, giving all players equal ability to create stages. Brawl succeeded in creating an experience that everybody can partake in.
It also based all stage creations on a grid system, which was simple to understand and easy to work with. Being able to size assets according to your needs was an excellent option.
Where Brawl's Stage Builder Fell Short
While it was simple to understand, it lacked a higher level of possibility, which would let those creative, technically-minded individuals excel, while still letting everyday people create something that functions. Can this be done? Absolutely.
While the grid system made things easy to understand, the units in the grid were so large that it limited the formal possibilities of the stage. Also, certain assets took up more units than was necessary, but this was practically unavoidable, given the difference between 1 or 2 units in height or length was so large.
While the stage builder offered thematic options, stages ended up looking like the same 3 locales, no matter what you did. And while some stages offered some value in the way of scenery, all stages were either a fortress, a space station, or a temple in the sky.
My Proposal
You might have noticed that I cited Animal Crossing in the topic description. What do Animal Crossing and Brawl's Stage Builder have in common? The placement of objects on a grid to create an environment. However, Animal Crossing has some tricks up its sleeve that brawl doesn't. I'll get into that a bit later. So here's the fundamental evolution from the first stage builder:
This is a rough example "Small" stage grid in "front view"
Layers
Brawl only had a single plane of grid units where you could place assets. This meant that all focus was on the basic form of the playable terrain, and scenery and thematic flexibility was practically nonexistent.
With Layers, you would have an Object Layer for basic terrain where characters would battle. Behind the Object Layer would be the Scenery Layer. The Scenery Layer would be just like the Object Layer, in that you create terrain. The only difference is that Scenery Layer will allow you to place various Scenery objects (labelled "Scenery") on top of that blank terrain. The Object Layer is in front, while Scenery Layer is behind it.
Editor
The editor would have 2 basic views. Front (like above diagram) and Top-down (Like Animal Crossing). In either view, you could toggle the visibility of the Object Layer and all of the Scenery Layers at once. By and large, the placement of assets would work essentially the same as Brawl, only with 6 planes to work with, rather than 1. To move the "cursor" (the grid unit highlighted) forward or backward in depth, the user must be in top-down view, while front view allows cursor movement up and down, as it did in Brawl's stage builder.
Terrain and Objects
The Terrain in the Object Layer would span all three rows on the grid. However, terrain in the Scenery layer can be placed on an individual grid-cube basis. Terrain can be rotated in the Scenery Layer so that slopes in the Scenery Layer can point forwards or backwards, rather than only side to side. Objects (explained in further detail below) can be rotated in either layer.
Grid Size
To increase of flexibility, use units that are smaller than a Brawl unit, and about the size of brick blocks in Super Mario Bros in proportion to the average character height.
"Top-Down" view. The red outline is the cursor.
So what does Animal Crossing have that Brawl doesn't? A wide array of objects belonging to various themes or collections that can be used to populate rooms.
Quote:
But Animal Crossing sheer amount of furniture is only made possible because of its visual simplicity. With hundreds of trophies and stickers, there's simply no room for that many game assets dedicated to the stage builder.
.... Exactly. There are hundreds of trophies. Why not use those as scenery? Trophies, as they are now, are simple shelf-stuffers, with no actual use. Why not make trophies both a reward for achievement AND an asset for stage building? (Screw stickers. They're a waste of space).
Trophies: Diorama Mode Meets Stage Builder
You would have 4 types of trophies in the game. Normal trophies (not compatible with stage builder), Scenery trophies, Object Trophies, and World Trophies. In the trophy gallery, all trophies would have an indication of what type type of Stage Builder Trophy they are.
Scenery trophies would only be compatible with the Scenery Layer. These would be things like characters, trees, etc.
Object trophies would be compatible with either Scenery or Object Layers. Some of these would actually move, others would be static. This could be things like environmental hazards (Gordo?), sources for items (? Block), Or things to pretty the stage up with (flowers, etc).
World Trophies wouldn't be a part that you place on the grid, but would instead be things that bring the level to life. For instance, a "Team Starfox" trophy could be added to your stage, and when you play your stage, Arwings would fly about, shooting at the stage, much like Corneria.
Because Smash bros stages are generally all about terrain, Scenery trophies would far outnumber Object trophies.
Backdrops and Themes
Brawl's 3 generic backgrounds were boring to say the least. They should offer some generic backdrops, as well as some Nintendo-themed backdrops.
And rather than only having static images, it should offer moving backdrops, like travelling around a Galaxy from Mario Galaxy or watching World 1-1 scroll by in the background.
DLC
There's a lot of talk of DLC for SSB4. Iwata has already expressed a desire to make DLC much easier to develop for the Wii U, and is actively working with other devs to make it happen. While downloading whole stages would be neat, it would force the dev team to stay together to make new stages. Instead, why not leave 1 or 2 people at Project Sora to create downloadable trophies, backdrops, and themes? This creates the possibility of hundreds of thousands of unique stages that are bustling with creativity and that contain authentic Nintendo characters in the form of Scenery Trophies.
Creating Target Smash Stages
I feel like one way to create even more social interaction would be to allow users to create their own Target Smash stages. While Brawl only had 5 different difficulty levels which could be played with any character, I feel that personalizing Target Smash stages, even if only for the user-created ones, would allow stages to really push each character to their individual limits.
Unlike Normal Stages, they would contain no Scenery Layer and would not be compatible with Trophies. This would put the focus entirely on terrain. Before creating the target smash, you would specify which character the stage is designed for, and during the creation process, the player would be testing the stage using that character.
In short, you could describe this as a blend of Brawl Stage Builder with Animal Crossing and Minecraft. I think this would allow for much more unique stages, and would also be the perfect opportunity for DLC. To me, it just feels like the logical next step from Brawl's limited builder that felt almost like an afterthought.
And as always, I'm trying to present the idea in the most non-specific way possible. So please don't try to interpret this as a complete concept. =)
But as always, let me know what you think of the idea. If any of these ideas inspire some of your own ideas, please feel free to share, and tell me how I can improve the idea!
