Air Dash Online - A competitive platform fighter

[Zankoku]

So EVO build felt like:
wavedashing, wavelanding are correct
air-dodging is more or less correct
gravity feels rather floaty
I can't shield
I can't roll
I can't grab
can't really tell the difference between moves, or whether I even did a move (sometimes I'd be confused whether I executed an up+B or not)
no C-Stick implementation
no hit-confirmation, I'd go flying (or far more often, sliding) off and not realize what just happened

In other words it felt like I just played a physics engine meant for testing wavedashing.

 

[KrIsP!]

Ding ding ding. That's what it was...read back they mention throwing in moves 4 days before going to Evo and adding tesla the night before. They really just wanted to show the movement and graphics and considering this is pre-alpha I can't wait for a beta let alone finished, tested, polished version.

 

[Giygacoal]

Yeah, Air Dash Online sounds very "project-ish" and not "full game-ish" enough. Ideally the name should be about the characters/story/world.

Well, "Project M" sounds classy as hell...somehow... unless it reminds you of that awful movie Project X.

I agree it doesn't sound "full game-ish" enough that "Air Dash Online" sounds too indicative and too based on a single mechanic for its own good. I'm sure you guys could get some great suggestions from the fans if you make more of the lore public.

On a side note about game titles, many are surprisingly effective yet not indicative at all once you think about them... like "Super Smash Bros." and "Skullgirls".

 

[greenluigiman2]

Well, "Project M" sounds classy as hell...somehow... unless it reminds you of that awful movie Project X.

Well Project M isn't even a game, it's a modified version of an existing game. The title sounds appropriate.

 

[Giygacoal]

The intention is to present the final version as a well-established "game", sort of like how Counter-Strike was originally a mod of Half-Life.

 

[JV5Chris]

Ding ding ding. That's what it was...read back they mention throwing in moves 4 days before going to Evo and adding tesla the night before. They really just wanted to show the movement and graphics and considering this is pre-alpha I can't wait for a beta let alone finished, tested, polished version.

In terms of what elements of the game came together for EVO, I'd say that is an accurate description. To give a little more background, a few weeks back we transitioned to a brand new foundation benefiting from a custom collision and move scripting systems. We took a gamble on switching everything over in time, which did come down to the wire, 4am the day of to be specific. I'd like to personally thank everyone that put in some serious hours in the weeks leading up to the show.

Of course the work didn't end there. After each day at the show we continued to work late into the night to implement any practical changes we could based on what ultimately became the first proper playtesting of the game. By the 3rd day, the play-ability factor, among other things, did take leap forward. Couldn't address nearly everything we wanted to, but given the challenge of running a booth and making updates on little sleep, I'm very happy with what we were able to accomplish.

Anyways the most important thing about attending EVO for us was to gather your feedback and suggestions. The value in that has absolutely been worth our push to make a showing. It has been one wild and crazy week. An extremely motivating one as well given all the Melee community love at EVO and all the insane matches. Thanks everyone that took the time to come by to chat with us and play this early build.

 

[lordvaati]

hmmm, so going by the title, I assume the cast will have a movement system kinda like Kat from PASBR? I'm looking forward to that then.

2 questions:

1.When the game releases, will it be at a set price or will it do a F2p/microtransaction system like the next KI/DOA/Tekken games are doing?

2. is there a youtube vid or something where I can see some of the beta gameplay from EVO?

 

[Giygacoal]

Since I stopped by and you didn't specify whom should answer, here you go:
1. To be determined, though f2p is definitely in consideration. (said on a stream a while back)
2. http://www.twitch.tv/clashtournaments/b/429533388

It would be sick if this game someday has a panel/booth at something like SDCC or AX.

 

[JV5Chris]

Our approach moving forward is indeed under heavy consideration, especially after all the feedback we gathered from both players and insight from other developers.

Do keep in mind the CT stream is the day 1 EVO build. The game played and looked quite a bit different on the 3rd day. I imagine in the near future we'll start streaming our progress on a consistent basis.

 

[Zankoku]

I certainly do hope we get to see more as far as gameplay goes; the EVO build of Air Dash definitely had the most fluid implementation of Smash-style movement I've experienced in a non-Smash game. You guys probably already have it in the works, but I think getting hitlag/hitstop in to emphasize the POWER of hits connecting would go a long way toward making people realize when they get hit.

 

[JV5Chris]

I certainly do hope we get to see more as far as gameplay goes; the EVO build of Air Dash definitely had the most fluid implementation of Smash-style movement I've experienced in a non-Smash game. You guys probably already have it in the works, but I think getting hitlag/hitstop in to emphasize the POWER of hits connecting would go a long way toward making people realize when they get hit.

Oh man, we were so soo close to getting this in the build on the final day. If we literally had a half hour longer to work before Day 3 started I think it could have made it.

I definitely want to re-haul the game's pacing and view adding hitstop as the first of many crucial steps.

 

[Zivilyn Bane]

JV5Chris, is the "Meet JV5" portion of the website meant to showcase all the people working on the game? If so can you please put Terral on there? He's a good friend of mine and I'd like the ability to brag about him ^_^

 

[JV5Chris]

JV5Chris, is the "Meet JV5" portion of the website meant to showcase all the people working on the game? If so can you please put Terral on there? He's a good friend of mine and I'd like the ability to brag about him ^_^

Absolutely, we've fallen a bit behind on updating the website, which we will remedy asap. It's really important to me that everyone that has contributed to the project has been given proper credit (tried to give some credit on the CT stream as well). So let me do what I can before the website updates go live:

Terral - Joined the team as a programming lead. Been doing some amazing work to build the new foundation and getting the game where we are at now. Without him, our presence at EVO probably would have never happened. Lots of respect for the great work and long hours he's put into the all the systems.

DarkDragoon - Worked on Tesla's animations. Did a ton of them in a very short period of time. Without his hard work Tesla would have never made the build. He offered to help us in the short time before moving and starting his new job. That couldn't have been easy, but you totally came through. You're always welcome to continue working with us, great work!

Garret Eves - My awesome friend from back in college. Incredibly talented rigging/scripting/technical artist that helped get Tesla ready to animate. I'm extremely grateful he was able to help on such short notice, and hope to have more work for him in the future.

Pyraku - Worked hard on translating the website to French. Thank you for putting in the time to do this. It's been great having this for all the interested we've had from France.

I could easily say more about each of these individuals, but I'll leave it at that for now. Again, stay tuned for their inclusion on the team page. We also have plenty more to share in the future.

 

[Fragmads]

A little piece of advise : Try to include someone Skilled in Marketing/Communication/Management in your JV5 team.
It will help you guyz to have another vision, not just focused on game development (Sadlly this is needed too), and will increase your rate of success during the KickStarter campaign.

 

[lordvaati]

^yeps. IGN is known for helping promote some underground games like SuperComboMan, Project M and Battle Kid, and the guys were supposed to do a teamup with people here for their SmashIGN channel awhile back, so why don't you try sending them a message

 

[JV5Chris]

Funny you should mention SuperComboMan, I met one of the developers a while back at a game developer mixer in the bay area. Also had a good talk with him at EVO. They had a pretty sweet deal with IGN that essentially gave them free office space, unfortunately IGN as a company scaled back and they lost it.

That's actually been one of the other great benefits about going to EVO, we've been able to talk to a lot of indie developers, a number of which that gave outstanding advice. Even talked to a few from the Smash scene believe it or not. More on that later.

 

[DelxDoom]

game really looks like you guys are remaking melee.

all i'm gonna say is please don't give anyone falco's lasers.

 

[lordvaati]

looking at the stream now, and I'm now looking forward to this game more :D

I noticed you guys bring up that you are looking to make a combo system to seperate yourselves from Melee. maybe you can try to create your variant of an unfly-like combo system? like for a lame example, you can do a forward air dash to an aerial, cancel it when the enemy is stunned into a downward dash to the ground to an immediate jump for a followup, then when they fly you pursue into a forward dash cancelled into another attack(or stun then with a projectile or something to cancel forward momentum) to extend the combo further or something like that.

Also 2 other minor things I'd like to know: will all the cast be able to walljump/cling in some way or just specific ones? also, will you try to implement a finishing super attack system, or maybe an X-Factor esque ability(which would make it kinda like Turbo mode in Project M?)

Sorry if sounds like a bit much, I'm just fanboying here.

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

 

[Yamer]

Hey guys, ScrewAttack stopped by our EVO booth for a quick interview. Check it out!

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

 

[JV5Chris]

looking at the stream now, and I'm now looking forward to this game more :D

I noticed you guys bring up that you are looking to make a combo system to seperate yourselves from Melee. maybe you can try to create your variant of an unfly-like combo system? like for a lame example, you can do a forward air dash to an aerial, cancel it when the enemy is stunned into a downward dash to the ground to an immediate jump for a followup, then when they fly you pursue into a forward dash cancelled into another attack(or stun then with a projectile or something to cancel forward momentum) to extend the combo further or something like that.

That's essentially the idea. Of course work needs to be done to have it flow seamlessly.

Also 2 other minor things I'd like to know: will all the cast be able to walljump/cling in some way or just specific ones? also, will you try to implement a finishing super attack system, or maybe an X-Factor esque ability(which would make it kinda like Turbo mode in Project M?)

Sorry if sounds like a bit much, I'm just fanboying here.

We actually did have wall-jumping in an earlier build but couldn't add it to the new base in time for EVO. As far as a supers go, we haven't really considered it at this point.

 

[oukd]

just curious, what was the most common suggestion you guys got at evo? and what do you guys think was the best suggestion?

 

[Yamer]

just curious, what was the most common suggestion you guys got at evo? and what do you guys think was the best suggestion?

People talked a lot about adding hitlag, hitfx, and other visual effects. As for gameplay, it was mostly balance issues(aside from shield/trapdoor/ledge bugs). My favorite suggestion was about changing some of the ground combos.

 

[metaknighter]

Love everything I'm seeing about this game so far!

 

[JV5Chris]

Streaming again! I'll be playing our build from EVO a bit (now with shadows!) and starting some animation cleanup:

As always, thanks to Clash Tournaments for hosting:



(Click Here to Watch Now!)

 

[JV5Chris]

Streaming again tonight, I'll be working/talking about the following:

- Going over the animation transfer issues we ran into last stream.
- Playing the game again, hopefully this time hopefully with less streaming lag.
- Having a little conversation about the Phil Fish, Marcus Beer ordeal from an indie developer perspective.
- Talking a little about the value of scripting as 3D artist.

Thanks again to Clash Tournaments for hosting:

(Click Here to Watch)

 

[luzbwl]

How are you planing to handle the balance of stages? are they gonna be made with the starter counterpick dichotomy in mind or all of them will be made to allow all the chars a good fighting chance?

 

[JV5Chris]

How are you planing to handle the balance of stages? are they gonna be made with the starter counterpick dichotomy in mind or all of them will be made to allow all the chars a good fighting chance?

Given that even Melee's more neutral stages do favor certain characters, I imagine at some point in the distant future we will consider some sort of counter pick mode. It all depends though on what we can accomplish with our resources. Right now we only have this single stage so it seems a bit far away at the moment.

 

[JV5Chris]

John Carmack's lighting and rendering talk will be starting any minute now at QuakeCon. If anyone is interested, I'll do my best to relate what I can to the lighting/shading we have in place.

 

[JV5Chris]

Spontaneous stream, trying out some new attack animations and might be doing a little scripting.

(Click Here to Watch)

 

[Crispy4001]

Wow, I really love the background music! It's like a more mellow F-Zero music track, haha.

 

[Z'zgashi]

Posting to subscribe and all that jazz.

 

[JV5Chris]

On one of the streams in the past 2 weeks, someone asked if we were planning to add trails to attacks like Smash 4. I didn't want to promise anything at the time, but I actually started experimenting with ways to enhance the motion back when I first joined the team.

To give a little context, fighters made in 3D typically look a bit stiff compared to 2D sprites. A large reason for that is the lack of smearing motion:

With how fast platform fighters can be, I've always felt this was a missing element, so I started experimenting. Didn't take me long to rule out motion blur. Wanted something a bit more clear and painterly. Started with my first attempt about 6 months ago by developing a way to smear geometry. While successful, it was very CPU intensive so I decided to shelve it.

This week I returned to the task with a new faster idea, here are the results:

Anyways I'm really excited I was able to get this working. Playing the game with the effect has made a pretty big difference with the visual fluidity.

 

[JV5Chris]

Streaming tonight. This time I'm passing the torch to Nick, one of the animators on the project!

(Click Here to Watch)
As always thanks Clash Tournaments for hosting!

 

[lordvaati]

On one of the streams in the past 2 weeks, someone asked if we were planning to add trails to attacks like Smash 4.

This week I returned to the task with a new faster idea, here are the results:

Anyways I'm really excited I was able to get this working. Playing the game with the effect has made a pretty big difference with the visual fluidity.

This effect looks REALLLLY cool. It kinda reminds me of the Ryu vs.Ken fight from the first trailer for Street Fighter 4, which is great since ever since then I wanted to play a fighter that moved like that.

 

[DarkDragoon]

Oh cool there is a post here and stuff.

Hi everyone that watched me stream last night!
Streaming is fun! And as long as Cox doesn't come knocking saying I'm an internet hog or something, I'll probably be doing it as weekly as possible.
-DD

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

Ohhhh man the smear effects look soooo sexy
How'd you manage to do that?! Tech stuff always baffles me!

The model looks great; so excited to see progress on this!

 

[JV5Chris]

Been looking forward to this stream for a while! Just playing the game and showing the new motion effect:

(Click Here to Watch)
Thanks again Clash Tournaments for hosting!

 

[Giygacoal]

how do you differentiate between the controls of air dash and air dodge?

 

[Yamer]

how do you differentiate between the controls of air dash and air dodge?

There is no air dodge.

 

[JV5Chris]

DarkDragoon is back! Streaming now:

(Click Here to Watch)

As always feel free to drop in and chat.

Ohhhh man the smear effects look soooo sexy
How'd you manage to do that?! Tech stuff always baffles me!

It's actually similar to say weapon trails in Soul Calibur, only on greater number and gathering screen pixel color data to form a gradient that drives the trail's color.