Character-Specific Shields

[EnFerris]

My favorite thing about Smash Bros. has always been the concept. I'm enough of a nerd to take joy in the idea of a giant Vs. Match between the best game characters. That's why when something ruins the atmosphere for me, i get a little put off.

Nothing ruins the atmosphere more than seeing Mario or Mewtwo throw up their little light shield. It just doesn't gel for me. It occurred to me that every character should have a characer specific shield. If it doesn't come from the game, one should be able to resaonably assume the character could do it.

Link: Shield
Yoshi: Already pops into an egg
Mewtwo: Mirror
DK: Throw arms in front of face.
Bowser: hides in shell.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, mainly 'cos I know I can't come up with shields for every character. BUt if between us, we can come up with shields for everyone, maybe it is a good idea.

 

[Zombie Cola]

It's a nice detail, and one that I would like to see as well. However it's merely cosmetic, so I hope they work out gameplay details first. Oh, and I like to think of myself as a geek, not a nerd.

 

[Pye]

A good idea acualy. Not only is it more amusing to watch in casual smash, but if different character's shields behaved in different ways (kind of like Yoshi's. Anyone who's lightshielded a strong attack with Yoshi knows what I'm talking about), it could introduce new sheild related tactics in compeditive play. I mean, Yoshi is the only character in SSBM with a unique shield, and already he has 3 techniques only he can do thanks to said shield (Supershielding, LightShield Sliding, and that strange powershield effect).

On the other hand, it might get a little complex. I've always liked the fact that all shields behaved the same way, and I knew what I could and couldn't do after hitting a shield. Tactics like Falco Pillaring may not work on certain shields, or continuous wavebombing. Some characters might be deprived of Shieldgrabbing, while other may gain rediculous advantages from it. Some characters might be able to powershield way more easily.

That of course, assumes that all that stuff I mentioned stays in Brawl. Know what my final opinion would be? Maybe a mode to switch between awesome, character specific "unique shields" and the good ol' SSB trademark bubble shields we all know and love. Unlikely, but hey, as long as this game isn't released yet, let me dream all I want

 

[T-major]

I had this idea too! so I am 98% with this idea. if character shields had different effects, it would add a lot of stratagy into character tactics. like Links shield could only block frontal attacks. but one problem that might arise is the fact that some characters, like fox, already have a B move that acts as a shield. of course, they only block againct projectile attacks, so they shield would be different. but other then that, I like this idea, and support it.

 

[Myst007_teh_newb]

When I first read this topic, I had my doubts, but Pye really brought things into perspective for me. I'm all for the idea, but if they mess around with the shields /too/ much, the entire metagame will be based more so on character match-ups than ever.

Yoshi is a good example already. Since he has a shield that prevents shield stab, but doesn't allow a jump out of said shield, he'll benifit from it in some match-ups and hinder from it in others.

So long as the shields don't get tweeked to the point of being absolutely rediculous, I'm all for it.

 

[Neanderthal]

Why would the shields have to have different effects? This is a great idea as long as every shield does the same thing and i see no reason why they cant

I can think of heaps of things they could use for characters shields
Yoshi - Egg
Link - Shield
Mario - Cape
Peach - Umbrella
Mew Two - Phychic Mirror
Pikachue - Electric field
etc...

 

[NG7]

Care would have to be taken in the making the animations for each character.

In SSBM when a character starts shielding you see the bubble almost the instant the player presses down the shoulder button.

With some of your examples like DK putting his hands up in front of his face it will be hard for some people to see whether you're shielding or not. This makes it hard to attack or grab accordingly because you can't be sure if the shielding effect has started yet.

With Melee if you see the bubble you grab, and if you don't, you can attack.

 

[Drab Emordnilap]

They already sort of have these in SSBM. Link actually does protect his face with his Hylian Shield. The bubble still needs to be there for visual recognition purposes, though. Imagine trying to see if someone is shielding without using the bubble on Temple zoomed out all the way.

 

[Nietendodude]

Care would have to be taken in the making the animations for each character.

In SSBM when a character starts shielding you see the bubble almost the instant the player presses down the shoulder button.

With some of your examples like DK putting his hands up in front of his face it will be hard for some people to see whether you're shielding or not. This makes it hard to attack or grab accordingly because you can't be sure if the shielding effect has started yet.

With Melee if you see the bubble you grab, and if you don't, you can attack.

I agree with you and I think I know the solution. Maybe when they use the sheild they change in to a transparent color like the sheild on top on there skin.

 

[Lawrencelot]

Care would have to be taken in the making the animations for each character.

In SSBM when a character starts shielding you see the bubble almost the instant the player presses down the shoulder button.

With some of your examples like DK putting his hands up in front of his face it will be hard for some people to see whether you're shielding or not. This makes it hard to attack or grab accordingly because you can't be sure if the shielding effect has started yet.

With Melee if you see the bubble you grab, and if you don't, you can attack.

I know an easy solution for this. Let them play a sound when you press the shield button.

 

[WIPE$$$]

Alongside unique shields, some blocking animation would be cool. Here is an example using Link; if an attacker uses a low attack, Link could lower his shield to make it look like he stopped the impact. Just a though.

 

[sonofashrub]

meh. Good idea...won't work though.

perhaps instead of unique shield effects, just the cosmetic differences? they would make combat feel much more real if actual blocking occurred. But of course, we would need to be able to see if they're shielding or not, so it would have to be very obvious. Perhaps shields will be a see through bubble where you can see "dk putting his hands up" or whatever.

the only problem is, if we used, say, link's shield as his shield (when you hit R) i can't imagine how you would make it protect him from all sides.

 

[metaphangmc]

all good ideas to me. it would be really tight to see in smash but i doubt they'd put it in.... that be a aaaaaa lot of effort on their part....

 

[sonofashrub]

actually not really. It would require no coding. It would be a lot less work than say making a new move. (like crawling)

 

[Lawrencelot]

perhaps instead of unique shield effects, just the cosmetic differences? they would make combat feel much more real if actual blocking occurred. But of course, we would need to be able to see if they're shielding or not, so it would have to be very obvious. Perhaps shields will be a see through bubble where you can see "dk putting his hands up" or whatever.

the only problem is, if we used, say, link's shield as his shield (when you hit R) i can't imagine how you would make it protect him from all sides.

It doesnt need to be obvious. If they program it so that shielding makes a sound, like downR does now, you know the other player is shielding. For Link, since it is a 2D game, you can maybe let him turn to the real player (so that you see his whole face, how do you call that), and then if his shield is broader than himself it covers both sides. Or else he could duck and put his shield up.

 

[marthmaster04]

It would be a good idea, but most likely with a lot of characters there would be tremendous lag while coming out of they're specific type of sheild that could be easily abused. Well, thats possible anyways. And a lot of characters really have nothing from they're games they can use as a sheild like that.

Mario/doc
Peach
Luigi
Samus/zss
Wario (whats he gonna do...solidify a gas cloud?)
Kirby
metaknight
Jigglypuff
pikachu
Fox
Snake (unless you wanna count his little box thing)
Pit
captain falcon

And probably a couple more I cant name right now cause I'm cluckin tired.

 

[Lawrencelot]

These characters could just cross their arms or duck or some movement like that, as a shielding animation.

 

[DarkFr0g]

Sounds like a nice idea. Every player's shield could have it's strengths and weaknesses.
Mewtwo's shield, for example, may work better on projectiles than melee attacks, and vice versa with DK.

 

[tehSANDMAN]

Mario and Doc - Cape would wrap around them
Peach - Ever played Super Princess Peach? She would hide under Perry, or a regular parasol
Luigi - No idea actually
Samus - I got nothin
Wario - Not sure, fat wario? (from warioland)
Kirby - lagless stone kirby
Metaknight - cape
Jigglypuff - giant pokeball
Pikachu - same
Fox - Assault shield?
Snake - The BOX of course!
Pit - I have no idea
Captain Falcon - no idea

 

[Wallmaster]

Oh, and I like to think of myself as a geek, not a nerd.

Nerd- an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit.

Geek- a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.

I would personally rather be called a nerd...

ANYWAY, back on topic. I think specific shields would be alright, as long as they don't change gameplay that much.

 

[Daisuke no Kage]

I know an easy solution for this. Let them play a sound when you press the shield button.

There already is a sound played, although it's usually hard to hear.

 

[King Axel]

It sounds like a good idea, and I wouldn't really mind, but there are a few problems with your theory.

If DK throws his arms up in front of him, then wouldn't opponents be able to hit him in back? That would put him at an unfair disadvantage. If you hit him from behind when he was facing the other way, arms up, that wouldn't make sense, would it?

Also, the size of the character would affect their shield; if you've noticed, all characters have the same size shield in Melee; if they took that factor away, then fights would be unbalanced and unfair for those who like to use shields.

Other than that, this is an interesting idea; it would take a little bit of work to achieve more cosmetic rendering, but it could be done.

 

[andyzond]

doesn't metaknight do that in the trailer? his cape invisiblizes him to deflect pit's arrow?
-andy

 

[shinehex]

all good ideas to me. it would be really tight to see in smash but i doubt they'd put it in.... that be a aaaaaa lot of effort on their part....

I agree with...which is sad becuase this is really a killer Idea.

 

[KratosAurion192]

How about Link defends like kid Link with the Hylian shield in Ocarina of time...

 

[SamuraiPanda]

While I'm still kinda on the fence about the character-shield idea, I just have to say that there is one type of blocking that has always stuck in my mind.

It was Naruto Gekito Ninja Taisen 2 on the Gamecube, and the smart dude that uses shadows (I blanked :/) has the most AWESOME blocking animation ever. When you press back, he'll get into a blocking stance, but he'll literally dodge any attack. He'll jump over kicks and sway to the side around punches.

In actual gameplay, it didn't change anything because, oddly enough, he still took chip damage and could be thrown. But it was sweet.

 

[zKillah]

I like the idea of unique shields, but maybe not for every character. I wouldn't want to see the developers force lame shields on some characters. If it fits, I say put it in. The thing about blocking is that it needs to be done quickly, so some animations may take too long. I would like to see
Yoshi's egg (still)
DK in a barrel
Bowser's shell (impenetrable)
Pokeballs for pika and jiggs
Mario could turn into a statue (SMB3)
*Maybe* Samus should turn into her morphball and stay that way. It would make her roll a little better.

That's it. It would be interesting to see, but it wouldn't ruin the game for me if they didn't put it in. Something I want more than the unique shields is the unique entrances characters had in SSB64.

 

[SSJ4Kazuki]

OMFG another South Park fan.

Congrats on being cool.

 

[Sheek]

I kinda like the idea, but think of this. Yoshi has the only character specific sheild in the game, and it has a few downsides. It takes quite a while to pop out, and you can jump out of it. The roll takesforever too. Now that may apply to everone. Also, what if you are attacked from behind? The animation would look terrible. Also, some characters would have hard to choose sheilds like Ness. Even if all of these barriers were bypassed, I think the designers should spend more programming on more important things.

Now, I'm not saying your idea is bad, just not something that is a must for me in Brawl.

 

[shinehex]

For the pokemon how would they get into the pokeballs?

 

[ForestSage]

They have to be sort of instantaneous. You can't have some characters with a laggy shield. That seems so messed up.

I would like them all to have them, but I don't think it should give any character special advantages or disadvantages. It seems a little too complicated to me. How could a character shield break? Have like things just get smaller and smaller..weird..

Maybe instead of different kinds of shields, they can just all have special colored shields. Like with special designs. They would still be transparent and bubble shaped. Hmm, maybe a little gay but i;m not sure..

Pika's could be like yellow with brown stripes.
JIggz could have a pokeball or something (pokeballs are round.)
Yoshi Keeps his.
DK's resembles a barrel.
Bowser gets a spikey shell.
SNake gets a cardboard box like thing.
Mario gets a cape thingy.
Luigi gets a warp tunnel maybe.?

HJmm idk how it would exactly work but.. just an idea.

 

[6th Sense]

yaa i thought of this also but i didnt have time to make a post so thanx!! But ya um everybody shouldn't have a big sheild ball thing......

 

[Tera253]

Pokemon should have the pokeball ('cept M2 who should get the Master ball)
DK should have the barrel
Starfox characters use the ones from Assault
Yoshi keeps the egg
Snake: THE BOX!!! THE BOX!!!

and now, for the argument on why Bowser + Shell are not on here:
WHAT HAPPENS IF IT BREAKS!?!
the pokeballs (& master ball) could just get dimmer
the egg should instead develop cracks
same with the barrle
the box begins to look beaten up
the blue Assault shields go to purple, then to red, then orange/CRACK!!! (like in SFA)

~Tera253~

 

[T2master]

Personally, I'm all for the idea. However, we run into problems when we try and figure out how to show how close the character's shield is close to back-firing. Also, if there is a EBA character in Brawl, they should have a hit marker as a shield.

 

[pass the syrup]

Its wierd. the shields never bothered me until i saw this thread. They should have custom shields but it is to difficult to make one for each character.

If olimar is in i would love to see a pikmin shield!!!

 

[Red Exodus]

For cosmetic purposes only. Otherwise it would probably create game breakers.

I would hate to think that the skill shielding requires is lost because of a character's limits.