Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but I’m back now and….. It’s on now.
On September 18, which will forever be known in smash history as a day of liberation and celebration, Sakurai announced that Brawl will feature Wifi support. Online gaming isn’t new to this gen. And if you’re a PC gamer, onlineplay is commonplace. We did not get to this point without our doubts. Even some of our most outspoken supporters of online-brawl had doubts whether Sakurai and team could get it working with four players. Regardless, we have the support we’ve dreamed for. Many are completely satisfied with what little we know of Brawl wifi, which is, so far, a simple extension of what we’ve have of Melee’s versus mode. In other words, like most online modes, it is merely a convenient version of offline play. However, this doesn’t have to be true for Brawl. As always, the potential to reach beyond what has already been done (especially for fighters) is through the roof. It’s time to consider new modes for Brawl, but this time one that would NOT be possible offline.
Kicking off this new series of blog posts, I suppose I call this new mode <strong>King of the Brawl</strong>.<!--more-->
This is the ultimate free-for-all mode. Up to four players enter a free for all match with a limited amount of stamina set. Let’s say 50hp. Each player only has one stock/chance to fight. If you manage to knock out all all of an opponent’s stamina, you get half of your total HP restored. If you take someone out by ringout (meaning they still have HP left when they explode off the screen) you get all of your HP restored. Because the HP limit can be changed, the dominant strategy of the match is dynamic. With the low max HP at 30-40, a good string of tilt attacks will take out anyone. This focuses the playstyle to quick changes in momentum and the strategies to quick attacks. With a high max HP at 100-130, ringouts becomes the dominant strategy. Not only can you efficiently kill opponents with ring outs at high and low damages, but you can restore more HP this way thus having a better chance of survival. The best part of King of the Brawl is, when you die, you’re taken out of the match and another player is dropped in all in real time.
When any player is killed, a new player is dropped into the match. These players would either be random players from the internet, or you can set up queue/list of your friends to play with. In list play, the turn around from being knocked out and getting back into the game can be very quick. If you get knocked out, don’t worry. It won’t be too long until you’re right back in the action. If you’re playing random players online, you get one chance to hold your ground literally against the world of smashers. If you lose in random play, you don’t get put at the bottom of a small list of combatants. Instead, you get thrown back into the ocean of matchmaking. You <em>could </em>end up fighting in the same King of the Brawl match, but chances are, after you lose once, your chance for redeeming yourself in that match is gone.
Players who just want to have an organized way for lots of players to smash together won’t have to worry about who’s winning and losing overall. Just do your best to survive as long as you can. But for those of us who like winning, there is a variety of ways to win. Whoever stays in the match the longest after a set amount of time could win. Or whoever gets the most overall kills could win. If you don’t think either of these options is good enough, that’s fine. From this base, a combo system could be implemented that’s a hybrid of time and kills. Perhaps, the more kills you get without dying adds time multipliers to your time score. Or perhaps the longer you stay in a match, the more points you get for each kill. With both of these hybrids, the winning player would be the target of attack. In order to stand a chance of winning, the current leader of the match must be taken out or else they’ll gain too much momentum. If you happen to be the target of a free-for-all match, can you survive against three other opponents? If you’re not the king, would you take the opportunity to pick on one the unsuspecting players? Hey, in a free (for all) world, all is fair game.
It’s easy to imagine King of the Brawl with teams and other variations to the rules. Let your imagination run wild. I know Sakurai is.
On September 18, which will forever be known in smash history as a day of liberation and celebration, Sakurai announced that Brawl will feature Wifi support. Online gaming isn’t new to this gen. And if you’re a PC gamer, onlineplay is commonplace. We did not get to this point without our doubts. Even some of our most outspoken supporters of online-brawl had doubts whether Sakurai and team could get it working with four players. Regardless, we have the support we’ve dreamed for. Many are completely satisfied with what little we know of Brawl wifi, which is, so far, a simple extension of what we’ve have of Melee’s versus mode. In other words, like most online modes, it is merely a convenient version of offline play. However, this doesn’t have to be true for Brawl. As always, the potential to reach beyond what has already been done (especially for fighters) is through the roof. It’s time to consider new modes for Brawl, but this time one that would NOT be possible offline.
Kicking off this new series of blog posts, I suppose I call this new mode <strong>King of the Brawl</strong>.<!--more-->
This is the ultimate free-for-all mode. Up to four players enter a free for all match with a limited amount of stamina set. Let’s say 50hp. Each player only has one stock/chance to fight. If you manage to knock out all all of an opponent’s stamina, you get half of your total HP restored. If you take someone out by ringout (meaning they still have HP left when they explode off the screen) you get all of your HP restored. Because the HP limit can be changed, the dominant strategy of the match is dynamic. With the low max HP at 30-40, a good string of tilt attacks will take out anyone. This focuses the playstyle to quick changes in momentum and the strategies to quick attacks. With a high max HP at 100-130, ringouts becomes the dominant strategy. Not only can you efficiently kill opponents with ring outs at high and low damages, but you can restore more HP this way thus having a better chance of survival. The best part of King of the Brawl is, when you die, you’re taken out of the match and another player is dropped in all in real time.
When any player is killed, a new player is dropped into the match. These players would either be random players from the internet, or you can set up queue/list of your friends to play with. In list play, the turn around from being knocked out and getting back into the game can be very quick. If you get knocked out, don’t worry. It won’t be too long until you’re right back in the action. If you’re playing random players online, you get one chance to hold your ground literally against the world of smashers. If you lose in random play, you don’t get put at the bottom of a small list of combatants. Instead, you get thrown back into the ocean of matchmaking. You <em>could </em>end up fighting in the same King of the Brawl match, but chances are, after you lose once, your chance for redeeming yourself in that match is gone.
Players who just want to have an organized way for lots of players to smash together won’t have to worry about who’s winning and losing overall. Just do your best to survive as long as you can. But for those of us who like winning, there is a variety of ways to win. Whoever stays in the match the longest after a set amount of time could win. Or whoever gets the most overall kills could win. If you don’t think either of these options is good enough, that’s fine. From this base, a combo system could be implemented that’s a hybrid of time and kills. Perhaps, the more kills you get without dying adds time multipliers to your time score. Or perhaps the longer you stay in a match, the more points you get for each kill. With both of these hybrids, the winning player would be the target of attack. In order to stand a chance of winning, the current leader of the match must be taken out or else they’ll gain too much momentum. If you happen to be the target of a free-for-all match, can you survive against three other opponents? If you’re not the king, would you take the opportunity to pick on one the unsuspecting players? Hey, in a free (for all) world, all is fair game.
It’s easy to imagine King of the Brawl with teams and other variations to the rules. Let your imagination run wild. I know Sakurai is.
.