New Smash Bros for WiiU

[Artsy Omni]

Posted a new SSB4-related blog. Link in sig, if you're interested.

 

[OmegaXXII]

What I'm saying is that Sakurai's mentaliity isn't restricted to making a sequel that increases the content so many times and leaving it at that. For better or worse he always is trying to bring new content and features with each title. This is why he expresses so much enthusiasm in finding unique ways of connecting the 3DS and Wii U installment. This isn't to say we won't have 40 stages or that it is unlikely to even go higher. But Sakurai's goal isn't to just throw more stuff in the pot and call it a sequel. That is what he is saying.

As I said, each title has had a roster count roughly around the size of the total roster. So to take an overly pessimistic route really isn't necessary. How the ratio of new stages and old stages will play out, I couldn't tell you. But to expect one per franchise at the very leat, as with Melee, isn't entirely unreasonable. At least in my opinion.

Hmm..okay I reread that article and now I seem to understand what you are interpreting, Sakurai simply wants to expand on the ideas of stages as far as uniqueness goes rather than just slapping in a couple of extra stages. The way I see it is that while he might to to include new ideas he simply might not go extremely high on stage count, of course this is in my opinion, but I try not to be to optimistic as to possibly have a high stage count as well, not that it wouldn't happen though but again I tend not to rely on Sakurai so much since he might of a change of ideas as we speak.

Otherwise, I see your point, thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Starphoenix]

Hmm..okay I reread that article and now I seem to understand what you are interpreting, Sakurai simply wants to expand on the ideas of stages as far as uniqueness goes rather than just slapping in a couple of extra stages. The way I see it is that while he might to to include new ideas he simply might not go extremely high on stage count, of course this is in my opinion, but I try not to be to optimistic as to possibly have a high stage count as well, not that it wouldn't happen though but again I tend not to rely on Sakurai so much since he might of a change of ideas as we speak.

Otherwise, I see your point, thanks for clarifying that.

Nobody here is more pessimistic than I when it comes to what I expect from this next game, but even I can concede that roughly whatever we have in character count will be roughly the same in terms of stages.

 

[Artsy Omni]

What I'm saying is that Sakurai's mentaliity isn't restricted to making a sequel that increases the content so many times and leaving it at that. For better or worse he always is trying to bring new content and features with each title. This is why he expresses so much enthusiasm in finding unique ways of connecting the 3DS and Wii U installment. This isn't to say we won't have 40 stages or that it is unlikely to even go higher. But Sakurai's goal isn't to just throw more stuff in the pot and call it a sequel. That is what he is saying.

As I said, each title has had a roster count roughly around the size of the total roster. So to take an overly pessimistic route really isn't necessary. How the ratio of new stages and old stages will play out, I couldn't tell you. But to expect one per franchise at the very leat, as with Melee, isn't entirely unreasonable. At least in my opinion.



If you're interested you are welcome to look at my latest stage concept. The writing is a little sloppy so excuse that.

http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=13142125&postcount=21608

Outside of that the rest has been a, surpsisingly, slow day.

Off topic: Noticed I'm a Smash Champion now. Huh?

I'll definitely read it. Especially given the fact that you guys take the time to read my essays. =P

 

[Starphoenix]

I'll definitely read it. Especially given the fact that you guys take the time to read my essays. =P

Hey, whatever floats your boat. If you enjoy it and are interested in seeings some others I have done just look for my "SSB4 Stage Conception" over at the user blogs (or follow the link in my signature). Normally I post my concept here first for general reaction and tweaking, then I post them at my blog to keep them together.

This little series of mine is kind of what I've become known for here.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Yea, Star has become a celebrity around here, he is widely known for such things.

 

[Luco]

And also his sigs and avatars. Good artist and a good player hehe.

Does anyone remember Agahnim?

 

[OmegaXXII]

Who is Agahnim?? O_o

 

[Luco]

He is the Zant of LttP.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Zant?? Hmm...

 

[Luco]

That is to say, he is the sub-boss. He is one of Ganon's minions. He's the person that draws link in to the dark world/former golden land.

I think Ganon looks really cool in Lttp:

 

[Starphoenix]

And also his sigs and avatars. Good artist and a good player hehe.

Does anyone remember Agahnim?

Good player my foot, Old Man Grey and AppleZatch murdered me. At least with Old Man Grey my matches were close and I won a couple, AppleZatch just put my lights out (even if I did win one match). Then he proceeds to tell me he could have done better! O_O!

So no more facing off against Apple for awhile, I'll work on improving my R.O.B since he seems to be the best weapon I have right now.

 

[Chris the Ripper]

Yea, Star has become a celebrity around here, he is widely known for such things.

Whos Star?

 

[Starphoenix]

Oh wow, I may have actually stumbled upon 3 brilliant ideas just watching one video. May need to write an essay on this one fella's.

 

[Chris the Ripper]

Oh wow, I may have actually stumbled upon 3 brilliant ideas just watching one video. May need to write an essay on this one fella's.

Don't do it,or I swear I'll post 3 "Didn't read" gifs and Spider-man

 

[Deleted member]

Day Thirty-Four of Rate Their Chances is up.

 

[OmegaXXII]

I've beaten Ol Man Gray, I'll take y'all anytime!!

 

[Starphoenix]

I've beaten Ol Man Gray, I'll take y'all anytime!!

So did I, and I came close many times. Still...

 

[JavaCroc]

Expect a big post from me soon.

BTW, another awesome blog from you, Hex. That's the way Stage Builder should be handled, and I'm glad someone thought of a great idea for it; it was one of those modes where I could not think of anything besides more objects to play with.

One suggestion, though, if this were to happen; the SSB development team should create the set-pieces for the stages you play in Versus mode using the same interface and "block & object" formula used for Stage Builder. This way, players can then play around with the objects the developers created for the Versus mode stages as well as easily as with any other objects.

Finally, if necessary, a basic scripting ability can be implemented along the lines of other modding toolsets such as the Elder Scrolls Construction. Basically, the game lets you generate basic "If __, then __" coding, and then lets you fill the blanks with whatever objects you are using in the stage. It then can provide you with effect options for each object. So, for example; "If 'Stone Block' is 'Attacked', then 'Turn It 'Sideways''" I'd want this coding to be as simple as possible for anyone to understand, but if this was created, it allows for even more possibilities and more ways to experiment with items.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Nice idea you have there.

 

[Lunatsu]

well thinking about the new caracters one of my friends he wants Leon S Kennedy in brawl... that could happend??

 

[Artsy Omni]

well thinking about the new caracters one of my friends he wants Leon S Kennedy in brawl... that could happend??

Well if Capcom gives them license to use one of their characters, then it'd be possible. But I imagine Capcom might want one of their more classic characters to be in Brawl.

 

[Barbasol]

Stage Concept
-~~~-

The Carnival of Time
(The Legend of Zelda; Majora's Mask)

"Each year, the season of harmony begins when the sun and moon are in alignment. Paying homage to the way that both nature and time are tirelessly in the process of progressing... The Carnival of Time is when the peoples of the four worlds celebrate that harmony and request fruitfulness for the year.
For ages, people have worn masks resembling the giants who are the gods of the four worlds.
Now, it has become a custom for each person to bring a handmade mask to The Carnival of Time.
It is said that if a couple united on the day of the festival and dedicated a mask as a sign of their union, it would bring luck. The centerpiece of the carnival is the Clock Tower, and on the eve of all the festivities, the doors to its roof are opened... From atop the Clock Tower roof, a ceremony to call the gods is held and an ancient song is sung.
All of these festivities for the Carnival of Time are held so that we may ask the gods for a rich harvest in the year to come!"
~Anju's Grandmoter, Stock Pot Inn

The Carnival of Time is the thematic centerpiece for the Legend of Zelda; Majora's Mask, as Skull Kid, posessed by the spirit of the dark god, Majora is planning to smash the Moon into Clock Town during the festival.

As a stage, the Carnival of Time is set atop of the Termina Clock Tower and exists in three phases.

Phase I- Final Day
The level starts out in the afternoon, and the fighters are fighting on the face of the clock. The two hands in the middle are rotating platforms, and they slowly dial down to Midnight at which point the level shifts to Phase 2

Probably should have chosen different colors...
​

Transition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5VxF6yHkq4 Fireworks go off as night arrives. The Clock Tower shifts to a platform.

Phase II- Midnight
As the sky grows dark and fireworks are going off, the Clock Tower shifts from a vertical facing clock, to a rounded dish-like platform. Skull Kid is lurking above the stage. He can be attacked, and doing so delays the moon's arrival to the stage. Though, when attacked, Skull Kid emits an aura of purple energy so he can't continually be attacked.

​

Phase III- Moonfall
This is almost the same as Phase II, except the Moon has begun it's final decent. Skull Kid is no longer merely hanging above the fight, he let's out a scream and begins summoning the moon to do it's final decent. Now the moon starts to loom in close, beginning to obstruct the stage. It's covered in flames, so aerial combat is no longer feasible without taking significant damage.

Loop- Just before the entire stage gets engulfed, the Four Giants arrive and place their hands on the moon, at which point they manage to throw away the massive rock. By this time, it is daytime again. With the moon gone and dawn approaching, the clock tower switches back to stage one.

​

Music List:
The Last Day (LoZ: MM)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONmo8HzuSGg
Song of Healing (LoZ: MM)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDX4ZwUeOok
Skull Kid Battle (LoZ: MM)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PgBRrH-ew
Majora's Wrath (LoZ: MM)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKVKpEz61Uk
Oath to Order (LoZ: MM)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_XksDTc8F4
Zant (LoZ: TP)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOc0YgNmgw
Forest Temple (LoZ: OoT)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoKOYOWN43I
Phantom Ganon (LoZ: WW)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yf-yhtv2jw

I wanted to choose some of the more ominous, creepy under toned music, to fit with the tone of Majora's Mask.

So! There it is... thoughts?
​

​

 

[Artsy Omni]

I think it could be a fun stage. Rather than the giants throwing the moon away, I think it'd be cool if time was rewound, and the background goes white, with all those spiraling clocks, until it's back to the dawn of the final day.

 

[Starphoenix]

Don't do it,or I swear I'll post 3 "Didn't read" gifs and Spider-man

And that is supposed to intimidate me how?

Anyways, I've just had inspiration for where Smash Bros as a series can progress watching a video from another fighting game. No, not Street Fighter. Power Stone! Watch the video you can see for yourself.

http://youtu.be/zJMwL8vQMUU

Unlike a lot of mechanical discussions that pertains to bringing in elements from traditional, 2D fighters such as Street Fighter. This game (or two I should say) share a great deal of similarity to Smash Bros. It is a very simple fighter, yet it is very addictive to those who've managed played it on the Dreamcast or Playstation Network. Watching this video has given me two ideas Smash Bros could pull from and utilize to further expand the series.

1: Dynamic Stages

They have tried this with Rainbow Cruise, Icicle Mountain, Mushroomy Kingdom, and Rumble Falls. But only one of those have even remotely been fun to play on. Everything else is a sporadic mess of platforms and incoherency. This is one thing Power Stone has managed to do well. In the video you begin in the pond are of an ancient, eastern castle. Then fiery arrows rain down forcing you to climb up the castle and make your way through doors to the inside. Most of the other stages share the same formula, begin at point A and make your way through point B until you hit C.

Regardless of any drastic gameplay change, there isn't any reason why dynamic stages have to be as abhorrent as they have been. Now here is my big idea in point 2.

2: Item Mixing and Collecting!

Here is the meat and potatoes of my wall of text, my big idea I am here to push. One thing about Power Stone is from a technical stand point it is pretty shallow, even Smash Bros has more depth than that series. But yet it is such an addicting fighter, why is that? Primarily because of the games handling of items. In Power Stone it is actually fun to use items! You have wacky things like fireworks, beehives, Mega Busters, gigantic swords, tiara's, small dragons, silverware, and tons more! There was such diversity and such a vast amount it made up for the lack of technical depth.

Also the game had a large amount of items, 121 to be exact. That is a little extreme for what I am proposing, but let me segway into my next point, item mixing. That is why Power Stone 2 had such a large amount of items, is many of them were hidden. The way you unlocked them was via mixing and collecting items. Here is how it worked.

When you went play through Adventure Mode, every time you pick up an item you "collect it". So if during one matched you picked up 2x Bombs, a Sword, 4x Revolvers and a Paper Fan; you'd have those added to an inventory. So when you go to the item mixing mode you would have an inventory reflective of all the items you obtained throughout one runthrough in Adventure Mode. What would happen is you have the option of mixing some of those items in hopes of creating new ones. So, you have 2x Bombs and 4x Revolvers, why not try mixing them? You use up one of each item and wait for the result. Success! You have a Rocket Launcher! The catch with mixing items is success is not always a guarantee... Sometimes a mix will be unsuccessful and you'll be out one of each item you used.

How is this applicable to Smash? Well, let's follow through with the premise. Lets say you go through Adventure mode and collected 2x Koopa Shells and 4x Fire Flowers. You go to a mixing mode, put in each item, and try your hand at mixing them. Success! You just aquired a Red Shell! The recipe for the item would now be added to an "item recipe book".

Now, one other thing with Power Stone's mixing mode that should be pointed out is that there could be multiple recipes to achieve the same item; for instance:

To acquire a Flame Thrower there are 3 possible recipes:

1. Flame Element + Gun
2. Flame Element + Machine Gun
3. Fire Bottle + SoapBubble Gun

You could also purchase it from the shop for a certain amount of cash. Which is another option for Smash too, having a shop to purchase some of the more common items for recipes and such. It would make for a great use of the Coin mode.


Which brings me to my final thought on improving items, and that is tiering them. Power Stone has a star system that rates each item for how rare/powerful it is. Obviously the lower starred the item is the weaker and more common is the item.

If we are to have a large presence of items, why not make them rewarding? Have the more damaging and rare items un-lockable, while making the common and less damaging available from the start? An example of this tiering:

Paper Fan: **
Red Shell:***
(Hidden) Hammer: ****
(Hidden) Golden Hammer: *****

While the illustration may not be perfect hopefully you get the idea.

These are just a small sampling of my ideas, I know there is much more I could have elaborated on or have done better grammatically as well as in presentation. Right now it is just a quick summation of some ideas that I thought were interesting.

 

[Barbasol]

I think it could be a fun stage. Rather than the giants throwing the moon away, I think it'd be cool if time was rewound, and the background goes white, with all those spiraling clocks, until it's back to the dawn of the final day.

That's a good idea, sort of like the transition is Castle Siege, eh? That could make things a bit more varied as it's not flip-up, flip-down, flip-backup.

 

[OmegaXXII]

I love those ideas Starphoenix, I'll skim through it some more.

 

[SmashChu]

I don't mind the idea of hidden items, but the rest doesn't sound that great. 1 is out of place and the item mixing doesn't sound that great. Seems like you'll have a lot of dub, boring items rather than having a lot of unique ones. Number 2 is fine, but Smash does this already. Castle Siege is one.

Good to know Chrono is back. You all should come back to the social group more.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Nice concept though, similar but yet different in it's own way, agreed with Chu to 'some' extent.

 

[Deleted member]

@Starphoenix: The stage concept looks fantastic and very inviting. Magmoor Caverns is also awesome to listen to.

As for your item mixing ideas, that sounds like a ton of fun to do and would bring a new element to the game. It would definitely give us more strategy in what items to used and make Adventure Mode more re-playable.

How you put it, I must admit is confusing.

The original Ridley died in Super Metroid.

The Other M Ridley is the original's accidental clone, who was killed at the end of the game and became the Parasite X infected corpse in Metroid Fusion.

I have a feeling that if Ridley doesn't get in this game, he will never be playable in SSB4. This could be very well our last (But thankfully our best) shot at getting him in.

I have been on GameFAQs for over a decade. However, here I am closing in on five years.

I founded the Roy for Smash 4 Support group, Knights of Elibe. Can KOE be a part of PCAM? Though that group has been around since 2009.

Given your dedication to the group and the fact that it's been more active then most social group, I will allow Knights of Elibe to be part of PCAM. The only thing you need to do is to form a site dedicated to Knights of Elibe and have a link to go to PCAM.

 

[Starphoenix]

I don't mind the idea of hidden items, but the rest doesn't sound that great. 1 is out of place and the item mixing doesn't sound that great. Seems like you'll have a lot of dub, boring items rather than having a lot of unique ones. Number 2 is fine, but Smash does this already. Castle Siege is one.

Good to know Chrono is back. You all should come back to the social group more.

My idea was in asking myself, "how could the Smash series expand while delivering something creative"? My first point was something I even pointed out was unlikely, but would be better suited for a mode if anything. It was simply an idea.

Point 2 was more in line with scrolling stages. Castle Siege, while technically dynamic, isn't exatcly what I was referring to. It is my fault for leaving such an ambiguous term as "dynamic" everywhere, but I'd hoped it'd have been understood by the stages I pointed out. So my bad.

As for the last point the items don't have to be "bunch of dumb ones now" and "only the cool one's later". There is a way to do it where it could be functional and add a little bit of depth to the whole item experience. If I had had spent more time refining my idea maybe I could have at least made it a little more palatable to you. There can be a way for it to be accomplished with Smash Bros' creativity behind it. Sometimes part of the fun is finding an idea and running with it. Not to absurd degrees or with stupid things that make little sense, but potential changes.

Aren't you at least going to give me props for not picking Street Fighter?

 

[Deleted member]

I am going to ask CrimsonFeint and Young Horsetail if they want to be part of PCAM. Reason why I ask is because I want to find out if they're really interested in being part of this group and as such, actively pushing King K. Rool and Lip respectively to be playable in Super Smash Bros. 4. That way, we can get everyone set up and start moving towards other sites. After I find out the answer, all we need to do is to quickly transfer Ruffian Forever to someone who can dedicate the time and has the motivation to push for Saki's inclusion.

And I still need to create that social group.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Well damn!!

Way to make a remark, I think it works, Kuma would agree on many levels.

 

[Berserker.]

Crimson hasn't even made a website yet for K Rool.

Also Horsetail. He didn't make a website yet.

 

[Starphoenix]

Well damn!!

Way to make a remark, I think it works, Kuma would agree on many levels.

My goal isn't to get into an argument. That is the difference between Kuma and I, I'm not going to get so upset over an internet argument. If it is clear we aren't going to see eye to eye I won't press it further and will let each person hold to their opinion. It is the amicable thing to do.

Now, a discussion and an argument are two separate things. So just throwing that out there.

 

[OmegaXXII]

Yes I see, a casual discussion, right.....

 

[Starphoenix]

Yes I see, a casual discussion, right.....

Yes, a casual discussion. I'm not calling people names or telling people to "asteriskasteriskasterisk" off. Heck, most people won't even concede faults with their idea's.

@Smashchu. I don't know if you were including me in "ya'll" when you were mentioning the discussion group?

 

[soviet prince]

@ssbf well I am thinking about doing it over since characters were added and removed what do you think.
@star I really think it's better to keep it the perspective smash is at now, if you change it to much then it's not smash anymore.

 

[Deleted member]

Crimson hasn't even made a website yet for K Rool.

Also Horsetail. He didn't make a website yet.

That's why I'm going to ask them and see if they wish to be part of us.

Also, we can't really say that Zzuxon's group is part of us yet. Ray and Paper Mario currently have no possible established connection with the group yet whereas K. Rool and Lip may have them.

@soviet prince: You mean the poll you made? I'll go check it out to see who you should add.

 

[Luco]

Sorry, i had to look after my grandmother for a while, but...

Star: Well thats why i've been practicing see. Both me and my brother are getting better hehe.

Concerning mixing ideas, does anyone remember in Super Paper Mario how you could take your recipes to the nice lady(in flipside: The one in Flopside is meant to be mean, kinda) and she could add recipes to your book from recipes you already have?