Smash Clash: The Mobile Multiplayer Platformer Fighting Game

[jdawg99]

Just applied for tester status (rigby590@gmail.com). Can't wait to try it out, this sounds like it's shaping up to be the first true mobile brawler. I'll do as much as I can to support you mate! :D

Thanks! I'll add you tonight

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Just started playing and wanted to say a few things-

1.Congrats! This is the smoothest "smash style" fighting game I've ever played on a mobile device!
2.The fire character's neutral special doesn't always activate, particularly on the grass fountain stage.
3.The AI is pretty hard! (Perhaps I just need to get used to the controls ) Maybe down the road you could include a practice mode for testers?
4.Love the idea of an event mode, sounds like fun!
5.The Sandbag characters Up Special lets you float forever, should probably eventually be nerfed. His Down Special is also broken, the AI runs into it forever.

Overall, really enjoying it! Can't wait to see the progress you make on SmashClash!

 

[jdawg99]

Just started playing and wanted to say a few things-

1.Congrats! This is the smoothest "smash style" fighting game I've ever played on a mobile device!
2.The fire character's neutral special doesn't always activate, particularly on the grass fountain stage.
3.The AI is pretty hard! (Perhaps I just need to get used to the controls ) Maybe down the road you could include a practice mode for testers?
4.Love the idea of an event model sounds like fun!
5.The Sandbag characters Up Special lets you float forever, should probably eventually be nerfed. His Down Special is also broken, the AI runs into it forever.

Overall, really enjoying it! Can't wait to see the progress you make on SmashClash!

So in the second point, do you mean the fire character's fireball attack? And what exactly happened when it didn't work?
And to "practice" goto the options and then click "test controls" (i think) and you should be able to spawn by yourself. Also the first CPU chip is an easy version. So you can try that. The next version I'll be sure to add practice mode and what not
The sandbag character is going to be removed because, let's be honest, he doesn't look the best. I may put him back in if I can make him not be so glitchy idk.

Thanks for the response! Glad you liked it

 

[CrimsonDivine]

So in the second point, do you mean the fire character's fireball attack? And what exactly happened when it didn't work?
And to "practice" goto the options and then click "test controls" (i think) and you should be able to spawn by yourself. Also the first CPU chip is an easy version. So you can try that. The next version I'll be sure to add practice mode and what not
The sandbag character is going to be removed because, let's be honest, he doesn't look the best. I may put him back in if I can make him not be so glitchy idk.

Thanks for the response! Glad you liked it

To answer your question about the fireball, I was facing the Sandbag on the highest setting ( thanks for the tip about the difficulty levels btw!). When I clicked the B button nothing happened, and when I went to test it on the final destination type stage it worked fine. Game didn't crash or anything, it just didn't read my input. And about the sandbag, he doesn't really fit with the artstyle of your current spriter, so I 100% agree with his removal (unless of course your spriter redesigns him).

Also I've got a few character suggestions (obviously for much later stages of the game :D)-

1."Flare"- Currently implemented character.
-Change size of his fireball (Neutral B). Currently it is very small and the activation time is slow.
-Change his Side B to a fire spin attack
-Change his Up B to a fire column that shoots you upwards but than falls as lava that hurts the other player but eventually dissapears.
-Change his Down B to a fire shield that reflects certain projectiles.
-Final Smash- [Incinerate] Flare creates swirling fire that surrounds his body and summons a fire dragon. The dragon flys to the top of the screen and breathes fire, sweeping across the whole stage. Very hard to avoid but possible if timed right. Dragon flys off into the background. If another player touches Flare while summoning the dragon or crashes into the swirling fire around him, they receive a large chunk of damage.

2."Glacia"- Ice Penguin character.
-Focuses on ice based attacks.
-Can't fly but can use ice to hover for a small period of time, imagine iron man flying but shooting ice out of her hands instead of fire. Could be her Up B move.
-Water healing could be implemented into her moveset?
-Final Smash- [PermaFrost] Glacia summons a chilling wind to temporarily freeze all opponents. She than summons icicles that hover about the stage for a few seconds. The frozen players have only a few seconds after they unfreeze before the ice shards fall from above. When they drop, they cause massive damage to any player that touches them.

New Character Ideas-
*Earth-magic based character (Monkey based character?)
*Wind-magic based character (Nymph based character?)
*Nimble ninja type fighter (Imagine ZSS x Takamaru)
*Quadrupedal spider (Poison based moveset?)

I've got plenty of ideas, just ask if you want anymore! I was trying to make some menu designs but gave up after I couldn't find a nice pixel art app on the App Store. Plus I'm not very artistic

 

[The Revolutionary Cafe]

The real question is, will there be wave dashing?

 

[jdawg99]

@ CrimsonDivine thank's for the feedback. I'll put that into consideration.

@ The Revolutionary Cafe I actually have not been able to wave dash myself (never had the time to figure it out). Would this be a bad thing the implement? Like isn't it kind of an OP thing to do? I don't know much about it.

 

[jdawg99]

@ CrimsonDivine I figured out that glitch. The fireballs were being spawned directly onto the enemy, so they never actually appeared. Just felt like telling you why in case you were curious.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

@ CrimsonDivine thank's for the feedback. I'll put that into consideration.

@ The Revolutionary Cafe I actually have not been able to wave dash myself (never had the time to figure it out). Would this be a bad thing the implement? Like isn't it kind of an OP thing to do? I don't know much about it.

What's this I hear about a new character?? Saw it on your twitter.

 

[jdawg99]

We have two new characters being developed currently. One's fully animated, and just needs to be programmed. The other has concept art and a few sprites.

 

[Andrew McNamara]

brawl sucks compared to melee

 

[jdawg99]

brawl sucks compared to melee

Agreed. Now the struggle is making the game fast enough with the hard touch controls to be like melee.

 

[jdawg99]

While you're waiting for Smash Clash to be for iOS, why not download a friend of mine's game. It's called iSSB and it's available through Cydia. Check out his FB page here https://www.facebook.com/BrokenPhysicsStudios and tell him I said hi. I think it might be for Android too, but I'm not sure.

 

[Kit Cal-N]

Looks awesome. Sent a request for testing!

 

[CrossoverMan]

Hey bro, I have an idea.

The first Super Smash Clash should just feature original characters plus maybe one or two crossover characters to see if people like the idea. Then you could make a sequel called 'Smash Clash VS The World' or something along those lines and have all the original Smash Clash characters go up against a group of random 3rd party characters from other companies. It would be a pretty cool strategy and could ease audiences in to the Smash Bros style gameplay on a touch screen.

 

[jdawg99]

Hey bro, I have an idea.

The first Super Smash Clash should just feature original characters plus maybe one or two crossover characters to see if people like the idea. Then you could make a sequel called 'Smash Clash VS The World' or something along those lines and have all the original Smash Clash characters go up against a group of random 3rd party characters from other companies. It would be a pretty cool strategy and could ease audiences in to the Smash Bros style gameplay on a touch screen.

Great idea! That would definitely be something to do in the future though.

Btw, we need to start developing some items in the game. If anyone is interested in creating say a sword, or a bomb (or whatever we need at the moment), email me at impactgamesstudio [at] gmail.com (replace the [at] with @)

 

[jdawg99]

Here's some artwork of the upcoming character created by Karakato.

Feedback would be great. Also any name ideas?

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Here's some artwork of the upcoming character created by Karakato.

Feedback would be great. Also any name ideas?

I can probably help with the name if i know what his movesets like

 

[CrossoverMan]

I think his name should be 'Freakling'.

Also, I have come up with a few ideas for characters. I will probably make some art of them soon, but here's the brief...

Brachy: A shrunken down realistic Brachiosaurus created in a laboratory and one of the largest and most powerful characters in the game. He also has limited control over the earth, and can create mini earthquakes by stomping his feet. (pretty much a semi-analogue to Yoshi or Bowser)

Queenie Linguine: The pompous ruler of an unknown nation. She has buck teeth, messy hair and squinty eyes. She wields a golden bo staff which she is surprisingly skilled with. (Pretty much a comedic analogue of Peach)

 

[Gene]

Here's some artwork of the upcoming character created by Karakato.

Feedback would be great. Also any name ideas?

That character looks starved and creepy. I love it!

He looks like a character that I would be interested in maining. How long did it take to sprite and animate him? This is giving me inspiration to practice more with asesprite.

 

[InnerMobius]

Submitted some input through email, working pretty great man, I await the next beta!

Spoiler

PS3 controller working for Dpad and Analog, recognizes button press on X, Circle, Square, Triangle, but doesn't add them, doesn't recognize L/R buttons, L3/R3 are treated as a select button when changing hard input

Added touch profile to PS3 Pair tool with touch buttons mapped to X Circle and Triangle on controller for A B and Jump respectively, works beautifully, and start/select on pause and camera

 

[Kit Cal-N]

Here's some artwork of the upcoming character created by Karakato.

Feedback would be great. Also any name ideas?

Will O'Wisp
Smoky Bandit

 

[jdawg99]

@ CrimsonDivine Think Lucario/Mewtwo

@ Gene I didn't make him, but he's been in development for about three or four days.

Thanks fro the suggestions too guys.

Also I'm going to implement charging up attacks into the game.....so how should this be done. I can how it so if you double tapping an attack button, or smashing the joystick and the button at the same time?

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Wisper (sound and smoke based attacks?)

 

[jdawg99]

Wisper (sound and smoke based attacks?)

Possibly.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Possibly.

Btw I left out the H on purpose don't think I'm stupid

 

[jdawg99]

Here's another character in development. Tell me what you guys think.

I'm thinking he could be similar to Ness. But you guys give me input, this is the only bit of art we have of him so far, so we are still open to changes.

 

[CabungaToons]

In case you aren't able to view the sprite, here he is. (I'm the artist for the character)

And here he is in the context of the game (thanks to jdawg99):

-CabungaToons

 

[CrimsonDivine]

A few things to point out-

-Character seems undeveloped. There's nothing special to him. Add a little zest, make him fun to look and play as!
-The art styles are not fitting together. Looking at that screenshot it's very obvious that different people worked on each character and there was no communication between them. I believe a respriting session is eventually needed, especially the stages. (Unless the screenshot was made in Photoshop and not taken in-game?)

EDIT: Ay I was right about the photoshop sorry

 

[Kit Cal-N]

If you definitely want to stick with 2D sprites, then designing them vector based would definitely be better. They'll look more unified, be easier to animate, and scale better to different resolutions.

 

[CrossoverMan]

While I like the clashing styles, at the minute the game looks like a half-baked MUGEN project I'm afraid. But obviously since the game is still in beta stages these problems shouldn't be in the final game.

 

[jdawg99]

The picture was photoshoped. It was an in-game screenshot of Flare (character in the middle with grey arrow over him) on a stage. Everyone else was photoshopped in to get a feel for what they would look like in the game.

Vector art would be awesome, but I'm not sure how feasible this is for a summer launch. Maybe if Smash Clash 2 is ever made we can do that sort of art :D

 

[BluePikmin11]

Although I'm not able to play this kind of game, keep up the good work with the mobile game. Been following this since it was first posted.

 

[Karakato Dzo]

Hello, I am the guy who created the unnamed Smoky character (though I think "Wisper" sounds good). I think a vector sprite work would look great as it's something I'm planning on practicing. Anyway, still trying to get most of my character's sprites finished (still haven't done the attacks yet).

Also regarding the fourth character, wouldn't it be better if the characters were at least around the same height? (ie 60x60 px) He is a bit too tall which sticks out.

 

[Kit Cal-N]

Maybe not necessarily the same height (might want a hulking character), but at least the same scale / proportions. It works in Smash Bros because we already know the characters, but when you're in control of the art style, it should look like everything belongs in one game.


And re: graphics, it looks like Corona doesn't support in-game manipulation of vector graphics, but designing the characters in vector art would still produce a higher quality look. You can make sprites from it just the same.

 

[jdawg99]

Definitely agree. Continuity is key. (Or whatever you call it).

Yes Corona probably isn't the best for vector art, but who said we would have to use Corona if a Smash Clash 2 is made? And at the rate Corona is developing, I wouldn't be surprised to see by that time that it would support vector art really well.

On a side note, I'm really debating on whether of not we should implement a shield. I really don't want a fourth button added because I want simple controls for the phone. Any thoughts?

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Definitely agree. Continuity is key. (Or whatever you call it).

Yes Corona probably isn't the best for vector art, but who said we would have to use Corona if a Smash Clash 2 is made? And at the rate Corona is developing, I wouldn't be surprised to see by that time that it would support vector art really well.

On a side note, I'm really debating on whether of not we should implement a shield. I really don't want a fourth button added because I want simple controls for the phone. Any thoughts?

a fourth button would definitely cramp the screen. shielding is a major part of fighting games though so maybe a tap and hold gesture would be better? you hold your finger on the left side of the screen for your shield and keep the buttons on the right side.

 

[Kit Cal-N]

Maybe ducking should block?

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Maybe ducking should block?

Was just thinking about that!!

 

[jdawg99]

What if ducking blocked, and looking up sidestepped? You would have to push the joystick further up or further down to do these, because we wouldn't want it interfering with someone just trying to do an up or down attack.

 

[InnerMobius]

What if ducking blocked, and looking up sidestepped? You would have to push the joystick further up or further down to do these, because we wouldn't want it interfering with someone just trying to do an up or down attack.

That may work, but would definitely interfere with hard-button controls.

Also, another bug pertaining to those controls is Flare doesn't have the ability to move side-to-side midair with hard-mapped directional buttons


EDIT: Cabunga Toons, no offense man, really and honestly don't take personal offense to this, but those images are just horrid... they're not really sprites, just small mspaint drawings. You should look up some tutorials on spriting and try again.

This is something I was working on before I left for my road trip (which I'm currently still on) that matches the other two character's graphic style:

Crossoverman's Queenie Linguine concept was (loosely)used as the basis for this, and sure it's just one single head sprite but it's just an example for now. I think the character ideas should be submitted as single 'Wait' sprites to be judged by the fans here before a pixel artist spends too much time on making all the poses for a character just for it to be "boo'd offstage" so to speak.

Just to explain a little further how this matches the art style of the characters shown:

When placed next to Flare or Karakato's character, the pixel aspect ratio is the same. That means that the sprite will seem natural next to the others. Each pixel is the same size as the pixels on another character.

There are limited palettes. I believe I have 4 skin tones for her, and usually you use 3. 4 can work if you need it. Sprites for the most part only have 16 colors (unless it's for a newer generation game, which this is, and I'm sure this will be an exception to that rule.) Notice that Black is only used on the outline and for showing contrast for SOME features, not all. And there aren't random 2x2 squares of black, that looks very sloppy.

When your sprite is animated, as it naturally will be by turning left and right and using different moves, things need to line up. The eyes and mouth are the first thing that you can see in your sprites that don't work, automatically. They're not even relatively on the same part of the face. You may find making sprites in at least 3 directions (left, down(toward camera) and right) in walking animations and turning it into a GIF may help you with this.

Another thing to look out for is blurry sprites. Right now I've yet to see a crisp/clean version of Flare (in-game and spritesheet I was supplied with were both blurry)

This happens by resizing the sprites in photoshop or another such program with antialiasing on usually. The best way to resize a sprite, if you have to at all, is to go into paint and resize it by numbers like 200%, 300%, etc etc. That way when you need to make it smaller again, you end up with your original sprite instead of a blob of colors that somewhat resembles your pixel art.

Here's an example:

Notice Flare has boxes around him and nothing is quite as crisp as on the other two characters.

To keep this game consistently looking great, all of these things have to be taken into consideration, so long as you're using 2D sprites.

Also regarding the fourth character, wouldn't it be better if the characters were at least around the same height? (ie 60x60 px) He is a bit too tall which sticks out.

This is another great point, but not always true. For mid and small size characters, a 60x60 px box for each frame of animation is perfect, but when creating heavy characters (like Bowser for instance) you'd need to add to it, yet keep the pixel-size ratio the same as the other characters. this is especially important because of Smash Clash's dynamic camera, where you can zoom in and see the characters better.

EDIT AGAIN:

To elaborate on the pixel-aspect ratio even further, here's a diagram. This is what you DONT want to see with pixel comparisons for different characters. You want each "1PX" to be the same size on both characters at all times, allow for the dynamic camera to be the only thing that changes this.

Otherwise, Crossoverman's observation would not change.

at the minute the game looks like a half-baked MUGEN project I'm afraid.