Alstein
[05] Battler
My own personal omnibus and caveat, trying to keep in general terms, because I'm not qualified enough to argue that a move should be +6 instead of +3 on hit: Also trying to make this things that could be achievable and realistic. I'm setting this in order of what I'd want most first, then moving on down.
I am not a good tournament player- my real ability level is probably that of a decent pot monster. I love the series, because it suits what I like in a fighter, moreso then any other fighter.
Gameplaywise, I think the general gameplay engine in SC4 was actually pretty good. The problem was the game lacked moves/had missing moves, and had severe balancing issues. I actually went to an anime con yesterday and played some SC3. I forgot how sparse the movelists were in 4 until I played 3. Personally, I'd want to see a good portion of the budget set aside
The one thing I would adjust that's been a SC staple is the small handful of overcomplicated moves such as Summon Suffering/Criminal Symphony and a couple others. There's no fun in those moves for many players, as they can't do them without more practice then they're willing to tolerate. This would not sacrifice gameplay, just frustration, provided the character retains sufficient depth (Ivy is one of the deeper characters anyways) I've suggested a double half-circle or a 360 for the moves, which are more logical and learnable then the traditional command, yet of sufficient length to not make them doable on reaction. This is something that should be tested with avverage game players to see if they can learn to occaasionally succeed in performing the command in practice mode after thirty minutes of practice , as a suggestion.
Also, just frame moves that are poorly designed, such as moves that are punishable on-hit if you fail to JF them, need to be avoided at all costs. Just Frames should be a bonus for execution, not a penalty for failing to execute as a general design principle. The bonus can be gameplay, visual, or preferably both.
The only system I'd want to see removed in SC5 is Armor Breaking, because it doesn't really add anything to gameplay, and it's not visually pleasing to fight characters in their underwear.
Critical Finish I am indifferent to in terms of its inclusion or removal, though I believe CF would need to be rethough some if it is kept.
The most important thing though, is that the game stays Soul Calibur, with an emphasis on pokes, frame traps (something missing). I'd want to see long combos kept out of the game. Too many fighting games have those anyways.
Netcode and netplay in general: Netcode in Namco games is flat-out unacceptably horrible. I'd say your goal should be to reach the quality of VF5 on the 360. They accomplished this through generous input buffers and sufficient blockstun. I would alter gameplay in these areas to assist the netcode (and many fighting game hardcores like both those things anyways)
Patching: This is very important, as let's face it, Namco programmers work long hours in crunch, and crunch leads to mistakes. I'd want 2 patches over the life of the game, to fix mistakes and balance issues. I'd want one patch around 2-4 months out, and another about a year out. Most of the community would pay good money for a 2nd patch, especially if bonus DLC content was included. I think it is very important for a fighting game, with its need for competitive balance, to cover its bases in case of mistakes such as VC or Hilde RO combos.
in-game rewards for netplay should be oriented towards the following:
1) encouraging players not to drop connection.
2) Making it where people do not feel a need to play single-players if they do not wish to. I'm sure you guys spend a ton of time on them, and they're nice, but in the end, a significant portion of the community wants to just play the game, and customize their characters (the one single-player area that the online community really enjoys)
Graphics:
The level of graphical detail in SC4 was fine. I'd just wish to see slowdown be the priority, be sure to try and avoid slowdown on both platforms, even at a slight decrease in scale/graphical quality.
Character customization:
The customization and create-a-soul features in SC4 were the strongest area of the game. I'd like to see these areas expanded upon. The guest characters in SC4- my suggestion would be instead of guest characters, have guest costumes.
Sound:
I'd like to see more old-school SC soundtracks from the first three games. They were superior to SC4. Low priority though.
Game modes:
Special VS was a bad idea aesthetically, as it led to a proliferation of "football helmet clown shoes guy" type outfits. If you are to keep this mode (I suspect you will), I'd suggest implementing set bonuses ala Din's Curse/Diablo to discourage this behavior.
My main wish for SP modes is to be quite blunt and honest, for them to attract casual players who aren't overly interested in competition to play the game, while not forcing me to play the modes. That's the real design challenge with single-player. SP modes often feel like grinding to me, and the last thing I want to do with a game I wish to play for competitive purposes is to grind, either with excessively hard execution or repetitive single-player modes.
I am not a good tournament player- my real ability level is probably that of a decent pot monster. I love the series, because it suits what I like in a fighter, moreso then any other fighter.
Gameplaywise, I think the general gameplay engine in SC4 was actually pretty good. The problem was the game lacked moves/had missing moves, and had severe balancing issues. I actually went to an anime con yesterday and played some SC3. I forgot how sparse the movelists were in 4 until I played 3. Personally, I'd want to see a good portion of the budget set aside
The one thing I would adjust that's been a SC staple is the small handful of overcomplicated moves such as Summon Suffering/Criminal Symphony and a couple others. There's no fun in those moves for many players, as they can't do them without more practice then they're willing to tolerate. This would not sacrifice gameplay, just frustration, provided the character retains sufficient depth (Ivy is one of the deeper characters anyways) I've suggested a double half-circle or a 360 for the moves, which are more logical and learnable then the traditional command, yet of sufficient length to not make them doable on reaction. This is something that should be tested with avverage game players to see if they can learn to occaasionally succeed in performing the command in practice mode after thirty minutes of practice , as a suggestion.
Also, just frame moves that are poorly designed, such as moves that are punishable on-hit if you fail to JF them, need to be avoided at all costs. Just Frames should be a bonus for execution, not a penalty for failing to execute as a general design principle. The bonus can be gameplay, visual, or preferably both.
The only system I'd want to see removed in SC5 is Armor Breaking, because it doesn't really add anything to gameplay, and it's not visually pleasing to fight characters in their underwear.
Critical Finish I am indifferent to in terms of its inclusion or removal, though I believe CF would need to be rethough some if it is kept.
The most important thing though, is that the game stays Soul Calibur, with an emphasis on pokes, frame traps (something missing). I'd want to see long combos kept out of the game. Too many fighting games have those anyways.
Netcode and netplay in general: Netcode in Namco games is flat-out unacceptably horrible. I'd say your goal should be to reach the quality of VF5 on the 360. They accomplished this through generous input buffers and sufficient blockstun. I would alter gameplay in these areas to assist the netcode (and many fighting game hardcores like both those things anyways)
Patching: This is very important, as let's face it, Namco programmers work long hours in crunch, and crunch leads to mistakes. I'd want 2 patches over the life of the game, to fix mistakes and balance issues. I'd want one patch around 2-4 months out, and another about a year out. Most of the community would pay good money for a 2nd patch, especially if bonus DLC content was included. I think it is very important for a fighting game, with its need for competitive balance, to cover its bases in case of mistakes such as VC or Hilde RO combos.
in-game rewards for netplay should be oriented towards the following:
1) encouraging players not to drop connection.
2) Making it where people do not feel a need to play single-players if they do not wish to. I'm sure you guys spend a ton of time on them, and they're nice, but in the end, a significant portion of the community wants to just play the game, and customize their characters (the one single-player area that the online community really enjoys)
Graphics:
The level of graphical detail in SC4 was fine. I'd just wish to see slowdown be the priority, be sure to try and avoid slowdown on both platforms, even at a slight decrease in scale/graphical quality.
Character customization:
The customization and create-a-soul features in SC4 were the strongest area of the game. I'd like to see these areas expanded upon. The guest characters in SC4- my suggestion would be instead of guest characters, have guest costumes.
Sound:
I'd like to see more old-school SC soundtracks from the first three games. They were superior to SC4. Low priority though.
Game modes:
Special VS was a bad idea aesthetically, as it led to a proliferation of "football helmet clown shoes guy" type outfits. If you are to keep this mode (I suspect you will), I'd suggest implementing set bonuses ala Din's Curse/Diablo to discourage this behavior.
My main wish for SP modes is to be quite blunt and honest, for them to attract casual players who aren't overly interested in competition to play the game, while not forcing me to play the modes. That's the real design challenge with single-player. SP modes often feel like grinding to me, and the last thing I want to do with a game I wish to play for competitive purposes is to grind, either with excessively hard execution or repetitive single-player modes.
