'Story Mode' For VF5?

Hmm, I like your idea, but I feel like the only reason a casual would play would be for a short term goal. Usually that goal is beating the game with the characters so they can unlock stories and endings. For my backstory idea, you don't have to have every story be a sob story. Lau is in the mafia or something right? you could have a cool mafia story for him etc.

Of course, your idea works too, and is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT from the nothing that we have now, but there would ATLEAST have to be an ending, and maybe a middle cutscene (for when you beat your rival or something.)

They could also do it SF style, where when you beat one you get a piece of what the whole story, and when you beat a bunch you know whats happening, and also get some motivations and lifestyles etc across too.

Its really not that hard to please them... casuals are simple people..

 

I don't follow sports and I disagree. My employees and friends talk about baseball, etc. There's always an element of "I hate team X". That's the BigBad right there.

 

Fixed.

People watch sports games sometimes just to follow the "star player"... Technically that would be considered a 'Big Bad'... Hated teams/players are considered 'Big Bad'. My NFL team the Baltimore Ravens has 3 rivals and I consider them 'Big Bad'...

Every story has a protagonist and an antagonist for the most part. In some cases, they can be the same thing. Most successful stories have that element, even if there are multiple antagonists (hero vs self, hero vs villian, etc)...

 

Long story short. Story shit sells copies and doesn't take a whole lot of effort. I can't say I haven't paid attention to the choppy stories in most fighters; in fact I'd say sometimes I learn the other characters simply because I wanted to see their ending.

 

Sometimes theres someone who is dominant in a sport and people would love to see him lose. When the the dominant player or team becomes close to losing to someone 'inferior' theres always excitement involved. Will the underdog make it? Or will the opponent do something at the last moment and pull a victory like he was expected to?

This underdog-thinking doesnt really relate to fighting games because characters are supposed to be balanced, but it is essentially same 'big bad' -thinking in sports as well.

 

That's true, it doesn't relate to fighting games in terms of balancing. I was just referring to the story aspect. Some people merely play Tekken to see what the Mishimas are up to nowadays. Finding out about Lars and how he's as much of a bastard-child as Lee Chaolan is (they don't have EWGFs either) actually draws some people into the game...

 

Yeah, you ask someone from Green Bay how they feel about Brett Favre going to the Vikings, and see what their answer is.

 

Let me post something from a slightly different perspective.

I don't know if many people here have a read the book called "Plot Thickens" by Noah Lukeman. It's a highly recommended book for anyone interested in creative writing. Not surprisingly the book devotes a big chunk of pages to writing characters.

Some of the processes the book recommends are highly illuminating if not mind boggling. The book basically tells you to ask all kinds of fathomable questions about the characters you create. Is he jealous? addictive? resist authority? follow authority? How does he spend his everyday life? Does he spend his days regretting his mistakes? Does he spend his time planning for future? Is he a failed writer? Does he crave expensive food?

The list of questions are too numerous to list. And potentially more poignant questions arise out of each. (If he is a failed writer, why did he want to become a writer in the first place and what does he want to do about it?)

You may never actually use the answer to many of the questions you ask about the character. But the point is that in order to give 3 dimensional depth to your character, thus make him/her real, you need to spend time to think about your character's details, motivations and background stories, to reiterate the obvious and state that every little detail matters for developing a character.

How does all these relate to goddamn fighting games? Before answering that let me ask you: If all the fluff don't matter and only game mechanics matter, why not have a "Virtual Fighter" with some stick figures? You can have a perfectly perfect game with stick figures and it won't make a difference, right?

Wrong, because you know the characters do matter, and not just for the casuals. The characters are your EMOTIONAL anchor to the game world. And if the characters matter, by extension STORIES DO MATTER because you can't have a real character without one. Even if you write down "Mr X is the badassest fighter in the world" that's still a story, just not a very developed one.

VF's story sucks even among the fighting games and therefore, by extension, the characters suck too. You know it. I know it. I pray that Sega knows it. But you can't claim it doesn't matter and doesn't make a difference. It has been making differences for 17 frigging years and not for better.

 

Good post Hyunster... I do agree... But, Marshall Law's stories sucked since day 1, but because he's based off of Bruce Lee (which he has a story and a legacy), people want to pick him up and learn his moves. Image is everything nowadays. Stories work for games more like Mass Effect, where there's tons of things to read, but it all connects and makes the player become more engrossed with the game. But even in that, there's an image to that segment on the Asarian race, so people can place that data to an image/face.

Stories do matter, but depending on what the story is about, it might very well need alot of glitter and glam. Some stories are only good on one medium, but when placed on something else, it sucks. It's like drawing with charcoal on a canvas vs an artpad. It has a different effect in the end, and depending on what was done, it might look great, or it might look like a smeared mess...

 

Okay, you guys talking about the "sports teams" aspect, are agreeing with me but don't know it. See, what you're talking about are rivalries and underdog's rise to glory, which is what should exist in VF's plot. When I say "Big Bad", I mean crap like Shadaloo, J6, NESTS, Mishima Corp. This is the type of Saturday morning cartoons tripe, that has nothing to do with the spirit of competitive sports, that VF's atmosphere needs none of.

About "The Plot Thickens"... that's exactly what I'm saying VF needs: Concentrate on the characters and make them feel 3-dimensional to the player. Forget the Saturday morning overtures which do nothing to connect the player to the character.

And yes, image is important. Which is why the costumes mode of VF is such a boon for the game. LOL at Jacky being able to dress up like Michael Jackson. The game needs more costume bits like that.

 

Okay, you are actually delusional. By responding to me, you'd be agreeing with me and totally unaware of it.

So - Ken vs. Ryu = OK

-and-

Guile vs. Dictator = Crap*

*Even though they are rivals - but - OH NO... Dictator = Shadaloo = crap = rivals = or wait... rival crap = Yankees = BigBad = crappy rival?

Besides - you clearly misspell your own name.

 

Ken vs Ryu = Yes, ok.

Guile vs VegaBison = Ok. In fact I liked Bison in SF2:TWW, because he reminded me of Khmer Rouge or something.

Everyone vs VegaBison = Stupid.

VegaBison is in charge of the tournament for some cartoon villain reason = This is the kind of crap that makes me not care that VF has no story mode.

And... I misspelled an online handle that may or may not be my name? LOL?

 

What VF needs is only some generic endings for each character that gives the characters some meat to their bony personality and every one will be happy

 

For some reason, boss = pandemic. BigBad = sales.

Oh... Mlai = Liam = Qui-Gon Jinn = Jin = Devil Jin = Jinpachi Mishima = BigBad

Clearly you misspell your own name and are delusional.


Honestly, the fantasy BigBad has no place in reality as far as I'm concerned. Imagine Sauron's forces winning the final battle in Lord of the Rings. What would these hordes of dark minions do afterwards? Set up a chamber of commerce?

We're talking about games, though. As subjective as I may think the concept of BigBad is, it still moves emotions.

BigBad exists in people's minds.

I think J6 could use more definition. It makes sense that they are tournament organizers (someone needs to sponsor it). The rest is kind of murky to me. Would I like the game better if I knew Akira's REAL role in toppling J6? I really don't know. But that's just me.

Welcome to VFDC. Speak for yourself and, hopefully, you'll get along fine.

 

Some people are taking this too seriously

 

I like the story of quest mode already. You are a vf player going around Japan arcades beating ghost players.

 

Oh sh- My thought process been discovered how is this possible.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What would these hordes of dark minions do afterwards? Set up a chamber of commerce?</div></div>
A fighting tournament, ofc.

 

Just face the facts that Dega is not going to spend millions that they arent going to make back just to do CGI for some random n00b that will quit the game in a month. Amore rational ,realistic request would be for Sega to add subtitles to what the japanese characters are saying. Also translate the move list.Nobody gets excited when they read a move list thats ays Koushutai , and Ensei Kosouha.
Translate the movelist to english and you might give them a reason to care about learning a laundry list of moves.

True story,when I first had V2 on Saturn I thinkI had it 3 months before I learned what AKira's reversals were, I looked on the end of his movelist and it said Gaiman Chouchu, G DB P. I think what happened was the CPU Akira reversed one of my high kicks and I was like"how the fuck did he do that?" And started giving his movelist a stern re-evaluation.



Now if the Movelist said "reversal" I would known what the fuck was going on and learn it from day one rather than 3 months after buying the home version. EGM and Gameplayers dropped the ball also, I used to play the arcade VF2 all through the summer of '95, both those magazines published movelists, but nobody mentioned Akira's reversals, or even listed them with the obscure Japanese nomenclalture.

 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">just to do CGI for some random n00b that will quit the game in a month.</div></div>
A sale is a sale. Also, cutscenes using only in-game models are perfectly acceptable. DOA does it just fine. Sega can even use the cutscene costumes as more Quest Mode items.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">add subtitles to what the japanese characters are saying.</div></div>
Oh god yes. They're the only good voice actors in that game I'd like to know what they're saying.

The English VAs, I wish I couldn't understand them.