Thinking about it, I have literally no interest in the more technical aspects of the process, which I assume would be the ‘programming’ part. I’m more passionate about bringing my characters and ‘world’ to life, although I obviously also have some idea of the ‘style’ of fighting game I’d like to develop, in regards to gameplay and mechanics, as well. With that said, it would probably make sense for me to pursue art, at least to start.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. Really, nothing is set in stone yet at all and my inquiry was purely hypothetical, but I just wanted to gain a little bit of perspective and I appreciate these responses in allowing me to do just that. (Really hope this post made sense lololol)
Yea if you love art purse that. all though he is right fighting games aren’t that big of a market. It would take far less time and resources to develop mobile games. so you might be better off starting with mobile games first.
I would say that programming is exactly what brings your characters and ‘world’ to life, otherwise what you have is a collection or art assets. But I understant what you are trying to say, in this case, just invest in learing art, you might help in a FG project someday, or use your art in a fighing game creator program.
As evident by SFII series, MK series and Smash series, fighting games can be money makers. The reason IMO why fighters today don’t sell as much is because most aren’t designed with today’s gamer in mind, and as shallow as this is. Aesthetics. SFIV even though I enjoy the game, is the COD of fighters. People seem to rag on it left and right, but it’s the game everyone’s playing. Also it has a legacy and strong large fanbase which practically guaranteed success despite not really being casual friendly. MK while always inferior gameplay wise pre MK9, managed to captivate everyone with its aesthetics, with the gore and fatalities. And their games were always packed with lots of content so 1v1 fights wasn’t all there was. And Smash like SF and MK has iconic characters, also very unique gameplay and arguably no execution barrier. Fighters can make money if they’re made with the casual player in mind and the aesthetics and characters are appealing to the demographic in where it’s sold.
Yea but that’s top 5 fighting games that each took millions to develop. You can make a mobile game for 400 - 2000 dollars that has the potential to make millions. I read somewhere mortal kombat 9 costed over 10 million to develop and made approximately 300 million back. compare that to angry birds or flappy birds. Mobile games for casual players are cheaper and have more profit potential.
If you try to make a good fighting game you should do it because your passionate about fighting games.
I won’t disagree that today’s gamers aren’t really into fighters, but you’ve just explained how branding has made those games successful. Give some examples of a new IP that has taken the market by storm, and you might have an arguments for getting into fighting game development. So far, SG is the most successful I’ve seen, since it still has players, and it still has some exposure at EVO. But given the rocky, unstable path the game has been down, it’s hard to point to it for motivation.
@ascensionX Angry Birds is like a one in a million success story. You have any idea how many mobile games have now flooded the market with only a few succeeding? I guess with the low risk and high reward chance like you said, that’s why. But most aren’t going to make millons off a game overnight. However I will say fighters are a challenge and is not a genre for an inexperienced new dev to tackle. Be after gaining some experience I see no reason why a dev can’t succeed and make money with one if they deslgn it with today’s gamer in mind.
@Kwyjibo I gave reasons to why new fighting IPs haven’t had the success of older IPs like SF or MK. New IPs aren’t really designed for today’s average gamer. Most are still designed in a way that would’ve been OK to us who were gamers in the 90’s. ( Execution requirements, lack of extra modes, etc ) But today’s gamers taste are different. Smash was already ahead of the curve, and MK has adapted quite nicely. SF has a legacy and hardcore following. New fighters like Skullgirls or Blazblue, while the former is easier to get into, aestheticaly they aren’t really appealing to the average gamer. Atleast amongst my piers. They look at it and be like “What is this anime shit? Get this outta here” Where as a fighter like SFs aesthetics are more appealing to American taste.
Ok I see what you mean. The problem with using Smash as an example is that it’s so different from traditional fighters. You could argue that Smash-style brawlers would become the new fighters, and that wouldn’t be too different from modern, tactical shooters replacing twitch shooters in the past. Or some hybrid of brawlers and fighters maybe.
The things is though, if you set out to make a fighter because you love the genre, and you have to make it something very different to appeal to more people, would you want to do that? What would be the point, you may as well just make something else? That’s like someone who is passionate about UT and Quake 3 deciding to make a game because they love those games and want to make their own, and then deciding to make a CoD or BF style game instead because that is what is selling. If the original passion for the idea is gone, you’d just be making a game for the money, and we are left with my original argument, that he may as well just get into making mobile games.
The exception to this would be if he’s not really interested in making a fighter, he just wants to make something 1v1 that resembles a fighter. If his goal is to make a new kind of fighter that could take things in a new direction and redefine the genre(or make a new one), then I would agree with you. If he just wants to make his own fighting game, I don’t think it’s really worth it, he may as well just make a MUGEN mod.
I worked as a freelance user interface design and I made a few splash screen that made it into angry birds. I then put tpgether a small team and tried to make a fighting game. I got an award for my designs for mobile games, and i had to hit the books just to try and get something decent. the problem is fighting games push the boundaries graphically and technically. I think it might be easier to make a first person shooter then a good fighting game. ( i learned the hard way trying to make a fighting game is far harder then you can imagine. )
@kwyjibo “If his goal is to make a new kind of fighter that could take things in a new direction and redefine the genre(or make a new one), then I would agree with you. If he just wants to make his own fighting game, I don’t think it’s really worth it, he may as well just make a MUGEN mod.” THIS! That exactly what I’m talking about and frankly that’s what the genre needs! More games like smash and arena fighters that break away from tradition set by SFII and takes the genre in different directions. That is what made Smash standout and become a hit.
I would somewhat agree, but he would have to be passionate about that idea in order for it be anything more than just a job
But getting a bit off topic, is that what you really want to happen? I’d hate for fighters as we know them to be replaced with Smash-style games. Nothing against Smash, but it’s not my thing. I’d imagine that a fellow fighting game enthusiasts would feel the same way, and would rather see that as a last resort thing, rather than the necessary path. I’m not convinced that all avenues have been exhausted, and that there is no other way but to drastically change the formula.
@kywjibo I’m not saying to do away with traditional fighters. Just have more fighters that bring something to the genre other than just their own tweaks to the traditional formula.
It’s probably yours or anyone elses best shot if you don’t currently program at all. There’s a pretty low chance someone with coding experience on SRK is going to volunteer their time to your creative vision, and even lower chance that the person who volunteers will be competent or reliable or isn’t juggling work and school at the same time. Even for people with a programming background making a fighting game isn’t easy.
I suggest you learn programming and download Unity.
Well all devs start at 0, if he doesn’t start with low level indie project, how else is he supposed to get into making games? No one’s gonna come and ask him to direct a million $ project right after graduating.
Well if you start off playing around on UE4 using blueprints you don’t really need coding experience, if you use epics “sidescroller template” as a base and just work off that you could have a fairly rudimentary fighting game made in a few hours after going through 1 or 2 video tutorial series from Epic.
Nah, most games in general suck. Take a look at the entire library of video games that came out for a specific genre and tell me you played and liked them all and would support that company for now on. Every single one of them.
You’ve got people who scatter their interests, get selective, jump on a bandwagon, or become part of a cult. And your game has just as much chance to get left in the dust as any other person’s. Don’t believe this “try a better genre cuz FGs suck” crap. The big problem is ingenuity. Every game has risk when you make them. Hell that goes for every product out there. And the more accepted a genre is the higher the standard. Make an FPS and you’re bound to be looked at as generic, there are plenty of people doing it right so why bother when there’s little to improve on?
Meanwhile fighting games is a new frontier, you can hardly even use the word niche within the genre because it’s considered niche in the first place.
What you get from trying other genres first is understanding. Even if you get it in theory, you aren’t going to understand the nuances of making a game or trying your hand at the market on your first try. Nor is it worth making your ideal game without the foundation you see fit for it.
You get your name out there, you build relationships. You get people interested in you. HAL even started off making a pinball game before making Smash Bros. In fact, I can bring you an article where it was stated they got the idea for their system based on it. Ingenuity can be learned through experience.