Major Update Speculation Thread v12: Layoffs Edition - Games

I want a giant shitstorm mix of ctf, redvsblue, vs-saxton, halloween and mvm.

[QUOTE=Barobax;39712947]Yea, The characters voice is represented in the $4,000 Voice part of the pie graph. I was saying how can they justify having a bigger budget for Audio when Audio probably just means some quick SFX that can probably just be re-used from another character (like each TF2 class sharing the same drowning noise).[/QUOTE] because lots of the sfx wouldn't make sense to reuse, okay maybe for some normals you could make the argument that some punch sfx from another character could be reused, that might make sense, but what if her punch involves leviathan, then it wouldn't make sense to use a standard punch sfx at all. As for any special, those are all fairly unique attacks and similarly wouldn't have recyclable audio. Same goes even more so for supers/blockbusters. Also considering that for the most part the higher up on that list you go (normal->special->super) the more audio you need per move in general, recycling where practical isn't really going to cut down much.

[QUOTE=Fine Hats;39712914]I'm a bit late on the Halloween discussion, but one idea that's been thrown about on the SPUF forums that I really agree with is this: A dedicated boss mode. Based heavily on MvM, a certain amount of people join, Ready up, then fight the boss. The HHH was fun, but every boss after that was an exercise in frustration and just seemed to bring out the worst in the community. Plus, a dedicated boss mode opens up some interesting opportunities for community maps and such.[/QUOTE] This would make Vs Saxton Hale kind of Official, and I'm in for it.

[QUOTE=Fine Hats;39712914]I'm a bit late on the Halloween discussion, but one idea that's been thrown about on the SPUF forums that I really agree with is this: A dedicated boss mode. Based heavily on MvM, a certain amount of people join, Ready up, then fight the boss. The HHH was fun, but every boss after that was an exercise in frustration and just seemed to bring out the worst in the community. Plus, a dedicated boss mode opens up some interesting opportunities for community maps and such.[/QUOTE] I think that's going in the wrong direction actually (not to say anything bad of the saxton hale game mode). I think he reason the HHH was super fun but Merasmus and (especially) Monoculus less so was because HHH was the least threatening of all the bosses. I know, it sounds weird, but think about it for a second. When we got the HHH, we also got mann manor, an entirely new map (with an accompanying non-halloween variant released alongside it) which was really big and had this awesome spooky manor, with a big graveyard and tons of other attractions that were just really cool to look at. It was a fully fledged map in it's own right, 3cp attack/defend. But then we had the horseman on top of that, and unlike the other 2 bosses he didn't make the game basically grind to a halt when he spawned, he chased one player at a time and was not capable of effectively killing multiple players at once. He even added an extra layer to gameplay, if you were the target you could lead the horseman to where you needed lots of people killed and then melee some poor sucker. But it's almost as if the other two bosses didn't understand what made mann manor/the HHH so great. Eyeaduct (visually) seemed like nothing more than a somewhat spookified map they could whack monoculus in to, same with Lakeside and Merasmus. There was no big graveyard, no cool mansion, the maps weren't overhauled enough from their non-halloween skins and it showed, not to mention they weren't new maps either. As for the bosses themselves, they -did- break up the game, once monoculus spawned it was crit rocket fun time don't stand near anything or you and everyone near you will all die, there was no game to be had while he was around. Merasmus was better, they built the spin wheel thingy for him to make him feel like more of a part of the map, but when he spawned he similarly dominated the entirety of the game untill he either left or was killed. I don't think what would make for a better halloween is if they continued to deisgn the map around all of the elements they come up with for the boss, but rather they should design the boss to fit a cool new map. I think that's really what the difference between halloween 2010 and 2011/2012 was. Mann manor was a really cool map that also included the horsemann. Eyeaduct and Lakeside were homes for Monoculus/Merasmus to spawn in, and not much more. All of that said, I thought halloween 2012 was pretty fun what with the spells and the wheel, but mann manor is still my favourite by a lot. 2011, ehhhh. [b]Edit:[/b] man I wrote a lot

That's a good point too. I could see it going either way, honestly.

TF2 Halloween bosses are like film sequels. They get progressively bigger and louder each year in a bid to outdo their predecessor and wow the audience until finally their gimmick wears thin and everybody starts longing for the original.

Why are we talking about Halloween? We need to start speculating on when these current promos will become tradeable. I say the Cockfighter will be available when Hell freezes over, so the next time it snows in Detroit.

[QUOTE=Archimedes;39713577]TF2 Halloween bosses are like film sequels. They get progressively bigger and louder each year in a bid to outdo their predecessor and wow the audience until finally their gimmick wears thin and everybody starts [B]longing for the original[/B].[/QUOTE] I don't see anyone making a fuss over Ghost Zephaniah Mann.

[QUOTE=TectoImprov;39713698]I don't see anyone making a fuss over Ghost Zephaniah Mann.[/QUOTE] I actually prefer him over these new bosses. He was simple, elegant, and wasn't out for a vendetta. If you played smart, You can use him to your advantage unlike the other bosses who are all just either running away from or running towards.

[QUOTE=TectoImprov;39713698]I don't see anyone making a fuss over Ghost Zephaniah Mann.[/QUOTE] Hush, we aren't counting the prequels. [editline]25th February 2013[/editline] You canon nazi.

The point is Zephaniah wasn't a BOSS, cannot be killed, just was hanging around chilling haunting people, noting bad with that man, he seems like a cool guy. Well, it was. I want to think of that. he's not for vendetta or anything like that, just chilling. Boo.

[QUOTE=psyke;39710099]His work is very high quality [img]http://nix.moderatelyimpressive.com/dscontest/submission.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Whoa, you're not kidding. His textures are amazing, reminds me of LaroLaro's texturing. Is Nick going to make the other skullgirl TF2 items as well? If that's the case, I'll really be looking forward to the rest!

I think it's pointless to shoe horn a boss into a gamemode like KOTH. The teamwork required to kill these Halloween bosses require teamwork and inter-teamwork [between Red and Blu] since it's near impossible to kill the bosses without some form of collusion between teams thus interrupting gameplay (even locking the point as the last few Halloweens have shown). They should just make an official VSH-type mode next Halloween where the whole point of it is to defeat a boss.

[QUOTE=Barobax;39713891]I think it's pointless to shoe horn a boss into a gamemode like KOTH. The teamwork required to kill these Halloween bosses require teamwork and inter-teamwork [between Red and Blu] since it's near impossible to kill the bosses without some form of collusion between teams thus interrupting gameplay (even locking the point as the last few Halloweens have shown). They should just make an official VSH-type mode next Halloween where the whole point of it is to defeat a boss.[/QUOTE] That inter-teamwork would be very welcome after the tiny dissapointment of not having members from both red and blu in your MvM team. (I mean tiny cause it wasn't such a big deal, but myself was pretty sad not seeing members from both teams in one side of the action like in the MvM trailer).

[QUOTE=Barobax;39712334]Here is the exact breakdown [img]http://www.labzerogames.com/images/IGG/CostBreakdown.jpg[/img] $20,000 for Quality Assurance. Thats 13% of the budget, As an accountant seeing anything over 5-6% is a big red flag to me.[/QUOTE] 8/10 Would bang. Bang king.

[QUOTE=Barobax;39713891]I think it's pointless to shoe horn a boss into a gamemode like KOTH. The teamwork required to kill these Halloween bosses require teamwork and inter-teamwork [between Red and Blu] since it's near impossible to kill the bosses without some form of collusion between teams thus interrupting gameplay (even locking the point as the last few Halloweens have shown). They should just make an official VSH-type mode next Halloween where the whole point of it is to defeat a boss.[/QUOTE] I liked the Horsemann because you could use the boss to betray the other team. Use him as a distraction, lead him into a cluster of enemies while you tag someone so he'll chase them instead, and he doesn't pussy out and run away, he'll just fight until he's dead. The constant threat of the Horsemann lopping your head off made him scary and that psychological fear made him much more fun to fight against, especially when he singles you out and your character screams in fear while the ground quakes as he draws nearer and nearer. The other bosses don't instill such a fear, they instead instill a desire to work together to kill him. While teamwork is nice and all, it's not scary, it's something you'd expect from MvM or vsHale, not Halloween.

[QUOTE=Barobax;39713891]I think it's pointless to shoe horn a boss into a gamemode like KOTH. The teamwork required to kill these Halloween bosses require teamwork and inter-teamwork [between Red and Blu] since it's near impossible to kill the bosses without some form of collusion between teams thus interrupting gameplay (even locking the point as the last few Halloweens have shown). They should just make an official VSH-type mode next Halloween where the whole point of it is to defeat a boss.[/QUOTE] The only boss that really requires that much inter-teamwork cooperation is Merasmus, because of his ridiculous amount of HP, time-limit, and AOE attacks. Pumpkinface and his lesser regarded cousin Eyeball can both be taken down and killed by both teams just shooting them, even if Cataracts McSquinty will probably nuke the entire map a thousand times over and disappear once or twice before he finally meets the big Optromitist in the sky. Merasmus has all the busy work and HP, and a lot of the strategy's that seemed to be employed against him usually required 2 entire teams of snipers just sitting around the control point waiting for him to spawn just so that they can wittle him down to a few hundered health before he dissapears into the sky because nobody could figure out which prop he was disguised as in an adequate time frame.

the year with Monoculus I ended up playing on the Horsemann's map more lol [editline]25th February 2013[/editline] monoculus was so boring

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;39714059]the year with Monoculus I ended up playing on the Horsemann's map more lol [editline]25th February 2013[/editline] monoculus was so boring[/QUOTE] They openly acknowledged that he was boring by making him come back "angrier." When in reality he was just an annoyance that flies around the map doing drive-bys.

[QUOTE=alsoodani;39713853]Is Nick going to make the other skullgirl TF2 items as well?[/QUOTE] It was stated somewhere that he's doing all of them.

The Skullgirls team is really nice so you should consider donating even without the incentive of the TF2 hat. That's all. :3

[QUOTE=HerSilverHammer;39713950]8/10 Would bang. Bang king.[/QUOTE] Her tits look really fucking worn out, 1/10, would not shag in my lifetime.

So the Skullgirls team just confirmed that if you get the game through Indiegogo, you get any other TF2 hats they add.

Humour me, have they mentioned anything about a Mac release for Skullgirls or not?

[QUOTE=1Eevee1;39714271]Humour me, have they mentioned anything about a Mac release for Skullgirls or not?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Currently they are only making the PC version of the game for Windows although they’re going to look into Cider (a Mac wrapper) for Mac. Peter went on to mention “I can run SG at 60 FPS already under Parallels, so Cider should be able to run it fine.” If it is possible this would make Skullgirls pretty much the only fighting game on the platform.[/QUOTE]

I'd totally help out but I need an extra $15 for the $30 milestone. Time to pester everyone I know.

I always wanted skullgirls but don't have a Ps Triple. so this is good news for me. [t]http://puu.sh/28kwm[/t] A big Band T-shirt would be so cool.

I'm not getting all the hate I am seeing everywhere for Skullgirls it's a competent fighter with great style. People are outraged that they're crowd funding it yet have little to no knowledge of what is actually being offered.

so the skullgirls TF2 promos, there will be one for indiegogo and a different one for Steam? And you can't get both? Am I correct on this one? [editline]25th February 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Omolong;39714189]So the Skullgirls team just confirmed that if you get the game through Indiegogo, you get any other TF2 hats they add.[/QUOTE] snap didn't see this, so indiegogo is the best option for this?

[QUOTE=ned_ballad;39712716]If I am so hard pressed to release my already finished game that I need to ask the community to front me the money, I'd, quite frankly, just get my mom/sister/wife/girlfriend/neighbor lady/etc to do the voice and just rent out a studio for a few hours for a couple hundred dollars. Isn't the lead artist a woman? Can she grunt into a microphone for a few hours? Will she cost 5k? [editline]25th February 2013[/editline] if she needs a theme song, and she's an Opera themed character, just do a cool remix of Carmen or some public domain Opera and save lots of money Seems like there are avenues they could save money, they just want the best of the best (but don't have the budget for it)[/QUOTE] Well they are planning on selling Skullgirls for money. I mean, that's... that's kind of how the game industry works. You can't half ass a commercial product, or no-one would buy it (I hope). Those budgeting ideas might work on no-budget indie games but for a product that you expect people to pay money for? No-one would go for it.