[El Sloth]

Edit Part Duex: Painwheel Character Introduction Video.

Edit: Painwheel being played in an actual match.

Update- New playable character/boss Valentine announced:

While America sleeps and shops, the newest character has been revealed over at Eurogamer! http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...eils-valentine

...So, as you can see, we've moved onto bosses. I'm going to confirm here and now that Squigly and Umbrella are not going to be in the core game, and both will be early DLC characters. This wasn't an easy decision: the game's budget couldn't cover 10 characters, we needed bosses, and neither of these characters have a particularly prominent role in the first arc of the story. On top of that, Squigly's gameplay concept is pretty out there, and couldn't be accomplished with our existing tech. I hope all the Squigly and Umbrella fans out there understand, and I think they'll be worth the wait.

Official Site updated! http://skullgirls.com/characters/valentine/ Whoa, whoa... don't go putting words in my mouth! This is how rumors get started, and you know how people feel about Day 1 DLC. If we have any Day 1 DLC at all, it'll be free. And it certainly wouldn't be anything "essential" like new characters.

---------------------------------------

Painwheel Revealed
The link is to an archive of the Gamespot show On The Spot, which was earlier today, but all the Painwheel stuff is in the very beginning.

Since a lot of of posts on the game kind of ghettoized itself to one thread, here are some things that people who haven’t heard of Skullgirls might like to know:

Reverge Labs on Tutorials - Tutorials: Teaching the Untechable

Teaching people to play is an area that fighting games have traditionally done very poorly in. Some games attempt to ease the introduction to the world of fighting games by including beginner modes with simplified controls. The problem is this creates a real disconnect between the player’s controls and the actions they see on screen – while they can press buttons to make rainbows and get in faster, it tends to make things more confusing in the long run. It also forces the player to unlearn almost everything they’ve learned if they ever want to start playing without assistance turned on. ... For the various elements of the game, we start with defense, not only teaching you guard against various types of attacks, but also how people will try and get around those protections. Then we teach you how to employ those techniques yourself. We think this approach will give people a better foundation. Not only will people learn how to perform techniques, but also when they should and why. ... We’re also trying to keep the learning as interactive as possible. As an example, I’m working on a tutorial now about punishing unsafe attacks. The obvious way to implement this would be to have a computer opponent perform unsafe attack strings, and ask the opponent to follow up with a counter attack. And we do that. But in the next challenge, the opponent attacks you with both safe and unsafe strings, and asks the player to punish only the unsafe strings. This way, we not only teach you about safe vs. unsafe, but also make you apply that knowledge in a (more) realistic situation so that knowledge really sticks.

Reverge on Infinites - [Damage x N] – The Problem With Loops

A loop which could be repeated forever if the opponent had unlimited health is called an “infinite combo,” and one touch from a character with a practical infinite combo is usually deadly. Loops allow characters to easily reach, if not flat-out exceed, their maximum developer-intended damage potential off one hit, which in many cases upsets the balance of the game. ... Developers test the games intensively and fix problems which arise during development that the system doesn’t properly detect by tweaking the characters and sometimes the system itself. However, testing is never able to find 100% of the problems in any game: invariably, when the game is released, loops are found which occupy the grey area that the developers decided was acceptable for a combo to continue and the whole system breaks down. ... A game can only truly be tested once players get ahold of it, learn how it works, and the playstyle has time to evolve. With that in mind, the Skullgirls engine actually adapts per combo to detect loops and allow the opponent an opportunity to escape. That means there is no grey area, and when a loop is discovered that we didn’t remove it won’t be a game-breaking advantage. The system can even be “nicer” early on in a combo, which lets players re-use moves and exercise their creativity while still guaranteeing no practical infinite combos exist. In effect, this system rewards the discovery of non-looping combos rather than rewarding the discovery of the easiest possible loop.

Reverge on Online play - Skullgirls, GGPO… and You

GGPO, short for “Good Game, Peace Out” is a networking library written by Tony Cannon (of shoryuken.com and Evo fame), and it’s what Skullgirls uses for online play. I personally believe it is the future of playing fighting games online, but some players have been complaining about the online experience in the recently released Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition, which also uses GGPO. A few people have even been disappointed enough to ask me if we would change Skullgirls to use something else. It seems to me that people are blaming GGPO for these problems, when in fact they have not been properly taught how to get the most out of it. What is this “lag?” Lag is any extra delay in character response beyond what is normal for the game. “Input lag” in game design terms refers to any amount of time that elapses between a player’s input and the corresponding character response. All games have some, and in fact the smallest achievable amount of lag is 3 frames at 60 FPS (an explanation of which is beyond the scope of this post). However, playing a game online adds extra delay because information must be exchanged across the internet, and this is what players commonly refer to as “lag.”Internet delay is never zero, even if you play someone in the next room. ... But if lag is always there online, how can GGPO “get rid of lag?” It can’t actually “get rid of lag,” but it can allow the game to proceed as if there wasn’t any. With GGPO, in our example above Alex can choose how many frames the game delays his input on his own console, meaning he can choose to have the game react instantly. Thus, for his own character he experiences zero input lag. This means all his combos, links, throw techs and other timing-sensitive things will feel exactly the same as if Alex were playing offline, making his experience infinitely more useful. ... But remember, the internet delay is still there. So if Alex chooses zero input lag and presses a button on frame 10, the game will react instantly… but it has to guess what Bob was doing. Alex may see his attack hit on frame 12, but the game doesn’t yet know if Bob was blocking. So when Bob’s frame 12 input arrives on frame 17, the game may possibly have to travel back in time to revise itself and instead show that Bob had blocked the attack on frame 12, thus on frame 17 he’s now in block stun rather than hitstun. This “rollback” shows up as visual choppiness, which gets worse with weaker connections since the game has to revise itself more frequently. ... To summarize - GGPO allows players to choose between lag-free gameplay with occasionally choppy visuals depending on the connection, or smoother visuals with more gameplay lag. Traditional networking code doesn’t offer any choice except smooth visuals with laggier gameplay depending on the connection, and while this looks nice, the option to have lag-free gameplay is a much more instructive online experience if players choose to use it.

Animating the Skullgirls Way(Video)

There was a thread for this piece of news a while back, but Michiru Yamane of Castelvania fame is composing the soundtrack for the game for those that still had not heard. If you're interested on how Reverge pulled that off check their blog post about it.


Past Character Announcement Videos:
Ms. Fortune

Parasoul

Peacock

Cerebella

Filia

[Dizzy-4U]

Go Skullgirls! With all the stuff they have shown already, I'm pretty sure this will be my GOTY and probably my most played game of this gen. Ratio 4 Cerebella is all I need!

[sixteen-bit]

Gamespot's media player is so bad.

I'm sure it's a cool video though. I've seen the character design and I'm sure she plays interestingly.

[SolarPowered]

New thread for new news.

This should make for a much better thread now that all that clutter is gone. Hopefully it'll attract more people.

Gamespot's media player is so bad. I'm sure it's a cool video though. I've seen the character design and I'm sure she plays interestingly.

Heh... it runs just fine for me.

[Criminal Upper]

Wow @ that On The Spot segment. No sound, awkward pauses, lackluster explaination...and just, it was a bad way to show off the game.

"So before we go, do you have anything to add that's cool and awesome about Skullgirls that you'd like the fans to know?"

"Uhh...not really."

WTF

Still looking forward to it, but that segment was kinda a disaster.

[DiscoShark]

Great stuff on the new thread, this is definitely something we needed. Ya know I'm really happy about how Painwheel ended up turning out but the On the Spot video only has me wanting an even more in depth overview of the character, special moves and supers (with the exception of one) were kind of omitted for the sake of time and giving a general overview of Painwheel and the game.

[Dizzy-4U]

60fps goodness (old for those who were in the old thread): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D0JIXT27

[Fallacy]

That interview was very...interesting. Painwheel looks cool though, can't wait to see what's next in Skullgirls.

[El Sloth]

Well, hopefully we get a video that shows off a bit more of what she can do soon.

Hey, Ravidrath, a question about Painwheel's charged up moves: does she have "armor" similar to the kind Sentinal has in Mvc3 or can she take any number of hits without the move being interrupted?


First character with a flight mode; this the air superiority character you guys mentioned a while back?

[Ravidrath]

Huh, so my interview sucked? The guys at the office said they thought it went well.

And, really, I hate open-ended things like "tell me something awesome about your game" - the answers are really never particularly informative and they just come off as being blindly hype-y.

Well, hopefully we get a video that shows off a bit more of what she can do soon. Hey, Ravidrath, a question about Painwheel's charged up moves: does she have "armor" similar to the kind Sentinal has in Mvc3 or can she take any number of hits without the move being interrupted? First character with a flight mode; this the air superiority character you guys mentioned a while back?

Working on setting up a more in-depth video now! Hoping we can get it going the week after next while I'm on the European media tour.

Yeah, her charge mechanic wasn't quite working yet, but it will have armor. How many hits and if it reduces damage will be determined by playtesting. Any damage she takes while charging will be added to her attack when the charge is done or you let go of the button.

And, yeah, Painwheel is the aerial dominance character.

[Ravidrath]

Found a YouTube version of the bit, for the people who are having a hard time with Gamespot's player:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=TPZnfCxdj0s

[SolarPowered]

This is the first collection of questions and answers from the large Q&A thread over at SRK(Shoryuken.com) with tons of relevant info on the game. It covers a wide range of subjects stretching from modes to characters and even mechanics like the ratio system(life/damage increases depending on team sizes).

Credit goes to Zebster from SRK who compiled all of Mike Z's(battle director/planner for Skullgirls) answers. I changed it up a bit by highlighting Mike's answers for easier reading. I'll post the second collection of Q&A's a little later, but it should still be within the first hundred posts so that a big chunk of info can stay on the most viewed page of the thread. Folks who aren't well acquainted with fighters can skip over most stuff, but there is some more mundane stuff here that even the inexperienced folks can understand.

Q:what happens when you put a move like Ms. Fortune's head bowling ball roll onto a custom assist?the first time I assume it does it, then the head stays out, what happens the 2nd time you call the assist? A: I'll have to test this to make sure, but I think since qcb+p does bowling ball with head on and recalls the head if it's off, it would do whichever of those is appropriate. Q: can you do full rekkas as an assist? or just the first part? A: Just one, the followups count as separate moves. Q: Question for you guys; how are grabs inputted in this game? lp and lk? I was just looking at Cerebella's command list, and I had always assumed grabs were done like Marvel 2. A: Yep, throw is LP+LK. Command throws are motion+throw. Q: So what attack will come out if you set the custom assist to one of the assist commands (lp+mk, etc.)? A: To use a move as an assist it must be on a list of acceptable inputs. If you did something like that it would just pick whatever has highest priority, so in the case of lp+mk you'd just get standing MK. Q: If the head gets hit before the body, does the body get hit at all? A: If you hit both her and the head with a physical attack, they will both get hit. However, projectiles lose their hitbox once they collide with something, so if a projectile goes through Fortune's head, the head will eat the hitboxes and the projectile won't keep going to hit fortune. Peacock's fat man works the same way, if it's sitting between peacock and the other character, projectiles will collide with it and not hit the other character. Q: 1. Skullgirls has frameskip now? Does that mean that there are more frames of gameplay than frames of animation? Does this cause frame data to be inconsistent or anything? A: Just to say it, SG has always had frameskip. It is useful to be able to develop the game at a slower speed than people want to play it. But frameskip doesn't work the way you think it does - you show some frames then one time you update twice before showing the next frame. It's how 2D fighting games, which update in discrete frames, have always done Turbo settings. Ours is a bit...better...in that you can still give the game input during the dropped frame so you don't get things like 1f-post-flash supers being randomly unblockable. And no, the frame data doesn't change at all. Q: If you set Parasouls tear throw as an assist, how far does it go before its set? Does it go all the way to the floor? Immediately released? A set time designated for assist only? Until you release the assist buttons? A: the assist only uses the default setup location for the tears (or the wall if it hits that first i guess). Q: Can Ms. Fortune air dash after she uses the uppercut's follow up? A: yes. Q: What are the differences between normal jump and super jump state, other than not being able to call assists in SJ state? Are there myriad triggers to switch from NJ to SJ state and vice versa like in MvC2? A: As far as state goes just calling assists, that's about it. :^P There are some triggers, but not many. Attacks don't switch you, like some in MvC2 did. Q:How does chip damage work? What types of moves chip, which don't? Is it a set percentage of damage that is chip or do some moves chip more than others? A: Chip damage is set per move. Specials/supers chip, normals don't. Though this is completely up to me so some supers may not in the future, and some normals may, although that was a point of contention in MvC2. Q: So, can I say, set DP-HP for Ms. Fortunes assist and then, based on whether or not I have my head on, my assist is either a positional invincible uppercut or a long range poke where my character is A: Actually, no. Assists are not "these inputs go to my character", they are "these inputs mean this attack, so my character will do this attack". You can't option-select assist, and you can't set DP+HP as an assist because it isn't a move Fortune herself normally has. s.HP and c.HP are usable assists (and are headbutt and blood slide, respectively, if you don't have your head on). Possibly I'll change this in the future, but for now that's the deal. Q:Was there any thought about adding short hops to the game? A: Short hops: No. They sort of never came up, since this is more airdash-y so you can control your jump height other ways. Plus, standard short hop is an input that's extremely difficult for newer players, and it requires characters to have way more jump startup to account for letting go of Up in time. Q: What's the chance of Parasoul having a counter move? A: Parasoul counter - the chances of Parasoul's moveset changing at this point are exactly zero unless it's to fix a bug. (^.^) Q: Is there any chance in the future to give existing characters more supers to choose from, like 3rd Strike and SSF 4? A: This made me laugh pretty hard. In 3s, everyone has 3 supers but you only get to use 1 per match. In AE everyone has 1 super and 2 Ultras, but you only get to use one of the Ultras. In both of those cases there is usually one better choice and you rarely see the other choices utilized (Shippu, Aegis, etc). In SG, everyone has at least 2 Lv1s and a Lv3. I could certainly add a mode where we make your super bar longer, make everything a Lv1, and force you to choose so you are unable to use all three supers in the same match, but why would I do that? (^.^) I'd rather balance the supers. (May as well also automatically grant you Max Level when you have 20% health left, and have the infinite prevention system stop applying to your character...) Generally I'm against forcing people to choose stuff like this - the fact is that the "choice" is usually an illusion because once the best option is figured out there really isn't a choice anymore, so all it really does is artificially lengthen the period of discovery by making people stumble around for longer. It also becomes harder to balance, because what if nobody really plays S-Groove during playtesting? In addition, since you are removing options from characters, it sometimes shifts the balance of matchups in ways I don't entirely agree with since you force worse characters to choose to do without a useful option. Answer concerning the ratio system (Multiple questions asked): Choice vs ratios - ratios are included because I noticed one of the biggest things people LIKED about CvS2 was that they could play just one character if they only liked one. We did a lot of work to try to balance them better, but the only want to really know is to try. It's my hope that, if the choice eventually becomes illusory, the ratio system will be meaningful like the Groove system was in CvS2 as opposed to the Ratio system there. In other words, some characters were good in A, some in K, some in N, but universally R2/R1/R1 was the best team makeup. You saw a decent variety of grooves, but not of ratios. So obviously I'd love if it you can play anything you want and be competitive, which would mean we really nailed it...but since that's unlikely in the long-long-term I'd prefer it to end up that some chars are good solo, some are good on teams of 2, some on teams of 3, rather than that a team of 2 (or 3, or 1) is always the best choice. Statement: Look closer, right after her grab there's a move that she does where the eye flies off of her arm and sits in the air. Afterwards, it shoots in a direction. Kind of like Dizzy's swords. Must have just gotten scrapped... Reply: It was a lot harder to make Peacock's eyelaser thing useful than just making the laser bigger. Plus it wasn't necessary for her playstyle, TBH. It may find a way in, you never know. Q: Was there ever any further work on giving a one-person team a way to use/regain red life in any way? A: The short answer is, we tried stuff, but at present single characters are still plenty good without any of this - adding VS life regen was way too much, and even red life alpha counters were very strong. I'd like to avoid giving them any sort of unique move because I'm not really trying to give SG "grooves" per se, that's an overall design choice. Single characters are the newbie-friendly team since you don't have to worry about assists/tagging/etc, so I prefer that your character is who they are and you don't have to learn additional moves that are then unusable when you decide to try adding a teammate. I'm open to changing things in the future (in order: red life ACs, VS regen, just defend) if single characters end up completely useless like CvS2, but this is NOT going to be in a knee-jerk patch 2 months after release. At the same time, though, if there has to be a generally stronger team setup I would rather it be 2 or 3 instead of 1, because the dynamics are more interesting...to me, anyway, and I'm the one making the choice, so ha. Q: 2. Are there any charge moves that can be used while moving in the game so far? Not charge moves as in Guile moves, I mean moves like Zero's Buster or Mega Man's charge shot. A: so far peacock is the only one. her item drop is a chargeable move like that. Q: Can she charge it and move at the same time? I don't think so right? A: Yes, she can. Q: Since it was brought up in the general discussion thread; does 2D fuzzy guard (which, as I understand it, means after stand blocking a move your vulnerable hitboxes remain your standing ones for the duration of blockstun, even if you crouch) exist in this game? A:Yes, if you block something standing, even if you hold down-back during blockstun you remain in standing position. Q: OK, about Ms. Fortune, can you do moves at the same time as you do head moves? Example: can you do a kick normal at the same time as the head moves? Take off your head, then hit FP+FK to make her kick at the same time as her head move? If not, how much leeway is there? Do you have to do the normal first, or the head move first? A: HP+HK is tag, so you would tag. ;^) But yes, you can do that. Q: According to CopperDabbit, M. Fortune's 214P has to be held in order to get the head back. Does this mean that if I set the assist to be 214P, she won't be able to call it back as an assist? ;_; A: Yes, the recall has to be held, but if you have that as your assist without your head it will hold it for you until it comes back. Reverge cares! Q: Can you do the sneeze in the air? Say, you're comboing and above the head's current location, can you sneak in a dp+HP between the strings in the air? A: You can do things with the head anytime you're the point character, except when you are in hitstun/blockstun/being thrown/doing a super. Q: So are single characters still terrifying one-touch-kill machines? I kind of expect people to end up complaining about them if they start losing to scrubs online or something. A: Yes, single characters versus 3-character team can for the most part still a character in one hit, but they're also easier to outplay since you have assists and things. Q: Do characters have aerial directional influence during normal jumps or super jumps (like they have in Marvel 3) or is jump height/distance static? A: No, currently there's no direction influence during superjumps, more GG-style there. Q: I saw in the Ms. Fortune vid that ranged attacks hit the head first, then won't have a hitbox anymore. Is this true for every ranged attack, even Peacock's super's beam part? A: Peacock's beam hits everything in the same frame, so the head wouldn't protect Fortune. Peacock's beam has startup post-flash, so Fortune could reversal Lv3 anyway. Q: Sorry if this question has already been answered but I'm just wondering about the input for a sjc. Is it like in MvC3 where if you input after a move that you can sjc you get a super jump (like with s) , or will you specifically have to input to sjc a move (I think blazblue does it this way)? A: SJC is just U after a launcher. Q: Will there be a demonstrations of the combo or goal of tutorial? A: The problem with doing tutorial demonstrations, and why they aren't in newer games, is that Namco has a copyright on displaying a CPU-played sequence of moves in a tutorial. I think they went after Arc over BBCS having it, for example. (Don't get me started.) We miiiight have a way around that, but it'll take a bit more massaging so it may come later. Q: Hey mike, would there ever be a way to implement a system in the replays that displays where you get hit when you watching it back (high, low, mid, crossover etc) with bubbles or something similar to the way it is in tekken? A: BB-style hit info - it's something we'd like to include via a visual or audio indication so you always get it if you were attempting to block wrong, but it may not make it in right away. (^.^) Q: So, question about the burst: Is it possible to make it whiff by doing a super with lots of invul and then DHCing into something else to punish? A: Burst is active for 23f. Offhand I don't know of a super with that much invulnerability. Two supers combined might have it... Q: Will you be able to switch your order of characters before the match? A: It was in MvC2, also, but the only reason it got popular was for the switch glitch. I also thought it was cool, though. It's on the list, but it's waaay at the bottom because honestly there's no real reason for it since you could just pick them in the right order, so spending time on absolutely anything else is a better idea. Likesay being able to charge before the round starts. (^.^) Q: Is there a way to cancel the medium followup attack or does it just happen when they are at a certain distance? A: Cerebella doesn't have super armor or any invincibility (or even low stance heh) on the dodge-behind part of the kanchou, so you're way vulnerable. But yes, it'll stop after ~20 frames, so if you distance it right you can probably end up behind them without finishing it. Q: I remember at some point you had to mash to get out of stagger. Was this removed? A: Good point, Doc. Amending that, no attacks require mashing. You can shake out of stagger, but this is easy and doesn't actually require shaking as such (you can just tap F,F,F/B,B,B if you want, instead of B,F,B,F). Q: Hmm I wonder who's the heaviest? A: heaviest is sort of unspecific since there's no XSF-Chun category; Cerebella and Parasoul drop the fastest so far but Parasoul's huge so you can do most regular combos on her anyway, and a lot of Parasoul-specific ones too. Peacock is the lightest by far, and also the hardest to juggle for some characters. Filia seems to universally be the easiest to juggle because her feet are huge Q: Question about Cerebella's air command grab. Does it only hit aerial opponents? I.E. Can I tiger knee it to make it hit ground opponents or will it by default whiff? A: Cerebella's air command grab only hits air opponents, and it is techable with a 4f window. It is active the entire way down. It used to hit grounded opponents and be untechable, and has gone through a large number of revisions since then. Q: Is it untechable in certain conditions like if it lands counter hit or grabs someone in move recovery? A: All grabs are untechable if they land as counterhits, including Cerebella's air command grab. The easier way to think about it is if you couldn't have thrown them, you can't tech, like 3s. Q: What are the limitations on wallbounces and OTGs? One wallbounce and OTG per combo? A: One OTG and one stagger per combo. As many wallbounces/floorbounces/etc as you want. Q: What's the logic behind only allowing one OTG/stagger per combo when there's no concern of infinites? Not complaining, just wondering. I guess it would result in a lot of "do the same basic combo but change the first hit" kind of loops to get past the IPS... A: Both cases are primarily to eliminate the victim's frustration, and secondarily to encourage a bit more creativity. Stagger is a very long hitstun that also allows you to combo throws, and a knockdown is unending hitstun until you land. Allowing multiple instances of these makes it way easier to do super high damaging combos, because they give you a way to use moves with more recovery in your combos or to set up moves with slower startup. They are also usually much less position-dependent to combo after than a wall or floor bounce, which is why I'm okay allowing multiples of those things. I find multiple OTG combos in MvC3 and BB one of the most annoying things to get hit by, because there's such a long period when nothing is hitting you and yet you still can't do anything about it. (Slide Head in GG is similar, though that's only once.) They might be fun to do, but that's not the only consideration. Q: On that tangent, did you ever consider giving the player getting hit something to do during a combo (other than "watch for resets"?). I know Melty and I think Alpha 3 have that 'time your button presses to reduce damage' thing... A: I considered it, then I considered the fact that I hated that mechanic. Personal preference. (^.^) They can infinite escape, they can shake staggers, and they can ground tech, but otherwise no thanks. Q: I'm really curious as to why you hate the mechanic. A: As someone who played A3 extensively, it was annoying to not kill someone with a super that normally would have, just because they hit buttons properly. You wasted your level that you already were good enough to get an opening to use. This alone is enough to make me never consider this mechanic. Q: is there any audio cues for when you gained a bar? A: Audio for gaining a bar, there will be. Q: Does any character have an instant overhead as of how the game stands now? A: Instant overhead, you mean like a jumping move done right away? Parasoul's stomp. Q: Parasoul's tear colors are part of her costume, but is there a way to make it so if two Parasouls fighting each other both have a costume that would give them the same tear color, the P2 tear color changes automatically? A: 1p/2p tear colors, um, possible in the future, not happening right now. Q: Also, is it possible to change the time when the round count appears to the win pose instead of as soon as the character dies? A: Round count appearing later, possibly. Q: Is it possible to combo into or out of a tag in? A: Comboing into/out of a tag, yes to both. Filia can do a roach super into Cerebella's tag in, and Peacock can combo off her tag (but it's the slowest to hit). There are more examples, that's just one of each. Q: there was talk about making single characters have a damage nerf(in exchange for more health) since you could kind of kill team members with 1 combo, did that ever happen? A: Single chars went from 200% dmg/175% life to 175% dmg / 200% life. Q: Are all stages the same size? A: Stages are all the same horizontal size, yes. Q: Did the damage scaling get updated? A: And um, no, the damage scaling is the same. Q: Hey, Mike_Z, I seem to remember you saying you'd wait till after Skullgirl's release to go into detail with the IPS. Did your plan change? A: Wasn't "my plan", was the fact that I had to get persimmons to talk about it, which I got so now I can. They were delicious.

[Azure Dream]

I remember seeing Skullgirls at a booth at a con a few years ago. They didn't have anything playable, but they had a video going, and were super-psyched to talk about their project. I took a card, and though, "Eh, the art's pretty, but it looks basic" and filed it away mentally with the people who take a broken, basic amateur game to a booth and want to rave about it. (There's more than you'd think, so many bad platformers...)

I feel like such a fool now, it's amazing how far it's come, and the talent behind it.

[Masaki_]

And, yeah, Painwheel is the aerial dominance character.

I thought that was gonna be Filia. I mean, she's very similar to Millia from Guilty Gear (even the name) and that was the air superiority character in that series.

[Criminal Upper]

Huh, so my interview sucked? The guys at the office said they thought it went well. And, really, I hate open-ended things like "tell me something awesome about your game" - the answers are really never particularly informative and they just come off as being blindly hype-y. Working on setting up a more in-depth video now! Hoping we can get it going the week after next while I'm on the European media tour. Yeah, her charge mechanic wasn't quite working yet, but it will have armor. How many hits and if it reduces damage will be determined by playtesting. Any damage she takes while charging will be added to her attack when the charge is done or you let go of the button. And, yeah, Painwheel is the aerial dominance character.

I understand being interviewed, while explaining the game, while playing the game all at the same time can be a little trying, and no interview goes perfectly well...I just, I dunno. The whole segment really came off very flat and uninteresting to me. And I'm really into Skullgirls. But I guess alot of it has to do with the lack of audio, which is no one's fault....I guess? SG has a lot of personality, and having no audio during that segment kinda did it disservice.

And I get those open-ended questions aren't exactly easy to answer, but "Um...not really." just made it sound like you weren't very excited about the project, but of course, we all know you are. You did go on to say, "We're just polishing the game up to be the best it can..etc...etc" which was great, but starting the answer off with, "Um...not really" probably made a bad impression on new gamers who don't know anything about the game.

Just keep doing more interviews, and show off the game to as many different outlets as possible! Having gameplay with voice-overs explaining all the systems, with the rocking score overlayed on it, and put it stuff on gametrailers!

[Raging Spaniard]

Huh, so my interview sucked? The guys at the office said they thought it went well.

This is GAF, where masters at dealing with the media like Reggie, Miyamoto or other developers get treated like idiots ... so yeah, dont worry. the fight was lost before it began.

[El Sloth]

Those are some great questions SRK came up with. And just as into the hardcore minutia as you'd expect.

The Ms.Fortune questions were especially interesting. I hadn't thought about most of that stuff at all. I think that her having the option of being able to to immediately react (with the head) when being raw tagged in will end up being a pretty big deal for her in the long run. And might make assists where her head comes off popular.

Glad that there isn't a Vampire Savior life regen for the single characters. That sounds horrible with the way they are now.

Q: According to CopperDabbit, M. Fortune's 214P has to be held in order to get the head back. Does this mean that if I set the assist to be 214P, she won't be able to call it back as an assist? ;_; A: Yes, the recall has to be held, but if you have that as your assist without your head it will hold it for you until it comes back. Reverge cares!

Does the head do any damage while it's rolling back? I haven't noticed if it does. That last part of the answer made me thing of the Pepperidge Farm commercials.

Working on setting up a more in-depth video now! Hoping we can get it going the week after next while I'm on the European media tour. Yeah, her charge mechanic wasn't quite working yet, but it will have armor. How many hits and if it reduces damage will be determined by playtesting. Any damage she takes while charging will be added to her attack when the charge is done or you let go of the button. And, yeah, Painwheel is the aerial dominance character.

Gotcha. Will be interesting to see which way you guys go after the playtesting. Will be looking forward to those other vids. I want to see what the rest of her supers look like and whether any of them use her "damage taken is damage added" mechanic.

This is GAF, where masters at dealing with the media like Reggie, Miyamoto or other developers get treated like idiots ... so yeah, dont worry. the fight was lost before it began.

Always the optimist.

[Criminal Upper]

This is GAF, where masters at dealing with the media like Reggie, Miyamoto or other developers get treated like idiots ... so yeah, dont worry. the fight was lost before it began..

Jesus Christ, Spaniard, I gave legit reasons what I thought it could have gone a bit better, and I praise the parts that did, and I give suggestions. I'm not some doe-eyed kid, I'm in this industry too.

You're way too defensive over SG. I know you have reasons for it...but damn.

[Ravidrath]

I understand being interviewed, while explaining the game, while playing the game all at the same time can be a little trying, and no interview goes perfectly well...I just, I dunno. The whole segment really came off very flat and uninteresting to me. And I'm really into Skullgirls. But I guess alot of it has to do with the lack of audio, which is no one's fault....I guess? SG has a lot of personality, and having no audio during that segment kinda did it disservice. And I get those open-ended questions aren't exactly easy to answer, but "Um...not really." just made it sound like you weren't very excited about the project, but of course, we all know you are. You did go on to say, "We're just polishing the game up to be the best it can..etc...etc" which was great, but starting the answer off with, "Um...not really" probably made a bad impression on new gamers who don't know anything about the game. Just keep doing more interviews, and show off the game to as many different outlets as possible! Having gameplay with voice-overs explaining all the systems, with the rocking score overlayed on it, and put it stuff on gametrailers!

Yeah, none of that really happened the way it was supposed to, so the entire thing was just trying to deal and keep it going.

We had originally planned to do a walkthrough of Ms. Fortune first, and then go into Painwheel. But John got confused and selected Painwheel at the start, and our controllers were reversed. I never intended to be demoing anything myself and just talk while he drove, but just had to run with it. So I was kind of caught flat-footed by the entire thing.

We also should've probably should have had me sitting next to Chris, instead of trying to talk across John...?


And a more in-depth video of Painwheel will be coming as soon as all her implementation is done. She's a pretty complex character, and the next character is actually further along in implementation than Painwheel is.

[Raging Spaniard]

Jesus Christ, Spaniard, I gave legit reasons what I thought it could have gone a bit better, and I praise the parts that did, and I give suggestions. I'm not some doe-eyed kid, I'm in this industry too. You're way too defensive over SG. I know you have reasons for it...but damn.

I apologize. You came off pretty "holier than thou" in that first post, that's all.

Mostly Im just venting, in GAF every other member acts like they have a doctorate in PR and it always strikes a nerve.

[El Sloth]

Are we going to be getting a Friday Night Fights vid this week?

[Mikhal]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/fr...llgirls/724201

[Master Milk]

The wait for a download begins!

[SolarPowered]

Working on setting up a more in-depth video now! Hoping we can get it going the week after next while I'm on the European media tour. Yeah, her charge mechanic wasn't quite working yet, but it will have armor. How many hits and if it reduces damage will be determined by playtesting. Any damage she takes while charging will be added to her attack when the charge is done or you let go of the button. And, yeah, Painwheel is the aerial dominance character.

I'm assuming that you guys will rev up those engines for even more tournament events? It seems like all that playtesting you did for Parasoul/Peacock/Ms.Fortune did wonders to discover what is good and not too good.

I bet December will be your busiest month yet.

Those are some great questions SRK came up with. And just as into the hardcore minutia as you'd expect. Does the head do any damage while it's rolling back? I haven't noticed if it does. That last part of the answer made me thing of the Pepperidge Farm commercials.

That is a good question that I can't answer. I don't check the Q&A thread too often since it is kind of large, but it might've been answered already. I'll have to make that second part of the info dump pretty soon.

And a more in-depth video of Painwheel will be coming as soon as all her implementation is done. She's a pretty complex character, and the next character is actually further along in implementation than Painwheel is.

Oh, this is awesome. I secretly figured that you guys must be farther ahead than ever before due to how close we are getting to launch. I wouldn't be surprised to see another completely finished character by Christmas.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/fr...llgirls/724201

Yeah, this was a particularly good fight.

The wait for a download begins!

Did we even get one for last week's video?

[Master Milk]

Did we even get one for last week's video?

I don't think we did. Or rather, I don't remember watching it. I've been out of things all week though.

Alright, so this week better be a double dose!

[El Sloth]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/fr...llgirls/724201

Thanks. The 60fps is so nice. You can really appreciate the animation.

Speaking of which, will the game unseat 3rd Strike as the king of individual frames of animation per character?

[Crocodile]

Yeah, none of that really happened the way it was supposed to, so the entire thing was just trying to deal and keep it going. We had originally planned to do a walkthrough of Ms. Fortune first, and then go into Painwheel. But John got confused and selected Painwheel at the start, and our controllers were reversed. I never intended to be demoing anything myself and just talk while he drove, but just had to run with it. So I was kind of caught flat-footed by the entire thing. We also should've probably should have had me sitting next to Chris, instead of trying to talk across John...? And a more in-depth video of Painwheel will be coming as soon as all her implementation is done. She's a pretty complex character, and the next character is actually further along in implementation than Painwheel is.

Well that certainly explains somethings. Not to say it went poorly or you did poorly but I have to agree that "Uh...not really" was a poor choice of words. Irrelevant in the grand scheme things but I think saying something along the lines of "Nothing new right now for those who've been following the game closely but stay tuned for updates in the near future" would have been better. I might also suggest talking jut a bit slower. I felt some words got eaten from time to time, especially during the beginning spiel.

I'm looking forward to an actual breakdown for Painwheel similar to what was done for the other characters. This was more of a tease than a full on reveal but as you've just said, she's not totally done. I'm glad to hear the next character is far along. If you truly intend to hit a January release, when you take out time for holidays, there isn't THAT much time left. I continue to wish your team the best.

Also, the latest FNF was one of the better ones released. Nice.

[sixteen-bit]

Speaking of which, will the game unseat 3rd Strike as the king of individual frames of animation per character?

Perhaps.

SG: 1200+ per character
3S: 695 - 1703 per character, average of 1126.7

[Master Milk]

Interesting, I didn't know 3S had that many for some characters. Looking at Ken and Akuma's is kind of embarrassing though. I guess they're just really stiff compared to Ibuki and Elena? I also thought SG's lower limit was higher.

[sixteen-bit]

Interesting, I didn't know 3S had that many for some characters. Looking at Ken and Akuma's is kind of embarrassing though. I guess they're just really stiff compared to Ibuki and Elena? I also thought SG's lower limit was higher.

Ibuki has around 16 unique winposes, many with NPCs. That really pads her framecount, lol.

[Master Milk]

Ibuki has around 16 unique winposes, many with NPCs. That really pads her framecount, lol.

Let it never be said that Capcom doesn't know how to have fun with their games.

[SolarPowered]

I don't think we did. Or rather, I don't remember watching it. I've been out of things all week though. Alright, so this week better be a double dose!

I wish lol.

Perhaps. SG: 1200+ per character 3S: 695 - 1703 per character, average of 1126.7

Damn, Ibuki, Elena, Mak and Q have quite a bit of work put into them in terms of animation. I understand why those characters resonate more with me than most Street Fighters. Their movements and attitude just ooze out from the game thanks to their animation.

Interesting, I didn't know 3S had that many for some characters. Looking at Ken and Akuma's is kind of embarrassing though. I guess they're just really stiff compared to Ibuki and Elena? I also thought SG's lower limit was higher.

I'm pretty sure that the lowest number for a Skullgirls character is in the low 1000 or so. I'm amazed that they've got that many considering the size of the sprites and the rest of the work that has gone into the game.

[Ravidrath]

I don't think we did. Or rather, I don't remember watching it. I've been out of things all week though. Alright, so this week better be a double dose!

Downloads are built into GameTrailers - there's a little download button underneath the video that lets you download the source, but sometimes it takes a few hours for it to show up after the video is posted.

I'm pretty sure that the lowest number for a Skullgirls character is in the low 1000 or so. I'm amazed that they've got that many considering the size of the sprites and the rest of the work that has gone into the game.

Yeah, our lowest at the moment is Filia, who has around 1200.

And, no, Ms. Fortune's head does not do damage while it's being recalled.

[Master Milk]

Downloads are built into GameTrailers - there's a little download button underneath the video that lets you download the source, but sometimes it takes a few hours for it to show up after the video is posted.

Yea, I saw that, but there was something about signing up or signing in, neither of which I want to do.

[El Sloth]

Yea, I saw that, but there was something about signing up or signing in, neither of which I want to do.

http://www.bugmenot.com/view/gametrailers.com

[Ravidrath]

BTW, where is NinajHeartless?

Painwheel's his favorite, so I find it hard to believe he has no comment.

[El Sloth]

You broke his heart with your lie, Ravi.

His favorite is the kung-fu zombie chick.

[Ravidrath]

You broke his heart with your lie, Ravi. His favorite is the kung-fu zombie chick.

No, Painwheel is his favorite.

For NYCC, I asked him so we could give him some custom art.

[Akainu]

I don't think anyone ever answered my question. You can turn off the voices right?

[Crocodile]

I just realized Ryu is in the background, LOL. Not sure what's going on with the guy who has a saw blade in his face though.

You broke his heart with your lie, Ravi. Everyone's favorite is the kung-fu zombie chick.

Fixed for accuracy. I will note though that both Marie and Valentine have showed up in Fanart Fridays (more than once for each I think), yet Squigly is nowhere to be seen. We only have two pre-launch reveals left.............

[El Sloth]

Peacock > *

[sixteen-bit]

Parasoul is obviously the best character

[Ravidrath]

I don't think anyone ever answered my question. You can turn off the voices right?

Uh, I think we'll have a voice volume slider.

[Rentahamster]

Good shit Ravid.

Smile more!

:)

[Ravidrath]

Good shit Ravid. Smile more! :)

I are serious dev.

[SolarPowered]

This is the second collection of questions and answers from the large Q&A thread over at SRK(Shoryuken.com) with tons of relevant info on the game. It covers a wide range of subjects stretching from modes to characters and even mechanics like the ratio system(life/damage increases depending on team sizes).

Credit goes to Zebster from SRK who compiled all of Mike Z's(battle director/planner for Skullgirls) answers. I changed it up a bit by highlighting Mike's answers for easier reading. I'll post the second collection of Q&A's a little later, but it should still be within the first hundred posts so that a big chunk of info can stay on the most viewed page of the thread. Folks who aren't well acquainted with fighters can skip over most stuff, but there is some more mundane stuff here that even the inexperienced folks can understand.

Q: Okay, then what about frame-by-frame animation theater as unlockable prize? Is it possible now or later? A: At this point in the dev cycle, unless a request was either A) already planned by us, or B) we can do it in five minutes, it's unlikely to make it into the first game. Via a patch, though, anything is possible, and an animation theater is certainly easy. :^) Q: Any plans to have an announcer speak the fighters name upon selection? (on char select screen, of course) I've always thought that was a nice way to add character to a fighting game via a subtle inclusion. A: Yeah, the announcer will say their name when you select them. I prefer it to the characters since it's consistent, rather than a ton of different characters/tones saying things. We're working to make the announcer funny, too, with "rare drop" lines for the start of battles, wins, etc. Q: So about the 2D on 3D models, is this an original production technique, or was it taken from the field of animation? If so, what films/shows/commercials have used this before, asking from an animation junkie here. A: We do use 3D models to help with animating mechanical or solid things - Photoshop has a feature where you can load a 3D model and rotate it, etc. to draw over it. They load the model, position and rotate it so it's over their hand, and then draw over it to get the details and perspective correct. We've only done this three times, so far - Peacock's gun, Parasoul's umbrella and Painwheel's blade. Q: Two questions for Mike, 1. Do you plan on making combo and tutorial videos for SG like you have for other fighting games. 2. Do you plan on competing in the tourney scene? A: Vids yes, sleep first though. :^) Competing, yes if I'm allowed. I have a feeling random people will be upset if I do. Heh. Q: So Mike, when 2 single characters double KO each other, do both parties get a point or do neither get a point? A: Double KO's and draws will give both people a point, but only if it won't win anyone the match. If it would win someone the match then neither side gets a point, because that way if you were up by a round you stay up by a round. Q: When you eventually do patches, will you guys release the change log to the pubic? A: We plan to do release notes - there will be other patches, such as to enable DLC and add other things, too. Q: Two characters do the same super on the exact same frame. Who super flashes first? A: Simultaneous superflash will be P2 first, but after both they will be on the exact same frame, rather than P2 being a frame ahead like some games. Q: How do you do a THC (Team Hyper Combo)? A: There aren't any THCs. The short answer to why is, all the art doesn't fit in memory at once. :^P Q: Is it possible to tiger knee an assist? A: You can't TK assists. Q: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47uFyQDPoyQ @ :56 ... what the hell? Cerebella punched her and then a cat randomly appeared and walks off screen... >_> What's going on here? A: The artist for the frame had doodled a janky little cat in the corner and forgot to remove it, so Mike put it in the game. It has like a 0.2% chance of appearing, I believe. Doesn't serve any purpose except to amuse us. Q: *Online questions here* A: How 'bout some honesty...I'm not answering any online questions, simply because online (especially matchmaking) is very hard to do, let alone to do right, and we're still messing with it and will be right up until the end. Plus I am 100% sure the very vocal annoyed people on the internet won't be even close to satisfied when the game comes out so we'll fix things until everyone is pleased. I'm just glad it works. (^.^) Q: Will IPS trigger if you just do something like LP LP LP LP or LK LK LK LK? A: IPS doesn't trigger in the middle of a chain, so LPx4/LKx4 won't trigger it unless the first one would. Though you only get two in a row maximum anyway, mostly. Q: Is it possible to hold a push-block to negate more red life damage? A: You can't hold pushblock, but you can do it more than once... Q: At one point at SB I did Cerebella's Diamond Dynamo and caught two characters with it. I seem to remember it bouncing them in an alternating patteren while her arms were swinging. Would each character take half the damage they normally would have or were they both taking full damage? A: Cerebella's super hitting two characters, if they aren't hit at the same time, would do half damage to each. One hit will only damage more than one character if it connects on the same frame, like MvC2. Hopefully that makes sense. Q: You think they will ship an arcade mode without a boss? A: I'm going to respond to this. Given the choice between doing anything at all to make the versus/multiplayer aspects of SG better, or spending time on a boss...I would choose to skip the boss in a heartbeat. This is all IMO, so don't take this as "there is no boss", just saying I object to your comment because it assumes priorities I personally don't have. (^.^) Q: What about mashing to tech throws? A: You can hit tech more than once, but since CH throws are untechable, mashing and mistiming it by even a frame gets you untechably thrown. It also eliminates the crouch-tech OS, hee hee. *further elaboration* Oh, sorry, by "it" in "it also eliminates the crouch-tech OS" I meant SG. D/DB/DF+throw won't throw, but it also won't tech. Bleh, lack of sleep. Also, I'ma make the tech period 8f. Yay for 3s. Q: I see that you can dash with 2 punch buttons, but can you also dash by pressing forward twice? A: Yes, you can dash as either PP or F,F. Q: Does any of this sort of stuff change when I inevitably bind my assists to the unused buttons right of fierce/roundhouse on my TE stick? A: Nope, button bindings just count as those buttons being pressed, they're not separate inputs like they are in some other game engines. Q: What is the actual hard number for the amount of health that everyone has in SkullGirls (at 100%)? A: 14,300 per character, at 100%. (143 = health from old Capcom games. :^) Q: And what minimal fraction of damage is? 100? 50? A: Minimum damage is 1 point, but per hit the minimum is 15% of base damage for hits under 1000 base damage, and 25% for base damage of 1000+. Damage scaling is flat 85% per hit after the 2nd hit. Q: Is one able to call an assist during a special move? A: No, you can't call an assist during specials, supers, hitstun, blockstun, knockdown, while thrown, while in superjump, or if you have already hit with one during your current combo. Q: *Questions about European release* A: Eh, there aren't many facts to know until the game is localized and approved by Sony/MS Europe. We're targeting a simultaneous release, and the much longer approval process in Europe may or may not hinder that. If for some reason we can't make it launch simultaneously, it should be a pretty short delay. Q: Why the meter-y stuff? The idea of gaining less meter than my opponent from my combo is eww. Before this note, it seemed the opponent already gained a good amount meter for being hit A: So...you want to do damage, get the advantage and get more meter? Generally that's not the case in Guilty Gear, and it's not even the case in MvC2! Interestingly, it is generally the case in MvC3 and BB. :^| This just serves to make a big imbalance even bigger. I always liked MvC2's meter system. (With certain exceptions, like Tron's drill giving the opponent a full bar.) If you got beat down, you a bit more of a chance to do damage afterward than your opponent had. Not Ultra-meter levels, just slightly. As it was in SG, if you got beat down - even if your oppponent used meter! - you still had much less. It starts out with them not getting very much, so if you do a 5-hit combo, you get way more meter than they do. It scales up over the course of the combo so if you do a 40-hit combo, they get slightly more meter than you do if you used all normals. Previously the attacker got somewhere around twice to three times as much meter as the victim did, no matter what. Note that the attacker's meter gain isn't affected by this, only the victim's. Q: Whats the meter gained on block and while blocking? is it a fraction of what it would be on hit? A: Meter gain on block is the same as before - 3/4 what the attacker would get if they hit, and the victim gets 1/4 that. Q: If I snap back MF's head will it cause snapback the entire time it's bouncing around? A: Yep, it's a snapback the entire time. Q: Any chance of a 'Concede' option during multiplayer (online and off)? *Reasons for it to be in* A: I like this idea. I dunno if we'll be able to do it for the initial release, but I'll see what we can do. Q: question: is ms fortunes level 3 considered a head move? can she do it if someone is currently hitting her head but not her body? A: You can do it if someone is hitting your head, yes. Q: Anyway, actual question. A while back it was said that Skullgirls would have the ability to analyse your match and suggest tutorials to you after you lose. Did this manage to make it in for launch, or will that be a post launch update, or was it ditched all together? A: Analyzing your performance...very sadly will probably not make it into the initial release, but it almost certainly will be a patch later. Mostly got overshadowed for time. Q: Also, a question about characters being hit by supers after time up. Will they actually go through the "death" animation if their life is reduced to zero, or will they reach zero and not die if time is up? A: You will still take damage and really die after time up, but the outcome is determined when time up is called so you can still win. Q: As for meter gain, I understand why you would want it so that the opponent gets more when they get hit but does the meter they get depend on damage or the number of hits? A: Meter scaling is based on damage scaling. Q: Isn't meter based on damage or some independent value that increases/decreases based on team size like damage and health? A: No, meter is based on meter value, not your ratio. :^) Q: Say there is two seconds left one the timer and me and my opponent are at basically the same life, can I do a projectile move or super before the time runs out which will hit the other opponent? Could I not just do that anyway, if there is almost a time up just activate a bomb cart or parasouls level 3? Does the opponent just auto block that? Do they receive chip damage? Or is it after the hits post time out is just for things that where already hitting? A: You will get hit post-time-out by whatever (helps validate the "OH THAT TOTALLY WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!" thing), and it'll do damage. It doesn't change the outcome of the round, though - that's determined on the frame time runs out. Q: *round count toggle discussion* A: Well of course it'll be an option*, that wasn't really ever the question. :^) The point is what the default should be...because lots of people don't touch this setting and it influences what everyone thinks of as "regular play". I'll give "aways 2/3" a shot. Q: Are any moves air unblockable? A: Nope! Well, there are air throws, and there's Cerebella's antiair throw which is unblockable if you're on the way up (and not in blockstun), but nothing that's just "Oh you're in the air? Free hit." Q: question: i know weve talked about chip damage before but i dont think this was covered. each move does X amount of chip. does X scale with ratio? eg. does a ratio 1 cyber peacock do more chip than a ratio 4 cyber peacock? A: Yep! Q: What is it in this engine that triggers the "blocking" animation. Is it possible to block without contacting a move, or does blocking only execute on contact? A: Distance to point character while they attack. Assists and projectiles don't count. However you don't have to be in the blocking animation to block, which actually fixes a ton of problems. Q: Zero throw invincibility once you recover from hitstun, blockstun, or knockdown. Once you can move/start to jump, you can get thrown. Throw tech window changed to match Third Strike. A tech is possible from 2f before you are thrown to 6f after. Does this mean you can escape 1st frame throw resets or tick throws by inputting a throw at the end of hitstun/blockstun? A: You mean without attempting a throw of your own? On exactly the last frame of stun, yes. Any earlier and it doesn't last past the end, any later and you do a throw attempt/whiff. Same in 3s. Q: Can you burst through supers? A: You can burst anytime after an infinite is detected, including during supers, except if you're currently being thrown. Q: Do throws have startup/active/recovery in SkullGirls? Are they different for each character? A: Yes, and yes Q: Are all air moves overheads? A: All air moves are overheads with the exception of supers, Fortune's axe kick, tag-ins (so far all mid) and the following general convention: if an air normal is multi-hit, only the first hit that makes contact with something must be blocked high. That means if the move is 5 hits, and you first get touched by the 3rd, that hit is an overhead. The 4th and 5th will be mid. This is true for most, but not all, air normals...and is the same for most multihit low moves also. Q: How invincible are tech rolls? A: Ground recovery is completely invincible until you're able to move/block again. Q: Mike, have you tested jump cancelling normals other launchers on hit and block? I especially like to jump cancel moves on block since you can create really nice pressure situations with it. A: JC on block - that's exactly why I dislike it, making safe blockstrings out of stuff that's not safe. :^) Personal preference. Q: If you dash, and then cancel that dash into a normal or whatever, do you keep some of the forward momentum and "slide" a bit as you do the move? I always liked this mechanic in Vampire Savior and the various Marvel games due to the really fun frame traps/tick throws/neutral approaches it allowed. I think I'v seen something like this in a few gameplay videos, but it's hard to tell since most players just iad everywhere. A: Dash momentum - yes, you gain momentum even if your character hasn't started moving from the dash yet. Q: Also, why was the original select screen altered? Was it just preference, or did something not work right? *Fan of original select screen* A: Original like (a) the black background with text? Or "original" like (b) the concept art for the final screen, with the diagonal boxes? If you mean (a), because that was always designed to be replaced. I made it in five minutes, one night. LOL If you mean (b), various things ranging from the space to fit more DLC characters to the fact that it's always unclear which way up and down go when boxes are arranged diagonally. 3s does a decent job, but still... Q: Actual question: How big is the window for left/right autoguard? What game might it be best compared to? A: Maybe I misunderstood the question...there's nothing in SG protecting you from left/right switches. You always have to block the point character, but of course you'll keep blocking if you're already in blockstun and they cross over you. It can best be compared to MvC2. Q: So which of Papasoul's eyes is officially supposed to be covered by here hair? There seems to be an incongruity between her character portrait, character artwork, and right facing character sprite. A: Alex says it's her right eye, 2p is the 'real' one. Q: By how much can you reduce the stagger stun by wagging the stick? Do you plan on giving a little helper animation to remind you you can do just that a la GG? A: 15f max, out of the throwable section. Stagger is 60f throwable + 20f unthrowable. I'd like to add a helper animation if it's necessary, but probably not initially. Q: So it's safe to say down the line we can expect a technical character(s)? A: Down the line? A special move whose only use is to cancel things, a controllable head, run-stop shenanigans plus command throws, resets, item drops and teleports, or any of the other options currently available aren't technical enough? Although yes, there are plans for some pretty crazy stuff later, which I'm really looking forward to. :^) Q: Are there any characters that have special move chains/followups, a la Ralf and Clark from KoF? A: Fortune has rekkas with 3 different branches, Cerebella has run-followups, and P...someone else has something with a choice you can make in the middle. Not sure if any of those count for strictly Ralf/Clark style, though. Q: Anyone with a full-screen hitting super (Hailstorm-esque, not sniper shot)? A: Like must-block-everywhere? Sniper shot is basically that, and Peacock's beam is instantly fullscreen horizontally, but nothing else really Hailstorm-y. Q: Any characters that have moves you could use to ignite Parasoul tears if you have her assist set to tear toss? A: Sorry, only Parasoul herself can ignite her tears. They ARE sentient, you know...we just have a lot of them... Q: Can assists only be set to command throws, or are normal throws an option too? Is the scenario Block -> SD to Peacock grab -> Lv. 3 possible? A: Normal throws are possible, so yes. Q: could there be any options to have more than 2 players? like maybe for only teams of two can have the option of an additional player. it would be kind of gimmicky but good for casual players A: That's been a desired feature for a long time, it'll get added eventually. (^.^) Q: About how many combo descriptive adjectives are there in the game? How high do they go? A: Over 250. The first 110 are unique, and they go up to 999. Q: I've heard people say you can punish bursts with armor. So I would assume you don't get the invincible burst if the hit is absorbed by the armor. A: Then "people" are wrong. (^.^) As long as it touches anything, the burst is invincible and recovers to regular air state. Simple. Q: does the saxophone guy in the Anti skullgirl labs have an official name? Big Band and Detective Sax have both been bandied about. A: Yes, and it's not "Detective Sax." I just like that that's the name Dustloop came up with for him. Q: *more IPS questions* A: First off, it's not kept track of by loops. :^) The order is always: free chains [moves ignored] -> bonus chain or jump [moves kept track of but not triggering it] -> able to be triggered. Q: If... hypothetically... a character were designed, either now or sometime in the future, to be a "boss only" character, is it... hypothetically... possible that they will be rebalanced for actual play somewhere down the line. A: Hypothetically, if that happened - yes, they would either be rebalanced or redone as playable. Bosses are less work because they can get away with things like not crouching and not jumping, so all that would have to get added, but yes. Q: Ms Fortune's head still snapbacks if you hit it with the golftail, right? A: Yep. Q: I have a question... Newest FNF there are some pretty white hitsparks on light air moves(I think)... Can you explain those a bit? A: We finally got to put in the rest of the hitspark types we had made forever ago - bladed, blunt, directional, area. Filia's s/j.LP/j.MP and Peacock's j.MP and Avery's hits are sharp.

This part is actually my favorite of the two. There are tons of interesting questions and answers regarding future features for the game and what Mike and his team might implement once the game is out in the wild.

This will almost certainly be the last info dump for the game since I don't want to drown the thread in information that might seem intimidating to the less hardcore crowd and followers.

Enjoy and once again... Mike Z and SRK get props for the discussions/info they put out there.

Edit: LOL I forgot to give credit to Ravidrath. I see him posting in the SRK Skullgirls thread very often, but I guess his avatar gets drowned out by all the crazy questions. Much props for this guy for sure. We wouldn't have had those pretty FnF downloads and a small, but steady following on GAF if it weren't for him. :PPPP

Yeah, our lowest at the moment is Filia, who has around 1200.

You can look forward to me hounding you guys for specific numbers on each character once the game comes out.

They all move so smoothly that I can't help thinking about it when a new reveal is shown. :P

No, Painwheel is his favorite. For NYCC, I asked him so we could give him some custom art.

He lied to me.

</3

Parasoul is obviously the best character

Truth in it's most distilled form.

Uh, I think we'll have a voice volume slider.

Okay, I don't know how common this is, but it should be very very convenient.

[Ravidrath]

Enjoy and once again... Mike Z and SRK get props for the discussions/info they put out there.

A lot of those are my answers, too!

[Master Milk]

Uh, I think we'll have a voice volume slider.

Would it be too much to make it per character? I hate when there's one character's voice I don't like, and I have to either deal with it or mute everything. I usually just mute everything. I'd love to be able to play BB with just Plat's voice, for instance, but alas . . .

[Ravidrath]

Would it be too much to make it per character? I hate when there's one character's voice I don't like, and I have to either deal with it or mute everything. I usually just mute everything. I'd love to be able to play BB with just Plat's voice, for instance, but alas . . .

That's a bit of a tall order, I think.

All the voices go into one voice channel, and the voice volume just adjusts that. Adding it for each character would mean basically having 6 voice channels mixing all the time, which has processing implications.

On top of that, it also means we've signed up to continually update the UI for perpetuity, since we'd have to keep updating it as new characters are added.

[El Sloth]

Again, thanks for posting this stuff, Solar. A lot of cool stuff in there.

Interesting that all characters will have a universal amount of health. I wasn't expecting that.

Shame about there being no THCs.