• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Skullgirls |OT| New age of Heroines

shaowebb

Member
I think I'll just avoid my 360 copy and buy the PC edition when it comes out and use it instead. I was gonna anyways, but yeah Microsoft has held this back too long and their will be a new crowd jumping in when this relaunches on PC so hype should be there.

Peacock/Valentine <3
Love Valentine BTW.
 
New character incoming?!

So like, production level incomplete characters are awesome. All the characters need half-finished versions of themselves because that's cool. Sketch Squiggly sliding across the stage as a dash is too funny.
 

Ravidrath

Member
qBY6u7v.jpg
 

Ken

Member
So I stumbled into that Skullgirls Breast Cancer stream from the LoL reddit and really enjoyed watching the match that was going on. I bought the game awhile ago but never really got too deep into it. Was wondering where I could go for resources to learn the game and combos?
 

Dachande

Member
Will work on getting that soon... not sure if her stuff is checked in yet or not.

I'm kind of interested on how 'implemented' she is at the minute... you said something like 35% done in the other thread, right? What does that give you in real terms in a build where you've got her in-game, what can and can't she do?

How do manage that to make sure you can playtest her meaningfully with the rest of the cast and ensure she's shaping up correctly?
 
Need...video!

Ask and you shall receive~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMCNe6TiWqc

First half is showing her off, second half is Alex Ahad talking about the character's backstory. I liked the intended rivalry between Squigly and Filia, makes me wish you guys hadn't needed bosses with the original release so we could have gotten her in the original cast. ^^;

I'm kind of interested on how 'implemented' she is at the minute... you said something like 35% done in the other thread, right? What does that give you in real terms in a build where you've got her in-game, what can and can't she do?

How do manage that to make sure you can playtest her meaningfully with the rest of the cast and ensure she's shaping up correctly?

She's honestly probably not at the point where she can be play tested at this point. She has a walking animation, half completed dash / jump animations, and maybe some limited attacks. I'm sure they have a moveset all planned and ready for her (they've been alluding to her stance based nature for ages) but without the base animations there isn't much to go on I think.

I hope you guys continue with live streams when you get funding again.

Well the lead game designer / programmer of the game, Mike (Mike Z) Zaimont, streams his Skullgirls tournament every Thursday at twitch.tv/eightysixed , around 9-10PM EST. Just don't expect them to be as crazy as it was the last couple weeks with the voice actresses coming in, still great for finding higher level matches of the game. Lately they've been allowing online entrants to join the games as well, a real testament to the quality of the netcode of the game.
 

Ravidrath

Member
Here's a video someone posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=016iKUCO03Y

Going to work on getting a better-quality one soon.


I'm kind of interested on how 'implemented' she is at the minute... you said something like 35% done in the other thread, right? What does that give you in real terms in a build where you've got her in-game, what can and can't she do?

We were laid off about 1/3rd through her production, which means that her pre-production was basically complete. But that's mostly 1/3rd complete in terms of the calendar - now is when all the hard work would start.

Everything we saw in-game last night was in-game for the first time, because Mike threw it in in the last few days for the stream. No hitboxes, most everything just keyframes, etc.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
I don't know why but I was expecting some mega reveal for Squigly where Mike shows off her entire movelist and some combos and then say that the character will be on PSN next week...

Anyways, still nice to see development. Seeing the rough uncolored animations makes me wish all characters had an alt like that.
 

Ravidrath

Member
I don't know why but I was expecting some mega reveal for Squigly where Mike shows off her entire movelist and some combos and then say that the character will be on PSN next week...

Anyways, still nice to see development. Seeing the rough uncolored animations makes me wish all characters had an alt like that.

Sorry, but that would've required money that we don't presently have.
 
Gorgeous

I'm gonna be honest. I was not expecting her at all. No way I expected a guy, but definitely not Squigs.
Ask and you shall receive~

Well the lead game designer / programmer of the game, Mike (Mike Z) Zaimont, streams his Skullgirls tournament every Thursday at twitch.tv/eightysixed , around 9-10PM EST. Just don't expect them to be as crazy as it was the last couple weeks with the voice actresses coming in, still great for finding higher level matches of the game. Lately they've been allowing online entrants to join the games as well, a real testament to the quality of the netcode of the game.
It's a shame I can't get a piece of that action.
I don't know why but I was expecting some mega reveal for Squigly where Mike shows off her entire movelist and some combos and then say that the character will be on PSN next week...

Anyways, still nice to see development. Seeing the rough uncolored animations makes me wish all characters had an alt like that.
Lab Zero Games certainly doesn't have the resources of a company like Capcom or Namco. They also don't go out of their way to give us such detailed looks at extremely early works like this one. Let's not even talk about ASW.
 

Ken

Member
Yeah, kind of rotten luck there. All the wikis are apparently down, so I assume they'll be back up by next week or so.

I'll just try to look for a general guide explaining the systems and then go look at specific character stuff. Was thinking of learning Parasoul and Valentine.
 

Beats

Member
GGs Milk.

Man, I think I'd lose pretty bad to Peacock with a projectile assist lol. It's hard navigating that stuff.
 

Ravidrath

Member
I'll just try to look for a general guide explaining the systems and then go look at specific character stuff. Was thinking of learning Parasoul and Valentine.

We tried to cover all of that stuff in our tutorials, so I've be curious to know if they actually do that for you.
 

Galdelico

Member
Wow, Squigly's looking fantastic!
Love those wip frames... I'd totally get a retail Skullgirls which provides tons of backstage material such as this video, animation sheets, concept art galleries, etc.

Where?
I need one! Well, actually three (one for me and 2 for my nieces... They would love it). :D
 

Loona

Member
Finally caved in and bought the game - even if its gameplay inspiration aren't quite my cup of tea, the drive behind the donation initiatives was impressive, even if I voted on a different game.

I found it strange that the tutorials were organized so that combos including specials were addressed before the sections where you go through the actual characters' specials, seems counterintuitive to me.

Did everyone's story mode (wanted to knock a trophy while I was trying it out), and while it was nice that some of the stories covered bits about different characters other that the one being played, it was odd that:
- the Filia/Painwheel issue wasn't explained - compassion doesn't need to imply a common past, so that was an odd element
- while Painwheels name, Carol, gets remembered somewhere along the line, she's completely forgotten it in Filia's ending
which is all about giving her a normal life, which should imply remembering her normal name
- Ms. Fortune gets a random battle elsewhere right after a cutscene directs her to the cathedral - most other characters usually get the random stuff done with earlier on, so then they can escalate dramatic tension properly
- on the topic of dramatic tension, if Lab Zero ever gets the chance to revise Story mode and avoid plot and gameplay separation, have a proper battle with Ms. Fortune after beating Marie with Cerebella, with a different ending in case she loses - I'm pretty sure the matchup isn't supposed to be 10-0 in Cerebella's favor
with a 200% damage special throw for the occasion... Holy damn, the one supposedly pure heart of the cast gets the worst possible ending
. It'd be less of an issue for me if the gameplay supported the notion, I guess.
- on the topic of Cerebella, I half expected to see her hat talking in the story, since it even has a name... What stopping the Medicis from taking the thing and cutting out the middlewoman?

A bit outside these nitpicky issues, it still surprises me that Filia's used as the flagship character on most occasions, since the role usually goes for characters that seem more normal - looking at the cast, for me that'd be Parasoul, who's the only one not particularly augmented nor villainous.
OK, so it's a different nitpicky issue, but when the first impression consists on girls with weird stuff on their heads, it sets an odd tone that might push some people away, seemed odd to me, even if early on Filia and Cerebella being ready first encouraged giving them more exposure. Nowadays it just seems odd (that donation poster recently comes to mind).

Speaking of characters and first impressions, I think Ms. Fortune worked out nicely for me, even if there's much to get a hang on.
This is kinda funny since her pre-release character demonstration videos were what made me think the game was doing something interesting and fairly original with the gente (well, there was stuff like Donovan's sword in Night Warriors, but not quite the same).
Considering I liked Peacock and Valentine's designs and concepts more, it turned out using them didn't come as naturally as it did with Nadia Fortune.

I'm curious about Squiggly now - the April fools article on a NGPC version lifts the veil a bit on her gameplay and Umbrella's, but still not too clear for me.
I look at her parasite and keep wondering if she can pull it out momentarily to use it like a whip a la Earthworm Jim.

Anyway, fine work! I hope there'll be opportunities to keep expanding the franchise and get everyone's jobs back.
 
Awesome impressions, glad to see someone else pick the game up!

The story mode in the game wasn't a full-fledged go; it was a a lot of hypothetical what-if stories that are only loosely connected. There are some inconsistencies or nebulous areas despite that(I think), but the stories themselves aren't supposed to compose the true canon story of the game; each character's past is canon, and that's about it AFAIK. I mean, you can infer that from knowing only one person can actually beat Marie for real, but even the side events and not-directly-related events aren't all intended to be cohesive with the other storylines.

And like you said, a full-fledged story mode is another thing that hinges on the group getting more money to be able to make more content. I'm crossing my fingers with you on that!

On the Cerebella topic, I think the hat probably takes a lot of skill and finesse to use--and Cerebella herself is probably one of the most loyal and devoted members of the Medici family despite her naiveté. There's no reason to put her out of the picture when she's so skilled and eager to produce results.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
On the Cerebella topic, I think the hat probably takes a lot of skill and finesse to use--and Cerebella herself is probably one of the most loyal and devoted members of the Medici family despite her naiveté. There's no reason to put her out of the picture when she's so skilled and eager to produce results.

Yep. According to her story she's the only person capable of controlling it.
 

alstein

Member
Some advice to the devs right now: you're going to have some folks giving your game a 2nd chance/maybe trying it out for the first time due to all of the positive hype that you guys deserved.

You really need to make sure these guys have a way to learn that doesn't involve getting slaughtered so hard that they quit easily- this game is super-unforgiving if you haven't played it seriously. (something I hope you guys learn from should you ever do another fighter IP or sequel- I do think it really hurt Skullgirls playerbase/tourney numbers)
 

Loona

Member
I knew none of the stories was canon, but how each is presented and what can be inferred from the whole, as well as consistency, are all important things in the world-building aspect.

That being said, even if Peacock's is the best case scenario end, I rather like the image at the end of Valentine's.


Forgot to ask this in the other post, but is there a better way to get a good look at the character-specific posters from the intro, like Peacock's "Murder-Go-Round", than pausing a Youtube version?
There's no in-game gallery and last I checked it wasn't on the site.
 

Ravidrath

Member
I found it strange that the tutorials were organized so that combos including specials were addressed before the sections where you go through the actual characters' specials, seems counterintuitive to me.

Part of this was because the character tutorials were added with the patch, but also because the goal of the tutorial was to teach general concepts not specific things. Sticking all the special moves in the middle of tutorials about the overall mechanics, etc. doesn't really make any more sense to me?

Did you feel like the tutorials helped you learn about how to play the game and fighting games in general, though?


Did everyone's story mode (wanted to knock a trophy while I was trying it out), and while it was nice that some of the stories covered bits about different characters other that the one being played, it was odd that:
- the Filia/Painwheel issue wasn't explained - compassion doesn't need to imply a common past, so that was an odd element

When Painwheel says "Carol" Filia has a rush of memories. So I think the common past is more than implied. We aren't given specific reasons why Filia feels the way she does, though.


- while Painwheels name, Carol, gets remembered somewhere along the line, she's completely forgotten it in Filia's ending
which is all about giving her a normal life, which should imply remembering her normal name

This is kind of a joke.

The Skull Heart is very literal in how it grants wishes, and Filia wished that Painwheel would have a normal life. Hence why things turned out like that.


- Ms. Fortune gets a random battle elsewhere right after a cutscene directs her to the cathedral - most other characters usually get the random stuff done with earlier on, so then they can escalate dramatic tension properly

Yeah, I agree this is a little odd, but it stems from the geography of New Meridian and, in that case, probably the need to get another battle in there.

Alex is pretty serious about there being some level of consistency with a lot of this stuff. Like, we couldn't put battles in stages where people wouldn't have any reason to be, and virtually all of the stages exist for specific story reasons.

So, like, Ms. Fortune doesn't know about the ASG Labs and so she doesn't have a battle in there. Valentine does, however, so she does. Etc.


- on the topic of dramatic tension, if Lab Zero ever gets the chance to revise Story mode and avoid plot and gameplay separation, have a proper battle with Ms. Fortune after beating Marie with Cerebella, with a different ending in case she loses - I'm pretty sure the matchup isn't supposed to be 10-0 in Cerebella's favor
with a 200% damage special throw for the occasion... Holy damn, the one supposedly pure heart of the cast gets the worst possible ending
. It'd be less of an issue for me if the gameplay supported the notion, I guess.

As others have said, while all the stories are non-canon, there are specific events in all of them that are canon. That whole Cerebella/Ms. Fortune thing isn't one of them.

Also, we initially intended to have alternate endings for every story mode, but ran out of time. I really hope we get to put those back in some day. Some are serious alternates, while others are flat-out troll endings.


- on the topic of Cerebella, I half expected to see her hat talking in the story, since it even has a name... What stopping the Medicis from taking the thing and cutting out the middlewoman?

Living weapons like Vice-Versa are artificially-created and non-sentient, and can usually only be controlled by people in a certain bloodline. There are reasons why they have so many non-trivial similarities to Parasites, though.

Parasoul and Umbrella's umbrellas, Krieg and Hungern, are also living weapons and follow the same rules.


A bit outside these nitpicky issues, it still surprises me that Filia's used as the flagship character on most occasions, since the role usually goes for characters that seem more normal - looking at the cast, for me that'd be Parasoul, who's the only one not particularly augmented nor villainous.
OK, so it's a different nitpicky issue, but when the first impression consists on girls with weird stuff on their heads, it sets an odd tone that might push some people away, seemed odd to me, even if early on Filia and Cerebella being ready first encouraged giving them more exposure. Nowadays it just seems odd (that donation poster recently comes to mind).

Filia has a big role in the overall story, but her amnesia makes her a useful blank slate. That's really why she's the "main" character. Samson also knows a LOT about everything that's going on, which makes him a good guide, too.

Anyway, hope that answers all the questions implied in your comments, and glad you seem to be enjoying the game!
 

Loona

Member
Part of this was because the character tutorials were added with the patch, but also because the goal of the tutorial was to teach general concepts not specific things. Sticking all the special moves in the middle of tutorials about the overall mechanics, etc. doesn't really make any more sense to me?

It's a manner of learning by "layers", IMO - chaining attacks together is a "layer" above being able to execute them individually, so it's odd that the game asks you to perform a combo that includes a super before a series of tasks that includes simply performing that super individually.

The fact that the game was released without a movelist in it was one of the things that held me back from buying it earlier on, something that the patch helped to fix, and revising the tutorial to take it into account would probably require too much effort for that, when it's something best planned from the get-go, but I think it would have helped to take that into account - maybe it'll be a possibility for the PC version?

Did you feel like the tutorials helped you learn about how to play the game and fighting games in general, though?

I've been familiar with fighting games for several years, even if not at a high or competitive level, and even dabbled with Mugen for quite a few years, which helped some concepts sink in, but I was curious about the tutorial and its claims of covering general and game-specific concepts in detail, which it does better than most in the genre (which usually barely bother, which is why the lack of a movelist in the initial release felt so damn odd). I'm no fan of things like aerial combos, and I think the complexity there escalates quickly, but that may be more of a personal hang-up.

It's been ages, but I recall when I got the trial version soon after the game was released, the tutorial escalated really quickly in difficulty, it seemed odd to skip so many intermediate steps. It was midly annoying to notice none of those completed back then were saved as such, I'm not looking forward to go back to Cerebella's later tutorial combos, but at least there'll be more preparation along the way.

Getting to choose which character you use for a given lesson would have been nice - if you're interested in, say, Parasoul, it would be nice if the game gave you the choice of learning air combos using her moves instead of Filia's.
Maybe in some future effort or revision there could be character-specific tutorial paths after covering some common ground that applies to absolutely everyone? That could handle both the move list stuff and the combo concepts in an orderly manner.

When Painwheel says "Carol" Filia has a rush of memories. So I think the common past is more than implied. We aren't given specific reasons why Filia feels the way she does, though.

Sure it was implied, but there's very little to go on as to what that past might have been, that's the mildly frustrating thing. We get to find in Filia's meeting with Marie that
she's a Medici, which could have tied her to Marie, Patricia/Peacock, Ms. Fortune, even Cerebella if we stretch it
, but there's nothing I recall that hints at a reason why painwheeled Carol is so damn pissed off at her, when in her own story it's all directed to the Lab Zero staff (I don't recall that well if there was a fight with Filia in her story mode, but if it did, nothing of note was said during it).

Which now reminds me of another Painwheel tidbit: how come she
bothers to take off her mask to face skullgirled Valentine in the latter's story, but not when meeting her parents in her own?
Just feels odd given the circumstances, even if both stories are separate and hypothetical - characterization is still expected to feel consistent between them, and you'd expect her to have more time to think things through, like the way she's presenting herself, on her way to the 2and situation.

This is kind of a joke.

The Skull Heart is very literal in how it grants wishes, and Filia wished that Painwheel would have a normal life. Hence why things turned out like that.

Sure, and IIRC Fillia used the name "Painwheel" in that scene, which could be an excuse to twist the wish, but just felt a bit weird. Her mention of sewing when presenting herself to the class was funny enough for me, along with the state her face was in :)

Yeah, I agree this is a little odd, but it stems from the geography of New Meridian and, in that case, probably the need to get another battle in there.

Is there a map of it all somewhere? One of the things I've loved about the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting series throughout the years is how consistent they've been in depicting their common setting (recommended reference: http://www.mmcafe.com/southtown_map/), so now I wonder if it's possible to draw an actual path between SG's story mode locations for each character.

As others have said, while all the stories are non-canon, there are specific events in all of them that are canon. That whole Cerebella/Ms. Fortune thing isn't one of them.

The whole Cerebella thing just feels odd to me since if I see her do something like that in a curscene, I kinda feel like it should be possible in a fight as well, even if it's not canon - it's a displayed possibility, but there's no access to it.
A popular example would be how in the SF games Gouki/Akuma got his Shungokusatsu/Raging Demon based on that scene in SSF2T where he takes down Vega/Bison in a flash of hits - then again that only became usable in his 3rd playable version - he didn't have it in the original ST or X-Men:CotA, but eventually got it by SFA, and later still at least one character was canonically claimed immune (Gen)... so I guess it's possible to play a bit with the idea should the future provide opportunities...

Living weapons like Vice-Versa are artificially-created and non-sentient, and can usually only be controlled by people in a certain bloodline. There are reasons why they have so many non-trivial similarities to Parasites, though.

So, family heirloom, I guess? Her skills seem to lie in acrobatics, but I could see that hat being handed down from some circus strongmen ancestors.

Which kinda reminds me that one of the story modes mentioned some wrestler, I think, called Beowulf, which is later referenced in that room from Double's ending... probably waaay unrelated, but makes me wonder what kinda of idea Alex had for that one, to get that 2nd sort-of-meta reference that so many others didn't...

Filia has a big role in the overall story, but her amnesia makes her a useful blank slate. That's really why she's the "main" character. Samson also knows a LOT about everything that's going on, which makes him a good guide, too.

A blank slate is handy when there's only one possible starting viewpoint for a story (which is why it's faily common in RPGs), but here there are several, and all we get from Samson is a tendency to avoid past issues, which limits what we get to learn. But if we start with her, we run into the Painwheel issue, and then if we decide to follow up on that by doing Carol's story, we come up empty, which is a bit off-putting.

Parasoul, on the other hand, has some heavier history with the whole Skullgirl phenomena in her family, which can also work pretty well as a viewpoint and perspective on what's at stake (not to mention her story and the info on the April fools article hints at gameplay and story plans for her sister, which would further cement her possible protagonism).
Even if she doesn't link that heavily with other playable caracters, she's backed up by a small army (I swear, the first pic I saw of that gang made me think Metal Slug so hard), which gives some perspective into the effort expected to take down Marie - two of the other characters are weaponized people, with stories that get to link a bit more with others (Peacock -> Marie -> Medicis -> Cerebella, Ms. Fortune, Filia; Painwheel -> Valentine -> Double).


Nitpicking, I guess, but care for the setting is what kept me attached to SNK's works throughout the years, I figure it's never too late to encourage care for that sort of thing.
 

joe2187

Banned
Forgot to ask this in the other post, but is there a better way to get a good look at the character-specific posters from the intro, like Peacock's "Murder-Go-Round", than pausing a Youtube version?
There's no in-game gallery and last I checked it wasn't on the site.

The lack of in-game gallery kind of saddened me, I love unlocking Art, fan art, concepts, movies, and soundtracks in other games that include them.

Sucks about the whole autumn games fiasco, but it's a miracle that the game was released at all with everything going against it.

I cant seem to find the rest of the posters that are used to make the OT banner either.
 

Ravidrath

Member
Forgot to ask this in the other post, but is there a better way to get a good look at the character-specific posters from the intro, like Peacock's "Murder-Go-Round", than pausing a Youtube version?
There's no in-game gallery and last I checked it wasn't on the site.

I hope we can add an in-game gallery at some point in the future. It was something we said we were going to do, but ran out of time. Really, anything involving the implementation of the UI ended up being a bit of a nightmare, and that's a pretty big UI task if we do it right.

Anyway, our awesome UI artist / graphic designer, Brady, has put some of the posters up on his Tumblr.

http://ashuraoh.tumblr.com/tagged/skullgirls

I only see two on there now, but I'll ask if he can post the rest in the near future.
 

Loona

Member
I hope we can add an in-game gallery at some point in the future. It was something we said we were going to do, but ran out of time. Really, anything involving the implementation of the UI ended up being a bit of a nightmare, and that's a pretty big UI task if we do it right.

Unlocks usually work as a motivation for me, but just having the pics available anywhere is nice.

The official site has a Media section where it shouldn't be too tricky to add a few lore/character-relevant pics like the posters, it would at least be simpler to update that than the game GUI.

There's the official Tumblr, where a lot of fun donation drive pics made their way, but it's not quite the same thing IMO - still, it'd be a nice place to repost relevant art from the different artists' own Tumblrs, like the one by Brady with the posters and their different inspirations.

Speaking of which, I found a post in Alex's with 3 of the posters, and clicking Ms. Fortune's it's large and clear enough to make the text below actually readable: http://o-8.tumblr.com/post/37878663390/skullgirls-posters-designed-by-brady-hartel-is-up
That thing alone is the only other place where I see Renoirs being mentioned (in-game, only in Cerebella's ending IIRC), and establishes "bones" as the name and symbol of the currency in effect in the setting, something I didn't see mentioned in game at all.
I just love me some world-building tidbits like that.
 
GGs Milk, if my main team wasn't Peacock/Double/??? from the beginning of the game I think the matches would have gone in a different direction. I've been studying up on Ciscokid's play and been messing around in training mode to see what zoning strings have holes on them to improve my own Peacock play so that probably helped a ton during the matches.

I highly recommend checking out this match between Ciscokid and MikeZ to get a feel for what the team can really push towards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQd43gUVuA

A lot of it is simply knowing when and where to throw out your Double assist in order to compliment your zoning and knowing how to create additional space between your opponent asap. Notice what he's doing at the beginning of each round as well since the first move is integral to creating the momentum you need to have sufficient lockdown.
 
Yea, I saw the video already. That's the only reason I even picked the team. I don't know how to use Peacock, not that that matters. You'd have manhandled me regardless.

I completely forgot that you play the game lol. I should probably just assume that anyone playing at this point is a monster.
 

alstein

Member
Yea, I saw the video already. That's the only reason I even picked the team. I don't know how to use Peacock, not that that matters. You'd have manhandled me regardless.

I completely forgot that you play the game lol. I should probably just assume that anyone playing at this point is a monster.

If I ever find a random match I get folks who destroy me, so I just go back to VF where I worry I do the same thing to new players (why I'm learning Vanessa and Aoi some)
 

joe2187

Banned
I've been patiently waiting for the 360 patch, but I caved and bought a PS3 fight pad I've been wanting to make it to some of the salty cupcake nights but I'm complete ass at this game (and most fighting games) so I wanted to practice and do some combos and get some sets done online

And now my TV is completely dead, nothing but multicolored lines

tumblr_m7xxa8ucmD1qjqjmt.jpg
 

Fraeon

Member
I guess I'm going to get the PSN version of this right away. If I like it, probably going to double dip when/if it arrives on PC. Not too many games there I'm afraid.

I do hope Skullgirls tourneys this year get people in them. I can see that being a real problem even with the amazing donation drive that was put together.
 
Top Bottom