It''s obvious what my post is about. What I want to know if you anyone here thinks it''s a possible market for video games. Obviously there are developers making games for the franchise but all those are crappy. I want to know if anyone here, besides me, thinks it''s possible to make a good Dragon Ball Z game. NOTE: If this gets anywhere as far as drumming up ideas I''ll share my but for right now I''ll be satisfied with general responses. Bleu Shift - www.bleushift.tk

There have all ready been some pretty good Dragon Ball Z games(Super boutoden 2/3,Hyper dimension, and Legends).So it is very possible.

OFF TOPIC (sorry, but I MUST know):
I don''t understand what the fascination is with Dragon Ball Z. I have only seen the cartoon a few times, but it is not that good, really. It is horribly drawn and animated, the dialogue and stories are cliche and lame (are there some 8 year old Japanese boys writing this?), and the fight scenes are ridiculous! In this one episode I saw, the guy decided to use his "Super Ultra Mega Fireball Punch" (or some such crap), and it took him the entire part between two commercial breaks to "charge it up". In another, some alien character zapped this green dude with red swirly lines, and for at least three minutes the scene just changed between the green guy looking like he was in great pain and the other guy floating in the air with these red lines shooting from his head.
And yet, this show seems to be more popular than Pokemon, which while silly and all at least had cute little animals!
Am I missing something?

quote: Original post by krez
And yet, this show seems to be more popular than Pokemon, which while silly and all at least had cute little animals!
Am I missing something?

I thought I was the only one that thought this... WHY do people like it?

quote: Original post by krez
OFF TOPIC (sorry, but I MUST know):
I don't understand what the fascination is with Dragon Ball Z. I have only seen the cartoon a few times, but it is not that good, really. It is horribly drawn and animated, the dialogue and stories are cliche and lame (are there some 8 year old Japanese boys writing this?), and the fight scenes are ridiculous! In this one episode I saw, the guy decided to use his "Super Ultra Mega Fireball Punch" (or some such crap), and it took him the entire part between two commercial breaks to "charge it up". In another, some alien character zapped this green dude with red swirly lines, and for at least three minutes the scene just changed between the green guy looking like he was in great pain and the other guy floating in the air with these red lines shooting from his head.
And yet, this show seems to be more popular than Pokemon, which while silly and all at least had cute little animals!
Am I missing something?

The person whom you referred to as drawing the cartoon "horribly" would happen to be a VERY respected artist (if you will) named Akira Toriyama, now that name might sound familiar because he has also dabbled in drawing and animating characters in video games (Chrono Trigger from Final Fantasy Chronicles, if im not mistaken, is an example) now working for such a company (Square-Electronic Arts) is merit enough in my opinion. Oh and if you can't tell I like DBZ.

Peace out.

EDIT: A note for the layperson, I understand that Mr. Toriyama doesn't actually draw every piece of such works, but that of course the designs are his intellectual property.

[edited by - Shaun_30 on September 11, 2002 9:50:19 PM]

quote:
I thought I was the only one that thought this... WHY do people like it?

I think the reason people like DBZ is because of Dragon ball which is a much better show.

back on topic

sure there can be a good DBZ game

I can picture it already with Cel Shading and Goku and Freeza



[edited by - on December 25, 2002 11:41:33 PM]

I don''t know if I can explain why, but I do recognize the feeling. It''s the same one I get when watching a good rpg.

The thing about the odd fight scenes is that the fighters are moving so fast and the artist is trying to convey their superhuman abilities.

They charge up way too slow! Yes, I agree. What they''re going for is building tension but they usually take it a little too far. They also have way too many grunts and other nonvocals that go on for way too long. I prefer eloquent dialogue to show me the state of the character. I think there''s a limit to how much expression can be drawn.

Pokemon is actually a really good show(even if at times a bit redundant, I mean, how many times must I hear Team Rocket''s introduction and parting line).

What I really don''t get is how people continue to like Scooby-Doo. I watched it and didn''t hate it when I was little, but just a couple of years and I grew up to the point where I realized how bad that show really is(the chases actually were not the worst part).

The idea of becoming something more than you were in times of stress and need(Supersaiyan) is a very attractive idea, and one that is completely absent from Western culture.(it''s rooted, I believe, in Buddhism)

That said, I like only those episodes that deal with the concept.(Goku''s 1st level transformation, Vegeta''s 1st level transformation, Gohan''s 2nd level transformation, and to a lesser extent, his first)

However, some people like to identify with the ueberclass that the characters represent. Also, the show''s really, really funny in parts. The whole, powerful enough to vaporize a mountain with a punch, but being scared of your wife, thing is really funny. Then there''s the "I don''t want you to become another worthless fighter like your father." thing with Gohan. Then there''s the Gohan teenage years, where he puts on a costume and calls himself "Saiyaman!", and adopts really ridiculous poses. That part''s particularly funny when you consider that the poses he adopts are the ones that he''s laughed at previously. It''s also funny to see superhumanly powerful men cowering at a (comparatively weak) female. During the teenage part, it''s funny to see Gohan, someone strong enough to destroy the earth, anxious when he goes to school. Then when "Hercule" comes(in the Japanese version, he''s called Mr. Satan) and boasts about his strength, you get to see all these guys who could break him in two with the snap of their pinky finger acting nonchalant as he boasts about being the strongest fighter in the universe. Then you get to see a kid who''s like 6 years old knock him 10 meters with one punch, winning the match, and everyone thinking he''s just being a good sport.

The fight scenes aren''t really about the fighting. You can tell when the characters are first introduced who would win in a fight. After that, it''s just the emotion. Let''s take Cell as an example. When first introduced, he''s stronger than all of the characters. Then, Piccolo does something drastic to make himself stronger. The evil character(evil characters are always cowardly donchaknow) runs away after recognizing his weakness to try an become stronger. It just happens that his particular method of becoming stronger is to assimilate some previous enemies to which all the characters lost(Goku, presumably, would be strong enough, but he''s incapacitated at that point), becoming, again, inconceivably strong. The enemies are confident in their strength, but are, as confidence always indicates, overestimating themselves. After the first of two is assimilated, the good guys run to the second''s rescue. She runs into hiding. You get to see an enemy being protected by someone who, only days before, was their enemy, and to whom they lost. Then you get to see one of the good guys fall in love with this former adversary.(which is funny for various reasons) You get to see a stark change in attitude from confidence to terror. She is, eventually, assimilated as well, but not before Vegeta and Future Trunks(the best adjunct to the series, I''ve heard, is the DBZ movie in which his future is shown) get some training. As a result, they''re confident. In fact, Vegeta has practically no aspect to his character besides his ego. You get to see this ego shattered and the internal chaos this causes. You get to see Trunks'' concealed belief that he is stronger than Vegeta shattered with a realization that he is not only not usefully more powerful, but stupid in thinking that this particular brand of strength was useful. You get to see Cell toying with the whole world. Then you get to see Goku step down and have faith in his son that his son does not believe is well-founded. Tragedy and irony can be found in the fact that he only finds the strength he needs when his friends die, the course his father tried to prevent by sending his son out in the first place. Then he makes a mistake that negates the value of his power, and ceases to have faith in himself once again(although this does not cause him to lose the power that he gained by having the faith once). Then you get to see the ideal bond between a father and a son as the father encourages Gohan.

The fact that this story takes place in different ways during iterations of the same archetype is irrelevant.

That said, if you''ve seen the part of DBZ that takes place on Namek, you should find a parody called Buttlord GT.

I will tell ya... I have worked on a dragonball Z game for about 2 years on and off. I have finally reached the point to where it could become an interesting online game. In order to do so you have to -slightly alter- the way dbz runs. As many of you know, in dbz, if you are stronger than your opponent(by just as little as 10%) then you will win unless your opponent has a secret technique that is powerful. This would essentually mean that whoever is stronger, in say a dbz mmorpg, would just win. Like I said before, I had finally gotten around that problem(and without discarding powerlevels), and everyone I talked to has really liked the idea.

Btw, a lot of people seem to think it has horrible drawing, and a crappy storyline, etc... First off, only the manga was drawn by Akira Toriyama, the anime was by a group of crappy animators, and it adds filler scenes that make no sense. Second off, most people like it because of how cool the fighting scenes look, and because the fighters are so powerful. As long as you don''t nitpick, its just fine. I really didn''t have much of a point to this post besides this: Any dbz game you openly advertise will fail without prior consent from funimation and/or Infogrames. Either they will catch wind and shut you down, or the team will break apart because the game sucks/other reasons. Not to downplay... well anything, but unless you pop out 2/3-d games all the time, of the fighting genre(rpg is easy to add, balancing is not), then I would suggest working on the game first, until its all good, and then work on the game slowly. If you can(which is totally possible) work on it by yourself, and as long as you have determination, you will finish. If you want, however, after you have finished some sort of demo... with graphics, and have the balance... and its not in Basic(c/c++ is required), then you can ask people to join, and they will. Then just make sure you don''t create a website for it until you are, releasing it... and get the word out fast.

You might want to take caution before making a game that uses copyrighted material if you plan to publicly release it. Even if you don''t make a dime off of the game, you can still be sued for infringement. Companies don''t mess around with IP rights.