I'm working on a 2D RPG engine right now, but I thought I'd get some ideas for a design doc on my next project, a 3d arena-fighter. I have two questions for the community: 1.) Does anyone have a plausible story for people to get together to fight? Has there ever been a believable story for a fighting game? (I'm thinking of Musashi-style wandering samurai as an excuse for duels, but not every character can be ronin!) 2.) Secondly, does anyone know of some underrepresented fighting styles? I have some roots in britain, shoshone native americans, and the philippines. I'm trying to look up what Kali/Escrima looks like, but I'm not getting anywhere. I'd like to see some native american fighting systems, but the claims of a "traditional" system I've seen are spurious at best. I guess Boxing will be okay for my English history, but what about the Irish/Scottish/Welsh? There are also tons of kung fu styles that you never get to see in movies, like Dog Kung Fu or Bear-Eagle Kung Fu. Are there any fellow designer/martial artists who can help me research these alternate styles? (P.S. Does anyone know the kicking style Lee Chaolan uses in Tekken?)

I'm a boxer IRL training in grappling and submissions for mixed martial arts/UFC competition. I don't know anything about any of the more obscure arts, though.... the real art of styles doesn't have any place there. It's all Jui-Jitsu, Judo, and Muay-Thai...

Are you doing this for PC? I don't remember anyone ever pulling off a successful PC fighting game.

With the PC's online community capabilities, I'd -love- to see a PC fighting game. A lot of the problem, I think, is the controls. Incorperating a mouse into hand to hand combat is harsh. :|

As for story, you can always find an excuse. The only thing that's important is that the story gives birth to interesting and fun characters. I don't know anyone that actually cares, or even reads the story behind a fighting games.

1. I've always thought the standard "World's best fighters [and wannabe fighters] gather for a [every $x $time] competition to prove themselves and possibly win a giant cash pot or other valuable good." plot was good enough.

There's also the "highlander" plot, though most perhaps would not consider that belivable :]

@Telastyn:
I was actually a big fan of the Highlander series. I thought that was a lot less predictable than "Crazy rich guy gathers best martial artists...duke it out!" As to whether people would believe in an underground fighting tournament or a secret underworld of demi-god immortals, well...I have a fertile imagination!

@GOR-GOR:
Yes, I'm developing for PC, but I'm a long way off from a working fighting game. I'm not planning on using mouse or keyboard, but a PS2-like gamepad I got from wal-mart. I'll be adding mappable keys, so you can force a keyboard into the game if you like!

I train in Tae Kwon Do and JuJutsu IRL. I'd like to try Jeet Kune Do or Tai Chi Chuan, but I can't find anybody who teaches either.

@Everybody else:
Does anybody know what Lee's style from Tekken is? I like it a lot, but haven't found a real-life parallel yet. Are there any other styles anybody would like to bring up, or resources to learn more about less popular styles (like Kali)?

Israelian MOSSAD fighting style is called Krav Maga, although it first existed in Praha's (or Prague's, I can never choose which one is correct in English) ghetto. It is EXTREMELY violent, as it was originally meant to quickly and silently destroy the Nazis coming your way, and then buying you time to escape. But since most of its most deadly uses consist of grapples and twists, aiming at ripping some part of your opponent from him, I am not sure it would make a very graphical game. Unless you actually ripped it off, of course. But that would come back to Mortal Kombat...

You then have Koppo, an old Asian Martial Art, although I admit I don't know where it originates from. This one also aims at fast destruction of joints, articulations, bones and tissues. Grapples and "hammer" strikes, mostly.

Then you have the old French "savate", but it has been taken a step further to French Boxing, as I know it. A sort of hands-and-feet boxing, in tights and gloves. Quick, but not as quick as Tae-Kwon-Do. Technical, but not as technical as Jeet-Kune-Do.

And then you have Russian Sambo. It's very little known, outside of Russia, really, and seldom tauight at all. But worth a look, if anyone can find something on it.

Quote:

you could always learn to brawl at your local dive (Just start talking s**t at the first one-percenter you see).

Now there's an idea for a game - "Virtual Bundle". Set in the Stags Head on a Friday night, you've got your Drunk-O-Meter and your Special Moves for the cut scenes - like trying to have a wee without banging your head on the wall in that freefall motion we all do when threequarters gone on several pints of Luftwaffe Export. It's the wading through the ankle deep "waste" to get there that I particularly love...(wasn't that a song? "I'm wading through Mens P**s"?)

Yes, I think the drunken boxing style is underrepresented in english culture abroad... mmmm...

The biggest thing with fighting styles is that in the end, the ultimate purpose is to defeat your opponent one way or another. So, many times, you really don't need a name for it. If you really want under-represented stuff, maybe look into imaginery styles create in comic books or japanese manga? That actually may get interesting in many ways.

Ultimately, I feel, some day, fighting games will virtually need to have the freedom to let the user create their own style and techniques. Then be able to realistically model damage and affects of the various moves on the opponents body. That will be the ultimate in fighting games. The literal virtual brawl.

I do martial arts, you could call it Jeet Kune Do, but I train officially Xing Yi Bagua and Tai Chi (Neijia) and 1 more not so officially but by the same Sifu (teacher) which is Modern Arnis. But also did Karate Kyokushin for 5 years before that and some 2 years in Taekwondo and 1 year during last year of Middle School (As a project) our class did Dennis Survival which is an Israeli Mixed Martial Art which mixes Karate, Judo and Jiu Jitsu together.

I think you should do an RPG/Fighting game (That's what I hear you wanna do), and everytime you execute a technique, you would gain experience in that technique.

Don't take martial arts as an example for the game though, rather take concepts from the martial arts, You could do a straight punch boxing-like, and you could take a chinese straight punch (Vertical Fist) and you can do all kinds of other things.

The Fillipino Martial Arts (FMA) have all kinds of attacking angles with weapons and empty handed, look into Modern Arnis if you want some more information. FMA originally have alot of disarms, so you block, disarm and attack but when that is not possible you attack the attacking limbs.

Quote:

Original post by templewulf 1.) Does anyone have a plausible story for people to get together to fight? Has there ever been a believable story for a fighting game?

No and no. Might as well save yourself the embarassment, and skip the "story". :)