I would just like to say, before we start this thread, that this is only an idea. I'm treating this as a way to get outside information on this idea I've been toying with for a while. That being said, I would still like feedback as if you would play this game, and some suggestions on practical limitations (such as coding engines, bandwith, technical things, etc.), because while this is an idea, I would still like for it to be a feasible idea.

Okay, let's get started with the system, then I'll put my questions after.


What I was thinking:
Building a multiplayer game based off of two things:
1. Phased side scrolling 2D fighting system.
2. A card deck system.

Basically, a player would engage a fight which would phase the player into a 2D side scrolling battle system, like street fighter. So you have a health bar, a guard gauge, and a special meter. You would have basic attacks, the ability to jump, and guard, like a standard fighting game. Basic attacks would build your special meter. Now what I would like to introduce is the card system.

The card system would be similar to a trading card game (think magic the gathering). You would have a few archetypes (MtG: colors) with special effects. There would be a lot of cards to choose from, but you're only limited to a certain amount in a deck.

During each fight, you will have a hand of randomly drawn cards out of your chosen deck, and each card would have a specific amount of meter required to activate.

The core of the gameplay is building decks, analyzing card strengths/weaknesses, thinking about card amounts and probability of draw, card synergies and all of that, on top of fighting game mechanics (guarding, reading opponents, etc.)

You would start a match with your selected hand, and every XX seconds you could draw a card if you don't have a full hand, and you play until you can defeat your opponent.

There would also be something like a shuffle command where you can put your current hand back into the deck and reshuffle and redraw. The penalty of course would be using meter to do so, and playing without specials while your cards shuffle.

Of course, also like MtG, there will be certain restrictions on how to assemble a deck, just to keep things fair, a little more easy to predict (if vs another player) and to keep strategies evolving and to keep new players not as overwhelmed.

The multiplayer aspect:
Since this is a multiplayer game, I should at least lay down a bit of ideas in this thread about the multiplayer aspect (especially since I have a few questions I'd like to ask regarding this as well).

It would be online, where you log in with an account into a lobby. Instead of there being maps, or a persistent world, like any mmorpg, it would be more like a strategy game or fps game. You can add players to a friends list to invite to matches, or you can search through a browser of sorts. There is also a chatroom so you can be social and whatnot. Even a tab for auctions to trade cards and manage your collection and edit your deck. There would be no persistent character level ups and stats, but ranks. So people can view your profile and see your loadouts, your stats and stuff like that. I don't want players to play to level, to gain stats or skill points and win because they're higher level. The deciding factor should be how well they build and utilize their decks within a fight, as well as their general fighting game sense.

To actually play the game, you and a few other friends could select a campaign and ready check and load into the specific campaign.

Each campaign is a collection of battles (think like an arcade mode for a fighting game) of increasing difficulty. Each stage of the campaign would have an objective, which will usually be killing a boss, or group of creatures.

An important thing to note, since it is multiplayer, and I want it to feel like you're in a world and not just fighting constantly, the maps on which you play on would be kind of big (think side scroller metroidvania style) and have gaps to jump, ledges to platform, traps to avoid and the occasional puzzle/time challenge, all with monsters to fight through. This would help a little with the clutter of having a few friends tag along, and also add a bit more fun into the game.

Completing a campaign would be like finishing a dungeon, or completing a raid. Every two to three stages of a campaign would have a hard boss and the last stage would have an incredibly hard boss, and each boss kill grants a few coin and some cards to trade and boost yourself with, as well as buy cosmetic items to make yourself cool.

Other game modes:
There would be other things to, like:
Boss rush. This would be akin to VS mode in most fighting games. Just you and a computer NPC monster on a restricted (normal fighting game sized) area to fight, first to 3 rounds win.
Player vs Player, self explanatory, you load out with your deck vs someone elses on a standard fighting games sized map and fight. 3 rounds to win.
Team vs Team, like player vs player, but on a bigger map and with 3~5 players fighting against 3~5 players simultaneously.
Training mode: allows the player to set enemy behavior, view skill lists, test decks in a controlled environment. Also allows for easy card substitutions and forced draws so you can test specific cards.

Question:
What do you guys think of this? Would you play it, why/why not? Do you think having multiple players would be too much clutter? Would you think adding multiple players adds depth to make it more exciting, or should you just stick to one player? Do you foresee any major problems that could prevent a game of this style being playable? Do you have any concerns? Could you see a game like this able to become a competitive type game, like on MLG, or on other circuits with a good spectator mode?

Any questions for me, or for the game?

I'm sorry I rambled a little. Being concise is really not something I do well. I could explain things a bit more, if you need me to, but I think I got the gist of the entire game across. Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I hope you all enjoyed my idea, and I hope to hear some nice collaboration between the community on the finer points of this system I've been developing.

Sorry, meant to edit, I hit quote instead. Silly me.

About the size of the project:
it depends on your programming skills/background and the platform you choose. Also in what timeframe you want to have something playable.
In general, a multiplayer lobby takes quite some time to make. And THEN you haven't thought about security, which takes a LOT of time if you have no experience/knowledge in that field.

Maybe you can tell us a bit about your programming experience and your platform if you have decided yet.

Instead of there being maps, or a persistent world, like any mmorpg, it would be more like a strategy game or fps game. You can add players to a friends list to invite to matches, or you can search through a browser of sorts. There is also a chatroom so you can be social and whatnot. Even a tab for auctions to trade cards and manage your collection and edit your deck. There would be no persistent character level ups and stats, but ranks. So people can view your profile and see your loadouts, your stats and stuff like that. I don't want players to play to level, to gain stats or skill points and win because they're higher level. The deciding factor should be how well they build and utilize their decks within a fight, as well as their general fighting game sense.

A good question to ask yourself is: Why is your game fun? What keeps somebody playing?


Forget multiplayer for the moment, if the game is fun alone, it is generally more fun with your friends. Don't mind the story/overworld either, if your gameplay is solid, you have a solid game to build upon.


Your idea is interesting, but it won't be trivial designing it. You take an action/realtime based gameplay and mix it with strategy, thinking, timeconsuming elements. The hard part is making it work. I sometimes see this when i play Strategy and Action-RPG mix games (forgot the name of the commercial one), it tries to mix both genres. In the end, it was neither to me.
So don't try to make a Fightinggame/ Cardgame hybrid, make YOUR game.

The core of the gameplay is building decks, analyzing card strengths/weaknesses, thinking about card amounts and probability of draw, card synergies and all of that, on top of fighting game mechanics (guarding, reading opponents, etc.)

It seems like you put two game mechanics and glued them together. What if in the end the cards turned out to be stronger than the fighting aspect, you will have a weird cardgame. Turn it the other way around, you have a fighting game with a useless component.

Maybe think more about: In what ways can you defeat your oponent? How you can prevent the other oponent from defeating you? What is your fight about?
This also goes a bit into the previous question, what makes your game fun. What makes your fight interesting? Why would you fight again?


Very good that you tried to put your game in words and tried to get feedback. Both isn't easy at all, but it is maybe the most important part of developing/designing.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memory.

It lacks the "fighting" part, but has isometric platform + cards. That might be a good starting point for you.

I'm saying you're not the first person to try to bind different genres together, specifically the genres that your listing.

Sometimes blending different mechanics is better than to keep them separate. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memory blends the mechanics together, but your method is to not blend them together well. That's why"

It seems like you put two game mechanics and glued them together. What if in the end the cards turned out to be stronger than the fighting aspect, you will have a weird cardgame. Turn it the other way around, you have a fighting game with a useless component.

Of course, when mechanics are blended together, they sometimes don't keep certain aspects of the individual mechanics. Remember that compromise is a Virtue.