I am reseaching creating a 2D fighting game for my next project. The problem is that I can't find any shareware 2D fighters. Do they not exist? I found a few (although, very few) 3D ones.

Where can I find shareware 2D fighting games or even 3D ones? Does anyone know of any off hand?

Fetish Fighers, and of course One Must Fall 2097

The only one I can think of off hand is Fetish Fighters. Though I have no idea how well it sells. They're making a sequel, so I imagine the original did at least alright. The developer posts here once in a blue moon.

I think the problem with fighters on the PC is that it's pretty much impossible to get a good control scheme with a keyboard. You have to hope people already have a gamepad if they're going to have a decent gaming experience.

Also, fighters are deceptively tricky to develop. I attempted to make a fighter as a semi-hobby project a couple of years ago. You might think with only 2 characters on-screen, it shouldn't be too difficult to develop. But creating the controls so that they're fluid and a natural extension of the player is very tricky. Also, if you're creating a 2D hand-drawn fighter (like I was) then the art requirements can get out of control VERY easily. The prototype I created only had two characters with no special moves, just the basics. Each character had over 20-25 frames for a total of ~50. We were going to have only 5 or so characters in our little game yet that would have equated to almost 200 frames of animation for just the characters.

Also, you'll have to create very solid A.I. especially since the majority of the play will be in single-player mode because the PC platform really isn't really used as a 2-player gaming machine. You can attempt a Netplay mode, but since fighters require fast reactions and responses on the part of the player even a little latency can ruin a game. You'll have to be a proficient net coder to work those things out.

I haven't even touched on balancing issues.

Making a good or even a decent fighter is VERY hard. Even in the retail world only a few companies attempt them (Sega, Capcom, and Namco).

In the Indie world when you do happen to see a fighter you typically see two types of fighters.

1). Fighters that try to imitate the big boys.
- If they even get released, they usually only contain 2-4 characters. They play horribly and are quickly forgotten.
2). Novelty Fighters
- These fighters are usually based around some gimmick such as half-naked (or naked) girls or some kind of parody. These games usually don't play that well either, but their novelty factor gets them some sales.

If you're trying to make a fighter in under 6-8 months, then you might want to create a novelty fighter of some sort. People might be able to look over the gameplay shortcomings if they get a good laugh. However, if you actually want to create a decent fighter that plays well, then you need to treat it like a MAJOR project (such as a RPG or FPS). The only good fighters out there are by Sega, Capcom, and Namco so you'll be compared to them. You'll probably need to assemble a small and very dedicated team. Don't have too many characters, so you can instead focus on the play mechanics and balancing issues.

There's definitely void of PC fighters. If you manage to create a fighter that actually plays decent and has good character designs you should have no problem finding an audience. But like I said, it's MUCH easier said than done.

As I mentioned, I attempted a fighter a couple of years ago, so I have a lot to say on this subject. :)

Bikini Karate Babes (http://www.bikinikaratebabes.com/)

Better than the upcoming Mortal Kombat :)

plenty here :
http://www.int13.net/~roni/


pat.

www.meatfighter.com/ (http://www.meatfighter.com/)

let's not forget "Little Fighter 2" i think it was called...

or Super Action Kung Fu if you can find it :)

My advice would be to do something a little different from the big fighters (just as you would be foolish to attemt a FPS that wasn't something a little different, it's you're only way to compete successfully). Little Fighters is a good example.

It's a tough genre though, for lots of reasons, as stated above. 200 frames of animation? You'd be lucky. If it's going to look half-decent (comparable to later Street Fighter games), try 10,000... no wonder people do Arkanoid instead...

But look at the original Prince of Persia. Jordan Mechner basically took photos of his brother running and jumping etc and digitised them. The results were excellent for the time. Indeed, they would still be excellent today for an indie release. Not everything needs to look like Tekken. "Way of the Exploding Fist" was a great 80's game on the ZX Spectrum (Timex something or other in the US). You could just concentrate on getting a few basic moves in (block, punch, kick, jump, roundhouse) with only the minimum animation frames for each move. Eg a punch could be done with just two animation frames. A roundhouse would need more to look convincing. Then take it from there, add more moves and frames if and when you desire!

20thCB

@ GameStudionD

Perhaps this sounds a little long-winded but if you're betterat 3d modelling animation than pixel drawing this might work for you:

Create 3d models or use the ones you found, bone/skin them and set up the moves animations. Digitise them in frames and finally retouch the images.

I ran in to this today.

http://www.vermilliongames.com/mb_en_sc_01.htm

Yeah, thats right. It looks just like an indie Soul Callibur clone. :)

Aparently these guys are having no luck finding a publisher. While the game looks good, it doesn't play too hot. I can't help but be reminded of the old Team17 and other old PC fighters. I have to agree with 20thCB that something like Way of the Exploding Fist (or Fist 2) might make a solid shareware game.