How can TFH entice people?

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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I backed this game and think its coming along quite well, however, who outside of those who backed TFH will be buying the game, especially with so many fighters that came out or will be coming out? What makes TFH stand out from the crowd? You could easily say "its a fighting game with animals inspired by Lawyer Friendly Equines", but I would say that turns people off, seeing as people view Lawyer Friendly Equines as childish and would say that making a fighting game of it would be comical. There's the Magic system, but MvC:I, for example, has the Infinity Stones, which would people rather go to? I'll give it to thew Pixel Lobby, being an upgrade from normal fighting game lobbies, but I don't think people would care all that much, at least not enough to buy TFH over Ex. DBZF.
Then we have the casuals, the people who keep a game lively, what does this game do for them? I mean the genre is already niche enough, so what does this game offer them? It's still a fighting game, every bit as hard as the next. What's the draw for them? TFH has the appearance of a "casual" fighting game, but it's a lie. When the casuals start to play and get demolished, odds are they will quit faster then if they are to play another fighting game, 1 because the cute animals was a cover up for how hard the game is and 2 because they don't know anyone so they have no drive to play as anyone.
I have little to NO experience with fighting games, so I haven't the foggiest idea on what to suggest. The only thing I can say is that the little experience I have with fighting games, is from Super Smash Bros., being casual enough for me while being hardcore enough to see in EVO.
 

Mage

A Normal Person
Feb 26, 2017
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You raise some valid points. I personally think this game won't have that big of a casual crowd. I think it'll rely on more of a hardcore/semihardcore crowd of FGC people (along with diehard fans of the project from its earlier days). I actually think the FGC will be pretty welcoming towards this game if it holds up competitively - they seem to be more forgiving towards things that are considered "kiddy". I mean, some FGC people laugh at Smash Bros, but a fair number of them still accept it into their community. Hopefully this game will fare similarly. We're all nerds here, after all.

In all seriousness, I'd say we can look at Rivals of Aether to get a decent idea as to how this game will fare in the market. RoA was pretty niche, being for Smash Bros Melee fans (a minority in a minority), yet it seems to be doing pretty well for itself - they released two new DLC characters only recently. In fact, this game is better off than RoA in terms of appealing to groups within the FGC. TFH can appeal to the entire "anime fighter" community, while RoA only appealed to "Smash Bros Melee" fans.

To address your mechanics point, Rivals of Aether doesn't really have standout mechanics aside from the usual Melee stuff. It relies on deep, unique characters. But this game has Magic, Supers, Super Moves, and unique characters all in one! It actually has a lot going for it in terms of mechanics. I haven't played MvC Infinite, but I think the Magic system stands out pretty well from the Infinity Stones, since every character has a few different things they can do with it which are very unique to them. It seems that there's a lot of room for different playstyles even with one character. I don't know about MvC Infinite, but that's definitely something people criticize SFV (another big fighting game right now) for lacking. This game also seems to have actual defensive gameplay, which is another thing SFV doesn't have (and from what I've heard, MvC Infinite either).

TL;DR
We'll have a somewhat niche community but it'll be a dedicated one. This game actually has some pretty cool mechanics which may give the FGC what it wants right now; unique and expressive character playstyles.
 

ty4brawl

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I myself am fairly foreign to fighting games, outside of getting smash and a few Capcom vs games, plus I have a pretty busy schedule that keeps me off game most of the time, but for me it's fun chilling in the pixel lobby, sometimes even if it's empty.

I am hoping to improve as the game goes on so I can actually have good matches in the lobby, but for now, I think the pixel lobby and the eventually story will keep me in for awhile.
 
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Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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You raise some valid points. I personally think this game won't have that big of a casual crowd. I think it'll rely on more of a hardcore/semihardcore crowd of FGC people (along with diehard fans of the project from its earlier days). I actually think the FGC will be pretty welcoming towards this game if it holds up competitively - they seem to be more forgiving towards things that are considered "kiddy". I mean, some FGC people laugh at Smash Bros, but a fair number of them still accept it into their community. Hopefully this game will fare similarly. We're all nerds here, after all.

In all seriousness, I'd say we can look at Rivals of Aether to get a decent idea as to how this game will fare in the market. RoA was pretty niche, being for Smash Bros Melee fans (a minority in a minority), yet it seems to be doing pretty well for itself - they released two new DLC characters only recently. In fact, this game is better off than RoA in terms of appealing to groups within the FGC. TFH can appeal to the entire "anime fighter" community, while RoA only appealed to "Smash Bros Melee" fans.

To address your mechanics point, Rivals of Aether doesn't really have standout mechanics aside from the usual Melee stuff. It relies on deep, unique characters. But this game has Magic, Supers, Super Moves, and unique characters all in one! It actually has a lot going for it in terms of mechanics. I haven't played MvC Infinite, but I think the Magic system stands out pretty well from the Infinity Stones, since every character has a few different things they can do with it which are very unique to them. It seems that there's a lot of room for different playstyles even with one character. I don't know about MvC Infinite, but that's definitely something people criticize SFV (another big fighting game right now) for lacking. This game also seems to have actual defensive gameplay, which is another thing SFV doesn't have (and from what I've heard, MvC Infinite either).

TL;DR
We'll have a somewhat niche community but it'll be a dedicated one. This game actually has some pretty cool mechanics which may give the FGC what it wants right now; unique and expressive character playstyles.
Hey, thanks :D
Shouldn't newer fighting games be looking for a middle ground to get casual AND hardcore players alike? Isn't that why Capcom made SFV and MvC:I "easy" compared to the previous titles?
Maybe the part of the community that truly enjoys fighting games and wants to see more of them, like Lythero.
Psssh, they laugh at Smash because it's not a "traditional" fighter and because they can't easily transfer their skills into it >_>
Aye, but even nerds are divided, like with Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Even so, you get people who are divided in fighting games, like those who will not play anything outside of Mortal Kombat.

Aye, though I bought it because its the best Smash Bros clone I have ever played, regardless of it being inspired by the most hardcore Smash Bros game. I think RoA is turning more head now because of one of those characters, being Ori and Sein, since guest characters from popular games seems to be a welcomed move by devs. I mean, the reason I loved Smash Bros. was because it had a bunch of well known characters in a game together, fighting each other in a non-traditional way. I could be wrong though and RoA could have just picked up traction at some point.
True, but how players are there in the anime fighters as opposed to Smash Bros? Again, I know practically nothing about fighters, but isn't anime fighters like the hardest fighting games to play?

Yeaaah, you got me there, been hoping for a Final Smash of sorts for a while now =/ Though the reasoning is (could be wrong) because of RoA being a non-traditional fighter, at least with the point being to throw the other player off screen. Supers and the such would most likely do that regardless of the percent(health) the other is at.
That it does, but that only makes it an average fighter when it comes to fighting games in general.
Room for TFH characters to have different play-styles? Again, I could be wrong, but it would be hard to imagine Arizona playing anything outside a rush-down or Velvet being a zoner.
I dunno about people complaining about play-styles for either MvC or SFV. The only thing I remember people saying about SFV was: lack of content, Ken is easy-mode, story was horrible, Pokken out-sold it, oh great an Arcade version.
I only have a vague idea what you mean by defensive game-play...

TL:DR response
I read all of it :O
 
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Korencz11

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You raise some valid points. I personally think this game won't have that big of a casual crowd. I think it'll rely on more of a hardcore/semihardcore crowd of FGC people (along with diehard fans of the project from its earlier days). I actually think the FGC will be pretty welcoming towards this game if it holds up competitively - they seem to be more forgiving towards things that are considered "kiddy". I mean, some FGC people laugh at Smash Bros, but a fair number of them still accept it into their community. Hopefully this game will fare similarly. We're all nerds here, after all.

In all seriousness, I'd say we can look at Rivals of Aether to get a decent idea as to how this game will fare in the market. RoA was pretty niche, being for Smash Bros Melee fans (a minority in a minority), yet it seems to be doing pretty well for itself - they released two new DLC characters only recently. In fact, this game is better off than RoA in terms of appealing to groups within the FGC. TFH can appeal to the entire "anime fighter" community, while RoA only appealed to "Smash Bros Melee" fans.

To address your mechanics point, Rivals of Aether doesn't really have standout mechanics aside from the usual Melee stuff. It relies on deep, unique characters. But this game has Magic, Supers, Super Moves, and unique characters all in one! It actually has a lot going for it in terms of mechanics. I haven't played MvC Infinite, but I think the Magic system stands out pretty well from the Infinity Stones, since every character has a few different things they can do with it which are very unique to them. It seems that there's a lot of room for different playstyles even with one character. I don't know about MvC Infinite, but that's definitely something people criticize SFV (another big fighting game right now) for lacking. This game also seems to have actual defensive gameplay, which is another thing SFV doesn't have (and from what I've heard, MvC Infinite either).

TL;DR
We'll have a somewhat niche community but it'll be a dedicated one. This game actually has some pretty cool mechanics which may give the FGC what it wants right now; unique and expressive character playstyles.
I actually got a chance to play MvCI the other night, and I've gotta say, I like this way better than that, outside of the usual fan bias thing.

1) MvCI is floaty. So much so that I wasn't ever sure if I was even doing my inputs right when I pulled specials, or really when I could use them at all. This is probably something time with the game could remedy, but that brings me to my second point.

2) It doesn't feel all that deep. Unlike the last iteration of MvC, this one goes to a LP-HP LK-HK system where your infinity stones/supers/switch outs are all controlled by button 5 and 6. I might be a special case, but spending the 20 minutes with the game that I did, I managed to learn a pair of characters and beat my friends that owned it pretty easy. It's kinda like skyrim; a large pool that goes about knee deep.

3) It kind of holds your hand. You can press any attack button three times to do what's called a 'basic combo' with every character. To add to this, all of Monster Hunter's heavy attacks had armor on them, so if your opponent is aggressive and likes to spam HP, your only option from there is really to try and zone them out or interrupt their timing somehow. I was told this character was supposed to be nerfed in an upcoming patch, but when button spamming is actually a good tactic, it makes me wonder how much forethought was really put forth there. Speaking of spamming...

4) Of all the things I didn't like about it, the most egregious error is this one: Spam is encouraged. How many times can you string the same attack together? How long are they stunned? If the answer is yes, the answer is yes! Several characters can just straight up stunlock with the same move over and over again. Have the reality stone too? Always make sure that this nearly free spammable projectile is on screen at all times to "extend your combo." This is the prime example of why our juggle decay system exists. You can preform infinites in this game and with more than one character.

TL;DR: feels cheap, is cheap, Zoning is OPAF, spam is encouraged, didn't even include [insert favorite character here] anyways.
 
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_Vidz_

Pack Mule
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Feb 3, 2016
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As someone that hasn't really played any fighting games until now, the biggest draw for me is the game's style. Lauren's done some excellent work, and it shows. Coupled with the work from the animation crew, the musicians and designers; it all comes together in a beautiful package. Even when I'm getting beaten in a fight, I still enjoy everything that makes up this game.
 

SmokeRulz

Where there is smoke, there is fire!
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It remains to be seen how much of a casual audience this can pull in, but I've seen plenty of passersby seem rather interested in it. The FGC is looooaded with absolute wingnut tryhards who are going to hate on this game the moment they see a pixel of it, if they haven't already, but at the same time there's gonna be loads of people who will at least be willing to give it a chance, so we'll see. We've already heard some first hand accounts of people who played it (mainly Skullgirls players who have instant familiarity with the system) and seemed to be quite enjoying it.

I think the features of the game will be a sticking point, beyond the fact that the gameplay is fun and the cast is all unique (being, ya know, quadruped). The story mode (though it won't be fully done at launch) plays like an NRS story mode mixed with an old school top down RPG. It's pretty wild. Having visual lobbies with text and voice chat gives it a quasi-MMO feel, plus there's the salt dungeon to mess around in. The dynamic music system is unlike anything I've ever seen in a fighting game before (the closest thing would be MVC3 switching tracks on character deaths), AND the music just plain rocks. Mix all that in with stuff like the fun, TV cartoon-like backstory of the game and the characters, and the wild backstory of the game itself (going from a CND ruining years of work to having Lauren Faust and the Z-Engine) and you got a recipe for something that will intrigue a lot of people. You just gotta make sure they know about all of this, and aren't just judging a book by its cover.

Ultimately I just think it needs to be marketed well, too. Right now the NDA is gone, so people can post beta footage and spread that stuff around, so just keep doing that. Once the game comes out, various websites can likely report on it, maybe some prominent FGC people or even YouTubers could give it a go, etc etc. There's many ways to spread the word and see who it brings in to at least try it out. I also hope that Mane 6 is planning on one of the best ways to showcase the game: Good ol' fashioned game trailers.
 
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Mage

A Normal Person
Feb 26, 2017
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Hey, thanks :D
Shouldn't newer fighting games be looking for a middle ground to get casual AND hardcore players alike? Isn't that why Capcom made SFV and MvC:I "easy" compared to the previous titles?
Maybe the part of the community that truly enjoys fighting games and wants to see more of them, like Lythero.
Psssh, they laugh at Smash because it's not a "traditional" fighter and because they can't easily transfer their skills into it >_>
Aye, but even nerds are divided, like with Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Even so, you get people who are divided in fighting games, like those who will not play anything outside of Mortal Kombat.

Aye, though I bought it because its the best Smash Bros clone I have ever played, regardless of it being inspired by the most hardcore Smash Bros game. I think RoA is turning more head now because of one of those characters, being Ori and Sein, since guest characters from popular games seems to be a welcomed move by devs. I mean, the reason I loved Smash Bros. was because it had a bunch of well known characters in a game together, fighting each other in a non-traditional way. I could be wrong though and RoA could have just picked up traction at some point.
True, but how players are there in the anime fighters as opposed to Smash Bros? Again, I know practically nothing about fighters, but isn't anime fighters like the hardest fighting games to play?

Yeaaah, you got me there, been hoping for a Final Smash of sorts for a while now =/ Though the reasoning is (could be wrong) because of RoA being a non-traditional fighter, at least with the point being to throw the other player off screen. Supers and the such would most likely do that regardless of the percent(health) the other is at.
That it does, but that only makes it an average fighter when it comes to fighting games in general.
Room for TFH characters to have different play-styles? Again, I could be wrong, but it would be hard to imagine Arizona playing anything outside a rush-down or Velvet being a zoner.
I dunno about people complaining about play-styles for either MvC or SFV. The only thing I remember people saying about SFV was: lack of content, Ken is easy-mode, story was horrible, Pokken out-sold it, oh great an Arcade version.
I only have a vague idea what you mean by defensive game-play...

TL:DR response
I read all of it :O
You're definitely right, fighting games need to strike a good balance. I'd actually kind of forgot about this game's story mode. The more casual crowd will definitely get a kick out of it. I'm also probably neglecting how appealing this game's aesthetic will be to the less judgemental crowd.
It's a shame that nerds can't be more united. :olliesad:

I kind of forgot about RoA getting Ori. That definitely got it more traction, but even before that the game still seemed to be doing fine overall. Though I didn't follow the game too closely so I may be wrong. Regarding the number of anime fighting game players, I'd assume they outnumber the Smash community, since there are more anime fighters than smash style ones. I do think they're generally quite unforgiving though. One hit kill combos and all that.

I agree that RoA doesn't need supers or things of that sort. My point is that the game uses pretty standard "Melee" mechanics for the most part, but the characters are so fresh and interesting that it still turns heads. I'm not really sure how much "character personality" TFH allows. But I should point out that by "defensive" play, I mean keep-away/cautious play as opposed to rushdown. In SFV, defensive play is discouraged because the reward for risky offense is much higher (braindead Kens and all that rot). TFH might have a bit more of a middle ground between reward for the two playstyles. IDK though.

Even though Arizona's kit is rushdown based, it seems like you have some options how you go about it. Maybe you prefer going for crazy ropes, or maybe you like poking at your opponent to get your combos rather than going for crazy mixups that could get you punished. I don't really know since I haven't played it; I can only theorize from what I've seen.:arismile2:
 
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Korencz11

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You're definitely right, fighting games need to strike a good balance. I'd actually kind of forgot about this game's story mode. The more casual crowd will definitely get a kick out of it. I'm also probably neglecting how appealing this game's aesthetic will be to the less judgemental crowd.
It's a shame that nerds can't be more united. :olliesad:

I kind of forgot about RoA getting Ori. That definitely got it more traction, but even before that the game still seemed to be doing fine overall. Though I didn't follow the game too closely so I may be wrong. Regarding the number of anime fighting game players, I'd assume they outnumber the Smash community, since there are more anime fighters than smash style ones. I do think they're generally quite unforgiving though. One hit kill combos and all that.

I agree that RoA doesn't need supers or things of that sort. My point is that the game uses pretty standard "Melee" mechanics for the most part, but the characters are so fresh and interesting that it still turns heads. I'm not really sure how much "character personality" TFH allows. But I should point out that by "defensive" play, I mean keep-away/cautious play as opposed to rushdown. In SFV, defensive play is discouraged because the reward for risky offense is much higher (braindead Kens and all that rot). TFH might have a bit more of a middle ground between reward for the two playstyles. IDK though.

Even though Arizona's kit is rushdown based, it seems like you have some options how you go about it. Maybe you prefer going for crazy ropes, or maybe you like poking at your opponent to get your combos rather than going for crazy mixups that could get you punished. I don't really know since I haven't played it; I can only theorize from what I've seen.:arismile2:
:aricool: Tbh, my playstyle changes depending on my opponent. As an Arizona main, and probably in a lower rung of the high tier players right now myself, I do what I need to based entire on how my opponent plays. If I've only fought them once or they're playing a character I know is particularly vulnerable to certain things, I tend to go for those more. If they play someone who likes to zone and keep distance, I tend to turn to the defensive side until I'm in range to get in. I hate dealing with Tian more than anyone just because her air options are so good, and mine are... not, but other than her I can usually deal with everyone to a degree.

I don't really know all the fighting game characteristic terms, but Ari has enough tools to do just about whatever you need depending on who you're dealing with, so I'd call her an all-around.

:arimeh:Tian is more akin to the standard rushdown because she can and will get in no matter who she fights against. Aside from that, her air game is stupid. dumb snek horse. /salt
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@SmokeRulz
Aye, but fighting games in general don't have a casual playerbase, since the games cannot really be played casually.
I'm just going to assume the players from Skullgirls will migrate to TFH, which is good because more people, but bad because they will decimate newcomers.

Like I said before, the game-play is good, but nothing to stand out-ish from other fighters. The characters are unique being quadruped, but I think many will turn away from it because of that. I did not know the Story will be played like a top-down RPG, that sounds pretty cool actually. I did give it props for the Pixel Lobby being the one main thing that sticks out about the game, but also have my doubts being a make-or-break for people. Haven't noticed the Dynamic music or the music in general, always a good thing to have, but other games have it as well, maybe not as good, but a good soundtrack can only distract me (and perhaps others) for so long from the one-sided stomps that will ensue.
What's CND?
There will be people judging this game based on the cover though and probably people judging people who would play it, as to stop them.

I do hope they market it instead of relying on word-of-mouth, that only gets a game so far, I mean, look at what happened to Battleborn...if yall even know about Battleborn. I would also not rely on prominent FGC people ot YouTubers (unless you somehow get the giants of YouTube to play and recommend the game) rto advertise this game either, Fantasy Strike had a few of them play their game and enjoy it, but it still didn't get the funds they needed through FIG (Kickstarter with an Investing option).
Game trailers like what SFV does, or trailers like Overwatch's Honor and Glory? Cause I would love the latter.

@Mage
I hope so, if the AI is anything like it is for Arcade or the Predators though, casuals will have a bad time. Aye, but this day in age seems to be the most judgmental time e.e

It's a shame people in general can't be more united ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's good enough to have been seen in tournaments with other fighting games, so it's been doing pretty alright. Well you are right that there's more anime fighters to Smash fighters, but how many people play anime fighters overall and the more anime fighters come out, the more the community for each existing anime fighter gets stretch out. Where as Smash is the only game of its kind (RoA being the only other real Smash fighter) where the playerbase isn't divided and all behind it.

Yeah, but I think people want what Smash does in Smash type games, have Icons fighting it out, which I would say is why RoA should be getting more attention now since they included Ori and Sein. We talking about the TFH characters fighting style or overall personalities? Ahh, gotcha, thanks~
I suppose? It's just the ropes bring you in close, where Arizona can rush you down. I also haven't played to much, but I feel Paprika has the largest hitboxes, so she could heavily out poke Arizona.
 

ty4brawl

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I think if we starting getting TFH into the incoming game spotlight, the attention might help with enticing people...however...

At this moment, TFH isn't even in the GameFAQ databases and some other sites. So I think, we might want to start getting TFH's information out before we can entice people. :p
I think we should wait for full release for that first. For now, making videos of the game, now that the NDA is over, and beta backers showing it off at cons and clubs may be the best bet.
 

Rodya

Perpetually tired
Jul 31, 2017
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TFH already has very good things to attract players, like the music system, animations, character design, an actual sense of community thanks to the pixel lobby, etc. I said this before, the only thing that TFH needs is good marketing/publicity, people need to know about this game in order for it to succeed. If i remember correctly one of the devs said that their main concern was the game itself, everything else coming second, I understand that this means that, in order to promote the game, they need initial sales, but in order to boost initial sales, people need to know about the game, I'll use myself as an example; if it wasn't because I followed M6 since their previous project, it'd be quite likely that I wouldn't even know this game exists. I'm not saying that work streams should return they do, maybe devs could release a couple of pics every once in a while, or a 30 second teaser or something.

Each person likes different things, but I'll use some examples from a Core-A Gaming video.
Screenshot_2017-11-04-09-35-16.png
Setting appeals to me, may not be true for everyone, though; thanks to tutorial system and the fact that you can ask for training, answer is no; I don't know; 110% yes; No-Maybe, but each character has unique design, personality and all that; yes.

Screenshot_2017-11-04-09-43-26~01.png
Again, TFH has a proper story, built within a proper universe.

Screenshot_2017-11-04-09-43-53~01.png
Check, check.

Screenshot_2017-11-04-09-48-18.png
Maybe-yes.
 

Tribble

Backers' Beta Tester
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Feb 4, 2016
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Germany
I hope so, if the AI is anything like it is for Arcade or the Predators though, casuals will have a bad time.
Hey, even I can beat arcade mode ... on Easy. ;) And there's an even easier difficulty setting, so I wouldn't worry about getting through story mode. There's a couple of us fighting game noobs who have backed the game for the visuals, the setting or the music, and even though the most interesting features for us (story mode and tutorial) aren't in yet, at least I am enjoying myself so far.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Rodya
Music, animations and character designs are all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, game-play is what matters. Is the game easy enough for casuals? Hard enough for hardcore players? Then you have the issue of balance, trying to be easy enough for casuals and hard enough for pros without leaning to much either way for a much larger community.
I do agree Mane6 should market this game by means outside of word-of-mouth.

@Tribble
Congrats~ Don't know what the default setting is for the AI, but if that was easy, I still got rocked. Note; I haven't played a fighting game since SF2 Turbo back in the day and even then, I hardly played it compared to other games (I mean I tried Injustice 1 and UMvC3, but they did not last very long).

@Tox
tiarawhy
 

Someoneman

Crowdfund Backer
Crowdfund Backer
Feb 3, 2016
77
170
Unfortunately, this game can't utilise THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD for growing a crowd:
SEX APPEAL
Never fails. But, of course, humans aren't attracted to ungulates in that way. So that wont work here.
The furry fanart crowd will find a way to make ungulates sexy. They always do.

Actually, I think that appealing to the furry crowd on Tumblr and DeviantArt is probably the best bet this game has for gaining a large fandom. But these types of fandoms tend to get a bad reputation and generate tons of drama, so I don't know if it's a good idea or not.
 
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Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Someoneman
I don't think TFH should go after the furry crowd just because the game is about animals. If there is a group of people to focus on, it would be the FGC since this game is a fighting game before anything else. If there is a secondary group to focus, it would be people overall looking for a fighting game that's easier to get into then current fighters. If they were to focus on a specific crowd like the Furries, that could easily back-fire since who knows how many in that crowd not only play games, but fighting games. Not to mention that fighting games are already a hard enough sell overall.
 

Tribble

Backers' Beta Tester
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Don't know what the default setting is for the AI, but if that was easy, I still got rocked.
Nope, last time I installed the game from scratch the default was "Competent". Below that there's "Normal", "Easy" and "Sleeptrot". I truly am not very good, but I have not been put off so far. On the other end of the scale, there's two levels above Competent (I think?) and from what I've heard, the better players are happy with the difficulty. Overall, it seems like there's something for everyone.

I'm also hoping that soon, people will make videos about the new target practice mode, which is just a mini game but still a neat way to get some extra practice, and very non-threatening, too.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
Backers' Beta Tester
Oct 17, 2016
111
95
@Tribble
Aye, just played Arcade like 10 minutes ago and noticed it was not an Easy and hey, I managed to beat Easy, woo~
I dunno about there being something for everyone, at least in terms on difficulty, yet. Yeah I beat Easy, but it felt unsatisfying. Anything above Easy and I'm getting wrecked, which I'm not a fan of.

I'm over here waiting for videos on TFH in general.
 

Arcanel

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@Zenapo Do you mean like videos about the gameplay in general or actual matches? Because there's stuff about that already out there if you really want them. Both Boring Borin and the Fighting Foenatics youtube channels have videos up.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Aecanel
Sorry, I meant to say more variety in the videos. Foenatic has a dude commentating on matches, but not "professionally"(?) and since I don't play much fighting games, I don't know what he's saying or why he would get excited or bummed out when X happens.
Borin has one video talking about combos for each character, but it feels like its for people who are already accustomed to fighting games, while the other videos are matches.
I would like to watch someone like 2 Best Friends play TFH or have Maxamillian Dood do an ASSIST ME series with it.
 
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Arcanel

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Oh. Well the very first video of the Fightin Foenatic was more or less an explanation of how the game works as a whole as in, the gameplay. If you didn't check it out yet you might wanna do so since it might be able to help out.

As for the rest though, well, honestly, you might be better off first watching videos about fighting games in general which might explain a couple of things about them in the first place which are already around, and of which the knowledge you get from it will allow you to directly translate it into TFH since there is knowledge you can carry to any game regardless if it's 2D or 3D or anime or SF or any other fighting game you can think of.
 

MSTieScott

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May 13, 2016
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In my opinion, the best way for Mane6 to entice people will be to employ the same strategy that they used for the crowdfunding campaign: Point out the uniqueness of all of the characters in this fighting game being four-legged and emphasize that a successful animation producer contributed to the character design and the plotlines in story mode (and, if I'm correct in making this assumption, make it clear that this game's story mode will be deeper than your average fighting game story mode).

As for difficulty, I don't think that's going to be a stumbling block. There are enough difficulty settings in the game that anybody should locate a place to be satisfied when fighting the computer. Casual players may get trounced online by experts, but that's the case with any fighting game. Personally, though I haven't gotten the chance to play the beta as much as I'd like, I'm finding that I can get through arcade mode on Normal with an appropriate amount of challenge provided (and that's even when I sometimes catch myself getting flustered and button mashing -- I assume that once I become more familiar with the characters, my playing will improve).
 
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Borin

saw right through that.
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Feb 3, 2016
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I personally think the best way to keep people excited for the game is the work streams that the devs had. We completely lost those when the beta was released and official support for the game is always welcome. The Devs always seemed really excited about their game and in turn it made me excited for it.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Arcanel
I just recently did so and it did help with some things I didn't know like push-blocking and teching. Though I would still like an ASSIST ME type of videos where one goes in depth with each character.

But if this is like an anime fighter and I learn stuff from SF, that would still carry over despite the game-play being different?
It also sucks that I would have to go to other games to learn about this one e.e

@MSTieScott
I thought the strategy they used for the crowdfunding was "Remember that Lawyer Friendly Equines Fighting game that was being made, this is that but minus Lawyer Friendly Equines and hey it's look, Lauren Faust!". That was my take on it anyway. Everything else, like animation, music, art-style, story and the engine being used was icing on the cake.

Aye, didn't know about difficulty choice since I assumed since it was in beta, you just couldn't do it.

@Borin
Not sure if I've seen those, can't remember, but I'm totally in favor of like "cinematics" for the game for excitement. I mean, I find Overwatch boring, but man do I love those cinematics. TFH could do like a "Lawyer Friendly Equines episode" type of cinematic since it's got the art style going for it.
 

Arcanel

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@Zenopo

In regards to what Borin meant, you should check out Mane 6's youtube channel, they have every single work stream they've done in the past where you can see how the game has actually been evolving since it's started more or less.

Also as for gameplay here's the thing:

TFH feels different from any other fighting game. When asked "What game is most similar to TFH?" I respond with "TFH" because in all honesty, it's the best way to answer it. You may find things that are seen in other games? But none too much from one game that you could point it towards it being "the closest". Going from Skullgirls or Guilty Gear or Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat all the way to this one will probably mean you'll have to get used to how TFH works in its own way.

With that being said however, there are things that are just inherent FROM fighting games that you can apply to all of them, despite their different mechanics and everything else. If you know how pushblock in other games work, it can be transferred to this (just with a different feel). If you know how combos work, then you'll carry that to here (just gotta see what you can do with each character), and if you have character archetypes that are seen in other games to this game, you can carry that here too. Even if you watch it in a video, you'll have to see for yourself what every move does and how you can use it to how YOU feel more comfortable with it and move along from there.

As someone who has mild experience in fighting games, I've always been more suited towards speedy, mobile, rushdown characters, and so Tianhuo just happened to fit right up my alley. Obviously you won't be able to come up with everything yourself, I've learned from other people other things you can do with Tianhuo, and I'm still learning despite having used her since day 1 of the beta, and across all changes with each patch. If you see a character doing things you like, and with a way of doing them that makes you feel comfortable? Go straight up for it, and give the character a ride, if everything goes alright, you'll have a new main for yourself and start learning your way around them from there.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
Backers' Beta Tester
Oct 17, 2016
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@Arcanel
Did so recently and it was pretty much what I thought it was. I suppose that could get some people excited, but I personally would still prefer "mini-sodes" or cinematics.

Question, what's this about "archtypes"?

Pretty sure I've seen your Tianhuo and it looks pretty nice, hard to believe you're still learning outside anything outside of predictions. What were some of those speedy, rush-down characters in other games you used?
That's partly why I never got into fighters, I can never pick a character to main or have fun with. It's like I love X's personality, but X is so hard to play/Vice-versa or this is a style I would like to get behind, but the inputs rarely ever work (for me) because I have to do something while imputing the command and that seems like extra work for a not great payoff. Same thing is going on here.
 

Salty Beef

Fau Con, at your service.
@Zenopo
Not sure if I've seen those, can't remember, but I'm totally in favor of like "cinematics" for the game for excitement. I mean, I find Overwatch boring, but man do I love those cinematics. TFH could do like a "Lawyer Friendly Equines episode" type of cinematic since it's got the art style going for it.

unfortunately I doubt they'd be able to do that. even if it was a short mini-sodes thing it would be allot of work and time. although.. If they do animate something I hope its an intro to the game. like Super Smash Bros or something. (but TFH style)

I'd personally love to see those mini-sodes come true but I guess we'll have to wait and see. we haven't got any big updates ever since that nda got lifted.

In terms of those work streams, they are quite chill and very interesting to watch and I do wish they continued but maybe they just want to concentrate on working on the game 9000% than ever..... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I just realized why they stopped.. (a theory anyways)

They sometimes didn't want people getting spoiled on certain things. like seeing a new story mode area or something so they would warn people of spoilers. maybe they are so far into development now they just want to keep the whole game a surprise.

OR... recording the streams got in the way of development too much, so they stopped.... either way, those are just a theory.. A Dev Theory! lol
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Salty Beef
I wasn't expecting it xD Just that it would be nice to have them.

I can see both your theories being right, though they could still pop in to say how far along they are, maybe give us a release date (unless they did and I missed it), just to say Hi etc...
 
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ty4brawl

Feed b ack
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Feb 4, 2016
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@Salty Beef
I wasn't expecting it xD Just that it would be nice to have them.

I can see both your theories being right, though they could still pop in to say how far along they are, maybe give us a release date (unless they did and I missed it), just to say Hi etc...
I know they were gunning for before the end of the year, at least, though idk if it'll happen or not.
 
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Arcanel

Backers' Beta Tester
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Feb 3, 2016
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@Zenopo

Well, what I mean by archetype is basically if a character is rushdown (AKA meant to be in your face and not move away), if a character is a zoner (AKA meant to stay out of your face and only get in if necessary), a grappler (AKA someone meant to be close to you to do command grabs and just cause HUGE damage that way), and so on.

And I appreciate the compliment! But I'm not only not the best Tianhuo around I'm also far from being the best player around either (that title goes to other players IMO like Bubbleboots and MPK). There's much I need to learn to be a better player and hell, I'm still trying to get completely used to Tianhuo's complete toolset (or said another way, how to use every move properly and when to do so too).

Back when I played the original Marvel vs Capcom (on the PS1), my favorite character to use was Strider Hiryu, and in Skullgirls I used to play a solo Ms. Fortune. Ms. Fortune for me would probably be the closest comparison I could get with towards Tianhuo myself (the only difference being that Tianhuo doesn't run, and Ms. Fortune does). I've played other fighting games to some degree but these are the two best examples I can give. (Or if you want another example from a completely different type of game, Rock Lee in the Naruto fighting games, not the recent ones though).

Sometimes you need a little bit of luck, that's true. I just so happened to connect with Hiryu, Ms. Fortune and Tianhuo in terms of "I like this character" and "I can use their movesets" (Even if when I used Hiryu I was kind of little and so charge moves I never really got around to using lol. Nowadays I wouldn't even think of touching say, Paprika, resident charge character of the game). My best advice in picking a character? First see which one you like using that you feel comfortable with, and THEN evaluate if you like the character enough as a whole to use it, at least in my opinion. Maybe the other way around might work better, I'm definitely not an expert on the subject by ANY means.
 

Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
Backers' Beta Tester
Oct 17, 2016
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@ty4brawl
Aye, but I mean if they narrowed that down to a specific date and even then was just a thing I said as an example of something they could say just so there's interaction between Devs and the community.

@Arcanel
Ahh...well hey, there's no Grapplers in TFH now is there?

Way to take the compliment on the chin xD

Why go from those characters to Tianhuo, since Tian is all about fighting in the air and the characters you previously played as cannot fly, as opposed to Arizona, who I feel like is a rush-down character?
Gonna say Clash of Ninjas for the non-recent Naruto games.

Been trying for a while now for fighters in general, doesn't help that I'm picky AND indecisive :p
 

Arcanel

Backers' Beta Tester
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Feb 3, 2016
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@Zenopo

Should be noted that, yeah sure, we could get some information or something along those lines. But I wanna mention that the "before the end of the year" release date, isn't just for us, it's for them too. So of course they're literally gonna put their whole minds into the game as much as possible and not just that, instead of using the time for posts just make the time for more things that can be done in the game, and then release the update for all to see. And hey, with the now weekly Fighting Foenatic streams? When those updates come up everyone will be able to see them right up! The wait might be made longer this way, but if all that and every update shows the work they've been put in? I'm all up for that being what makes the game come out before the end of the year. They wanna make the best game they can and by god we should support that, as hard as waiting is.

As for the other stuff, nope, there's no grapplers in the game. There might be in the future in DLC? But as of the 6 characters stand right now, there's no "grappler" per se. One command grab here or there but nothing else.

Also I'm only speaking the truth I WISH I could say I'm the best Tian around, but I'm not. It's already hard to admit I am OF the best around, just not the best. Not the dude with the most self-confidence around :p

And whoo, let's see if I can try to explain this... uhhhhh... it's funny. At first when I saw Tianhuo? I thought that maybe I might have to change who I would play in the end as the workstreams came along. That little "fly" button was looking particularly finicky for me because I had never used a character in any game where I actively could fly, and "fly-unfly" combos popped up in my mind from other games I've seen but not played and the idea wasn't so fun in my eyes. But I REALLY REALLY liked Tianhuo's design and I really wanted to give her a go, so I gave her a try instead.

And as it turns out? It didn't really feel as bad as I thought. The normal combo structure of Tianhuo in its simplest form wouldn't even require you to use flight so I was able to get used to her mobility first and how the game worked before even trying to use flight all that much. Only when I got more used to the character and how good it felt playing her, I started playing around with those things I hadn't tried before, flight cancel for combos, actually using flight for aerial mobility and how to approach enemies, all that sort of stuff which maybe I would have not gone for at first but feeling more comfortable and liking the character, I did so and now I'm able to play the way I am.

If you're picky and undecisive though, can't help you much there :p But the best advice I can give you? Really try out characters to see which ones you feel comfortable playing with, which is the character that gives you that mobility or combo possibility that you really want or that you like the most and go on from there. You don't NEED to do everything the character can do from the get go. Will it be hard to do the stuff you're not used to? Yup, but if you like that character you'll want to learn yourself because of how good it felt, and now you want to try to reach the full potential of that character. What character you wanna play and how good you can play with them is all progressive, it won't be immediate, EVEN outside of professional stuff I'm talking of just casual things. Don't think about it too much and enjoy yourself. You'll go towards what you like ^^
 

Pendayle

Member
Aug 9, 2017
9
11
like i said before, they should be marketing this game right now, if they plan on a late 2017 release. the other is price, it should be no more than 20 bux. people were asking the devs to lift the nda forever and now that they have. nearly zip/nada, dead on twitch, and i understand it;s beta stuff, but it only shows how fast interest can decline. it will have a bit of a following considering it;s roots, but cultivating fighting game communities is tough, even for established franchises. maybe non backers are missing stuff because of the backer forums must be more active. luckily they did include a media pacakge for anyone to help out, so i do post pics and snippets when the topic comes up.
 

Mage

A Normal Person
Feb 26, 2017
121
472
Oblivion
I really hope this game does come out this year, but I'm a bit afraid it won't. It seems like there's still a fair bit left to do, and game development is a slow process. With a team so small, it's also more difficult (time-consuming) to deal with any problems that come up as well (read: fires consuming developers' houses). I'm not sure how many of the team are animators, but it seems like there's quite a bit left to do in that regard (at least as far as the most recent patches indicate). There's the majority of Tianhuo, and most of the Supers (I'm kind of hoping Level 3 supers will be reduced to a post release patch).

Again, I really hope it does come out this year, I've been excited for this game for over half a year, and I think about it several times literally every day (help me). But the lack of info on progress is concerning, and so far this game has been pretty bullheaded about delaying deadlines. I guess you should expect that from a game whose
main character is a cow...

(please note I'm not disrespecting Mane6... I'm not blaming them for development taking longer than they expected... I understand that game development is difficult and unpredictable... please don't ban me)
 
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Zenopo

MERRY-GO-ROUND
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Oct 17, 2016
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@Arcanel
Was just using the release date as an example o3o But understandable that them taking any time to talk to us would be time away from making the game, but why not have like a Community Manager(?)/Admin/Mod that is not connected to the development of the game, but has a connection to someone on the development team that they could shoot a text or Skype call to get bare-bone information and relay that to us. <- Maybe that still takes time away, but I just feel uncomfortable when an Indie developed game that was Kickstarted (or IndieGoGo'd) goes silent.

Darn...wonder how a Grappler would be in this game given the characters.

Well, I mean I never said you were the best (no offense D:), just that your Tianhuo is very good and that you had a vast understanding of how she works.

So you went with Tian over Arizona because of design at first?

Aye, it's even hard to help myself Q_Q. I mean, I like the looks of grapplers in games since they SEEM easy enough to use, at least in the sense of not needing to know long combos since the majority of your damage will come from grabs. Even then though, it would have to be a specific type of grappler too xP. My only example from my very limited experience with fighting games would be me enjoying Hugo from USF4 but not Zangief.

@Pendayle
I imagine it wouldn't be the best idea to market it now, since the game is unfinished. Hopefully they have a marketing plan ready to put into action IMMEDIATELY after the game's completion.
I would say $30 would be a fair asking price. I mean, Lawbreakers is $30 because it's an online only game with no story. TFH plans to have a story and online with stuff in-between.
Yeah, I do find it odd how little content there is on TFH since the NDA lift, like the only videos I found are from Foenatics and Borin with only Foenatics doing a 1 hour stream once a week (correct me if I'm wrong).
Agreed on cultivating fighting game communities since fighting games are already a niche genre.
Ehh, haven't been in the backer's forums for a long time now, but I imagine it not being more active then here since the NDA lifted.

@Mage
I'm sure we all hope this, however, I also hope they don't rush things just because we all want it before the year ends.
True, but they have been developing at a much faster rate than Overwatch (IMO), who I'm sure has loads of people working on it.

The lack of info is only concerning for me because of it being a Kickstarted game and when info stops flowing it tends to lead to the Devs taking the money and running off with it. Though it looks like it wouldn't be happening with this game, if only because of how far they came with the game so far, it would still be nice to hear a "Howdy" just to see they are still there.

(No offense, but if you think what you said was disrespectful, you should checkout the Overwatch of League of Legends forums >_>)
 
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