Personal Thoughts (9/18/24):

Overall, I'm proud of the game I made here. Etehfowr Against, is an agressive game. It's fun using different team compositions. It was my first REAL game (I'm pulling a Zach Cregger & Greta Gerwig here). I did not know how to properly set up arrays and a lot of the heavy lifting was done by using multiple lua libraries. The game is designed way too much around the timers, which causes a lot of snowball-effect matches. A complaint I wished I addressed earlier was a lot of the characters feel homogenous. Everyone's dash attack is roughly similar. I tried to remedy this with the final 4 characters (lulz, tenpenny, lemrojam, raidgirl) by introducing unique mechanics to them (Lulz's gun, lemrojams lemonade meter, Tenpenny's sword, Raidgirl's roaches) but those mechanics don't really get the chance to shine when everything is dictated by the team timer and meters.

Additionally, as much as I liked the timer idea, I will most likely go back to a traditional one for the sequel. A lot of newer fighting games have trended towards meter-based design. This is not a bad thing by itself, but I want to see a fighting game where it is the character that is strong, not the mechanics. Don't get me wrong, resources in games have facilitated the idea that but if those resources all lead to similar results, then what? I like things like Doom Eternal, Sonic Riders and even E.T for Atari (lol) where resources are the life-blood of your survival. The way I implemented it in etehfowr isn't so expressive and it doesn't foster unique choices. The throw game is very lackluster. When I started working on EFA, the original design also required for there to be no blocking. Every character was going to have armor/super armor that would break after 1 hit. Fortunately, this ended up not being added, but it's obvious throws were implemented last. When I played fighting games around this time, I didn't understand throws. I didn't understand that its a good idea to be invulnerable while doing them. Didn't understand that they can afford an opportunity to combo (and I used to play UMVC3)... I didn't understand the importance of knockdown. Speaking of Knockdown, this game didn't have it! Throws and Knockdowns in a team game are extremely important! Novice players won't realize it gives them breathing room to perform set ups + figure out how to get out of trouble.

Additional thoughts (10/16/24):

Now when I see this game, I'm fond of that period of time working on it and finishing it up. I made some great friends, had some great moments, and everything was very carefree. I got into my first serious relationship at this time too. Sasha the dog was based on my childhood pet. Lulz was a character my brother made up in middle-school. The background you see is the japanese restaurant Kenka, in New York City near Astor Place. It's underneath the punk rock thrift store Search and Destroy (same owner of Kenka!) I didn't make much money at the time, but that government stimmy really kept me afloat. Everything that seemed impossible became possible. I died my hair blonde for the first time. I went out to picnics and parks and concerts. I was doing new things, all the time. Whatever I wanted to say about my youth, it's all in that game. It's all mis-shapen and busted heart. Even if it's not explicitly stated outright, Etehfowr Against is a snapshot of my 2021.

Right now, I'm working on the follow up to EFA. What I've mentioned so far will probably be reflected by the sequels gameplay. All I can say right now is that throws will play a larger element in the game's design. In general, I think games that let you "grab" things end up having very strong design elements. Anything from Klonoa, to Streets of Rage, Kirby, Black & White,Dead or Alive and Def Jam:Fight For New York. Those games I've just mentioned are some great examples in the act of "grabbing" works in virtual spaces. The past summmer, I've been playing a large amount of arcade Beat-em-ups like Sega Spider-man, Taito's Growl, Violent Storm and Final Fight. To get you thinking, Final Fight was supposed to be called "Street Fighter '89". Final Fight's grabs are strong, you can punch dynamite sticks thrown by enemies, you can throw enemies at OTHER players. It's a game that has some interiority.

addtl reading

Check out this article @ Supercombo on the game.