[WIP]HORDE COMBAT - Free open resource 3D fighting fantasy game

[HORDECOMBAT]

Today, we are proud to announce the project HORDE COMBAT, a free open resource 3D fighting fantasy game. It is the war between five races in Myth-earth:

    Human: Wizard, Assassin, Barbarian…
    Ogre: Orgk, Troll, Goblin…
    Reptile: Dragon, Dinosaur, Lizardman…
    Dwarf: Halfling, Gnome, Midget…
    Elf: High Elf, Wild Elf, True Elf…

At the moment, there are some clips about the gameplay here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7y3MFhwT-o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAR-NuQR1cE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxRgjWFwURY

I really want to hear comments from you all.

For more information, please visit http://hordecombat.com/

[TekkamanArk]

I think it looks nice. Ogrk has some weird animation frames on that backdash and the overhead slash, but, this is clearly a WIP, so, those things can be fixed. You also don't seem to have any hitboxes present, but, it's likely you're just not that far along with it just yet. I also think Ogrk is just a misspelling, but, it's possible you intended that to be its name, though it stands out as odd since everything else is named for their race. I'm very interested to see the lizardman, dinosaur, and dragon. I'm surprised you don't have Dark Elf on the list of elves, nor am I sure what "True Elf" is.

Overall though, I think it looks very good from how early it seems to be and how this game just kind of sprouted out of the ether, i'm just giving critique so you can improve it a bit.

[HORDECOMBAT]

Thanks for your comment.

This game is free open resource, doesn't mean that it has low quality, we are working to improve it every day. All things you mentioned like hit boxes, weird animations... are being fixed.

Orgk is Orc or Ork.

True Elf is Trueborn Elf.

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Here are some images about reptile races:

Lizardman

Drexgon

Dorthros

[TekkamanArk]

How do you play? As in, what are the buttons like? Does it use motions like Street Fighter, or is it weird taps like MK?

[HORDECOMBAT]

I could describe this game:

Projectile skills like Mortal Kombat
Using weapon like Soul Calibur
Size variation like Aganos and Riptor in Killer instinct
Link and Combo like Tekken
Gauge system like Street Fighter
Fantastic material art like Bloody Roar
Guardian card system like Tekken Card Tournament
Sexy boobs like Dead or alive

Yeah, it could be myth or mess, but I think that we gamers need something crazy and fun.

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About button system, because this game is focus on PC and mobile, so there are only 4 buttons:

High attack
Mid attack
Low attack
Grab/throw

and 4 directions buttons.

[TekkamanArk]

Hmm, what I meant was, are special attacks done with MK inputs (like maybe Down Back Forward + High Attack), or sweeping motions like Street Fighter? 4 button fighters work well enough on any system really, though you should change that bit about 4 directions. If it doesn't recognize diagonals, that's going to be really odd and put people off.

[HORDECOMBAT]

Yeah, they will be done with MK inputs.

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We are using UFE 3D, at the current version, diagonals are not yet supported.

But in the next version 1.7 that will be released in this December, diagonals feature will be added. Also network will be implemented, so you could challenge the other players over internet. You can read here http://www.ufe3d.com/doku.php/upcomingfeatures

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Tomorow I will introduce the guardian card system, the fusion of Gem Units and Tekken Card Tournament, for covering weaknesses, or support the user's play style.

[HORDECOMBAT]

The name of this game is HORDE COMBAT, its meaning is not only about a chaos battle, it is also the abbreviation of eleven races is this fantasy game:
- Human
- Ogre
- Reptile
- Dwarf
- Elf
- Centaur
- Oni (means Demon in Japanese)
- Mermaid
- Beastman
- Angel
- Tree

Each race or each class has diffirent fighting style, sometimes, their features are significant, for example: centaur has 4 legs, dwarf is short... For balancing, we will design a boost system called Guardian card system. This system will cover the weaknesses or improve the strengths of particular character, but just slightly.
There are some basic rules, one character can equip maximum 5 cards, and at least two of them are in character's race. For example: If your character is Human, you have to equip two Human Guardian Cards at first, remain three cards could be Orc and Repltie and Elf, or Centaur and Mermaid and Tree...

Here are first 11 Guardian cards:

The Barbarian Girl (Human)
+ 2 ATK in each strike of combo

The Wild Orc (Ogre)
+ 10 ATK in first strike of combo

The Blue Lizardman (Reptile)
+ 15 ATK in last strike of combo

The Mountain King (Dwarf)
+ 5 DEF

The Dark Elf (Elf)
+ 20 MAX GAUGE

The Centaur Archer (Centaur)
+ 10 MOVEMENT

The Sealed Summoni (Oni)
- 5 DEF of enemy

The Young Mermaid (Mermaid)
+ 5 HP when you Parry

The Minotaur (Beastman)
Special skill Stomp the Earth

The Last Angel (Angel)
+ 2 HP per 10 second

The Giant Tree (Tree)
+ 20 MAX HP

[TekkamanArk]

This is tricky, and the numbers are meaningless until we know what the modifiers is, but, I will say i'm excited for this.

[HORDECOMBAT]

Humans are haughty
They conquered Myth-earth
The other races
Allied together
Defeated human
Just decade of peace
The war has begun
Forever again

In the first season of this game, humans have been exiled from Myth-earth. So they will not appear in this version.
The storyline will go around 11 characters:

Rikky - Crazy Horbich

Halfling race

Kuru - High Orc

Orge race

Dorthros - Two-heads Dragon

Reptile race

Thorlin - Ice Dwarf

Dwarf race

Iraes - Trueborn Elf

Elf race

Kane - Centaur Duird

Centaur race

Lusife - Hellman

Oni race

Shirel - Silent Mermaid

Mermaid race

Shrall - Tigerman

Beastman race

Kairi - Dark Angel

Angel race

Jack - Blind Titan

Titan race

We are working hard on the first playable demo, I wish I could publish it before 1/1/2016.

Brace yourself, horde is coming!

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PS: I've migrated the website to Wordpress, so all the images about Guardian Cards have been lost, I will update them later.

[HORDECOMBAT]

We are adding weapon trail effect, hit effect, sound effect ... 
Many people complaint that the animations are slow, so I increased the animation speed up to 140%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOXSjd6hVsc

[HORDECOMBAT]

I've just create the first stage, there is a ancient tomb inside it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5t0EUBYaGQ

[HORDECOMBAT]

Here is the test of Elf's Fire Kick, I will add more details later so it could look like Mortal Kombat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6YMqH94Sl0

[HORDECOMBAT]

I recreate this animation follow Mortal Kombat style (Idle animation still has a bug, I will fix it later)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMi1MqBU-hs

[HORDECOMBAT]

Because Orgk is a melee fighter, so he has to summon a dragon for range attacks (they cost a lot of gauge points). 

 

 

[TekkamanArk]

I feel like the fire should be at a sharper downward angle. Even after the dragon appears and breathes its fire, it takes a moment to come down to a range where it'd actually hit someone on the ground. And, with the height difference of characters, a lower angle would likely be a better idea.

[HORDECOMBAT]

I want to explain more about the game idea here:
- The fire breathing skill is anti-air move. It is quite slow and unblockable, so it could be used for defending or initiate another combo. For dodging, opponent must crouch, only Titan still get hit because of his large size. Although Dwarf and Halfling couldn't crouch, this move still wouldn't hit them (except they jump up). Centaur couldn't crouch too, but he is in normal height, so he will be hit easily (he has to dash back, so Orgk will have a chance to send a kick right at his face).
- The dash and stomp skills are unblockable too, so opponent must jump away to dodge these moves, opponent's height doesn't affect in this case.
- Orgk is strong at close range, for balancing, his far range moves and projectiles consume a lot gauge points.

 

[TekkamanArk]

1 hour ago, HORDECOMBAT said:

I want to explain more about the game idea here:
- The fire breathing skill is anti-air move. It is quite slow and unblockable, so it could be used for defending or initiate another combo. For dodging, opponent must crouch, only Titan still get hit because of his large size. Although Dwarf and Halfling couldn't crouch, this move still wouldn't hit them (except they jump up). Centaur couldn't crouch too, but he is in normal height, so he will be hit easily (he has to dash back, so Orgk will have a chance to send a kick right at his face).
- The dash and stomp skills are unblockable too, so opponent must jump away to dodge these moves, opponent's height doesn't affect in this case.
- Orgk is strong at close range, for balancing, his far range moves and projectiles consume a lot gauge points.

 

- For balance's sake, i'd say you should give the opponent a way to make the move stop. Titan and Centaur automatically just having to eat an unblockable setup simply for existing without any way of combating it is not a great idea.

- From how the dash and stomp skills are, they cover enough of the air that my statement with the angle of the fire stands, as both of the other skills work absolutely fine as anti-air. The dash being unblockable is also not good, given how large the creature is, unless there's some way to make the attack stop (perhaps hitting Orgk would make the dragon fly away? That'd be fine).

- I entirely understood that they consumed a lot of gauge points, but, even with that, it's simply not ok to allow a character to have these fullscreen unblockables without any way to counteract them. Again, you should either make the dragon fly away and end the attack of Orgk is hit, or allow players to block the fire and dash attacks (and if you feel like the player being able to block a high cost ability isn't fair, perhaps either make it cause high chip damage or make them enter a guard break state on the last hit of the attack).

[HORDECOMBAT]

Yeah, I got it, gauge consuming is not enough, there will be chance for opponent could cancel these moves, or Orgk must freeze for a while so opponent would make a trade skill at the same time.

[HORDECOMBAT]

In this game's philosophy, size and movement style do matter, each race each character has pros and cons. I don't want to let a race could counter entirely any specific race.
For example, Angel could fly with wings, so in normal idle state of flying stance (like stances in Tekken 3), she is in mid air and her feet do not land at ground, therefore she would dodge low attacks like crouching sweep kick easily, she will gain advantage over short races like Halfling and Drawf . But, in this stance, she couldn't crouch immediately, so some character with long range attack could throw a ton of fun to her. For example, Rikky The Halfling would use her gunaxes for shooting Angel like a bird.     
Centaur has 4 legs of horse, he can walk, run, jump so fast, but horse couldn't run backward smoothly or crouch instantly. So he will have a back stance, can attack with his two back legs and run or dash backward more efficiently.
Mermaid is just a walking fish, she don't have ability to jump like a frog, but she might summon a tide to bring her in the air like a whale (these skills just cost a small amount of gauge points ).

[HORDECOMBAT]

The main purpose when I start this project, not just for entertainment, but also for education. In particular, it's a language learning system for hardcore gamers.
The are many language learning games, but most of them are for kid and girl. With true gamers, those simply games are so boring.
In my dream, this game could teach people how to write kanji of Japanese.I know it will be very risky, but these are what gamers need from indie game developers (implementing crazy ideas is my duty).
-----------------------------------------
There will be two modes. The first mode is Normal mode, it's just a normal fighting game, nothing to discuss here. The second mode is learning mode, where we should master Japanese to defeat opponent (your win depends on your playing skills like combo commiting, strategy... and your Japanese vocabulary, grammar... the ratio is 50:50).
Because this game is designed for hardcore gamer, so the system will be quite complicated, then it isn't suitable for popular audience. It will also help gamer could learn Japansese for playing Japanese fantasy video games, so the vocabulary will start with epic words like: dragon, sword, magic... Modern words like airport, car... will appear later.

There are many quizzes inside a battle. The quiz has form: What does X mean? and three choices. Player choose his choice by attacking opponent with rule: first choice is high parts like head, chest... second choice is middle parts like lower torso, hands... third choice is low parts like thighs and foot. If a player answer right first, he will get bonuses like HP, DEF, ATK, GAUGE, MOVEMENT... If the answer is wrong, he will be punished.

There are also RPG elements here. Guardian Card ( just like Guardian Force in Final Fantasy 8) will boost your character's status a little. Here are some examples (note: each race has specific Guardian Cards)

The Genius Gnome (Halfling)
+ 2 ATK in each strike of combo

The Wild Orc (Orc)
+ 10 ATK in first strike of combo

The Blue Lizardman (Reptile)
+ 15 ATK in last strike of combo

The Mountain King (Dwarf)
+ 5 DEF

The Dark Elf (Elf)
+ 20 MAX GAUGE

The Centaur Archer (Centaur)
+ 10 MOVEMENT

The Sealed Summoni (Oni)
- 5 DEF of enemy

The Young Mermaid (Mermaid)
+ 5 HP when you Parry

The Minotaur (Beastman)
Special skill Stomp the Earth

The Last Angel (Angel)
+ 2 HP per 10 second

The Brave Titan (Titan)
+ 20 MAX HP

Player could equip several GCs (maximum is 5). Each GC has 10 words. If player answer right a word of a GC in battle, the GC will gain EXPs. The GC could level up, then unlock the new word and increase the status. Max level is 10. If player anwser wrong, the GC will lost EXPs, and the level of GC may be decreased (so player has to remember words). When a GC achieve lv 10, player will gain its passive effect permanently, so player would unequip it and learn another GC.
For GC collecting, he will have to defeat insane bosses, with high HP, DEF and badass skills. The boss could equip GCs too. The bosses will appear follow the storyline and player's learning progress.

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I want to ask you guys a question: DO YOU NEED A FIGHTING GAME FOR LEARNING JAPANESE?
I really want to hear your opinions, listen what you want.
And of course , there will be another languages like Chinese, Spainish...
May be, you just need a game for fun, so I will continue make a normal fighting game. But if you say YES, I will create demo about learning game ideas.

[TekkamanArk]

Do you need a fighting game for learning Japanese? A fighting game won't teach you very much Japanese at all. I don't understand, are you trying to learn Japanese via fighters? You should probably look into RPGs or visual novels for that.

[HORDECOMBAT]

@TekkamanArk: The gamer will learn Japanese from answering quizzes that appear while fighting with opponent. Each quiz has three choices. Player choose his choice by attacking opponent with rule: first choice is high parts like head, chest... second choice is middle parts like lower torso, hands... third choice is low parts like thighs and foot.
Why do I choose Fighting Game?
Because we cram a lot of information into our heads as fighting game players. If you are good at fighting game, there is no doubt that you have a great mind. So, the learning curve could be more suitable.

-----------------------------------
Yeah, gamers we spend a lot of time in playing game, just want to beat any challenge while gaming. Society says it's a waste of time. So why we shouldn't learn a foreign language at the same time? It will help us get a better life. (It's just what about gamification).
-----------------------------------
This game even has a real plot for the reason why you have to learn a foreign language:

Humans are haughty
They conquered Myth-earth
The other races
Allied together
Defeated human
After ten decades
The peace is over
New war has begun
Forever again

An Elf scholar discovered an ancient language (it's the language you want to learn: Japanese, English, Spanish...). It has extreme power, called Rune Force . Everyone who understands it, could gain an unbelievable strength. But Rune Force is very hard to learn. So The Human invented a device called Guardian Card, for storing Rune Force in creature's form. The Human could build great armies because they would control Rune Force more efficiently than the other races. The Human was so ambitious, they did want to be King of Myth-earth. They conquered anywhere, and no race could stop them. The other races allied together for preventing The Human. The Human was lost, and other races drove them away from Myth-earth. Guardian Cards were banned in Myth-earth. After 100 years, these dangerous weapons appear again. Every race fights each other for possessing Guardian Cards. At the same time, The Human is planning for their revenge.

So you have to learn Rune Force(Japanese) for mastering Guardian Cards.
You could imagine the Rune Force here is something like spell in Harry Potter or Force in Star Wars.
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When fighting with bosses, it will be very hard to defeat them, if you don't remember words. So you can not unlock more Guardian Cards, characters... unless you actually study the language by mastering Guardian Cards.
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In PvP mode, you can challenge other friend, for proving that you learned more than them. Your friend could choose a different language from you. For example, you are studying Japanese, but your friend just only knew Spanish as second language, so there will be two quizzes in both two languages at the same time, you and your friend will have separate objectives to target. In each round, there will be about 5 quizzes (15 seconds per quiz).

[HORDECOMBAT]

I started this project from 2014, and I will continue develop it (I know it would cost several years of my life, but it's worth it).
I'm still working hard on the first playable demo, and I will post it here when I finish.
This is a free game for the horde (just like its name). I even don't have a plan for sell it, freemium, banner ads, pay for dlc... in all platform PC, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS... I will also publish all resource I made (and code) to the indie game development community.
If you have any question, just ask here, I will reply asap.
Thank you for being kind and didn't suppose me as spammer.

[TekkamanArk]

Your English is strange. You don't plan to sell it, but, you do plan for paid DLC I guess?