Superman

[Dark_Lord]

There had been rumors Factor 5 was working on a Superman game for Brash Entertainment, but the game is probably cancelled since Brash Entertainment went out of business.

Some screenshots have been released, including a short concept trailer. I didn't know if I should make this thread or not, since the game is probably cancelled, but we could still talk about what we'd like in a Superman game here.





Unseen64.net

[WolfCypher]

There were also rumors Factor 5 was working in a new Kid Icasrus.

Be that this is about Superman, I would like a non-Movie related Superman video game.

[bryanss3]

I would like to see a good Superman video game they're kinda rare. maybe after the new Batman game comes out they'll decide to make a new Superman game also.

[Havok83]

The only decent Superman game was The Death and Return of Superman for the Genesis and SNES. Too bad the rest sucked

[Brainiac 8]

Even that one wasn't that great...it was just a passable beat-em up.

[Matt]

It is hard to make a decent Superman game just because of the nature of his powers. That said, Shadow of Apokolips wasn't half bad.

[Wesley Dodds]

First time i looked at that Doomsday photo i thought that was a mangled Optimus Prime in the backgriund... THAT'S a fight i'd like to see.

[WolfCypher]

Originally Posted by Matt

It is hard to make a decent Superman game just because of the nature of his powers.

You'd think it would be fun to play as him for the exact same reasons.

[Raiden]

Because Superman is too powerful, it's hard to design levels that could supposedly challenge him since his only known weakness (aside from powerful villains like Darkseid and Doomsday) is kryptonite. Players won't want to play a Superman game where he got beaten up by bank robbers.

[WolfCypher]

I thought SR's premise was cool (tho I never played it)...he took damage depending on how much property damage was done. A city block gets ravaged? You lose 1/4th your "health meter".

[shadowdog]

Originally Posted by Matt

It is hard to make a decent Superman game just because of the nature of his powers. That said, Shadow of Apokolips wasn't half bad.

I agree
the boss battles were really fun
especially the Parastie battle with all of the car throwing and people saving
adn the battle against Metallo in Luthor's office
with the giant fish tank you got to smash him into!

too bad the conrtols were so god awful

[ProjectPat2280]

Once this new Batman game comes out and wows us, we'll get a Superman game at some point. Hes just too great a character not to get a game. Eventually he'll get the game he deserves.

[bryanss3]

well Superman does have a lot of villains that they can make him fight. as long as they include Doomsday, Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Brainiac, Mongul, and Lex Luthor with some master plan they have 7 bosses + anything else they can think up.
for side missions there are plenty of things they can have you do throughout the city. In the spider-man games its usually fight thugs, save someone from a ledge, bringing people to the hospital or stopping a car being chased by the Police. They should take those ideas and think how can we actually make this into a challenge for superman.
But the most important thing to make a good Superman game is making his flight easy to control(you know so when you go fast you don't crash into building every five seconds) and have incredibly destructive environments. if Doomsday punches you into a building the building shouldn't stop you. all that plus good level design and a good script could make a pretty good Superman game IMO.

[Havok83]

The reason Superman games (the ones since the 3D era) suck is bc he's a flier. Its hard to simulate good flying in games and most comic games starring a flight character tend to suck. I knew the Iron Man game would before hand bc of this. If they were able to perfect the flying aspect, it would go along way in solving alot of the control issues and hence the lame gameplay that comes as a result of it

[BrollySupersj]

Never even knew this existed.

[JackBauer]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Because Superman is too powerful, it's hard to design levels that could supposedly challenge him since his only known weakness (aside from powerful villains like Darkseid and Doomsday) is kryptonite. Players won't want to play a Superman game where he got beaten up by bank robbers.

Just make a game where he gets teleported to another realm. Where even the weaklings can kick his ass because they're magic.

Oh wait...

[ProjectPat2280]

Originally Posted by Havok83

The reason Superman games (the ones since the 3D era) suck is bc he's a flier. Its hard to simulate good flying in games and most comic games starring a flight character tend to suck. I knew the Iron Man game would before hand bc of this. If they were able to perfect the flying aspect, it would go along way in solving alot of the control issues and hence the lame gameplay that comes as a result of it

The flying isnt what held Iron Man back, it was just about everything else. The combat, visuals and story were all really bad. The flying wasnt that bad compared to the rest.

[Havok83]

Originally Posted by ProjectPat2280

The flying isnt what held Iron Man back, it was just about everything else. The combat, visuals and story were all really bad. The flying wasnt that bad compared to the rest.

no the flying was horrible. It worked better than I expected but that was bc I had extermely low expectations for it. It was really hard to fly and do combat at the same time and that helped kill it for me. Added to the fact that everything else was crap as well, it made for one horrible game

[ProjectPat2280]

Originally Posted by Havok83

no the flying was horrible. It worked better than I expected but that was bc I had extermely low expectations for it. It was really hard to fly and do combat at the same time and that helped kill it for me. Added to the fact that everything else was crap as well, it made for one horrible game

No, everything else was horrible and the flight was the best thing in it, altho im not saying it was good, it was just better than everything else. That was just a really poor game altogether

[Joker]

The Superman Returns game had the right idea in making it free roam, and the flying was fun, but that's all that was fun. They should do something using the same basic concept as Arkham Asylum for the next one, but with all of Metropolis. Darkseid has invaded earth, with Metropolis being ground zero. All the villains are roaming around, and parademons rule the skies. That would take care of the overpowered thing.

Either that or make it based on Golden Age Superman, but he can fly. That also solves the power issue.

[GL1]

Superman's abilities are so big, you have to design gameplay around it... you can't shoehorn him into a predetermined formula, because he's just plain old too big.

The first thing is that a lot of superman's 'feats' don't occur inside metropolis, so confining him to that city means you have to either send tons and tons of randomness into his city, OR use Metropolis as a 'hub level' and spread the action out to different locations. Locations that lend themselves more towards level design.

Which is the second challenge, how do you design a level for a flier? The basic answer: don't make an action game. Make a challenge game, perhaps a large puzzle filled with deadly obstacles that you can punch to death. Since you can't restrict his movement with obstructions, restrict him with time and processes to complete objectives.

The SR game did get the health right, and the flying right, we have to give them that, though even the flight could use some improvements, it was smooth, fluid and pretty danged fun.

The final challenge for SR is minions/shock troops/thugs. As a rule, Superman doesn't have to worry about these. Usually, Superman goes up against a small group of powered individuals that have a chance of defeating him due to weapons and tactics.

Generally, I'd go with more a multiplayer Map feel for Superman gameplay. He gets to a place, he has objectives, he also has several individuals in the area trying to take him down. He's got to overcome the area challenges, not get whooped and then beat the boss. That's the general idea, add modules and season to taste.

Finally, to me, no Superhero game is complete without making full use of the person's abilities and comic book situation. An infested Metroplis is okay if you don't have time to do the Quintessential Superman game, but if they can incorporate using your sensory powers and secret identity around Metropolis to collect/harvest information/etc, then they'll have something quintessential, and it will be meaningful when your little safe zone gets overrun by something you can't just sit in front of and eat bullets from.

Can you imagine how much fun that would be? After a particularly challenging run on Apokalips to fly in front of some bank robbers and just let the bullets bounce until they run out. Good times.

[Fading]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Because Superman is too powerful, it's hard to design levels that could supposedly challenge him...

The funny thing is that it could open up Superman to new gaming possibilities, but no one takes chances on Supes. Personally, I'd like to see a GTA or Spiderman type Superman game. Let him be invulnerable to gunfire and thugs. However make penalties for not saving citizens. Make the tension less on Superman dying, and more on collateral damage. Up the carnage, let buildings crumble from damage, let Supes be able to pick up cars or small buildings and throw them. Toss in things dealing with super hearing, like suddenly you hear a scream, Brainiac's voice echo's, and an arrow points in the direction you heard it on the UI. Let Supes be overwhelmed by multiple crisis and you have to choose who to save, the granny being held up by thugs, or the bank being robbed, and let the players know the consequences.