Title: The Adaptation of 3D Video Game Techniques to Revitalize a 2D Video Game Genre
Thesis statement: A genre of video games, colloquially referred to as "beat 'em up" or "brawler" games, were popular and successful in the late 1980's to the mid 1990's, but with the emergence of 3D technology, they waned in popularity. We propose applying the adaptation of 3D techniques, in some unique ways, to this formerly popular genre in order to revive its relevance to video games today.
I. Introduction and Motivation
A. Introduce The beat’em up genre and why its an important genre
- Introduce the genre’s amazing presence back in the silver age of video gaming
- Introduce the current lack of public interest and lack of developer support for the genre
B. General view of what others have done and why it’s inadequate
- Talk about the emergence of new hardware that supported 3D graphics.
- What did this mean for the Beat Em Up
- How the Developers dropped the ball
- How the Beat Em Evolved into another genre
C. What this paper will discuss overall
- What is a Beat Em Up
- The Evolution of the Beat em: Rise to Fall to Rise
- My proposal about how to elevate beat em ups to their once noteworthy status
- Techniques of how to accomplish this
- Projections of how the genre will evolve in the future
D. Introduce what the next section will discuss
- An in depth look at all elements of the Beat em Up
II. Background
A. General Introduction of the “Beat ‘Em Up / Brawler”
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B. Gameplay mechanics of the “Beat ‘Em Up / Brawler”
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C. Time period in which the “Beat ‘Em Up / Brawler” was popular
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D. Technology Available
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E. Intro to the Timeline of the “Beat ‘Em Up / Brawler”
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III. Related Work
A. Karate Champ, 1984, Arcade
- 2 Player fighting at same time.
B. Kung Fu Master, 1984, Arcade
- 1st side scrolling, Punch and Kick buttons
B. Renegade, 1986, Arcade
- 4 way movement, jumping, multiple hits of dmg.
C. Double Dragon, 1987, Arcade
- co-op multiplayer, grabbed popular favor
D. Golden Axe, 1989, Arcade
- Resource management for moves, Mounts, Fantasy
E. Final Fight, 1989, Arcade
- Very Polished Gameplay, Became Benchmark for genre
F. TMNT Arcade Game, 1990, Arcade
- Cashed in Popular Franchise, Media tie ins
G. Streets of Rage, 1991, Arcade
- First game in genre after Final Fight to be considered the best
H. Battletoads, 1991, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
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I. Xmen Arcade Game, 1992, Arcade
- Dual screen 6 cooperative players at same time.
J. Streets of Rage II, 1992, Sega Genesis
- Straight to Console game, considered one of the best.
K. Final Fight II, 1993, Super NES
- Not as good as first game
L. Final Fight III, 1995, Super NES
- CPU controlled teammate, Super Combos, Dash attacks
M. Guardian Heros, 1996, Sega Saturn
- Last Good 2D beat em up, Next Gen console
N. Nightmare Creatures, 1997, PS1/N64/Windows
- 3D beat em up. Awful
O. Fighting Force, 1997, PS1/N64
-3d Successor to Streets of Rage, but it was awful.
P. Dynasty Warriors, 1997, PS1
-featured 3d gameplay on large battlefields with many enemies.
Q. Final Fight Revenge, 1997, Arcade
- turned final fight into a tournament fighter. Failure
R. Devil May Cry, 2001, PS2
- helped start a spiritual successor genre to the Beat em up: The 3d action/hack and slash genre.
S. Ninja Gaiden, 2004, xbox
- Refined the 3D action genre to its finest.
T. Beat Down: Fists of Vengence, 2004, xbox
- Same year as Ninja Gaiden. 3D beat em up. FAILURE! An example of how the beat em up was usurped by the 3d action genre.
U. God Hand, 2006, PS2
- A cult classic 3d beat em up. Met with Mixed Critical Review.
V. Red Star, 2007, PS2
- An attempt to use 3d graphics with the isometric, fixed camera from 2d beat em ups. Meet with overall positive review. Never reached fame with consumers.
W. Castle Crashers, 2008, Xbox Live Arcade
- The return of the 2d beat em up. Cheap. Downloadable. Great Art. Persistent Character Progression. Online cooperative play. Amazing Success.
X. Scott Pilgram vs. The World, 2010, Xbox Live Arcade
- Another solid 2d Beat em up on the cheap xbox live arcade. Proof that the beat em up is still relevant in the right environment.
III. Application of 3D Techniques to a 2D Genre
A. Concept Art
- Co-authoring the Art Direction with my concept artist
- Creating a Standarized Character Concept Sheet
B. Modeling/Sculpting Characters
- Creating a Base Model with Correct Topology
- Using the base model to begin each character
- Using Zbrush to Import Concept Art into Program to Sculpt Proportions
- Using Maya to Model additional features unique to character. Ex. Hair, accessories
- Importing Newly Modeled Mesh(es) into Zbrush for high poly sculpting
- Decimating Models and Polypainted textures int a .obj file for use in Topogun
- Using Topogun to tweak toplogy
C. Texturing/ Map Baking for Characters
- Using Headus UV layout to create UV maps
- Using Topogun to Bake maps. Ex- Ambient Occlusion, Texture, Normal
- Using Photoshop to Tweak and refine maps
D. Rigging
- Creation of an Auto-Rig Script
- Using Auto Rig for multiple characters
- Weight Painting
- Facial Rigging
E. Animation
- Using recorded video tape and Youtube for reference.
- Creating Basic Animations for each character Ex- Walk, Idle, Attack.
- Adding and Revising Animations as Gameplay elements are implemented.
- Preparing character for exportation into game engine
o Making sure all face normals are in the right direction
o Deleting all Non-Deformation history on the meshes
o Preparing the object hierarchy before the keyframe bake
o Baking the animation to all the base bones
o Deleting all objects but meshes and base bones.
- Exporting into a .fbx
F. Environment Creation
- Creating basic blueprint while designing gameplay elements related to the layout of the level
- Grabbing reference pictures from the internet to inspire the level art
- Designing Level Layout to be as efficient as possible in terms of Rooms connecting, and player pathing
- Modeling basic meshes in accordance to the blueprints
- Using photo reference textures to create stand in textures to get a feel for each room.
- Experimenting with Crazy Bump with those stand in textures to create normal maps from photo.
- Modeling additional props for each room.
- Refining and redesigning the design and textures of each room.
- Maximizing Texture space while maintaining variety.
- Creating door animations using joints.
- Lighting each room in Maya.
- Creating a 2nd UV map for use in Light Mapping.
- Baking the Lighting into 2nd map and tweaking it in Photoshop
G. Game Engine Preparation for Art Assets.
- Importing Art Assets into Asset Library
- Assigning appropriate shaders to each object
- Creating Scenes/Level
- Lighting the Environment
- Lighting the Characters
- Placing Collision/Boundary Walls
V. Concluding Remarks and Future Work
