Online 3D Fighting Games (or lack thereof)

Iz-GOod

So I'm a big fan of one-on-one 3D fighting games, specifically the Tekken and Soul Calibur series. I go to the local arcade every now and then and we have console gatherings a few times a year. For a long time, I've been looking for a similar fix, but online and for PC. Here are the ones I found so far:


- KwonHo: The best description would be a simplified online Virtua Fighter clone. It was originally a free Korean game, but you need a Korean SSN to play the Korean version. The North American version was in "closed beta" open to everyone in December, and we've been waiting for "open beta" ever since. This is the closest thing I've found to a good online 3D fighting game, but the wait for the next beta phase has just been too long.



Real Fighting Championship: Not much is known about this game, but it looks promising. In the meantime, you can check out the CG trailer HERE or laugh at the aweful english on the official site.


Toribash: I didn't know exactly how to describe it, so I went to Wikipedia and they say it's a "physics-based, turn-based fighting game", which makes alot of sense. You basically queue up moves by adding tension to certain parts of your fighter's body parts and try to get him to hit the opponent, who's doing the same thing. This is not a traditional 3D fighting game, but it's worth being mentioned for it's originality and unique concept.

- Kung Fu: Deadly Arts: I don't know why I'm even mentioning this. I have to admit I only spent about an hour with this worthless game, but it wasn't worth my time (or anyone else's, if you ask me). To sum it up, the game has bad graphics, extremely one-dimensional gameplay and the lack of a serious community. I couldn't even find a damn screenshot for it (it's probably better that way).

So there you have it. These are the only recent PC 3D online Fighting games I could find. Is there a reason why so few of these games exist? Is it lack of demand? Is it limiting technology? Does anyone know of other online 3D fighting games for PC? I guess I could always buy a 360 with DOA4...

Aroduc

I suggest importing... 'Cause I can approximately double or triple your list from doujin stuff alone, let alone whatever pro games might also be out there.

rayofash

There used to be one you could play on Heat that was supposed to be good.

But now Heat is dead .

Edit: And what Aroduc said. There are so many 3D fighters from Japan.

Iz-GOod

Aroduc wrote: »

I suggest importing... 'Cause I can approximately double or triple your list from doujin stuff alone, let alone whatever pro games might also be out there.

Care to elaborate on my options? And if I import, I'm guessing my ping would be very high if I have to play against people in Asia...

rayofash

Iz-GOod wrote: »

Aroduc wrote: »

I suggest importing... 'Cause I can approximately double or triple your list from doujin stuff alone, let alone whatever pro games might also be out there.

Care to elaborate on my options? And if I import, I'm guessing my ping would be very high if I have to play against people in Asia...

That depends on your connection speed. I play against people from Japan on all sorts of games quite a bit and never noticed any lag.

Hotlead Junkie

Toribash is the best 3d online fighting game ever made

Iz-GOod

Hotlead Junkie wrote: »

Toribash is the best 3d online fighting game ever made

I was thinking "traditional 3D fighting game" but yes, Toribash is worth being mentioned. I'll add it to the OP.

I forgot to mention I have a PS2. Is Mortal Kombat: Armageddon worth it if I'm into the technical aspect of fighting games? Are there any other online 3D fighting games for PS2?

AkimboEG

Iz-GOod wrote: »

Is Mortal Kombat: Armageddon worth it if I'm into the technical aspect of fighting games?

No.

Everything about this game makes you feel like you're playing a bad demo.
Lame engine and almost no control over the game (settings are pretty much limited to round time limit and death traps toggle)
Plus, it's got a million characters and they all play the same.

Also, and I know it's not 3D, I remember some guys were working on an external app for online play for the PC version of GG:XX. Might be worth checking out if you can settle for only 2 dees.



God, what a lame engine.

Morninglord

I think the dearth of online fighting games is that fighting games are generally based around tight knowledge of frames per second and counters, and its hard to do this when a ten frame a second move becomes a 60 frame per second move because of lag, or worse, just blips and vanishes entirely and you are on the ground because of a move you couldn't see.

NickTheNewbie

One Must Fall: Battlegrounds came out a couple years back. I beta tested it, but never actually played the released version.

FreddyD

Morninglord wrote: »

I think the dearth of online fighting games is that fighting games are generally based around tight knowledge of frames per second and counters, and its hard to do this when a ten frame a second move becomes a 60 frame per second move because of lag, or worse, just blips and vanishes entirely and you are on the ground because of a move you couldn't see.

At 60fps 50 frames is almost one second. That would translate to a ping of almost 1000.

I've always felt that fps games are even more lag unfriendly than fighters. There is often 'lag' built into the fighting system (such as the frame delays for block stun or attack recovery).

Iz-GOod

Kwonho played fine when both players had a ping under 150. Of course, it's not like playing on console or at the arcade, but it was still playable.

Vashin

hrmmm i think i'll steal my girlfriends SSN and try to play some Kwonho...

or i will just get her to make me an account since i cant read the korean...

Suriko

There's an online patch for Melty Blood. A few of the forumers were playing it a fair bit at one point.

I never got it working.

Morninglord

FreddyD wrote: »

Morninglord wrote: »

I think the dearth of online fighting games is that fighting games are generally based around tight knowledge of frames per second and counters, and its hard to do this when a ten frame a second move becomes a 60 frame per second move because of lag, or worse, just blips and vanishes entirely and you are on the ground because of a move you couldn't see.

At 60fps 50 frames is almost one second. That would translate to a ping of almost 1000.

I've always felt that fps games are even more lag unfriendly than fighters. There is often 'lag' built into the fighting system (such as the frame delays for block stun or attack recovery).

It's an exaggeration. But here's a better example. Average humans reaction time is around .25 of a second, or around 25 frames. Really good people can be like, .15 of a second, which is around 15 frames.
Now take that ten frame move and put a ping of .15 of a second on it, (which I think is 150 ping). Suddenly this unseeable move is seeable by good people. With lag any worse? Ew.
Depends how the game works with lag of course.

Glal

NickTheNewbie wrote: »

One Must Fall: Battlegrounds came out a couple years back. I beta tested it, but never actually played the released version.

Beta tested, then bought the full thing. I rather like the game, but it has balancing issues due to being developed by a small team.

Still, if you don't mind trying something rather different, it can be great fun; up to 16 players in the same arena, free roaming, etc. Plays a bit like God Hand with a more traditional combo system.

Fall

There will not be a good online fighting game for years.

As for reaction times, any decent gamer can deal with timings as low as one frame (~33ms @ 30FPS). If you're requiring input to be that responsive, you're going to need to be on LAN.

Pings of 50-100ms work in first-person shooters because most of the lag can be hidden by interpolating movement across longer distances. In a fighting game, a player can do one of hundreds of moves making it impossible for the game to predict what you're going to do, making it impossible to hide the effects of lag. Sure, they can smooth out the player movement so that everything feels alright, but when you need to parry a move or pull off a counter, you will notice the lag, even at good broadband latencies.

FreddyD

Fall wrote: »

There will not be a good online fighting game for years.

As for reaction times, any decent gamer can deal with timings as low as one frame (~33ms @ 30FPS). If you're requiring input to be that responsive, you're going to need to be on LAN.

Pings of 50-100ms work in first-person shooters because most of the lag can be hidden by interpolating movement across longer distances. In a fighting game, a player can do one of hundreds of moves making it impossible for the game to predict what you're going to do, making it impossible to hide the effects of lag. Sure, they can smooth out the player movement so that everything feels alright, but when you need to parry a move or pull off a counter, you will notice the lag, even at good broadband latencies.

I think a slower paced game like Bushido Blade would work fine online. If people can have dramatic light sabre battles in Jedi Academy a simple fighting game should be playable.