UFC 2009 Demo is OUT NOW!

Thanks for taking the time to respond back, man. You guys will definitely be doing another game if all we're going on is sales. I was actually surprised to see so many people as excited as they were once the demo came out. True story: I have a friend who is an avid UFC fan (and a minor gaming one) who after playing the demo for five minutes at my house, just dropped the coin on another XBox360 so he didn't have to share the one he got for his sister.

If guessing the lack of a southpaw stance is what you are referring to. That was one of my quibbles about the standup game, but I know enough to know that this has got to be the most massive introduction of subsystems for any first time fighting game, so its all good. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

I'd love to see some kind of head movement so long as it was more subdued than Fight Night's. Before we got the demo I thought that everyone would have this, but the boxers would have some kind of advantage (maybe slipping even during contact).

Having a VF head designing the system really puts me at ease for any future games in the series. I was worried before I got my hands on this that even though THQ had done research and brought in fighters, that the gameplay mechanics would have been done by someone with either wrestling game only or sports game only experience. Glad to see you're on board and I'm really looking forward to what you guys can do next year.

I misunderstood you, SD. Sorry. Anyways, feinting an attack through the use of the guard button is what I was referring to specifically.

 

Something like this?

 

I've got a funny story. I was in Gamestop yesterday looking for a new game to compliment my new DSi. There was a man in the store asking the clerk which system he should get, ps3 or 360. The clerk went on about the advantages of this and that, and discussed the "exclusive" aspect of the two systems. He then asked "Is there a specific game you're getting a system for?" to which the man replied "Well this new UFC game is coming out so..."

Wow. This dude is going to buy a ps3 or 360 just to play UFC. He's admittedly not even a gamer, with no interest in ANY other game. That should say something about MMA in general.

Anyway, back to the game. I found the feinting trick a while back, but haven't had much use for it yet. The CPU on Expert does NOT fall for it (or anything else for that matter) and the only human I've played at it so far is my girlfriend, who is perfectly content to never block and just superman punch my ass off. Can't wait till I have the full game and I can put it to use against human opponents online (providing the lag isn't too bad so that reaction time is an actual factor).

Sixtwo, I have one quick question: What exactly is the method to "sweep" your opponent when they're trying a transition? Is it just pushing back on the right stick at the right time? If so, can you give me a hint as to what that timing is? Every time I play against Rua he's in top-mount within 3 moves, and I know at least one of them is the result of a sweep when I'm trying to get back up. The tutorial didn't really help me with that part. (other than that, excellent tutorial; if a bit slow)

 

Yeah we struggled with the tutorial. It's very dry, and if we get the chance to make another game, it's one of the areas we'd like to improve. Basically, the action you're describing is what we call a Reversal, and you have to flick the right stick to the right or the left at the beginning of your opponent's Transition. The tricky part is that first the windows are pretty short (variable and all longer than a VF reversal window), and we've also included an anti-spam system to the Reversals, so that if you input a Block or Reversal command, there is a brief window following where you cannot enter another Reversal input. This prevents people from simply spamming the Reversal input over and over, since there is no Reversal animation.

Hope this helps!

 

Good to know! So it is just a flick, huh? I thought it might be something like you described, to make it more of a mind game than anything else. Another VF-inspired game mechanic! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

I'll have to practice it a bit more before I can get it down. Thanks for the info. If I think of any other appropriate questions I'll post them here.

 

Oh, one thing I am wondering about is how would you make GSP...he has fantastic wrestling and jiu jitsu. Is he a muay thai guy or kickboxer...b/c he trains avidly in both. Machida really falls out of the line with his karate style. How does the game emulate someone like that?
Also, when going for lower body attacks, such as heel hooks, toe holds, ankle locks, 50/50, etc, can you change how you wrap your legs around the guys leg/hips, change foot position, transition between and combine subs. For example, anytime you can apply a kneebar, you can also apply a toe hold. Are you able to do this?

 

Hi sixtwo,

I have a question regarding a rare maneuver that I've seen Shogun does in the demo. I couldn't figure out what it exactly is and how to execute it.



It looked sort of like a fake takedown to me, and while you can cancel a takedown, it has to be done early enough that it looks nothing like this.

 

Its things like this and that you are really trying to make the system work that makes me like the effort so far. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Ive gotten used to so many games these days neglecting the game system and the tactical elements and possibilities.

Techniques shouldnt be too easy and there shouldnt exist an 'optimal' strategy to a given situation so players would always just repeat it with no thought behind it whatsoever. There must be choices and 'counter'techniques. Fighting games are tactical games and the choices of players constitute the 'mindgame' which is the essence of fighting games.

Also even though Im not an avid MMA fan, I have watched it on occasion and I really feel you have managed to get a 'realistic feeling' to the game.

ps. I havent played the demo that much yet, but enough to like what I see.

 

sixtwo:

If UR marketing UFC 2009 as Sports Game rather than fighting game and your major competition is Fight Night Round 4, here's something interesting,

The Gamestop web site has UFC 2009 categorized as a Fighting[/size] game
and Fight Night Round 4 categorized as Sports Boxing[/size]

Is it that gamestop doesn't have a Sports MMA[/size] or Sports MMA Fighting[/size] classification.

I also noticed EBgames has it as a fighting game, and Fight Night
Round 4 is listed as a Sports Boxing.

Interestingly though Amazon.com has UFC 2009 listed as Sports Wrestling /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

I think the G4TV (Xplay) site also has it as a fighting game as opposed to a Sports game.

I think the marketing people will have a kind of tricky job on this one. Cleary this game captures the Sport of MMA but the
obvious (on the surface) market is to fighting game gamers. There all all kinds of sports gamers (Madden, NBA, Tennis,etc) who would never pick UFC 2009 or Fight Night Round 4. And all kinds of fighting game gamers who would not play Madden, NCAA, Soccer games etc.

On the other hand a huge cross section of gamers who are into (non sport) fighting games will pickup Fight Night Round 4 and UFC 2009 even though both are "Sports Fighting Games"[/size].

I Hope UFC 2009 is wildly successful. I've already preordered my copy from Gamestop (I want the two special fighters), we are already planning to work UFC 2009 into our annual tournaments but the marketing /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif I dunno.[/size]

How many sports game fans who are not fighting game fans will pickup UFC 2009?

How many fighting game fans who are not sport game fans will pickup UFC 2009?

sixtwo: I get what you said about the fighting game genre being
dead until recently. But I think there's a bigger picture. I go
back with fighting games a long way. I remember 4D boxing on the
PC!

If you compare the number of fighting game fans back in the 80s-90s to what it is today you'll find out that there are far more people playing fighting games than at any other time in gaming history. The fact that there are more people playing FPS or WII fit, or Guitar Hero, IMHO is off the point. Most game publishers (who can sometimes be greedy) look at Halo, or Grand Theft Auto, or Gears of War, etc as the bench mark for a successful Genre.


Everybody wants to sell 1 million copies in the first couple of weeks or so /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif Everybody's got to go platinum. Whatever happened to going Gold /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif selling 500,000 to 800,000 units over a year at $59.99 is not exactly the poor house. That's millions of dollars. Okay it costs money to produce a game at the quality of UFC 2009 or Fight Night Round 4, the cost of the IP (Intellectual Property) has got to be brutal, licensing the game engines and tools I'm sure is nothing to cough at either but even with those big costs in mind, if you can generate $25-30 million in revenue per year for a couple of years, U wouldn't exactly call that a bust would U?

If UFC is marketed as a sports game will it miss fighting game fans? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cry.gif If its marketed as a fighting game will it miss sports game fans? If its marketed as a UFC game will it miss sports game fans and fighting game fans /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif I hope the game publisher doesn't get to greedy. I hope they have patience and persistence with this title and take the time and commitment to build it into a long term (Sports/MMA Fighting) gaming franchise. I hope they realize its never going to do Halo, Guitar Hero, or Grand Theft Auto numbers.

Free Tip[/size] /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Tell, the marketing people they need to establish some mind share and real estate in Sony Home. That form of social game networking is going to be huge in the future. Although many gamers haven't quite caught on yet, 3d vitural world social game networking will be how its done in the very near future. I can imagine all kinds of spectators watching UFC 2009 matches at a stadium with an Octagon in Sony Home. Gamers that like to play UFC would watch UFC matches without necessarily being in a lobby. People just out roaming around Sony Home virtual world would watch, Fight game spectators would watch. Sony Home would be a place that could help increase UFC sales for THQ over the long haul.

For your crew of game designers, ask them to consider looking
at putting up stadiums in Sony Home as addition to the Lobby concept for online UFC2009. The Lobby only really gets people actually playing the game as spectators. If UFC 2009 really wants to go after the sports concept, you have to provide for spectators who don't necessarily participate in the sport but like to watch it. Virtual fighting Venues in Sony Home would be
perfect for that.

Tell the marketing people to imagine having a UFC PPV event in
Sony Home!! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Anyway as a long long time fighting game fan I wish the UFC franchise much success /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

We have a base set of moves available to all fighters, and six Fighting Techniques (Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, BJJ, and Judo) that augment this base set. On top of this, we tried to give signature moves to some of the more high profile fighters, like GSP. We also have 16 Fighter Skills that determine proficiency in things like Striking Offense, Takedown Offense, Submission Defense, etc. The base move set already has a lot of different strikes and submissions in it, so really we looked at the Fighting Techniques as an opportunity to flesh out the base set with more esoteric or character-defining moves. In Undisputed, GSP is a Kickboxer/Wrestler with very high Takedown Defense and Submission skills (among other things). GSP really does use his wrestling and top control more than his BJJ skills in the octagon as this point in his career. Machida is a Kickboxer/BJJ practitioner with superior defensive stats all around and the highest Speed rating in the game (tied with BJ Penn). We feel that we capture their essences very well.

Unfortunately we were not able to include a Karate style this year. Both GSP and Machida actually consider themselves Karate fighters (they are really two of the only fighters to do so, which weighed heavily on our decision ultimately to not include it), so if we get another chance at a UFC game, I'd like to at least give Karate a fair shot.

As for Submission switching, we don't support it this yet. This year was really about establishing a solid MMA base that would give us the opportunity to build, so I'll again defer to my, "if we get another shot" reply on this one too. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

This is an animation we play when a Takedown attempt is performed while a player is moving off axis. Essentially, we do a pre-calculation to determine if the Takedown is moving with any chance of actually connecting with the opponent. If it isn't, we play this animation instead.

 

Let me just clarify really quickly what I meant by saying FNR4 is our competition: we're both games based on real-life combat sports, and we come out within a month of each other. If we came out in the Fall I'd be saying our competition was Madden or maybe Tekken, but I think given the release dates and subject matter, my claim's not that big of a stretch.

We'll find out in about a month!

 

Oh yea, your claim is dead on, especially looking at the release window. But I'm really talking about a much more protracted timeline. I'm really wondering about a bigger question I think.
Was the FN series as successful as it could have been considering
how its marketed? If UFC 2009 uses a similar approach to marketing will they get similar results?

 

Is their a list of submissions available?

 

Not one supplied by us, but the full game is in the hands of several websites and magazines, so it's possible they might get released before the game comes out.

What I can say about the various submissions in the game is that we tried to include the submissions that most frequently occur in the real UFC (and note I say UFC and not MMA, so Shinya Aoki fans are out of luck if they're hoping for a gogoplata from Mount). I'll also admit that there are 1-2 submissions that happen every now again in the UFC that we were not able to include, but insert PC next game comment here.

 

Can you give us more information on how submissions work? A lot of people are complaining that it's way too hard to win via submissions in the demo. Though this may be due to the stats of the characters involved, I also wonder if there's something we're missing as far as what is expected of the players to truly lock in a submission.

Is it just clicking the right stick to initiate it whenever, and if that's successful, just twirl the stick as fast as possible regardless of timing?

 

Also, would you please consider a feature to not only save a replay of a whole fight that can be shared with others etc, but also a director mode where you can review a replay with full control of the cameras?

I'm having so much fun with the demo like it's my personal highlight reel production machine, but it can be tedious since the replay segments and angles are out of my control.

 

As a fan of video games, i just wanna say, that i completely agree with master pro and putting virtual stadiums on the ps home (or whatever it's called). This would be rock solid advertising (if u have confidence in ur game, lol, i wouldn't expect to see shovelware paying to do this).


And thanks again for your responses, it has been a lot of fun to get a kinda inside look at the viewpoint of a developer.

 

Hi Sixtwo, just wondering if you could shed any light on the create a fighter mode? and any features it has?

Thanks /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

I just did a pretty lengthy write-up on this for our website today; I'll link it once it becomes available. But in short, Submission Offense, Submission Defense, and Strength all play a part, as does the relative strength of the Submission being applied (i.e. an Arm Bar from Mount has a higher likelihood of being successful than an Arm Bar from Guard). Also, perhaps the hardest thing to understand is that the lower your opponent's Energy level (not Stamina, which is often confused), the easier Submissions are, so waiting for your opponent to exert himself is pretty much the best way to apply a Submission.

This is a very cool idea that would undoubtedly make for a great mode in any future UFC product. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

I also think this would be a very cool idea. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Gamespot just did a write up on Career Mode this week. I'll say honestly that we don't reinvent the wheel by any means, but it's a pretty fun experience.

 

This thread just convinced me to download the demo.

5% and counting...

Sixtwo: Funny you mentioned anchor. I bought that first UFC game, and found it disappointing, especially coming from some of the boys out of Dream Factory (I loved Tobal). It pretty much soured my taste for future UFC games.

However, seeing as you're a VF player, I think I'll give this baby a go. Might just pick up a copy afterwards. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif