Superman In Video Games General Discussion

[Prime]

What, don't you have a phone?

Heh

Btw is any of you getting Tears of The Kingdom? As far as Open Worlds did you like Breath of the Wild? Should a Superman game have a world as big as BOTW?

[Frontier]

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91352...oss/index.html

Damn I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but that really does sound like WBD wants a Superman game out sometime in between Legacy and whatever comes next. I only hope it’s a proper AAA game and not some mobile crap.

I remember Gunn talking about a Krypto game set in the new movie universe so that's where my mind immediately went .

I'd love to get something on the level of the Arkham games without needing to tie-in to the movies though.

[Ascended]

Heh

Btw is any of you getting Tears of The Kingdom? As far as Open Worlds did you like Breath of the Wild? Should a Superman game have a world as big as BOTW?

Haven't played a Zelda game in forever, but as far as open world and Superman? At the very, absolute least, I demand an open world (Metropolis) as big as Tokyo (plus smaller "dungeon" type maps, like you'd see in Skyrim or whatever). My preference, if we're going nuts, would be the whole earth.

I know games can go beyond planet-sized. We've got stuff where you can explore the entire galaxy and walk around every asteroid and planet and exoplanet in it. A game that size would be crazy cool but even I admit that's unnecessary. Earth would be enough.

[Vordan]

What, don't you have a phone?

Yeah for reading comics on the train ride home the way Rao intended (I get that reference)

Heh

Btw is any of you getting Tears of The Kingdom? As far as Open Worlds did you like Breath of the Wild? Should a Superman game have a world as big as BOTW?

Not getting that one specifically, right now I’m finishing up Skyrim Special Edition (first time playing Skyrim again in years) and then Atomic Heart or Jedi Survivor are up next for me. I’ve grown a little fatigued of open world games, best game I played recently was Hi-Fi Rush, and that was a throwback to the more linear games of old. For a new Superman game I kinda want a Metroidvania type game to start rather than full open world.

I remember Gunn talking about a Krypto game set in the new movie universe so that's where my mind immediately went .

I'd love to get something on the level of the Arkham games without needing to tie-in to the movies though.

Yeah I remembered that too. That’s probably what we will end up with, but they’re making a WW game and the guys who made Hogwarts Legacy already built a game with flying mechanics. Maybe they could ask Avalanche to do Superman?

[marhawkman]

Heh

Btw is any of you getting Tears of The Kingdom? As far as Open Worlds did you like Breath of the Wild? Should a Superman game have a world as big as BOTW?

I LOVE flying around Metropolis in DCUO. It probably is a lot smaller than a real city, but FEELS expansive. There ARE tall buildings to fly over, and stuff like that... and also a full-size hydroelectric dam with reservoir... It's loads of fun to fly around and look at.

[Prime]

Haven't played a Zelda game in forever, but as far as open world and Superman? At the very, absolute least, I demand an open world (Metropolis) as big as Tokyo (plus smaller "dungeon" type maps, like you'd see in Skyrim or whatever). My preference, if we're going nuts, would be the whole earth.

I know games can go beyond planet-sized. We've got stuff where you can explore the entire galaxy and walk around every asteroid and planet and exoplanet in it. A game that size would be crazy cool but even I admit that's unnecessary. Earth would be enough.

This is one of the reasons why I mentioned DBZ Kakarot. It’s sorta open world but it also has like small spaces. I guess you can make Metropolis or have part of it being sucked into the phantom zone and have it take place there

[marhawkman]

MADV143_AUDIO-PC-06-01.43.470.jpg
A Superman game that looks like this... would be pretty good.

[DABellWrites]

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91352...oss/index.html

Damn I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but that really does sound like WBD wants a Superman game out sometime in between Legacy and whatever comes next. I only hope it’s a proper AAA game and not some mobile crap.

The problem with mobile games is that there's a lot of dreck, but there's a lot of good quality games on mobile.

[Ascended]

MADV143_AUDIO-PC-06-01.43.470.jpg
A Superman game that looks like this... would be pretty good.

Where is that? It's too dark to be vanilla Metropolis (where it's always daytime). Is it Metropolis in one of the War for the Light expansions?

It's not Central City or Dakota is it?

Whatever it is, DCUO has some fantastic city designs. Their Atlantis was amazing, one of my favorite expansions. When the game first hit I'd spend an hour just flying around Metropolis, exploring and swooping in to save the occasional mugging victim.

[marhawkman]

Where is that? It's too dark to be vanilla Metropolis (where it's always daytime). Is it Metropolis in one of the War for the Light expansions?

It's not Central City or Dakota is it?

Whatever it is, DCUO has some fantastic city designs. Their Atlantis was amazing, one of my favorite expansions. When the game first hit I'd spend an hour just flying around Metropolis, exploring and swooping in to save the occasional mugging victim.

Oh that's Dakota City. It's the most recently added one.

[Ascended]

Ah okay. I've logged in a bit and looked at the new Static DLC gear but I haven't played any of it yet or explored the new zone. Does look good tho.

[bardkeep]

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/91352...oss/index.html

Damn I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but that really does sound like WBD wants a Superman game out sometime in between Legacy and whatever comes next. I only hope it’s a proper AAA game and not some mobile crap.

Unfortunately if they haven't already started making a Superman game it's unlikely that they'd get something out until close to 2030. AAA games these days take 5-7 years to complete and a Superman game would definitely be on the high end of that.

Haven't played a Zelda game in forever, but as far as open world and Superman? At the very, absolute least, I demand an open world (Metropolis) as big as Tokyo (plus smaller "dungeon" type maps, like you'd see in Skyrim or whatever). My preference, if we're going nuts, would be the whole earth.

I know games can go beyond planet-sized. We've got stuff where you can explore the entire galaxy and walk around every asteroid and planet and exoplanet in it. A game that size would be crazy cool but even I admit that's unnecessary. Earth would be enough.

The Tokyo metropolitan area is 687 square miles. For reference, the entire explorable area in Cyberpunk 2077 is ~17 square miles and Spider-Man's Manhattan is ~5 square miles.

The problem isn't making a big open world, it's making a big modern city that actually feels alive. Those massive-scale games are a bunch of desolate planets with maybe 1 small base for a generic shooter mission, and even games with huge open worlds that are well done are mostly terrain with a bunch of towns and some small, pre-skyscraper cities (e.g. Witcher 3's Continent, which is ~88 square miles of mostly water and hills). It's why Wonder Woman's already getting an open world game, Themyscira can just be an open fantasy map.

I know some people are saying "just don't do open world," but how would GoW or Mass Effect work if Kratos or Shepherd could fly or had super speed? That said, I do think an open world is possible if you scale him properly. If you can fly around a big city, throw trucks around, tank bullets, and shoot lasers from your eyes, 99.9% of players will be satisfied and feel like Superman. You don't have to be able to go into space, move at hyper-sonic speed (you can feel fast without making a ~20-25 square mile city feel small), or destroy skyscrapers with a punch, and he can be bulletproof without being completely invulnerable and turning the game into a bunch of Crazy Taxi and escort/protect missions.

If the scaling is a dealbreaker, you could set it on an alien planet, but if the concern is not feeling like Superman, I think not putting him in Metropolis would be a bigger issue than toning his powers down.

[Ascended]

The Tokyo metropolitan area is 687 square miles.

That's....a bit bigger than I realized. Okay, maybe that's a little much......

The problem isn't making a big open world, it's making a big modern city that actually feels alive.

That's my thought as well. Especially if you do the whole super-senses thing, that's a lot of real dense coding I'm sure. We have the technology to pull all of that off, it's really just an enhanced version of certain "detective" modes other games (including Bat games) have done. But it'd be a lot of effort.

I do think an open world is possible if you scale him properly. If you can fly around a big city, throw trucks around, tank bullets, and shoot lasers from your eyes, 99.9% of players will be satisfied and feel like Superman. You don't have to be able to go into space, move at hyper-sonic speed (you can feel fast without making a ~20-25 square mile city feel small), or destroy skyscrapers with a punch, and he can be bulletproof without being completely invulnerable and turning the game into a bunch of Crazy Taxi and escort/protect missions.

That's about the scale I'm asking for, honestly. I *do* want destructible environments and all the powers/abilities, but I don't need Silver Age non-limits where Clark can knock down the Daily Planet with a single blow or travel to Oa in five minutes. Clark doesn't need to be, and shouldn't be, utterly invulnerable to everything but I *do* want enemies who don't pose a legitimate threat. Some of the best Super moments involve him using his powers in clever and unique ways, solving problems creatively, and I think if you really want a proper Super game you need to include that *along* with the violent supervillain fights.

[bardkeep]

That's my thought as well. Especially if you do the whole super-senses thing, that's a lot of real dense coding I'm sure. We have the technology to pull all of that off, it's really just an enhanced version of certain "detective" modes other games (including Bat games) have done. But it'd be a lot of effort.

Yeah, I think there are ways to build his senses into basic game mechanics. Like, full-on X-ray vision where you can see into every building is definitely too much, but maybe being able to see outlines of things through walls like, as you said, Batman's detective mode. And you could kinda just make super hearing work like Spider-Man's police radio but add some ambient city noise, with maybe some little NPC barks you can pick up (but I don't think being able to 100% control it and listen to any NPC at any time is feasible).

That's about the scale I'm asking for, honestly. I *do* want destructible environments and all the powers/abilities, but I don't need Silver Age non-limits where Clark can knock down the Daily Planet with a single blow or travel to Oa in five minutes. Clark doesn't need to be, and shouldn't be, utterly invulnerable to everything but I *do* want enemies who don't pose a legitimate threat. Some of the best Super moments involve him using his powers in clever and unique ways, solving problems creatively, and I think if you really want a proper Super game you need to include that *along* with the violent supervillain fights.

Yeah, I think the bigger issues emerge because some people are really insistent that you don't nerf him and want to do some kind of city health bar instead of an individual one, which is totally unfeasible and just doesn't sound fun. Kratos in his lore can, like, lift mountains but in gameplay he's a pretty standard barbarian type.

Agreed on the enemies front. Though I think even if you made him semi-vulnerable to explosives or gave some bad guys special weapons it'd mean the vast majority of lay enemies wouldn't pose any trouble. Not to keep harping on Spider-Man (hey, it's the gold standard of open world superhero games for a reason...) but it's kinda like how most of them just have guns/fists but you occasionally bump into guys who have rocket launchers or grenades.

There could also be some fun Clark Kent missions where you have to take out some baddies or sneak in somewhere and stop ambushers without anyone catching you using your powers.

[Vordan]

If we’re setting it in Metropolis then most of the “mooks” should be part of the three gangs which have been created in Superman comics and each given their own theme as it were. Intergang has the tech which means mech suits and red sunlight lasers/synthetic Kryptonite lasers/black hole grenades or whatever. The 100 are the magic users. Invisible Mafia has the Metas, low level super strength/speed/whatever which one on one is no problem for Clark but in large groups cause problems.

And that’s just the human enemies, if you set the game in the Phantom Zone or on Warworld then you have a lot more freedom to do whatever you want.