Kuma (Released 05/26/2021)

[MoloMowChow]

Showcase Video:

 

For M.U.G.E.N v1.1

 

The newest version is always available here:
https://molomowmugen.wixsite.com/fkgmugen/other-dl

 

Kuma is a port of a character from Alicesoft's RPG called Dohna Dohna. The game is set in a city controlled by a single powerful corporation that has become disrupted by the emergence of clans: gangs of ne'er-do-wells that perform various criminal acts. Kuma, the main protagonist of the series, is the second-in-command of one such organization: Nayuta. He is tasked with increasing his clan's power through criminal activities. Along the way, he and his allies must contend with rival clans, as well as the corporation itself, while unraveling a greater conspiracy surrounding the city.

Note on Controls:
Just like the last Dohna character I made, Kirakira, this character originally came from an RPG, and lacks any proper movement animations. As such, he doesn't walk back or forward like a normal fighting game character. He can only move via jumps or dashes forward/backward. This also means no crouching either. This can make positioning difficult at times. To compensate, he has a strong moveset that utilizes his long range gun attacks, and his hops forward/backward are mostly invulnerable (except grabs).

He exclusively uses a handgun in the RPG, and ended up being a heavy zoner-type character here as a result. He plays completely different from Kirakira, with his own gimmicks and systems separate from her, and thus should be approached/played differently. He has an ammo system that uses a bullet every time he fires his gun, and must reload periodically. He also has an assist system that allows him to call allies for help, which is a throwback to him being able to do the same in the original RPG. He uses the Assist system to supplement his combat. Combined, this allows him to keep distance and pelt away with his handgun.

 

For more details on his controls, check out his readme.

 

Some devblogging for those that care:

Spoiler

This character took way longer than Kirakira due to the assist system taking up more than half the devtime. I had wanted to work on Kuma next because he felt like the perfect excuse to make an Assist system, since he can calls allies for joint attacks in the original game and I've always wanted to try making an assist system for awhile now. After looking at some other MUGEN characters as references (mainly MvsC2_Thanos by Iwakick), it came out pretty good. But I wasn't prepared for how long it took.

Making a menu system for all the assists was way harder than I first thought. I had to restart completely at one time because I realized the menu graphics I was initially using was way too messy to be practical, and had to make new ones. It's still not quite perfect, as stages with custom zooms will make the assist selector cursor smaller sized. I haven't found the time to fix it yet, but it's a purely visual bug.

I was originally planning to have 9-10 selectable assists on release, but after taking 3-4 months making six assists and not finding more time to work on MUGEN, I decided to put the assists on hold and work on releasing Kuma himself instead. I would like to add more to the assist system in future updates, such as more assist characters, and secondary moves for each assist. Likely will update Kuma between actual character releases.

I had difficulty with all the UI elements as well. In the end I just opted to conform to the screenpack I was using, but most likely the feet of the characters will be covered on most stages depending on the zoom and lifebar graphics one is using. I may look into adding adjustable UI elements for the Config.txt file in the future, if time allows it.

On an unrelated note, some of you might be disappointed I wasn't working on one of the female cast this time. I'll be returning to them soon, don't you worry about that 

 

This character was originally made for the purpose of AI vs AI spectacle fights, and wasn't meant for human challenge.
But it is fully controllable, and nothing is stopping you from playing as or against this character.
Thanks for reading!