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Is Motaro just not destined for 3D & 2.5D MK games?

Living Corpse

Living Corpse

Champion


I wasn't really sure where to put this, as it's more a general topic.

So Motaro, we all know him, one of, if not the most difficult bosses from the original MK games. Being a centaur he was one of it's more uniquely shaped fighters. Perhaps too unique. While Motro's body shape was not a problem in the 2D MK games, it was not so true in his 3D and 2.5D ventures. During the making of MK Armageddon Midway's development team discovered they have a harder time making non-human shaped or only partially human-shaped characters in this case work in 3D than mostly humanoid fighters.

The decision came down to either remove Motaro's back legs or remove him all together. The former choice was picked and a story explanation was made about his race being cursed turning them into minotaurs. This would not be the last time Motaro's unique body shape would be a problem as the newly formed NRS would run into the same problem. In MK 9 Motaro shows up again, but is reduced to cameos and killed in a cutscene, no boss fight is had with him. Which is a bummer, I understand that X-Rays wouldn't work properly on him, but I expected they either NRS would make the Kombatant's perform a unique X-Ray on him, or just make him immune to it like he was to projectiles in MK3.

I'm not calling Boon's team lazy, I understand we all have our limits, and theirs seems to be fighters that are too different from a normal human body shape, they are used to working on mostly human shaped fighters as most of the Kombatants are human shaped even if vaguely and in nothing else.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't let down that we didn't get him as a boss fight, as back when MK9 was coming I was looking forward to the challenge.

It may be hard but I feel if pulled off and done properly it could be easily one of the most memorable boss fights in 2.5D fighting games.

What do you guys think, could NRS hire some extra talent that knows how to pull off unconventional body shapes in a fighting game? Or is every ones favorite horse man doomed to be nothing more but a foot note in MK's history?


 
ismael4790

ismael4790

Stay focused or get Caged
Probably because it must be really hard to make a character like this playable without him being full of hitbox issues, also animation difficulties and the obvious difference of size between him and the other characters would definitely end up affecting balance.

It's sad, because it would be really cool to see him.
 
ImperatrixSindel

ImperatrixSindel

Too bad YOU... will DIE!
ismael4790 said:
Probably because it must be really hard to make a character like this playable without him being full of hitbox issues, also animation difficulties and the obvious difference of size between him and the other characters would definitely end up affecting balance.

It's sad, because it would be really cool to see him.
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Yeah I mean the fact of the matter is Motaro is from an era where the games were pretty jankety and were cool with being pretty jankety. There is no real way to make Motaro function properly in an MK9-onward game.
 
Jynks

Jynks

some heroes are born, some made, some wondrous
I think Motaro could be put back in the game.. no problems. The downside of eSports is that crazy things like this happen less and less... but there is no reason he couldn't be a boss maybe. Though if they thought hard about it they could probably make it work.

I would think there isn't a MK fan on earth that wouldn't be hype as fuck if he came back.
 
HeavyNorse

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
He could be some kind of special boss character challenge, but as a full on centaur-man, I doubt he would ever become playable.
 
Living Corpse

Living Corpse

Champion
Jynks said:
I think Motaro could be put back in the game.. no problems. The downside of eSports is that crazy things like this happen less and less... but there is no reason he couldn't be a boss maybe. Though if they thought hard about it they could probably make it work.

I would think there isn't a MK fan on earth that wouldn't be hype as fuck if he came back.
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Yeah, I don't even care if he's not playable, I just think it'd be cool to have a big sub-boss who isn't another four armed Shokan.

HeavyNorse said:
He could be some kind of special boss character challenge, but as a full on centaur-man, I doubt he would ever become playable.
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Size does seem to be part of the problem, either his butt would be off screen or the camera would have to scale back to fit him on screen.
 
DownfouralitY

DownfouralitY

Master
As much as I’d love it, it’ll never happen. I do think it’s bullshit how he was shafted in 9 and I’d be willing to wager that it’s definitely possible to make him work now. He’d be hype as fuck, it’s unfortunate.
 
HeavyNorse

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
Living Corpse said:
Size does seem to be part of the problem, either his butt would be off screen or the camera would have to scale back to fit him on screen.
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I'm thinking more how much of the gameplay will be stifled because of him. I mean, we can't throw him around, X-Ray moves would be a huge problem, knockdown attacks just makes him slump down a bit, stuff like that. Because of his proportions the devs have to reconsider everything gameplay-wise. And I understand why that would be too much of a hassle just for that one character.
 
Blackaspitch

Blackaspitch

Noob
They could do it by combining him with another character as an assist like dexstar and atrocitus or Darkseid and his minions. What if Shao khan had a variation where he could call out motaro to absorb projectiles or launch with his dope ass donkey kick from mk3?
 
Pizza

Pizza

Thrill Kill


Perhaps my proposal is unpopular, but this the way I think he could be broght back:

Make him a non-playable boss.
Make him immune to X-Rays and most of the special attacks (like, Scorpion's spear shouldn't work on him) and projectiles.
It would be a more interesting challenge to beat him in mortalkombat! hand-to-hand combat instead of relying on special abilities.
There should be no problem with teleports and that kind of stuff, of course.
He shouldn't be so fast, and should feel heavy (bring back the trembling screen when he jumps!), and DO NOT give him back his teleport ability. His only abilities should be immunity to special attacks, and the tail projectiles.
He could use a small-medium charge attack like Shao Kahn.

Pretty much this.
 
callMEcrazy

callMEcrazy

Alone is where to find me.
DownfouralitY said:
As much as I’d love it, it’ll never happen. I do think it’s bullshit how he was shafted in 9 and I’d be willing to wager that it’s definitely possible to make him work now. He’d be hype as fuck, it’s unfortunate.
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He poses far too many gameplay-related problems.

How would you handle him on knockdown? If he just slumps down a bit like in MK3 not only does it look very different to how knockdowns usually look but it'd also seem like he can be hit while he is down.

His hurtbox is a problem when his opponent tries to cross him up. I mean he has a long body and the opponent can't just land on his back.

His own jumps are also a problem with that long body. I suppose it's not impossible to make a character that doesn't jump. But balancing that would be hard as hell.

I suppose he could be brought back as a non-playable boss character. But I don't think it's reasonable to expect the devs to go through all that trouble just for one playable character.
 
GLoRToR

GLoRToR

Positive Poster!
Living Corpse said:


Midway's development team discovered they have a harder time making non-human shaped or only partially human-shaped characters in this case work in 3D than mostly humanoid fighters.
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One main issue is how Fatalities are set up I imagine.
Every model is basically a bag of bones and blood which gets penetrated or separated by the animation sequence to show the insides. Motaro having the huge trailer behind him, and being at least 10 feet tall, is a huge problem for substituting his model into fatalities and it would take extra space and often extra consideration making stuff like Quan's leg rip or Cassie's x-ray work on him.

The other issue is animating that shit, really. Most, if not every movement in MK is mo-capped that's why they seem realistic, and then the motions that were captured are edited and modified as necessary. Even if by some chance they'd mocap a horse, or if they hired a creature FX animator to do justice by him, the character itself would cost probably far too much to be worth it.

We'll see tonight if they decided to go the length and deal with it.

I'd love to see him return in 11.
 
Living Corpse

Living Corpse

Champion
GLoRToR said:
One main issue is how Fatalities are set up I imagine.
Every model is basically a bag of bones and blood which gets penetrated or separated by the animation sequence to show the insides. Motaro having the huge trailer behind him, and being at least 10 feet tall, is a huge problem for substituting his model into fatalities and it would take extra space and often extra consideration making stuff like Quan's leg rip or Cassie's x-ray work on him.

The other issue is animating that shit, really. Most, if not every movement in MK is mo-capped that's why they seem realistic, and then the motions that were captured are edited and modified as necessary. Even if by some chance they'd mocap a horse, or if they hired a creature FX animator to do justice by him, the character itself would cost probably far too much to be worth it.

We'll see tonight if they decided to go the length and deal with it.

I'd love to see him return in 11.
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Doubt he'll be in MK11 outside of a cameo.
 
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