Way of the Warrior: update 2 by David R. Liu!

Text by David R. Liu <davidliu@case.ai.mit.edu>

It's been several versions since I last gave a comprehensive Way update, so here it is:

The current version is 0.83, nearing beta. Version 0.60 was the one you all saw in the demo disk (if you didnt get a demo disk, dont worry as far as Way goes sinice in my honest opinion the 0.60 version SUCKS MOOSE BALLS.)

That's right. I think the demo disk version is full of doody, which is why I'd like to first clarify the differences between the 0.60 and 0.83 versions once and for all:

AI is brainless before, smart now
Frame rate seems slower then, faster now
Backgrounds are unrefined then, better now (and more of em)
Only a few characters done then, more now
Characters were graphically unrefined then, several changes now
Characters were not antialiased then, now they are (THIS IS A BIG BIG DEAL and makes the game look A LOT better)
No music then, music now (possible very famous music in the final version :)
Test sound effect then, most final sound effects now
Lousy fighting engine then, much better one now (thus better gameplay...althought hte demo version was unplayable.)
No magic then, some now
No still photos, FMV then, lots now in 24-bit color.
Primitive graphic effects then (e.g. Jake's fireball), much much better now.

Etc, etc, etc, you get the message. So if you think that the demo version was good, then you'll really like the finished product. And iof you thought the demo version sucked, then well we think alike :)

Here's a tantalizing sample of some recently added features:

MAGIC: Some magic (which replaces the traditional score pts.) changes the entire nature of your character. Not just the expected "increase life", "hurt more", etc. magic, but some that change the entire way your character looks and plays.
KULL: The second-to-last boss, an extremely well-rendered 3D model (SGI Indigo Extreme II did the rendering work) is rapidly being entered. HE IS TALLER THAN THE SCREEN when the camera is fully zzoomed in. That's right; he's more than 480 pixels tall. Don't ask why he's that tall...
VOICE EFFECTS and SOUND EFFECTS: These are being added quickly. ALREDY MORE THAN 40 MEGABYTES of sound at cd quality 44KHz have been added. That means even though only the ref, Nobu, and Gaines have complete sound effects, there is more than 300 megabits of sound alone, not including music. OK, i'll let you CDROM-haters compress it 4:1; still there is more sound effects in Way of the Warrior than four times a 16 megabit cartridge, and almost as much memory devoted to sound effects as all of fatal fury 2 for the Neo Geo.
AI: Way undoubtedly has the most sophisticated AI of any fighting game CPU opponent. It goes through an extremely complex vectored analysis of your predicted trajectory and it's oops and its predicted possible countermove trajectories then selects the best one and executes. This sophistication doesnt mean it is too difficult, just that it plays more like a human (with MOODS, aggressions, grudges against you) and less like a robot.
SECRETS: obviously I cant talk too much about these, but it is entirely possible that IF YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH you will find 33-50% more characters in the game than you first thought were there. Also, lots of other secrets besides secret characters... there may (or may not be) several secret backgrounds to find, maybe even a secret totally unrelated to fighting... or two.

David

(As always, I welcome all comments, criticisms, questions, etc.)