Putting Kung Fu to the Test

A nimble figure darted and weaved across the screen, fists and feet flashing like the wind. Every movement was swift, precise, and possessed a peculiar sense of rhythm.

Takuya did not play the entire fight sequence. Instead, he used freeze frames, slow motion, close-ups, and other methods to clearly present its most exciting offensive and defensive moments.

The dissected and magnified details of those fighting moves carried tremendous visual impact, making the developers—accustomed to the simple movements of pixelated sprites—light up with interest.

"Everyone, take a look," Takuya's voice rang out at just the right moment. Like a commentator, he guided everyone's gaze. "Punching, kicking, jumping, crouching, defending, blocking... these are all fundamental movement elements that make up 'fighting.'"

"What we need to do is recreate these powerful, skillful movements smoothly and realistically in a game through player input."

"But more importantly, there are the 'hit detections' between these movements." He emphasized the last words.

He pointed to a frozen image of Jackie Chan narrowly twisting aside to evade a powerful strike from his opponent, then immediately driving a precise backhand punch into the opponent's ribs.

"Did the attack hit? Which part of the body did it hit? How much damage feedback does it cause? Was the defense successful? If the defense succeeds, will the sheer impact create a brief opening? If an attack is blocked, will the attacker suffer recovery lag? All of this requires an extremely precise set of rules—rules that are intuitive while still offering depth—to determine the outcome."

"This is one of the technical cores of the fighting game we envision, and it is also the greatest difference between it and existing action games."

When the footage ended, the lights in the conference room came back on.

The doubts on many faces had been replaced by intense interest. Even several executives who had originally worn indifferent expressions and seemed to be waiting for a joke now looked focused, unconsciously rubbing their chins with their fingers.

This kind of step-by-step demonstration was far more convincing than empty verbal descriptions.

Some people even began discussing it in low voices, guessing how the freeze-frame images might translate into actual gameplay and what sort of input devices and program logic would be needed to make it happen.

Takuya did not give them much time to digest or discuss it before immediately switching to the next slide.

The screen displayed a fairly popular Nintendo FC game called Kung Fu (Karateka/Kung Fu Master). On the screen, a little figure in a white martial arts uniform faced off against an enemy.

"I know there are already games on the market that attempt to portray elements of 'fighting,' such as this one." Takuya's gaze swept over the screen, and his tone became sharp, carrying even a trace of undisguised criticism.

"But frankly, this game—and every similar game—cannot be called a true 'fighting game' as I just defined it."

Without any courtesy, he began listing the many glaring flaws of Kung Fu, a game that was still relatively popular at the time. Every point struck directly at the core experience.

"The character movements are stiff and lack even basic fluidity. They look more like marionettes on strings."

"The controls are sluggish. When the player presses a button, the character takes a while before 'symbolically' moving at all. Input feedback is severely delayed."

"The attack options are extremely limited. Over and over, there are only two or three moves, with no variety or depth."

"The hit detection logic is vague and chaotic. Players often feel that they obviously should have landed a hit, or obviously should have been able to block, only for the result to completely defy expectations. It creates an overwhelming sense of frustration."

"Most importantly," Takuya paused and stressed his words, "it lacks true 'competition' and 'mind games.' Rather than fighting, you are memorizing patterns. You are fighting the game's sequence and its programming, not your opponent."

To support this ambitious goal, he immediately presented specific innovations.

"First, there will be more varied attack options."

"In addition to basic punches and kicks, we will introduce 'throws'—close-range grappling and throwing techniques from wrestling and judo."

He demonstrated an over-the-shoulder throw with his hands.

"Imagine catching an opponent's opening and slamming them to the ground with a beautiful German suplex. What an exhilarating experience that would be."

"Second is the concept of 'projectiles.'"

He changed slides again, and the screen showed Son Goku firing a Kamehameha in the famous manga Dragon Ball.

"Of course, we do not necessarily have to make it this exaggerated. But ranged attacks like this can greatly expand tactical options, adding more variables and enjoyment to the stages where both sides confront, probe, and restrain each other from mid- to long-range."

Judo throws, Kamehamehas from Dragon Ball...

These highly evocative examples filled everyone present with wildly imaginative visions of the fighting game depicted by the "K" project.

"To achieve all this, we need more advanced technical support."

Takuya knew full well that concepts alone were not enough. He had to present a viable technical path.

He began explaining the technical principles behind these mechanics in clear and accessible terms.

"The core lies in introducing a more sophisticated 'state mechanism'—a state machine."

"Every action a character takes—standing, walking, jumping, punching, being hit, falling down, and so on—corresponds to an independent state."

"The states can switch according to player input and game rules, ensuring that movements remain fluid and coherent."

"At the same time, we need to introduce a 'hitbox mechanism'—Hitbox/Hurtbox."

He displayed a diagram showing rectangular frames in different colors overlaid on a character.

"The red areas represent attack hitboxes, while the blue areas represent hurtboxes."

"When the attacker's red box overlaps with the opponent's blue box, the system registers a hit."

"By precisely drawing these boxes, we can accurately determine which body parts are struck. For example, hitting the head and hitting the leg can deal different damage, or certain moves may only be able to attack the upper body."

"Lastly, there is the strict application of the concept of 'frames.'"

"Every action in the game must have a duration measured precisely in frames—on which frames an attack hitbox becomes active, how many frames of recovery occur after being hit, and so on."

"Through precise control of frame counts, we can create complex combat systems involving transitions between offense and defense, move strengths and weaknesses, combos, and more."

These somewhat technical terms no longer seemed obscure under Takuya's clear logic and plainspoken analogies.

The development team leaders, especially those with technical backgrounds, nodded in agreement. Some had even taken out notebooks and begun writing rapidly.

Takuya's technical approach had clearly given them tremendous inspiration.