Yes, you read that title correctly. Lauren Faust, creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, has teamed up with Mane6 to launch an IndieGoGo Campaign for the new project Them's Fightin Herds. The game is a 2D Fighting game for the PC that's a spiritual successor to the Fighting is Magic project based on the hit cartoon show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This time around, it looks like the game has improved its gameplay mechanics, has a "dynamic" music system, and a bunch of new features. The campaign kicked off today with a goal of $436,000 dollars, and at the time of writing this article is about 27% toward its goal. Unlike some other crowd-funding campaigns, the campaign does has several working gameplay videos and features to show, as seen on the IndieGoGo site, and below.
https://youtu.be/WiTKQLgk8Xo The game uses a 4 button fighting system, and the animation quality as seen in the video seems to be up there in terms of a high frames per second. The game does have a super meter, and what's interesting is that there's a juggle decay mechanic, where you have a separate meter that fills that causes opponents to become heavier during a combo. It's indicated that it prevents standing infinites due to removing the opponent's ability to remain standing for the rest of the combo. It is also indicates that the music system will change based on the heat of battle, which can make battles feel even more dynamic. It seems to be an alteration of the song based on the character who is in charge of the battle at that point.
https://youtu.be/-2PhpyZBjao The game uses GGPO (Good Game Piece Out) behind the netcode, which was designed by Tony Cannon, a co-founder of Shoryuken and the popular Evolution Championship Series. In addition, the 6 person team has provided several characters and their bios on the IndieGoGo page, including the Captain of the Imperial Houshan Guard, Tianho, and the Order of the Horn's resident rebel, Oleander. The team is upfront on where the costs for the game are going in the Reality section of the page:
You might be asking, “Just where is my money going? Am I buying the developers a golden-plated life-sized ice-reindeer sculpture and a lifetime supply of booze?”, and the answer is: All of the money is going towards the development of the game, and is based on an 18 months dev cycle, from the moment the crowdfund money comes in and we can start paying people.
The tiers of Them's Fightin Herds campaign include a tier for getting the game at $15 bucks, a limited edition one-time only physical edition at the $100 dollar tier (including all the previous tiers), and a $5,000 tier which allows you to design a lobby accessory and a character's alternate palette, as well as your original character in the game along with a special appearance in the background of the stage.
Have you played Fighting is Magic, and does the project above interest you at all? Do you want to feel the friendship and donate to the campaign? Or is it a little bit too out there for you?
