Mega Man Arena X

How do you adapt the charm of Mega Man "roleplay" games into an action-packed FPS?

Play Original Version (Private) (Roblox)

Mega Man Arena X (MMAX) is a 1-10 player live-ops deathmatch FPS game inspired by the Mega Man franchise and subseries, made for players of the Roblox platform. It was developed and maintained over several years with a co-developer.

Players must master a versatile arsenal and utilize wall-traversable environments to gain an edge in battle. Players counter each other's attacks using the appropriate weapons and tools. For example, shields nullify bullets, but swords cleave through shields, and bullets shoot through swords. Whoever gains the most points wins the round!

Mega Man Series © Capcom

State of the Project

MMAX was a Mega Man multi-franchise multiplayer arena project started on 7 August 2017. The project was put on hiatus due to major Roblox updates until around mid-2021, when we updated the game to a new version called Mega Man Arena X: Recommence.

As of May 2023, the game is no longer in active development.

As of June 2023, I have uncopylocked and open sourced the game, making it available for everyone to study, download, and use the assets of for their own projects. Read more about it on the DevForum post.

Overview

Timeline

August 2017 - May 2023
6 years (intermittent development)

Role

Technical Game Designer
Level Designer
VFX & Environment Artist

Tools

Roblox Studio
Paint.NET

Contributors

Ryan V (Co-developer; Kobun in the Ōbun Productions)

Metrics

As of May 2023:

93% Like-Dislike Ratio
415 Favorites
22.1K+ Visits

Full Credits

Main Devs: CptRedder (G.R), Chirin_Chironup (Ryan V)

Playtesters: mb1170x

Code Sources:

Clonetrooper1019's "Realism" system - modified by CptRedder
OldPalHappy's "Walljump MK3" - modified by CptRedder
RedNutellaCarl's original long-jump code
Ethanthegrand14's "Part Fracture Model V3"
Quenty's "qPerfectionWeld"
LunaticHakuzu's "XBuster" - modified by CptRedder
Mah_Bucket's CSG slicing "slicey bois" - modified by CptRedder

My Contributions

Design

Live Content Design: Designed and implemented new characters, levels, quality-of-life changes, and cross-platform support for a live-ops 3D multiplayer shooter, adapting elements from the Mega Man franchise into the target genre to provide an authentic experience to younger fans on the Roblox platform–resulting in a 93% Like-Dislike Ratio, 415 Favorites, and 22.1K+ visits
Movement and VFX Design: Designed and implemented wall-jump, 3D part CSG slicing, and 15+ combat VFX (gun fire, melee hit, impact explosions, etc.) based on elements from the Mega Man franchise and subseries
FPS Arena Level Design: Built and iterated on 3 3D deathmatch arena maps and scripted environment behaviors that affect gameplay and traversal by translating iconic 2D locations–such as a high-speed train in the middle of a sandstorm–from the Mega Man franchise into a 3D medium
Technical Design Tools Engineering: Engineered player-mimicking enemy AI, 5+ obstacle behaviors, and 4+ debug tools (camera, teleportation, etc.) using Roblox Lua

Development Goals

An overview of why and how we made the game.

Development Beginnings

Storm Eagle's Sky Fortress, 2017

Storm Eagle's Sky Fortress, 2021

Our main goal for MMAX was to bring an action-packed experience that stays true to Capcom's Mega Man franchise and the appeal of Roblox "roleplay" games, while adapting it to the "deathmatch FPS" style of games on the Roblox platform.

Before development started, co-developer Ryan V had previously worked on a well-known Mega Man roleplay game on the platform. I was interested in collaborating with Ryan V due to our shared affinity for the original games. We began independent work on MMAX when we were in early high school.

WHy We Chose Roblox

Ryan V and I chose to use the Roblox platform for MMAX because Roblox is significantly more accessible to our target audience (younger Mega Man fans, Ages 7-15) than other FPS engines.

Ultimately, we wanted to make a game that would stand out and support a particular community on the Roblox platform.
At the time, most Mega Man fangames on Roblox were roleplay games. For MMAX, we wanted to create something that was explicitly an action game rather than a roleplay or hangout.
We wanted to highlight the "side" or "niche" characters in the franchise and allow players to play in their perspectives.

In this way, we keep the appeal of Roblox roleplay games while enhancing the interactivity of the experience with action elements in line with the original Mega Man games.

2017 to 2021 Development

1-on-1 fights in MMAX typically play like this.

Before I joined the project, Ryan V's early iterations of the game (2017) featured a tense game loop around 3 types of weapons: a chargeable Buster, a fortified Shield, and a cleaving Saber.

Especially when 2 players were dueling, this game loop would be really intense and one of the most memorable parts of our game. As we continued development, we made sure to prioritize this game loop for our design.

With these inspirations and goals in mind, we set out to create an exciting multiplayer game with tense battles and detailed 3D environments as a tribute to one of our favorite game series.

Development Videos

Various videos showcasing updates and highlights throughout development.

MMAX Round Test (17 May 2021)

After updating the game to workable condition, Ryan V and I did a round test on the very first arena that was ever implemented into the game: the Battle Dome. This version of the game is much closer to the 2017 legacy version with old controls, old FX, old UI, and old animations.

At this point in development, Ryan V worked on UI design and coding, core game loop coding (rounds, timer, map loading, etc.), NPCs and NPC animations.

I worked on fixing the legacy weapons to work in Roblox's client-server ("filtering") model.

MMAX V2 - Full Game Playtest (29 November 2021)

Not shown in the video:

Mobile support
Object destruction code
Screenshake FX
Options and accessibility menu for modifying screenshake limits, bobbing limits, sound and music volumes, etc.

Ryan V and I played multiple rounds together, showcasing new movement controls, new UI, new maps, new VFX, and other quality improvements.

At this point in development, Ryan V implemented controller support and updated the UI to customized versions rather than the default Roblox ones. He also added health drops specific to each Mega Man franchise to appear whenever a player died, as well as set up our working framework for transferring assets, such as Animation Tracks, smoothly with one another.

I implemented wall-jumping and wall-sliding code akin to the Mega Man X series style and added new weapon VFX (such as the new charge-up effect on ranged weapons and damage bursts on melee weapons). I experimented with adding a combo counter seen in traditional fighting games, although this still needs testing. I also forked CloneTrooper1019's Realism system to work with our existing morph code, adding more immersion to our game.

MMAX V2 - 6-player Playtest (29 November 2021)

After announcing the return of the game on the public group, we managed to gather players for a 6-player playtest to measure player feedback, server strains, etc. Rounds were very chaotic.

MMAX V2 - Quick Playtest (8 December 2021)

In this demo video we tested new maps, new alternate class costumes, and new class-specific mechanics. Players were interested in seeing more unique aspects for each class aside from speed and power differences.

I experimented with changing the Resistance Soldier's Buster with a grenade-pistol combo. With this weapon, players can throw up to 4 grenades and then shoot them in midair with a fast-moving bullet to deal high amounts of damage equal to the maximum-charge Buster shot. We found that players could also simply throw grenades at Sword-slashing players, which tricks them into detonating the grenades at point-blank.

Design Breakdown

A breakdown of the design and engineering of some of the prominent mechanics and tools in the game.

Melee VFX

In the development of MMAX: Recommence, I was mainly in charge of upgrading the combat to be more satisfying and punchy.

Since MMAX is a combat-heavy game, melee VFX is a must-have so that all players are aware if they or someone else is getting damaged in a fight, and from which direction. I was inspired by the combat VFX of the Mega Man games themselves (mainly Mega Man ZX), which had melee hit VFX as sharp action lines.

The code to trigger the melee VFX affects both the client and the server so that all players are able to see the effect. The VFX spawns as Debris and rotates based on the rotation of the melee weapon's hitbox for a more dynamic effect.

Ranged VFX

In MMAX, all weapons, including ranged and melee, are viable in combat, and there isn't just one weapon that players can stick to for an entire game.

Along with the melee VFX, we needed punchier ranged VFX, especially since one of Mega Man's main verbs is shooting. The bullet hit VFX was inspired by the first 3 Mega Man X games and consists of 4 simple models that rapidly swap out to create the animation. The bullet shoot VFX also includes 2 ring meshes to form a shockwave effect.

Environment Destruction and Slicing

Inspired by games like Doom, Ultrakill, and Selaco, I wanted the environment and props to be responsive to the battle to emphasize the power of combat. I began doing this through part shattering, which later became the destruction functionality specific to bullets.

For melee weapons, I used Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) functions to dynamically slice destroyed parts in half. The trajectory of the slice changes depending on the position and rotation of the weapon's hitbox, making the effect more dynamic. I studied open source code to finalize these effects.

Enemy AI

Since sometimes players played alone, we wanted AI Enemies to spawn so that players can still play some of the game, similar to arcade fighting games where you play against a bot.

Although these enemies cannot function exactly like players, they follow the expected logic of the game with some randomization for fun. When a rival gets too close, the AI switches to melee attacks. When the rival starts shooting, the AI switches to shielding. When the rival starts hitting them with melee attacks, the AI switches to shooting.

AI enemies also fight against each other if they are not considered "allies". If they are allied to the player, then they will follow the player around with a slight offset to give the player space, then automatically attack enemies when they get close.

FPS Arena Level Design

Gameplay showcases of various arenas that I worked on.

Train to Legion HQ - Mega Man ZX Advent

This map was constructed over 2 days using Roblox Studio's tools. The map utilizes illusion tricks, such as moving textures and fast-moving particle effects, to give the illusion that the train is moving at high speeds. The train carts also rumble, resulting in a chaotic battlefield.

Pitch Black - Mega Man X8

This map was constructed over a few days using Roblox Studio's tools. The map utilizes light and shadow spots, in reference to the original Mega Man X8 level of the same name, which had stealth mechanics. Players can choose to cross to the other side using elevator platforms or by careful wall-jumping.

In playtesting, I found that players attempt to snipe each other across the large gaps and distances in the map.

Dynasty - Mega Man X8 (Unused Map)

This map was constructed over several days using Roblox Studio's tools. It was an experimental map that was intended for a Ride Chaser-esque arena, in which players rode on motorcycles attached to their character, and the cityscape would revolve around them. Players would be damaged by billboards. I wanted this map to be filled with bright lights and interesting buildings to give the feeling of zooming through a large cityscape.

This map is unused due to optimization issues, but it was an interesting experiment in adapting this specific Ride Chaser map into FPS form.

Fire Man's Factory - Mega Man

As an experiment, "Fire Man's Factory" was the first map that Ryan V and I worked on at the same time.

Concept Art

Art explorations done for the game.

Jaricho's Butterflies - Campaign Scenario

Jaricho's Butterflies is a planned campaign scenario for the Resistance Soldier class featuring the playable characters seen in the Deathmatch version of MMAX. It is being co-written and co-designed by Ryan V and myself.

Players experience the stories of Jaricho, Mesange, Hoatzin, and Pluvier—a team of undercover Resistance Soldiers stationed in Neo Arcadia—following their discovery of a time fissure that manifests as yellow butterflies.

The characters were originally designed by Ryan V and were also rendered by me.