Or only MK fighters

I like it!

I'm no 3d modeler or programmer or otherwise, but i think part of the problem might be with the fact that it is harder to morph a 3d model than it is with a standard frame animation.

The old 2d games added a few blurring frames between the standing frames of the characters. I would think this is harder to do with a 3d model, not impossible at all though. I suppose they could even use a explosion mask of sorts as well!?

Not to mention the amount of data that needs to be loaded, although the choosing a few characters before the match would alleviate that problem, depending on the amount of data that can be loaded.

they could do like MK4 with Shinnok... where he could replicate their moveset.

Everyone hated Shinnok replicating people's movesets in MK4.

Actual problem lies in the question of : to morph or not to morph? Not the how many.

The inherent stuff that is making morphing unaccessible is the direct loads. They burden the overall computing in an immense amount. This did not happen when the loads were directly accesible from ROMs.

Yeah, Boon already confirmed no morphing for sure and understandably so. The load time would be annoying and it's just not necessary in this case. I hated that MKT PSX choose morphs idea, that's why in a way I liked the N64 version better even though both versions are broken as hell...but in the Shang concept, N64 was better.

But I think Shang will be fun/good to play with honeslty without the morphs. I'm sure you'll see something with him morphing with the storyline/intro or perhaps ending if they go with FMV

With all the issues of slowing down the game its understandable not having Shang Tsung morph in this game. Still, it would be real nice if he was able to do so either in MK9 or any future game.

I think people want that ability for Shang in the upcoming game, mainly because it has been his trademark move since the very beginning in MK1 (both the game and the movie).

However, letting the sorcerer morph into every single character during the fight would cause an unpleasant break in the action (like in the PC version of MK4, when Shinnok switches his arsenal of special attacks). On the other hand, if all character models would be loaded before the actual fight, then it would take way too much time.

As for choosing a couple of fighters to morph into, it would still take more time. And not only because of loading, but because of the actual selecting these additional characters. So personally, I don't like that idea.

But how about giving Tsung a possibility to morph only into the opponent? Just like it was done in Amiga's MK2, where memory limits didn't allow for more. That wouldn't take extra time to load additional character (or select it) and would be some kind of a compromise.

i wouldn't mind morphing but i just dont think it will happen to due online loading and bugs etc it would be cool since shang tsung is known for morphing but i dont mind him not being able to

It would still warrant all the scripting under the characters programing though. It's gotta be there, in order to be accessible.

Essentially, the character himself will be "too heavy". Something like..

"Shang Tsung {script=morph into; when...}"


basically. I don't know scripting well enough to translate good yet, but that's the idea.

Character being "too heavy" wouldn't be the problem, because if done right, it wouldn't be visible neither during the morph (like the actual loading of a character), nor during fight loading. The problem is with making programmers do this But hey. If they're putting emphasis on special moves, then Shang must have his trademark one.

how about he just steals everyones specials? that could work...

That's Shujinko's special
Or Quan Chi's (weapons and fatalities).

Then my question would be, how do you do it right, without having the script for the character underneath the characters heading? Doesn't it still register as a character command? // "Another ability" specific to that character?

Yes, but is that a problem? It would still eliminate the load of additional character data, which is the main obstacle in making many morphs available, but not in morphing only into the opponent, because his model and moves would be loaded anyway.

Ahh, I see what you're saying.

You're saying like, if the "morph into ____; when..." was never a variable(more like "open-ended" to accept whatever other characters stuff) , and always defaulted to the opponents moves and all that everytime going into a fight.

I think I get it, though I can't see how possible it is still.

I am not fond on that idea at all. What's the point in morphing into another character if you have to choose who we're going to morph into.

Not raining on your parade or anything, but it seems sort of pointless to just morph into selected characters.

I understand that the game wouldn't be able to handle such a move, but still, I would rather have the game load instead of having this ability, once again, a no show becuase of loading time. I never liked the fact in Deadly Alliance they got rid of that move.

You don't make a character that has something then take it away after a few games into the series. Just like with Motaro, you don't make him as a Centaurian just to then throw away his two legs for him being into a minotaur... that was simply astonishing to do something like that, also despite that he wouldn't be able to "program" like the other characters would be able to move around. Though, you have two giant characters that take up half the space of the entire arena that you're fighting on and yet they don't have anything speical added to them.

Though getting back on topic, Shang Tsung should have his old morphing abilities return to him, whether or not there's a little bit of loading to to do during each morph. I'm fine with skips in several of my computer games, lagging a bit (despite the times where they're nearly impossible to handle) I wouldn't mind. Maybe for all you guys, but certainly not to me.

You know, more and more next gen games are allowing installs to the HDD. Metal Gear Solid 4, for example for the PS3.

And, the fall dashboard update for Xbox 360 is going to allow you to install entire 360 games to the HDD while still requiring the disc for verification purposes for faster load times.

So, why not install the morphing data to the HDD of both next-gen systems? if they really really wanted to do it, from the technological standpoint they could using this and some workarounds. How it would look in-game is another story, however.

But, it could absolutely be done. Saying it couldn't be done is a cop-out, they just don't want to tackle it this time. Sure loading from the HDD isn't as fast as RAM, but it's a hell of a lot faster than from disc and would work fine.

And as far as the look in-game, he wouldn't necessarily have to morph into the character right in front of your eyes (although that would be awesome) he could just throw up a puff of smoke, swap character models while retaining the life bar etc, and let the smoke disappear to reveal the new character. Just make it very fast so it doesn't affect the flow of the fight. it wouldn't be visually appealing, but it could be done just fine.

I had an idea. What if Shang Tsung could do a handful of the other charicter' s moves. Like Chamilion. . .however when he did say Sub Zero;s freeze we would see sub zeros animation for that moment. ..

Y'know, personally, I never liked Shang's morphs.

I mean, it was interesting when you were fighting AGAINST him, because you never knew what he was gonna do...but when you're playing as him, that's so many goddamn moves to remember. And if you just memorize one or two of the morph commands, because you like those particular characters, why not just play as that character in the first place?

When I pick Shang, it's because I wanna throw three flaming skulls in a row and steal a soul at the end, nothing more.

In MKII on the playstation, you got to choose two characters to morph into when choosing Shang Tsung. Even though the game was disc based, there was no load time when morphing into your chosen characters. It could be done. Especially with the power of the current-gen consoles.

I know there's no morphs but I bet they could do it if you downloaded the game onto your hardrive like in SC4. It'd take up an ass load of space, but I'd do it!

That's another great point, especially online that would cause major lag issues on top of the already online lag not a doubt in my mind.