Marvel VS Capcom 3 has been the big buzz in the fighting game community for some time now. Recently, Capcom unveiled a new build and four brand new characters (MODOK, Magneto, Arthur, and Spencer) at the New York Comic Con, and all of Capcom’s major celebrities including producer Ryota Niitsuma and special advisor/community manager Seth Killian. We already talked very briefly with Niitsuma-san on the show floor, and Seth Killian was nice enough to agree to a post-con interview with us.

But … what on earth could we ask S-Kill that hasn’t already been asked by countless mass media outlets and amazing fighting game communities like Shoryuken.com. Damned if we know! So we let you decide instead! Over the course of the New York Comic Con we asked the fans who were hovering around the Capcom booth what they would like to ask Seth Killian about MVSC3 if they had the chance. We combined these with questions we got in our own mailboxes, and questions we personally wanted to ask him and sent them all to Capcom, letting Seth choose which ones he wanted to answer.

We only had one rule: no questions about upcoming characters. Everyone has their favorite character they want to see in the game, and Capcom probably wouldn’t allow that info to be leaked anyway. Aside from that, we got some great responses including some new info about new modes that will be included in the final game. So without further ado, on with the interview!

Angelo D’Argenio: So, it’s been a long time since Marvel VS Capcom 2. What actually made Capcom decide to do a Marvel VS Capcom 3?

Seth Killian: Capcom always loved the series, but there’s been a lot of competition for the Marvel characters among gaming companies, so it really came down to timing with the return of fighting games and both companies being ready to make it happen.

AD: What are some of the biggest challenges you are encountering in designing the game system and balancing the game?

SK: There are so many it’s hard to know where to start, but mostly it’s a matter of being true to the “Versus” fighting engine while preventing any particular tactic from becoming too powerful. The Versus games are known for incredible freedom of movement and a huge amount of over-the-top, screen-filling moves, so making sure it all hung together, especially with the team tactics, really comes down to some specific insights and a lot of smart playtesting.

AD: What are the basic criteria you use in making decisions regarding the character roster? How did you decide which characters would get in and which ones wouldn’t?

SK: It comes down to a few factors: 1) Requests from Marvel. The Marvel universe moves in its own ways, with certain characters becoming more significant and gaining the spotlight, so Marvel wanted to make sure those were represented, as well as keeping a few more obscure surprises. 2) Capcom internal favorites. We have our own characters that we love, or feel are important to a franchise, so Capcom staff makes choices about who we want to see 3) fan requests. Fans are very important to us, so we work hard to to make sure their requests have a voice at the decision-making table. It’s impossible to accommodate them all, but we try and get in most of the biggest requests, where we can make those work with the other big “gating factors” on this list. 4) combat style diversity. This is something a lot of fans don’t think about immediately, but it’s really key to keeping the game fresh and full of unique character personality, rather than just having choices that end up as “oh yeah, he’s just like that other guy, only with a slower fireball and more health” or something. If that’s where you end up, you’ve failed in the design department, so we want a cast with fighting styles as unique as their storylines.

AD: Some of the character choices have been pretty obscure, what with characters like Trish, X-23, M.O.D.O.K., and Nathan Spencer joining the roster. What made you include these and other obscure characters from Marvel and Capcom’s history in the game?

SK: Some were suggestions from our Marvel teammates, who are huge comic nerds in their own right and have favorites that span the popular to the obscure. In the case of M.O.D.O.K., I think the Capcom team just fell in love with his strangeness and really wanted to see what was possible in terms of creating moves for such an unusual character. We also want to keep that sense of “what?!” and fun in the game. Having all superstars is just obvious and a bit boring–you want to have underdogs and surprises to keep the game spicy.

AD: Niitsuma-san has already said there would be no Rival Schools or Power Stone characters in Marvel VS Capcom 3. Why no love for these franchises?

SK: It’s certainly not a case of “no love” (the producer on MVC3 did include Batsu from Rival Schools in the recent Tatsunoko Vs Capcom), it’s actually a case of “too much love and so many great franchises.” You’d be surprised how fast a character roster fills up with so many worlds to choose from, and I’m sure the Power Stone guys will get their day in the sun eventually.

AD: There have been some complaints about the lack of other Ansatsuken characters such as Ken, Akuma, and Dan. Are you trying to limit your character selection process to only a few characters per franchise like Tatsunoko VS Capcom did?

SK: I don’t think there was any conscious effort to limit certain franchises, but it’s great for character style diversity to reach out to a lot of different games, especially with characters that have never been in a fighting game before. There are important differences between Ken, Dan, Akuma, and Ryu in, say, a Street Fighter game, but in the over-the-top Marvel context, those subtle differences tend to get overshadowed so it’s usually more fun to bring in someone with a totally different style.

AD: The E3 build of the game featured a universal double jump and air dash. This was taken out of the EVO build. Why is that? Does this make any characters more susceptible to projectile or assist spam?

SK: It’s just a natural part of the game’s evolution–some characters have more mobility than others. This was a very conscious choice, and we want everyone to have unique strengths. Usually the ones that are less mobile have more nasty tricks up close, so when they do get inside, you’re really in trouble. The more mobile characters often have lower health, so they have to avoid trading blows to win, but overall every character has a unique “sweet spot” where they’re most effective.

AD: The “Mega Crash” from Tatsunoko VS Capcom was a great balancing mechanic as it allowed anyone to break a combo at any point. Are there any “burst” or “combo break” mechanics in Marvel VS Capcom 3? If not, what made you choose to remove/not include them?

SK: There really isn’t anything like the Mega Crash from TVC in MVC3. The only thing even remotely similar is that during an air-combo, if you try to perform an air-tag and bring in another teammate to continue the beating, the opponent has a brief window where they can counter if they predict your move correctly. If they do, they can bust out of your combo, but that’s really the only way out. There’s no way to escape combos that don’t use an air-tag, and air-tags are totally optional for the attacker (you get a damage bonus if you use one successfully, so that’s the incentive for taking the small risk).

AD: Along the same lines, is there any system in place to help prevent infinites?

SK: There are many, but the most general one is something that the fighting game core might call “hit-stun decay.” Basically the more moves you do in a combo, the less hit-stun each one generates (“hit stun” is the amount of time a successful hit freezes the opponent for you to continue your combo). This means even if you find some sequence that seems repeat-able, it won’t work more than once or maybe twice, because each hit is doing less hit-stun. So if you try something that might have been an infinite combo in MVC2, in MVC3 your opponent will be able to block that sequence eventually if you don’t mix it up on them.

AD: We have seen many characters such as MODOK, Dormammu, Spencer, Amaterasu, and Arthur using unique combo strings of normal, special, and super moves rather than simple A, B, C, combo progression. Are you actively trying to make each character combo differently? Was there a problem with “dial-a-combos” in early testing?

SK: Not sure what you mean exactly with “dial-a-combo” but although every character still has chains, they all play in a pretty different way. Some are more reliant on normal attacks, while others won’t win without extensive use of specials and supers. For most, it’s really a mix, but overall we want to give every player a team of characters that are a good fit for their personal style.

AD: You have shown how simple mode allows players to get into the game quickly, but in the past, the largest challenge for new players that have learned on “beginner” modes is the transition into “normal” modes of control. What will you be including in the game that will help new players get acclimated to “normal” mode? Will we see a tutorial, or combo challenges?

SK: There will be a series of character-specific “Mission” challenges included in the game to help people explore the normal control scheme and moves without having to learn everything in online fights.

AD: Is the game being designed with DLC in mind? Is it at least a possibility?

SK: Yes, DLC was a consideration from the start, so the game is technically ready for it if we’re successful and go down that route.

AD: Who is YOUR favorite MVSC3 team and why?

SK: I play a lot with a few characters that haven’t been announced yet, but right now my favorite team is Trish, M.O.D.O.K. and Arthur. I like projectiles AND oddball characters, so they’re a great fit for me.

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