Sounds awesome the only thing I would add is really creepy trees maybe combine the Graveyard with the Living Forrest.

Don't know if you guys have been following the news, as far as the Icelandic Volcanoes are concerned. But here are some amazing images from that locale, that the design team could use as ideas, for an arena. In the first picture posted, I thought it might be cool concept if you have these giant elder gods, fighting in that background sky. This would be the cause of the catastrophe in the scenery. And it would be more plausible if they are elemental gods. Also, the gods would have a transparent look, so as to blend in with the sky. Could be a cool spin on things. Click on the images, to enlarge them.

The Tekunin Factory is pretty neat, because I do wonder how they make them. Not to mention all of the cool ideas you could come up with in the background. I alsp think this stage could tie in well with the story. Maybe the Earth fighters sneak into the factory to spy on Sector or to blow the place up.

The other stage sounds awsome too. I like the modern settings, and the portal suckin things up adds a layer of epicness.

The thing I like about both of these stages is that there would be a lot of motion in the background making it more lively and fun.

a lot of motion is not always good for the background because it takes attention away from the fighters and the game play at hand but it does need to flow atmospherically with each character in some way i think.

The Tekunin factory is a great concept. Back before MKA came out, I had ideas for a multi-tiered Tekunin Warship idea, the first stage being the bridge, and the lower stage being the ship's bowels, full of whirring machinery, spinning gears - basically deathtraps all around. How I wish that MKA had not just done a copy-paste of the MK4 Prison stage. Damn lazy, and confusing to people who weren't familiar with the original prison's MK4/MK Mythologies background. Which is why...

The Prison of Souls

I think this stage from MK4 should be brought back and expanded on with a vengeance. It's shown in MKM that this room is the place, probably one of many like it, where Sub-Zero was stashed after he was captured, and Scorpion made his first appearance to him as a specter. Considering that we see Sub-Zero move on from this area to the surrounding environs, it would be great if we got a lot more out of that. Guards stationed here and there with their cannons, searchlights from towers in the back against a red sky, and stage fatalities such as those giant hammers coming down in a few places, or a fall into the pools below; the next stage was called the Bridge of Immortality, and there was a giant multi-tentacled monster hanging around under there. We could maybe see parts of the actual bridge in the not-too-distant background, and Shinnok's pyramid-shaped fortress in the distance.


The Screw/The Mine

I'm permanently spoiled on the most awesome background for MK4 that never was. There's evidence of it having come pretty far along before plans for it got shelved. I present to you a shot of some concept art:




There was a track on the MK3 & MK4 Musik CD called "The Screw" at the tail end of the MK4 section and I wouldn't be surprised if it was intended to be for this background. It's a shame it was never included as it had a track numbering among the best of MK4's soundtrack. I really like both the tune and the concept...they should definitely be given a second chance. This along with the prison stage show some of the Netherrealm elements that I wish we'd see more of; Shinnok remodeled some areas of it to have it resemble the Earth, which he so coveted (see the history of the Netherrealm as presented in MKM's instruction manual). Not that I mind when we see the more hell-like areas of Netherealm, but those have appeared in more than a few MK games already.


A New Pit

I'm old. Old enough to remember how amazing it was to see a new Pit in MKII with a great new top-down perspective for the kill, and to see the ante upped with MK3's Pit III and its spinning sawblades. This is back when Stage Fatalities were still more or less getting called "Pit Fatalities". Even MKT N64's Star Bridge was nice, a pastiche of MKI and II elements though it might have been.

I loved MKD's reintroduction of The Pit (goddamn awesome music helped, some of the best in an MK game to boot), it brought back an atmosphere I felt was really really lacking for a long while from the MK games. The presence of Pit arenas really add a lot to the series; they should be every bit the stapes that the Living Forest and Goro's Lair have become. It's like Sagat's Street Fighter stages near the Lying Buddha; or Balrog's Las Vegas arenas; just one of those things where you know you're at home in the world. Give me an outside setting, very high up on a bridge isolated from most everything else, - not too overdone - and some manner of horrible death waiting below. That's what I wanna see. Personally I could go for something in the Netherealm or Chaosrealm this time through. As to what manner of death below?

Oh, and I just want to go on record as saying that if deathtraps/stage fatalities work in the future the way they have in MKD and MKA, I most definitely do NOT want them marked with red or yellow borders. I still remember how shocked I was to suddenly find that ceiling full of spikes impaling my character one day, way back when, in the Kombat Tomb. I never even saw it coming. Sure, with the way deathtraps work in the modern games, one ought to be able to see them coming, but if it's not marked, no telling just how close one has to be in order to get knocked in or off . That's what makes it fun.

in some ways i kinda liked the red/yellow lines to determine where the traps and stage fatalities were. maybe they could make it so they don't show the lines until the trap is found or used. maybe even have a toggle for it to be on or off but make it unlockable.

I decided to come up with some more ideas for stages.

Shinnok's Arena

Seeing how Shang Tsung had his epic audience stage in MK1 and Shao Kahn had his famous stage with Sonya and Kano tied up in the background, one of the other main villains never really had something like that. You could include that lame stage in Armageddon but we're talking about a badass former Elder God and his arena should be like the other two but a shit load sinister seeing how it is in hell or what we know as the Netherealm. I can imagine volcanic ashy sand and scattered about it are deformed corpses varied in either mutilation with guts hanging, charred corpses, and various bones from Netherealm creatures such as Oni and Demons, which could of course be used like throwing weapons ala MK4. I would see Shinnok Sitting on a dark throne with a purple aura that seems surreal like it is alive which could have horrifying faces screaming and tortured souls being sucked into it. Shinnok would sit on a balcony like the Capua arena in Spartacus Blood & Sand with his henchmen standing beside him observing the fight. It would be cool to see those characters missing from the background when you actually select them as a playable character. I wanted to see an audience from hell sitting in the piers and it would be sinister to see these audience members either tearing mortals limb from limb and throwing them in the arena like rotten tomatoes to a bad performance. Another cool thing that could explain the death of a few characters is showing their crucified corpses nailed to the arena walls. Imagine seeing characters like Ashrah, Kobra, Kira, Jarek and so forth dead and nailed to the walls in a similar fashion the MK designers were used for the Pit Bottom stage. You could have corpses hanging from the piers engulfed in flames and blood splatters all over the sand. To add to the fight, let's say you take too long in a round, imagine if a gate opens and wild Oni run into the fight and knock a player off balance, they won't take away damage but it gives the opponent time to get a hit on you. Last thing I would like to add is based on the character themselves, if a character is on the side of good and is winning the fight you would hear boos and have stuff thrown into the arena, but if you were an evil character you would have demonic cheers.

I gotta say, i practically read through this whole thread and I like a lot of your ideas.The thread started out interesting.More towards sharpening and improving older arena concepts and some new ideas, which brought out more creativity towards new arenas.I liked how you two manipulated images and created your own artwork and concepts towards arenas and finding images that might help in bringing fresh ideas and improvements to some of the arenas in mk.

Some ideas look like they were just thrown in without a thought of mortal kombat, but i think that is fine.Throwing out ideas is not a bad thing, even if the ideas might not work out. Brainstorming is a good way to figure things out and gets other people motivated and gives them more ideas to work with keeping things fresh.It'd be nice to get input from ThePredator back again, as i liked how Lycan and him had things going in the beginning.Acidslayer has a lot of interesting ideas.I think you should stick with a few ideas and try improving it to perfection or something that has good solidity.Although, if you do like sharing different concepts and ideas, it doesn't hurt.

I had come up with an idea while reading this until i read somewhere in this thread, someone came up with a similar themed idea.Until then, i thought the idea would be original as i haven't heard many people talk about the theme.If it's not,that is alright, creating ideas is always fun, especially since i haven't been on these forums in years.

So, here is my idea:

Arena:Tarkatan Palace Chamber

A dark gritty chamber in a royal tarkatan palace, where mileena or baraka reigns supreme.There is a royal tarkatan seat facing the chamber where the fight takes place.The fight stage is guarded by iron rod bars and steel webbed netting surrounding all sides including the top in a square shape.You could say similar to a steel caged match in wwe. The
Palace chamber is dark with evil red walls and barely any lighting except a few torches and lanterns surrounding the caged arena and the corners of the chamber and the seat where either Baraka or Mileena may sit depending who the combatants are.Surrounding the caged arena are fellow tarkatans screaming mad; excited;angry; with boiling blood waiting to feast on the non-survivor of the match as a prize reward.Small cages hang over the arena,bones lying around the ring from previous combatants.The iron and steel on the ring partially covered by blood that was sprayed and spewed from long ago fights.Parts of the cage rusted
away.

If the combatants are female, Mileena will watch.If they are male, Baraka will watch.If they are both, none will watch.The Lighting mood of the arena while being little, will be affected depending on who is watching.Red for Baraka,Purple for Mileena.

If Baraka watches the fight, the tarkatans will be ready to feast upon the loser of the fight depending on Baraka.Usually the stipulation would be by a Flawless Victory over the opponent.

If Mileena watches the fight, the tarkatans will consist of female tarkatans watching over the fight, wearing revealing tarkatan clothing and will be ready to take the winner of the fight with a flawless victory which will be chosen by Mileena to their chamber and the loser
would be disposed of.

I would like to see the society of the Tarkatans. How they live, how they treat humans on a daily basis.Like how gladiators are treated to survive.How slaves have to survive in a place where others would call entertainment.You could see some tarkatan gambling in the background.

Music: I would prefer something dark, with a bit of drums.Like a sacrificial Voodoo type with a bit of metal.

Arena Deathtraps: Only if the combatant acheives a flawless victory.

Arena Interactions: Tarkatans slice away at a combatant if they get too close to the edge. If nobody is watching the fight, the tarkatans will go beserk from time to time.They will start rattling the cages, and jumping on top of the cage rattling it from on top as well.They will look like predators waiting to feast on the loser, with spit coming out of their mouth falling down into the arena while some of them go above the cage.They will come back down and start moving around the arena time to time when nobody is watching.

If parts of the caged arena gets damaged enough, it will start to rip open allowing the tarkatans to be able to grab a combatant who is within range instead of slicing at them for little damage.If nobody wins the match by knocking their opponent down, the tarkatans will get furious and start biting the cage and screeching their nails around.(I'M SURE A LOT OF
PEOPLE HATE THE SOUND OF NAIL SCRATCHING, so you better win your fights)

If Baraka is fighting, the tarkatans will not go as crazy, but they will cheer on Baraka.and will not feast on him even if he loses a flawless victory. Baraka can use his blades to hang onto the ceiling of the cage or attach them to the sides of the caged arena.If Baraka wins, they will start ranting and cheering him on and the arena will get really loud with tarkatan voices as if they won a war.

If Mileena is fighting, the female tarkatans will watch silently.If Mileena loses, they will tend to her after the fight.If Mileena wins, they will praise their royal tarkatan with dignity.It'd be interesting to see Kitana as a tarkatan.or maybe not.

Secret character:Tarkatan Kitana? If you do a flawless victory over Mileena, a tarkatan version of Kitana comes out to challenge you.

I like to create arenas that revolve around characters as well,and arenas that can benefit that character, but the option should be given to the opponent if they wish to challenge such a match where baraka might be their opponent in his own tarkatan palace chamber to be fair to the opponent.If the opponent decides not to accept the baraka in his own arena fight, then the person who chose that situation will get the option to select either a different character or arena for this fight.

glad you found interest in the thread. me and pred151 did have a good thing going back and forth but he is a busy person from what i take and he also has his hands full moderating these boards. we had some different views on some things but for the most part it was as you said interesting. the images i edited and clarified and all that...you are on the money with. i did throw in some that i thought was out of place...a good example of that being the western-esque stable yard. it looks like something you would see in a John Wayne movie but hey its fresh and different so i threw it up lol. alot of my ideas came from concepts and ideas i had planned for an indie game company planning on making a legal Mortal Kombat clone to actually market...unfortunately the guys in charge released the sponsers and used the grants to open a different type of company. so my ideas,stories,concepts...well i am just throwing out on boards now because i don't have the credentials to start or even make my own game...nor the funds. between that and health issues i have my hands tied so...i figure i throw out my ideas and theres a 0.1% chance someone like Ed Boon might notice and i might get something i came up with incorperated into a future game...if not well it was fun anyways. great ideas though everyone and keep them coming. i am still working on some quick Ed boon style stick figure images for the rock concert/mosh pit arena idea i had...topless cages girls included

Real cool, I love your idea on having the stages be character specific and they get an extra ability if they play on their own stage which can mix up the versus modes when you're playing with a friend. The Tarkatan stage is cool, I like how you described the Tarkatans outside the cage flipping out and drooling. I would think though that even IF Mileena and Baraka fought they would still go bonkers because they're mutant savages in a place like Outworld. Baraka would be the #1 Tarkatan because he's the most brutal and ruthless and probably earned his right by slaughtering his predecessor who used to be the top dog of the pack . You're stage could be like a sacramental battle ground to see who claims leadership of the Tarkatan tribes.

I understand, it's a busy life.We are all busy people.That's interesting to know.The game you were trying to publish, i'm guessing that would be for the pc? I'm curious to know what type of company they opened up instead.Well, everwhere you go, there is always ideas flowing.I understand what you mean.I was once interested in game design.But things happened, and i didn't get a chance to do so, and when i did, i wasn't motivated enough and didn't have ideas coming to me at the time.So, it didn't feel right and i decided to back down from it.I like to share my ideas too, but if Ed Boon and the mk dev team does see anything interesting, it'd be nice. But from their perspective, if I were them, i'd like my own ideas to flow out and be a part of the game.I wouldnt try to look what others would try to put in and copy it.Sure, looking at what others have to say is fine, but it opens up other possibilities and ideas that could make things interesting.It's also good to listen to fans.But the main point of threads are not exactly that, but like ThePredator said, to share.We'd be lucky if they take any ideas of ours, and there's the copyright issues and credit needed to be given to etc.If you are trying what you are doing, in trying to get them to notice your work and get into the game.You'll need to do be more involved and put up more work that improves over time.I'd say something like, taking the arena ideas you have right now, and then doing what you did like having concept art for it.Different concept art helps, a plain concept art showing the arena, with detail like youve done, but with a little more depth than that.You'd have details and points about what will happen, what style is being used, what colour is being used, what setting it is, what type of background will be there.How big it will be, what interactions it may have, any fatalities? Then, there'd be a coloured version, either hand coloured, or photoshopped, followed by a rough draft 3d version if possible.

The mosh pit/rock concert/topless cage girls sounds interesting.But it doesn't sound too much like mk to me.But hey, you never know, you can take it and manipulate it around.The concert may be related to Johnny Cage.The mosh pit would be great to fight in, almost like the dead or alive fight which was pretty nice.The only thing is, i can't see people on Earthrealm watching the fight cheering on combatants especially if they're from another realm, unless both the fighters are from Earthrealm.

Why I like making arenas and why i love characters and mortal kombat, is because of the dark nature and the dark presence they bring.If you watch anime`, i'm talking about Bleach.Bleach is a good anime`, it is dark at first, but then they try to make it funny because other good anime are good in action and are funny, but Bleach just doesn't do justice in being funny.It's not meant to, because it is dark. Same thing for Mortal Kombat, it is meant to be dark and sinister.I love the 1st movie.Movies are also great inspiration to the game.

arena
underwater city - long enforced glass tubes case a huge forgotton city. outsides the walls lays various underwater wild life. there is very little light. it's almost always cold. lots of crime run through this city. the rich take pleasure of the poors misfortune. large buildings are worn out and broken apart. bolts and screws lay on the ground. leaks are everywhere in this forgotton city.

music wise - i'd have someting similar to bioshock.

there would be 2-3 deathtraps.
death trap 1 out the window - get thrown out the tenth floor window.splat.

death trap 2 this glass isn't bulletproof - get knocked through the glass wall getting cut to piece's.

death trap 3 eaten alive - get knocked through the glass wall getting cut to piece's then get eaten by sharks.

this level could be rains level. also this city could be below edenia and explain more about the character rain.

Thanks, Grizzle.There would be more ways of playing the game that way, and there'd be more challenging matches.It's almost like having a handicap match.And if you're skilled enough, you can try to master the arena and the character with that arena to try to even be a better player.The ability that the arena bestows upon the character should be only a little advantage, not too much though or else the match will not be fun at all, and would break the balance of the game. Yes, if both of them fought, they'd go coo-coo.That could work nicely with the story.I had a concept for Sub-Zero's and Scorpion's arena a long time back, but i'd have to search my hard drive for it somewhere.There's lots of possibilities. I like your idea on how the crowd cheers you on if you belong to their world, and if they boo you if you don't fit in. that's a nice idea that can fit in well in the arena you mentioned or in others that are simliar like the one i just mentioned how the tarkatans cheer on Baraka, and get angyr if nobody is winning.

It sounded interesting at first, but the more i read, i kept thnking Bioshock and then what figures, i read the word Bioshock in there.I can clearly see your ideas come through that game.It isn't bad.But you need to add more detail and depth to it.An underwater arena would be interesting, but how do we get to this underwater arena? what is the purpose of going down there? Maybe there is something happening underwater that other people might want to seek out? This idea also reminds me a bit of Aquaman for some reason, maybe it is because of all the sharks and sea creatures.The idea could work, but just needs the right atmospheric feel to it and sense of purpose.Also, i'd think this underwater theme, could fit Sub-Zero, as the more deeper into the ocean you get you reach sub-zero temperatures and lower allowing him to control his domain. Btw, i see you said the forgotten city is encased by glass tubes.How did that happen? are the people who are living in the forgotten city living in actual water in the city or is the glass tubes protecting them from the water? or is the water that is outside the tubes different from the one theyre in? are they merman? or just normal people? or lin kuei? there's lots of possibilities.I'm sure you can work on it. The idea sounds interesting once again.Good ideas, but let's not try to rip off ideas directly from other games.

i would like to know what kinda company they went for myself...they won't return my calls or speak to me. as for your question of platform...it was for pc and it was not going to be named Mortal Kombat...if that is what you think i meant lol. when i say clone i mean it would of had features exact or similar to MK. the rich kid friends and family i have are control freaks and are more into FPS than what i am into...which are fighters,action/adventures,mmorpg's,and casual mini games. so i take that they did not want to put the time and money into my ideas. not to mention being i have health issues will make me a liability and a possible burden on developing the game(s). it would be nice to hear from them though and find out from the gift horse what the deal is.
i might take a crack at a mugen version of my idea for the MK type game (which was going to be named "Tournament of Fate")...its been a long time since i even touched mugen so i might have to learn it all over again. too bad i lost all of my old custom sprites. another thing i was pondering on is if its possible to make a create a character system for a mugen fighter? anyways...i will try to get the images i got going done soon...i have not been feeling too well the past few days.

Here's another level I thought of

Edenian Battlefield

Whenever we hear a plot in a Mortal Kombat story Edenia is always in trouble with either Shinnok trying to invade it, or Shao Kahn marching up to the Edenian palace with his minions. This stage could be character specific for either Jade, Sindel, Rain or Kitana.

In Deadly Alliance and Deception we know that Kitana was in charge of this massive army and allied herself with the Shokan in Outworld to fend off Outworld attackers.

So imagine if we were able to have a stage where we would be smack dab in the middle of one of these insane battles on Edenian soil, it would be like hell on paradise so I thought this level would be mosty inspired with architecture from Persia or India in a tropical setting. The sky could have purple and pink hues and since another realm is merging into the other half of the sky could have orange clouds with thunderbolts in it, sort of like the way the sky looks in Armageddon with the pyramid of Argus.

In the background alot would be going on, there would be catapults with flames shooting back and forth and arrows flying back and forth in the sky. In the area you fight there would be spears that land and stick in the ground that you can pick up and use at your disposal. Also in the background you will see different species engaged in battle. Some warriors would be dead and slain in battle with, spears stuck in their corpses, or arrows in their chests and they would be scattered among the battlefield. You would see Shokans going up against Centaurs, Tarkata against Royal Edenian Soldiers, and other characters can have cameo apperances by showing up in the background and performing a special move, like let's say Sindel would be a character that randomly you'll see pop up in the background and do her famous scream in the background knocking over a bunch of soidlers in an animation. If she was not a playable character in the game and would pop up by chance it would be a nice novelty to see for fans of that character.

Another cool thing would be if two soldiers spill their fight into your area of fighting and both characters can launch an attack then knocks them on the ground, or you can grab the soldier and throw them into your oppnent to knock your opponent off balace. Or it would be cool if you have a warning symbol pop up like Smash Bros. And you have clear some distance from your opponent because a stampede rush of Centaur with weapons cut through your fight into the background.

The music could go something like this but with a Dan Forden twist to it, and some epic choir voices and asian percussions and violins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqwa--AeNs&feature;=related

I see, don't you just hate politics? oh well..if thats the way it is, i understand.My friend is mostly FPS and some fighters and some racers.But Like you, i'm mostly the same, i love fighters, rpgs, mmorpgs, action/adventures, and strategy games and unique ones.I can see that you frequently bring up your health issues.Is it quite serious? you can pm me that.It may not be in best interest of the thread and perhaps you might not be comfortable in putting it out there.

Mugen is pretty fun, so that's not a bad idea.It's the next best thing there is to an actual fighter creation system.

I thought of a environmental kill, in where you get thrown onto the side of a cliff or hill. As you roll your way down, you run into patches of dry thorn bushes, that have sharp thorns like these.



Because of the velocity you're going down the cliff, you get cut up quite bad by the thorns. After a while, you end up dropping straight down off the side. As your characters body plummets downward while in the air, you see his blood from the wounds being carried up by the air.

Finally, you land onto some huge jagged rocks, that shatter bones inside your body and puncture vital organs. Some fractured bones can be shown exiting the body. Head trauma is also an option.

ok i sat for a few hours and had a great pc drawn arena of the rock stage/concert/strip club idea and than my paint prog desides to freeze on me so i lost my good version but i did a quickie that is pretty close to the original i started. the only thing i did not add was the pyrotechnics on the triangle catwalks on each side for pyro technic stage traps or stage fatalities...or just damage dealing obstacles. also the original i had the band in open area instead of behind a fence but the fence idea came to me second go around. the pole dancers were originally cage dancers but i switched that idea also and just put them behind bars(could also use windows instead). all the black circles and lines all around is just a poor version of people in the crowd. originally i had laser lights with the fog lights and the giant spotlight but i didnt add them back in because i was lazy and frustrated because i lost my better drawn version. anyways...that is the basic idea of the arena. its not traditional MK style but i could so imagine fighting in a rock/rave arena like this with the Mk techno rock theme going on in the background. also,i had an idea for special fatality lighting just for this arena. this kinda idea i spawned from similar ideas pred151 came up with but instead of just darkening the lights or whatever...durring the fatality make the lights go out and use a classic horror movie style strobe light effect.

in the beginning of this thread i had a similar idea of an arena that involved a battle scene going on and that also the surroundings like dead impaled bodies and flying arrows/spears could be obstacles and interactions. like you could pull swords from bodies or pick up an arrow and stab or throw it. something like you would see in a medieval battle...like scenes from braveheart with a twist of oriental flavor. it would be intense and very distracting but very fun and exciting. i didnt listen to your music choice but i would go with something orchestrated with war drums and deep toned ambient horns...something like the horns on war ships.
this idea could also be more modern with things like guns and cannons too but i like the old medieval/oriental style better. its MK not call of duty right lol.

The mosh pit idea would immediately bring back memories of Pit Fighter. Not a memory worthwhile to remember.

i was going more the lines of a rock/rave...like the blood rave on the movie Blade. more like a club scene than a mosh pit. i was kinda steering away from a heavy metal theme. (EDIT: also a bit of personal choice info to go with that...like some of the MK team,i am a big fan of guitar hero and rock band...the idea first spawned from them games).

i like the stage but i dont know where or how it would fit in the mk universe..... would this be on earth realm....

most definitely earth realm...it would not really fit well in any other realm.

arena
the warehouse - boxes are scattered about. there are broken windows and lots of cobwebs. the beams that support the building are rotted away. the fusebox and generator are malfunctioned. it's very dark. there is another floor but like the beams the steps are rotting. cockroaches and rats infest this place.

there would be 3 death traps.
death trap 1 eaten away - insects,rats,and spiders eat away at the opponnet.

death trap 2 shocked to droped - get knocked into the fusebox or generator getting shocked to death.

death trap 3 splintered - fall through the decayed steps landing on a massive wooden spike.

music wise - i'd have someting similar to the music in goros lair.

i'll post more later.