>>> Part 18 of 19...
like bracken and hugs the rock face in all the niches. All though the 
fighting area level is basically flat the circular Sumo ring gives an 
unusual visual effect and there's a sharp put not too far drop to a lower 
ledge on the side away from the Shrine. One has to be careful of positioning 
when fighting on this level because the tightness of the Sumo ring is hidden 
by the deceptive wide open scenery. Once again as the fight progresses and 
the camera angle changes you can't fail to notice the eye-catching 
surroundings.
Subway Stage:
        Set in an apparently disused underground subway station (the exits 
all have metal grills blocking them) the two main features of note are the 
passing of a subway train and the steps leading to an exit. The subway train 
is very fast and smooth and appears behind the moving characters with no 
problems whatsoever. No speed loss or poor polygon clipping. There are about 
4 or 5 steps available (the rest are blocked by a metal grill) on one side 
of the station for the character to use for strategic affect. The extra 
height can be used to jump over your opponent or allow for easier head blows 
with a kick attack. On a technical note, I saw Wolf knocked down while he 
was standing on the stairs and his shadow was drawn perfectly on the steps 
below him and it takes an incredibly difficult piece of programming to 
accomplish that! Although the station looks a little plain at the moment 
there are some superbly drawn billboard signs around to brighten the stage 
up. Look out for the car commercial in particular. Whether or not you can 
fall off the platform edge and be hit by a subway train isn't known yet but 
it's certainly possible. What a way to go!
Desert Stage:
        This is another stage that looks deceptively simple but contains 
absolutely stunning visual effects. The entire stage is set in a vast desert 
which stretches as far as the eye can see (which is to the horizon). In the 
distance is a blazing sun beginning to set and it's just started to dip 
below the dunes. The bottom part of it is slightly distorted by the heat 
(haze effect). At the moment it's a still just a background picture but the 
Model 3 board could easily produce that effect in real-time if they wanted 
to program it in. The sand dunes are just out of Arabian Nights with huge 
arcs and curved tips. There's a strong breeze blowing and when it catches 
the edge of a dune it blows up a gust of sand which is blown over the edge 
of the sand dune. The effect is truly amazing. It's not a 2D sprite trick in 
the background but full 3D. The modeling of the air dynamics as the sand 
billows and dissipates into the air is beyond belief. And it's not just in 
the background either; occasionally the sand is blown across the characters' 
fighting area and straight towards the camera. Wow! Another great effect is 
on the surface of the sand. Just like the sand-bar in Jeffry's stage sand is 
kicked up and sent scattering when the players land on the sand or try to 
kick. However, because the sand is slightly darker here you can see all the 
marks in the sand. For example, walking leaves foot steps, dragging your 
feet leaves a line and falling over leaves an appropriately sized mark in 
the sand. Of course the wind is still blowing so if you watch carefully the 
marks gradually begin to fade away until they're all gone. So you have to 
make some more. Incredible and this stage isn't even finished yet! The 
actual stage area is a little difficult to determine and I never saw anyone 
ring out on this stage so whether or not you can be pushed off the edge and 
be sent rolling down the side of a giant sand dune is yet to be known. 
However, they have to put some kind of ring-out in don't they or else you 
could go on fighting for miles in the desert with out food and water and 
die of dehydration or exhaustion.
Library Stage:
        The best part to this stage is at the beginning of a new round when 
the camera zooms across the great hall. It starts high up near the ceiling 
and then swoops down low before then fixing on the characters. Although I 
couldn't see any moving visual effects in the scenery the background is very 
impressive. Huge pillars and marble arches hold up walkways around the side 
of walls. Detailed patterns are found both in the wall design and stone 
flooring. The side walls have giant windows running for most of their length 
and there's a huge glass domed ceiling. The main arena is a raised dias in 
the center of the library. However, you can come of here and fight around 
the immediate area also. The steps are a lush velvet and all the railings 
are a glittering gold color. However, the size of the library is what really 
catches your attention. While the other levels, like the mountain and beach 
areas, are visually bigger in appearance, the fact is that the backgrounds 
are just pictures drawn to give the impression of distance. In the library 
everything is constructed from polygons so the true scale of the model 3 
board's capabilities are clearly shown.
IV) Miscellaneous Stuff
a)things yet to be cleared up
  i)If you know what stages belong to what characters, PLEASE tell me.
Ones I know are: Aoi's Snowy Garden, Jeff's Island, Taka's Sumo Ring,
Jerky's Building, and Pai's Subway. Thankee
  ii)"Shadow" moves: NO FREAKING IDEA. NGO (Next Generation Online) reported 
that each
character will have a shadow move. Maybe uses the "E" button? More on this
ASAP! Most likely a rumor. Probably a misunderstanding of the motion blur
for some moves.
        
b)where to get new versions of this FAQ 
        
The superific-brandy-new The Home of Virtua Fighter:
           http://www.w3masters.com/vfhome/
there is also a non-frames version of The Home of Virtua Fighter:
           http://www.w3masters.com/vfhome/indexnf.htm
You may be able to get it other places too, depending on if it catches on,
and it will be posted when there is a new version on the 
rec.games.video.arcade USENET newsgroup.
c)version history
        v .9: the first version. This was posted on r.g.v.a upon the
request of "Aoki". It was the compilation of all available information at
the time.
        v 1.0: this version added a "retained moves" section for each
character, in an attempt to allow players to decide if they will stay with
there old favorite characters from VF2, or seek new ones due to changes.
Most of the stuff in that section is speculative, taken from postings or
pictures from the AOU and E3 demos. It also added some new entries where
question marks were in the "Characters and their Stages" section. This
version also fixed my mistake about calling Shun's (P+K) move the
Hopping Spin Kick, when it is really the Two-hand push. This version 
also had another bonus, I spel checked it!
                           /^\
             HA! GET IT?!---|
        v 1.1: added some stuff about differences from VF2 to VF3. I also
decided to protect it legally. That's it, so deal with it. :) 
 >>> Continued to next message...
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]
--- Maximus 3.01
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