Iron Circle

Cinevva's analyzer read this game's design doc and its source, then wrote the brief below. "Make your own" hands it to the game creator as your opening message, so you start from a real spec rather than a one-line idea.

Create a 2.5D fighting game called "Iron Circle" with an orthographic side-view camera that presents the game as a flat 2D plane despite using 3D character models. The camera dynamically pans horizontally to follow the midpoint between fighters and zooms out as they separate, maintaining a fighting game presentation.

VISUAL STYLE: Low-poly 3D character models rendered as flat cutouts using minimal shading (strong ambient light from the front), displayed against layered parallax backdrop planes that scroll at different speeds. The arena floor is an orange-tan circular fighting pit with darker brown edges. Background layers include: deep purple cavern walls in the far distance, stacked darker purple/maroon tier bands suggesting crowd stands, a warm brown mid-wall with torch placements, and prominent stone pillars with red and blue banners. Each fighter has a flat circular shadow blob beneath them and a colored ring (blue for player 1, red-orange for player 2) to distinguish teams.

FIGHTERS & ROSTER: Five distinct character classes, each with unique stat distributions (HP, speed, power, reach, swing speed, guard) balanced on a strict budget system: Knight (all-rounder, 100 HP), Barbarian (bruiser, 106 HP, high power/low speed), Rogue (rushdown, 88 HP, high speed/low power), Assassin (glass cannon, 86 HP, balanced offense/fragile defense), and Mage (zoner, 92 HP, high reach). Stats are visible multipliers affecting movement, damage, attack range, animation speed, and hitstun duration.

COMBAT SYSTEM: Precision hitbox-based fighting with distinct startup, active, and recovery frames for every move. Attacks use 3D box collision between attacker's weapon hitbox and defender's hurtbox. Light attacks (6 damage, 0.13s startup, quick recovery) and heavy attacks (13 damage, 0.28s startup, longer recovery) form the foundation. Directional modifiers create special moves: up+heavy = overhead (attacks high, 15 damage), down+heavy = sweep (attacks ankles, 11 damage), forward+heavy = lunge (dashes forward during attack, 12 damage, extended reach), down+light = low jab (targets low, 5 damage).

AERIAL COMBAT: Jump with dedicated button, fighters arc through the air with visible gravity. Air attacks include: air light (7 damage), air heavy (12 damage), down+light while airborne = dive (angles diagonally downward with forward momentum, 10 damage, spikes into opponent), down+heavy while airborne = slam (plummets straight down, 17 damage, creates ground shockwave that can hit nearby grounded opponents for additional damage).

DEFENSIVE MECHANICS: Hold block button to enter blocking stance (only works while grounded and facing the attacker) - reduces damage to 15% of normal and cuts pushback/hitstun significantly. Crouch by holding down (only while grounded) - physically lowers hurtbox top from 1.72 units to 1.02 units, allowing you to duck under overhead attacks. Double-tap left or right to dash (0.17 second burst of speed at 11.5 units/sec, followed by 0.18s cooldown).

MOVEMENT: Base walk speed 3.6 units/sec modified by character speed stat, moving backward is 72% of forward speed. Jumping provides 8.2 upward velocity with -22 gravity. Fighters can drift horizontally in the air at 85% of ground speed in the jump direction. Arena bounds are -7.5 to +7.5 units, characters cannot move beyond walls. Soft push separation prevents fighters from overlapping (minimum 1.05 unit gap maintained).

HUD: Top bars show fighter names (left displays "KNIGHT", right displays "BARBARIAN" in screenshot), health bars (bright green fill with yellow-gold "chip damage" trail that smoothly catches up), and small circular pips below names showing round wins (need 2 rounds to win match). Center top shows round timer counting down from 60 seconds in a framed box. Large golden "ROUND 1" announcement text appears centered. Bottom shows control hints: "A/D move · W jump · J light · K heavy · L block" with additional hints for special moves.

MATCH FLOW: Character select screen with portrait grid showing all fighters with detailed stat bars (HP, SPD, PWR, RCH, SWG, GRD) and "budget" value. 1P mode (vs CPU AI) or 2P mode (local versus). Best of 3 rounds format. Each round starts with "ROUND [number]" announcement followed by "FIGHT!" Round ends on knockout, time expiration (winner has more HP), or draw (equal HP). Victory conditions show "K.O.", "TIME UP", or "DRAW". After 2 round wins, match ends with victory/defeat screen.

AUDIO & FEEDBACK: Distinct impact sounds for light hits, heavy hits, and blocks. Bell sound for round start. Screen shake scales with hit severity (heavy attacks shake more). Yellow-orange impact spark sprites spawn at hit location, scaling up and fading out over 0.22 seconds.

AI BEHAVIOR: CPU opponent uses intent-based AI that thinks every 0.2-0.5 seconds, choosing from behaviors: advance (close distance), retreat (back away), dash in, guard (block), or select specific attacks (light, heavy, sweep, overhead, lunge) based on spacing. Uses real hitbox reach calculations to determine attack range. Difficulty increases each round (aiSkill multiplier 1.0 to 2.2+).

CONTROLS: Player 1: A/D move, W jump, S crouch, F light attack, G heavy attack, H block. Player 2: Arrow keys move/jump/crouch, J light, K heavy, L block. Double-tap movement for dash. Combine directions with attacks for special moves. Touch controls available with on-screen buttons.