I don't know if i'm making this into a wip or not. and its not exactly stuff for idea engineering, so i'm leaving this here.
(small note : i'm using MUGEN's lingo here, so Hyper = Shinkuu hadouken, Shin Shoryken, Omega Optic Blast, etc... and Super = Hadouken, Sonic Boon, Spinning Birkd Kick, Berserker Barrage, etc.. )
pretty much, i'm thinking on a way of correctly translating the Green lantern abilities to Fighting game mechanics.
the power bar measures the charge of the ring, how much Will Power you have stored on it. every move that uses Will power will deplete it. it does not replenishes trough regular figthing, like the usual power bar. You must recharge it In-game. the battery would be available in-game, and it would have to be held by the player (think of Captain America's Shield, or Vega's Claw. or even Cody's Knife for how that would work).
there are 2 ways of recharging:
1) Syphoning power from the battery: you simply re-charge the ring (like a taunt). You grab the battery and press taunt. the lantern will peform a random movement, while some power is drawed to the ring.
2) Reciting the oath: you grab the battery and do the oath command (let's say, LP, LP, ->, LK, HP). the lantern is involved into a shield (not that is actually happens, but, for the sake of gameplay). a minigame starts: both P1 and P2 must mash buttons (Samurai Shodown's Sword Clash gameplay). P1 wins if he is able to recite the oath completely. P2 wins if he is able to "break the shield" and prevents P1 from finishing it. if P1 loses, he only gets the ammount of charge he got up to that point. (and P2 will probably be already on his ass, so...). however, if P1 wins, not just he will have 100% power, but he will enter a state i'm calling "Proud Member of the Corps", in which his next move that requires will power will not consume any power whatsoever. any move, from supers to lvl 3 hypers (again. reward that only exists due to gameplay reasons). sure. it sounds cheap, but that would be a reason for the P1 to peform the oath. and for P2 to do everything he can (mash buttons like there is no tomorrow) to prevent it.
Another characteristic is that the power bar would never be actually fully depleted. In the comics, the Power Ring always have a minimum charge in order to take care of its inner systems (Like, connection to the central AI, communication etc...) and also to protect the lantern from mortal damage. Gameplay wise, this means the power bar will always have at least 300 "points", however, you can't actually use them actively. Unless the lantern tries to override it. In a move i'm calling "Supreme Will", the player can input the command (example: LK, LK, <-, LP, HK) he will override the systems to quickly overcharge the ring, for one last powerfull blow. however,once he do this, he fucks up the ring, which become useless. meaning: he will no longer be able to do ANY ring based moves. and he will take double the usual damage, since he no longer has the ring to protect him.
this forces the creator of the character to think of something no one actually thinks when creating a green lantern: moves that don't actually use the ring. just because you have "every weapon concieved by your imagination" on your middle finger, its does not mean that is the only thing you can do!
there is also a small healing hability, that will kick in if the player stays long enough in a defensive stance, or just still. nothing too extreme to make him undefeatable. just quick enough to make the player a die-hard one.
and now let's talk about the moves.
Non-ring moves work the usual. with the exception that they don't do shit to the powerbar. (since its the charge of the ring). this could make Hypers that don't use the ring unavailable. a smaller bar, which would work like traditional powerbar, could be the answer to that (note that "smaller" here is being used in every sense of the word: both sprite-wise and "content-wise". "will power charge" bar would have a max value of 5000, while "powerbar" would have a max value of 1000, for example) these Hypers would deal way less damage than the Hypers that use the ring.
Ring moves consumes will power, and if they hit, they don't replenish it.
Supers works on a small variation of the good old EX system we all know and love, and each level impacts how strong the construct is, and how much will power will be on it. :
lvl 1: done by doing the super move with either Low or Medium punch/Kick. in this level, the construct is quite weak, as in a simple normal move combo be able to destroy it (or a really strong punch/kick). and the damage is low. however, it is extremely fast to build.
low comsuption of will power.
lvl 2: done by doing the super move with the strong punch/kick. its needs to be hit by a regular super or something higher to be destroyed. damage, as well the time to build it, is moderate.
mid comsuption of will power.
EX Lvl: done by doing the super move with any combination of 2 punch/kick. pratically, only hypers can destroy this thing, but a couple of really strong supers might do the job. high consuption of will power, almost reaching what hypers consume. needless to say, it takes quite the time to build one of these. almost a hyper, however, when it comes to hypers, GL are on another lvl whatsoever.
notice that the constructs can be anything from your regular fireball, to a wall of steel appearing on the middle of the fight. the "strenght" of it totaly depends on the level of will power your are willing to use.
Defensive moves, such as shields and the like, would use charge commands, and the construct would keep active as long as the player is holding the buttons, or as how much damage it can take. if the player activate a strong shield, kepping it active would be a good way to make the "healing" from the ring kick in.
of course, if P2 manages to destroy the construct, things will be bad of the GL.
when it comes to the Hypers, things change a bit.
most hypers would require insane ammounts of Will power, almost depleting the ring (some even leaving them with just the "System's reserve"). this is how stuff work:
Lvl 1: damage wise, its a EX lvl super. however, it has enough will power to make it indestructible. (but not unblockable).
both lvl 2 and Lvl 3 are actually what you can consider a "hyper". they require a large ammount of will power and do insane damage to the opponent. you won't be able to use 2 of these with a single charge. however, the opponent can still block a lvl 2 hyper.
you can turn a Lvl2 hyper into a Lvl 3 hyper mid move. just mash buttons rapid enough to syphon more will power into it. if you can do it before the move ends, the lvl 3 hyper version will starts. you will need to recharge after it.
lvl 3 supers are unblockable. but you also can't do more than 1 per charge (and you will neeed a full charge to do it). some Lvl 3 might even use the "system's reserve", making the ring uselless after it (and we all know what this means). so, when doing one of these, make it count.
on the spoiler, my toughts on how the other corps would work.
Spoiler: about the other corps (click to see content)
Rage|Red = you build up Rage. some moves consume it. when you fill the bar, you enter "Rage" state, and during that time, you can do whatever you want. and your normals will do a extra damage. you don't need a battery to recharge, since your ring uses the blood of your fallen enemies to do it. in other words: something like CVS2's K groove (Samura Shodown's) or something akin to KOF's systems.
Many people don't realize, but "traditional powerbar" mechanics are based on the concpet of Chi\KI manipulation. generally, you can control your Chi\Ki by controlling your own Anger\Rage. so a red lantern would not require much adaptation from your favorite powerbar system.
But, there are problems: The Red ring takes control from its user, making him almost an irrational animal. this means that Red's don't do constructs (a red lantern with strong will power could, but that is extremelly rare). as far as constructs go, anything that goes beyond a club, sword, or even a Chainsaw is no go. A Red Lantern's construct would probably be only simple things he can use to destroy the target of his rage.
their shields would be the most powerful tough, and the only ones that allow you to move while doing it (depending only on the strenght of the shield).
the Reds can also vomit blood, which transforms into Flames of Rage, that can destroy constructs of the other corps. this mean that, while the flames are on, the constructs of the opponent are more fragile, making it easier to destroy them.
Greed|Orange: works like "Rage" but you can't do shit with the ring before you fully charge it. once you do it, you enter a state where you can dish out all you have on your opponent. of course, when time is over, time to recharge it again. Burnout's Paradise "Speed" system is a good example of how this works. and you can actually use the battery to take power from your opponnent. (you know. you are greedy. all power should be yours, yours, YOOOOOOURS!!!)
Fear|Yellow = just like the GL one. but with damages all lvled up. you can't turn lvl 2 into lvl3, tough, and have no healing. if you are figthing against a GL, your ring charge faster (this actually used to happen on the comics, not anymore. but i'm leaving because its a nod to old times).
Compassion|Indigo: talk about interesting gameplay... you don't to any moves. actually, you just reflect all the ones done to you, 3 times stronger. so you are basically reflecting stuff all the time. gameplay wise, this means you must use the right shield on the right target. if successfull, you will revert the damage of the move to your opponent, but 3 times stronger. if not, you will be hit.your "power" is used to amplify the "payback". you can also use it to heal yourself (or even your partners, if you are playing simul mode). and (just because its just too unique for not to add it in) you can heal your enemy too. you know, you don't need to actually beat him unconsncious. if the ammount your "heal" is bigger than what your enemy have left, the fight will end like a time over.
HOPE|Blue:first the good part: you don't need a battery to recharge. Blues can recharge their rings directly from "living beings". gameplay-wise, this means you use your opponent as a battery. and that you would leave your opponent into a "lost hope" state, were he would deal less damage then normal, depending on how much "hope of beating you" you suck out of him. of course, this state if just for the sake of gameplay, and ain't exactly what happens on the comic. the opponent can leave this state by beating you with strong punches/kicks, supers or hypers. besides that, your charge is twice the size of any other corps, and your powers take half the power a equivalent power would require. nice, huh? but, as always there is a catch.
on your own, besides recharging, you can only do this: drain the power from yellow lanterns. block the orange battery from draining power (and the orange battery can't drain power from you). remove red lanterns from their "Rage" state and orange from his "Greed" state. all this power you take is only used to boost your defenses. meaning: your shields work like GL's (having to hold the button and all of that) but they will last as long as you have power on your ring. you can't use any ring based moves on your own.
However, if you are next to a green lantern (be as a friend of a foe), you can do whatever you want. with all the good stuff mentioned before. fighting along side with a green lantern will give HIM the ability to charge twice his regular power. however, there is a chance of him overloading his ring, making it useless. gameplaywise, this means actually reaching 2X the charge (notice that fighting along a blue lantern allows Green to have multiple lvl 3 hypers per charge). so be careful not to overdo the charge, or both blue and green lantern will be in a bit of trouble.
Also, even tough the blue ring is a powerfull weapon, that does not mean its the only thing they can do. someone with such powerfull hope is someone badass by nature, so he will proabably be able to handle things without the high levels of power.
Love|Violet: Love hurts. bad. the violet can do everything a GL ring can. with pluses: she can take other rings and convert them to violet rings. (only yellow were showed, but it seems that it can happen to anyone). also, A Star sapphire (as the violet lanterns are called) can encase other corps members into violet crystals to "rehabilitate" them, generally transforming them into new star sapphires. gameplay wise this means: if successful on the transformation (which would be a Lvl 3 Hyper), she can turn an opposing lantern into a Star Sapphire for the rest of the round. rendering all his supers useless, since this lantern would not be used to use love as a weapon. also, Star sapphires deal way more damage than even yellow lanterns. and they can upgrade Lvl 2 hypers more easily. however, if the opponent is the one the Sapphire loves, the exact opposite happens.
Death|Black: take everything the GL can do. put on the levels of Blue, with damage of Violet. healing abilites par with Indigo. Shield par with Reds. add a "ressurection" move, that repeats itself everytime they "die" and their ring is fully charged. (thanks gameplay for that "limitation"). no,they don't lose access to their powers after "ressurecting". and they can drain your life to empower their ring. after they kill you, they give you a Black Ring, and now you are part of their ranks. this beast, ladies and gentlemen, is the black lantern, the undead with a power ring.
