Sleeves Posted January 8 Report Posted January 8 NOTE: This is a repost of an article I wrote to my (terrible, inactive) gemini blog some time ago and I have changed my mind on a couple points, but I think there are some interesting ideas worth sharing nonetheless. I also edited the text without significantly changing its meaning. A large portion of players find the game's combat systems lacking at present, but few agree on how to improve them. I can't solve that issue, but I can add to it by throwing my own opinions in with the others! So anyway, here's my little proposal. MELEE HIT REGISTRATION Hit registration for melee is done in one of two ways, depending on the weapon and attack type. Direct attacks use hitscan augmented with some auto-aim, because aiming is never really a challenge in combat; it only makes small targets annoying. Perhaps aiming would have been more relevant if enemies had weak points or incomplete blocks (i.e. a shield you can stab around). Area attacks use a moving hitbox, permitting multi-target damage. The downside is that you need to physically aim, which can cause problems for the player when enemies are too short (e.g. rabbits, crawling drifters). ATTACK TYPES Basic attacks can be performed by pressing the attack button, and strong attacks by pressing twice. Both moves can be performed continously by holding the button; for strong attacks, the second button press should be held. Generally, basic attacks are fast and use direct hit registration. Strong attacks tend to be powerful and use area hit registration. SPECIALTIES Traits are denoted by an asterisk (neutral), a plus (positive), or a minus (negative). SWORD Basic: Stab * Direct + Speed * Range * Damage Strong: Swipe * Area - Speed - Range * Damage SPEAR Basic: Stab * Direct + Speed + Range * Damage Strong: N/A - see RANGED section CLUB Basic: Poke * Direct + Speed + Range - Damage Strong: Strike * Area - Speed - Range + Damage AXE Basic: Chop * Area + Speed * Range - Damage Strong: Split * Area - Speed - Range + Damage SHIELDING Shields are guaranteed to absorb damage when held. Absorption starts at a fairly high value (dependent on tier), but quickly reduces while continuously blocking. The value resets upon re-initiating a block. Blocking has a 0.6 second cooldown regardless of held duration. Absorbing damage does not end a block, nor reset its absorption. RANGED Two special ranged features are detailed here. Ammo fragility is dependent on the relationship between the target's and projectile's damage tiers. For instance, a steel arrow is less likely to break from hitting a raccoon than a nightmare drifter. Shred refers to any effect that only activates when the target's damage tier is lower than the projectile's. SPEAR Damage ramps up while charging spear throw, reaching its maximum after about a second. This discourages spamming. Spear has high damage and a more pronounced ammo fragility effect^1, but cannot pierce enemies. ARROWS Arrows are guaranteed to pierce the first enemy they hit when shred applies to said enemy (see above). ^1: More pronounced meaning it takes even less damage from hitting weaker targets. I believe my logic was that a multi-foot rod should be relatively unaffected by a hare or the like. Note that spears should have a lower base durability to compensate; they're powerful enough as is. 1
Tabbot95 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 I'd add a "crude bash" for the spear; the best game to handle spears was mount and blade: warband (or the mods for it that incorporate "deploying" spears from With Fire and Sword) that is - Spears(pikes really) can be deployed defensively, so you use the velocity of your opponent instead of thrusting - lances can be "Couched" when mounted so that you use the velocity of your mount (horse) instead of thrusting you can also bash with the spear-shaft. 1
Shpick Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 ah you reminded me of hitscanning in 7days to die, now besides its terrible developement, it has an interesting hitscan mechanic for every weapon type. With spears you have to be extremely precise as the radius of where you hit is so small and the attack speed is mediocre. with clubs the radius is quite much bigger, attack speed is faster. knives have a small radius (i think), but they have the highest attack speed. Sledgehammers, have a big attack radius but slow attack speed and the power attack can affect an area. With that mechanic in the VS i believe, there would be a reason to have bigger weapon variety, as it could suit different players more. all of this could go nicely with yours, i think? 1
Sleeves Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 8 minutes ago, Shpick said: ah you reminded me of hitscanning in 7days to die, now besides its terrible developement, it has an interesting hitscan mechanic for every weapon type. That would honestly be way better than the volume-based hit registration I suggested, both for comfort and latency. Especially if clubs could hit multiple enemies at once like this; they would finally be useful! 1
Shpick Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Sleeves said: Especially if clubs could hit multiple enemies at once like this oh i must have miscommunicated, i meant, that it would be easier to hit a target since the radius is bigger, but it would still be a single target attack, so big radius but single target. Now In 7daystodie the club can hit multiple targets on a power attack though, but its not as a effective as a sledgehammer for area damage as the target closest to the cursor takes most of the damage from the club, while sledgehammer - delivers it more evenly. Edited January 19 by Shpick
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