Combat Mechanic Suggestions

[Max]

I’m really hoping this game can do better with its combat than the simplicity we see in Minecraft and other sandbox games. With Titans and expansive weapons and armour systems already in the voting booths, I’d like to talk a bit about the mechanics that I hope may end up being behind these weapons.

I’m not sure if there’s been much discussion about the direction the Oort developers want to go with their combat mechanics, so I thought I’d throw in my 2 cents (or, more accurately, the entire GDP of Ireland).

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These are only suggestions and wishes, they may not be possible in engine, desirable in combination with other mechanics, or simply not what the development team is looking for. All the same, I’d like to present my ideal Oort combat experience. Note however, that I’m only concerning myself with physical combat and not any vile sorceries, as they who live by the wand shall die by my blade!

Attacking:

We’ve already spoken about weapons that could be added, but more important to me is how they handle. I’d like to point towards one of my favourite games, Mount & Blade, and its directional attacking system.

In this system, a player moves their mouse in one of four directions and charges their attack in that direction, either it being a left slash, right slash, overhead attack or stab (with a normal sword). Say, pressing left click and moving your mouse to the right readies a right slash (with your character bringing their weapon in a ‘baseball swing’ stance) and releasing left click releases the slash.

For spears or other weapons for example, these attacks can be changed slightly e.g. spears having a stab from the hip and a stab from overhead, and no slashes to make up for their superior length. For NPCs in Oort, the same charge animations and attack directions apply, for example a wolf might bring back its right claw before dashing forward and slashing in a right slash, or crouch low before doing a two-clawed overhead slash.

This system may not seem too inspired on its own, but when combined with the blocking, parrying and feinting aspects of this combat system these simple beginnings explode in complexity.

Parrying:

These four attack directions require a player without a shield to ‘parry’ in the incoming attack’s direction to negate the damage of the attack. This is done in Mount & Blade by right clicking and dragging in the incoming attack’s direction. There is minimal delay in this parry, as this plays on the next facet of this combat system.

For example, I see the wolf ahead of me drawing back its right claw, and drag my mouse towards the left of my screen (towards the wolf’s right because it’s in front of me) and hold right click, holding my sword vertically and to my left just before a claw deflects off my blade with a spark.

Feinting:

Again a simple mechanic, but one which expands the complexity of this combat system. A player readies an attack by holding their left click button, and can cancel that attack by pressing the right click button. The player then, after a very short delay, can ready another attack.
This is a ‘feint’, a fake attack meant to cause your opponent to try to parry an attack that isn’t coming and open them up for other attacks. An opponent with quick reflexes however, will be able to parry even after being fooled by a feint, although stepping out of the rhythm of combat (attack-parry-attack-parry) means a feint is something players much watch out for when duelling in PvP.

Blocking:

Already we’ve had some forum topics on blocking, and I’d like to expand on these ideas.

agent_dmx’s topic ‘shields & stealth’ presented a shield as being able to block almost all damage while held up, depleting the user’s stamina whilst doing so. Combining this idea with Rukio’s ‘A blocking option’ of the shield mainly being for blocking physical damage and ranged projectiles, I think this is a good idea.

In the system I have presented so far, the shield serves as a way of blocking all four attack directions at once, as well as ranged projectiles, although depleting the shield-user’s stamina while it is raised. This allows a player to act as a ‘tank’ and block multiple enemies which would otherwise be very difficult with parrying without a shield, as well as allowing players not confident in directional parrying an alternative.

However, shields could restrict a player’s access to two handed weapons, or perhaps only very small shields that take a great deal of stamina when successfully blocking would allow a player to use a two handed weapon (see ‘bucklers’). The stamina use and allowance of weaponry used in combination with a shield could be used as a way to add a number of shields to Oort online.

For example, a small buckler as already mentioned could be one end of the scale. A massive tower shield that may not even allow the holder a dagger could be the other end, turning its holder into a slowly walking bulwark of a tank, minimising stamina cost when blocking and being useful for absorbing Titan attacks.

Extras:

For these systems to work, however, I would think current movement speed in the game would need to be reduced slightly and walking backwards made slower. These speed changes could only occur when your weapon is drawn (which could take ~1 second to do for balance) for example, so as not to slow down the game too much.

Conclusion:

I realise I’ve gone into an incredible amount of detail on something that may be entirely impossible for the development team, but regardless I’d like to highlight the depth and skill that is possible in melee combat. Even if none of these ideas are incorporated, I’d be very interested in hearing the direction the Oort team is currently considering for their combat model.

Warband duel video for reference:

*Note that Mount & Blade can be played in both first and third person, and is perhaps much faster in combat than might be best for Oort Online.*

TL;DR Mount & Blade: Warband mechanics (watch some videos or buy the game, it’s a blast even though it looks like it’s a PS1 game)

• This topic was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Max. Reason: html forum codes don't seem to be working, so it's even MORE of a wall of text!
• This topic was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Max.

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