Game Development: Combat System

[niltrias]

After fiddling with the combat system for a bit, I have to say that I am beginning to get a glimmer of what the devs are trying to do with it, and it is an interesting idea. That said, I really dont like its current implementation. Here are a couple reasons:

1) Its boring. Standing there for 20 seconds or so waiting for your attack bar/IP to increase so you can take a single swing, which may or may not hit (and you have no idea from looking at the off/def bars what your actual chance of success is) is not fun. Repeating this over and over again is even less fun. Halting offensive/IP build up to repair your def or address a balance...imbalance...makes this take even longer.

2) The menus are a pain. I know UI is a lesser concern, but for something as important as combat, it shouldnt be this bad. Tunnel though the keys to jump, tunnel again to attack, tunnel again use a special ability...I mean, I suppose it gives me something to do while my attack bar/IP fills, but it isnt at all what I would describe as a fun way to fill the time. I could use hotkeys, but it would take almost all of them.

3)It seems a bit silly. Two warrior face off, and start jumping up and down and flexing instead of trying to kill each other? I know this is a minor issue, but when combat reminds me less of deadly nordic duels and more of chimpanzees having a dominance display, it breaks the immersion a bit more than I like.

There is more, a lot more, but these are the three clearest points. I would go into balance a bit more, but I am not sure that any serious attempt to balance weapons and combat have been made. Ants and armor seem pretty silly-strange for now, and the weight thing is also non-nonsensical, but Im going to assume those points have already been target for revision.

Last point -- I wish this had been left on the test server a bit longer. When the test server came up, I logged on quite frequently, but the system seemed broken and I never saw someone else on, so I decided to wait for test-server update announcements, which never came. The few times I got someone to agree to try to log onto the new server so we could have a sparring match, the test server was down. I believe I made a comment to that effect some time ago.

Im going to end my WoT here.

[Brian]

Some of my thoughts on a combat system. I like, in general, the idea about the attack and defence bar's, but right now it's definitely not fun, simply too slow and unbalanced. I would like too see a PvE combat that differs considerably from PvP, at least with low level creature, like a fox or a boar, to it be alot more simple and dynamic, and alot less complex. For a bigger game, like pack of wanabe cow's or a bear something where a party with specific tactics is the best option. And PvP is complex and considerably longer.

For examle of what i'm talking about on PvE. Lat's say a fox has two attack moves and two defence moves, player chooses some moves from his arsenal to conter what fox doing right now, hits must be relativly fast, so the battle success, or failure, would be defined by player stats, with a better/worse outcome based on two or three players decisions. Effectivity of those decisions, of course, should be based on current fox moves, which should vary.

About the ants, the guy in the leather armor, who jumps around them for half an hour, and then get's his ass kicked seems just wrong.

Maybe the ants fight, and future cock fight, should differ from everything else, like you would get some damage (wich depends on your stats and ants level, but can't be completly avoided even by the best armor), and sure as hell it souldn't take so much time. In this case raiding an anthill would be like a quick exchange of some your hitpoints for some good food.

Also i think that what devs doing about bow is great, still need's alot of work, but making bow ultimate tool for hunting is great. I would like some special tool for hunter in melee, though, some kind of a knife, which effectivity based on marksmanship skill, whic does not do a lot of damage, but enought from five or so succsesfull attack's to send a boar, you failed to kill with one shoot, running. Certainly it should be absolute uneffective against humans. Maybe it could be the same knife that are on your belt, and let's you butcher animals, without unequping your bow

I do like the idea of stances, for PvP mostly, first thing on mind — the stance in wich you get a high damage from the enemy, but builds your attack bar really fast, there could be like four or five of them. But, i guess, thing with the stances would only work's if they are animated, so a player can detect in wich stance his opponent is just by looking at him, and sure there must be some considerable cooldown on change stances.

I do like the idea of penetraiting unarmed combat, just because the scheme where the guy gets best axe and best armor in the game, and then rapes everybody who didn't got the same gear, with couple of click's, is unbelievably ugly. I'm not saying that a noob should be able to kick ass, i'm saying that i'd like to see a different ways of fight even in the late game.

Sorry sincerely for many mistake's in this post.

[minck1]

Maybe make attacks based off attack power rather than init points. That way at least you could get 1 full power shot before using different moves to raise your attack power again.

[sabinati]

Maybe make attacks based off attack power rather than init points. That way at least you could get 1 full power shot before using different moves to raise your attack power again.

i like this

[Bonsoy]

I request fire, in the form of a burning torch, or a flame arrow. Either before or after the reset will we fine.

Also implement salt. Salting someones field would be a good way to reduce soil quality.

Don't forget linen bandages, please.

[stickman]

I did not realise that you could not swing a sword in this new system without getting points... horrible.

Also its very true about what was said earlier... any animal (no matter how easily you killed it before) if they gain advantage you will lose the fight against them...

example... fought some cows 1 by one ( use to be able to kill a whole group at once with them all attacking me)... first cow went down easily (2 dashes, 1 slash, 2 dashes 1 slash... dead). 2nd cow.... used call to thunder until i got 6 points... then started fighting it.... I missed, the cow hit me for 15. The advantage scale went into his favour.

From that point on he was gaining like 3x the offence and 3x the defence of me... slashed him it would take off like ZERO defence... and he would gain it all back before i could slash again. It became clear that this cow that I would have easily dispatched in the old system had become a super cow and nothing I did could put a dent in his defence.

It appears that once you loose the slightest advantage in combat that it is impossible to recover.


I would suggest going back to the old system and fixing it instead of proceeding with this one. The old system could have been fixed by re-doing the damage and chance to hit calculations.


I really dont like the offence and defence bars... and i dislike having to wait for them to charge or use silly skills to charge them.

[Lman8786]

"Losing all your hard work" also means the world will not have such a large difference between players, there won't be claimed lands that no one owns, there will be mines to grab, etc. Think of it as a new opportunity, not a loss.

this is a good way to but it! Itll be a gain!

[sabinati]

I did not realise that you could not swing a sword in this new system without getting points... horrible.

Also its very true about what was said earlier... any animal (no matter how easily you killed it before) if they gain advantage you will lose the fight against them...

example... fought some cows 1 by one ( use to be able to kill a whole group at once with them all attacking me)... first cow went down easily (2 dashes, 1 slash, 2 dashes 1 slash... dead). 2nd cow.... used call to thunder until i got 6 points... then started fighting it.... I missed, the cow hit me for 15. The advantage scale went into his favour.

From that point on he was gaining like 3x the offence and 3x the defence of me... slashed him it would take off like ZERO defence... and he would gain it all back before i could slash again. It became clear that this cow that I would have easily dispatched in the old system had become a super cow and nothing I did could put a dent in his defence.

It appears that once you loose the slightest advantage in combat that it is impossible to recover.


I would suggest going back to the old system and fixing it instead of proceeding with this one. The old system could have been fixed by re-doing the damage and chance to hit calculations.


I really dont like the offence and defence bars... and i dislike having to wait for them to charge or use silly skills to charge them.

yeah even with 216 melee a herd of cows was a problem for me as well i think managed to kill 2 before i got KO'd

[Peter]

It definitely seems that combat is a toss-up; if you get the advantage at first, you will win, otherwise you're dead. There has to be an alternative.

[sabinati]

well you can sidestep but it's much less effective now