Feedback for my sword combat system

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#1

So I’ve been working on this medieval fantasy mmorpg of mine, and I realize that the combat component is possbly the most important part of the gameplay. However due to the scale and general high performance focus, I have to limit the technical depth of the combat, but I still tried my best for it to look and feel as best as possible. (Although most VFX are still missing)

Here is a small technical preview of it:

I know it is difficult to give a constructive feedback on combat just from a footage, but I’d still appreciate any suggestions or ideas!

4 Likes
#2

IT HAS PARRYING!!??
11/10

ok but actually,
On the sword gameplay alone, I’d give it like a 5 or a 6 (not bad, but I feel like is very slow)
Script wise, I think it’s well made, giving it an 8

Hope you polish this soon and post more on this!

2 Likes
#3

Yeah I kind of focused on making the combat very slow. I feel like most combat systems today are just extremely fast which I’m not really fond of. So I went for a slower paced combat as I think it would complement my game better than a fast one (as I want to focus on the RP side of the genre). However there are also more weapon types in the game which are a bit faster.

You can test it out yourself if you’d like, but you’ll probably need a friend to fight with.

I’m also hosting a tournament on 5th of April 20:00 UTC for some pretty prizes. With more info on the game’s discord.

I really appreciate the feedback!

#4

This sword combat system looks VERY good and unique for a Roblox game! How long did it take to make this sword combat system? What will the game be called? When will it be released? I rate this 9/10!

2 Likes
#5

The problem with slow combat is that it makes parrying attacks very easy. I can’t tell from the footage how large the parry window is but I recommend it to be fairly small to add a skill gap. Then the problem with small parry windows is that it relies heavily on ping. Something you just have to balance but repeatedly testing. Other than that it seems really good its fluid and the sfx fit well great job

2 Likes
#6

Thank you a lot!

I can’t really say how long it took to make considering I had some breaks while working on it and also worked on other features and systems alongside. Altogether to get it into this state took me around 9 months, but if I was to convert it into pure work time, I’d say it wouldn’t take more that two weeks.

The game will be called Excalia.

I don’t have a release date just yet, while I am confident I can get all the requied scripting done by the end of the year, I’m struggling with builders and map designers.

1 Like
#7

It looks very good just seems a bit slow paced though will there be any moves coming with it?

1 Like
#8

I fully agree with you! I tried implementing some systems to make the parrying as fair as possible even in cases where players have higher latency, unfortunately that is kind of a problem with every combat game, as when the ping crosses a specific boundary, it is very difficult to make the combat fair for everyone.

And regarding the parry windows, it is true that they are currently somewhat long, but you also have to account for stamina, as both attacking and parrying (or blocking) consumes a lot, so parrying unnecessarily will put you at a disadvantage in a tight fight, so I (at least for now) decided to be somewhat generous with the timings.

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#9

While not fully implemented yet, I have already added a support for weapon skills (currently only the heavy attack for longswords is available) So in the final game, a player will be able to use special skills depending on their chosen weapon technique, like one could be focused on mobility, so the player would move around much more while performing the attack, and vice versa.

1 Like
#10

Sounds cool ! Do you have any progress with this you could show?

#11

Unfortunately not yet, as I haven’t had much time lately to work on new animations. But finishing the technique system with more previews has a high priority atm, so I should have something more interesting to show in a few weeks!

#12

Aw okay well please keep us updated I’d love to see the progress! (Also if you need testers I could possibly help you out)

#13

You can join the game’s discord (accessible from the game’s group page) if you’re interested. I post updates and announce competitions there!

1 Like
#14

Okay, will do in a bit thank you!

1 Like
#15

can you explain how the combat works? like parry timing and stuff? super cool

#16

Well, there are a few factors to it.

Firstly, you need to check your equipment weight - that is the combined weight of all your equipment (Armor, sword, possibly shield) - while these provide protection bonuses, equipping strong armor also makes you heavy. The heavier your equipment is, the more “clunky” your movement becomes (it takes longer to change walk directions) and your stamina regeneration speed also decreases.

Secondly, the main combat controls are just lmb and rmb

Left mouse button works as normal attack, which is a series of up to 3-4 attack animations. After that there is a brief pause before you can use this attack option again. The attack consumes a bit of stamina, but the amount varies for different weapons.

Right mouse button works as both parry and block - your character is parrying at first for a brief beriod, and after that it changes into a block stance. Just entering the parry stance immedieatly consumes some stamina, but that’s a fixed amount and is deducted only at the start of the parry sstance. After that, the whole time you’re in the blocking stance, your stamina slowly runs out to prevent turtling.

If you get parried, you get stunned and wont be able to move or do any combat action for a short while. Now this applies only if you get parried while attacking, you can also get “parried” by a special attack (more about that down below) which also disables your ability to attack or block, but you will still be able to move.

There is also a thing called a weapon clash, that happens when both players attack each other with the primary attack at the same time. In this case, neither of the players “clashing” will recieve any damage.

Third off, there are special attacks, these are unique for different weapon types and basically hold the role of classic combat skills like in any rpg. They can vary in strenght, speed, stamina cost, etc. but typically have a very high stamina cost and have a several second cooldown. Some special attacks can also break through blocks, cancel parries or even stun enemies just from landing a hit.

1 Like