Alpha Combat System in short

[cybin]

Originally Posted by SudoFX

God i cant wait for thsi game to come out already lawl, i thought they said they were releasing by 2009? but with beta just starting this 20th of july,will it be pushed back to 2010?

Probably not. According to the updated news, the beta test is primary for the very basic features of the game. It's also said that updates will come quickly as soon as these features are working properly.

I don't think that they need like a 6 month beta test for the basic stuff. But at release MO won't include all features that has been discussed here. But as long as they keep us informed I don't mind to pay for an incomplete game. I did that with all the other games too. But this time there are no false expectations, because devs are keeping us informed. :-)

[Delinthe]

Wow this system sounds pretty cool cant wait for my beta spot to roll around

[glantok]

I wonder how long you'll have to rest, eat, drink, before you regain stamina. I would think by resting immediately after a battle, you leave yourself open to another attack from someone else be that live person or NPC.

[cybin]

Somewhere I read that it's quite quick regained, but at least you will be weakened meanwhile and like a whopper for anyone else. ;->

So don't be surprised if someone eats you afterwards with one big bite. Hehehe..

[TheMoldovian]

Originally Posted by SkirmCard

I was kind of hoping for directional attacks, which I didn't see any mention of. Which makes me wonder what the generic attack direction is when you hold LMB. I know directional attacking might be real hard in an MMO, but I'm kind of hoping you forgot to add that you can charge attacks in some different directions

I think a mix between AoC's combat system and an FPS combat system would be stellar as far as melee is concerned.

[Eldlaye]

Originally Posted by TheMoldovian

I think a mix between AoC's combat system and an FPS combat system would be stellar as far as melee is concerned.

Yes, that would be great. With combos and the FPS system that makes it more skill oriented.
Let's hope and see.

[_Takuan_]

Imo, if they are going to implement something like different effects when hitting different armor parts they must add some directional hitting system which you mentioned.

[Fex]

Nah screw auto combos. You want a combo then do it yourself by your own skill. You get tired (stamina loss), deal with it as a real person would - ie: rest, eat, sleep, etc if you get attacked during that time that sucks but that's how it is. That's just my wish, not sure how it will end up.

[Sumphoo]

Originally Posted by Fex

Nah screw auto combos. You want a combo then do it yourself by your own skill.

True dat! I didnt mind directional attacking but combo triggers were fail. More often than not the flashy combo animations lessened pvp and left you open to slaughter.

Just give them the old LMB 1,2,3 Release/ RMB Double tap. A nice power slash and a shield bash. Thats the right way to say hello.

[Somarl]

Originally Posted by cybin

But as long as they keep us informed I don't mind to pay for an incomplete game. I did that with all the other games too.

I do, i paid £60 for this game. I would sooner it released later and beta tested to the full, rather than pay my monthlys for an incomplete game. Not that i would have the devs rush to finish this for us but i am saying i would rather be patient and wait as long as it takes. Ive paid for it now so i may as well sit back, chill, and perhaps enjoy a little beta here and there

[cybin]

Somarl, sure. I wouldn't want to pay monthly fees for an incomplete game too. But all the boxed versions I bought were incomplete to some degree. So I don't care if MO's boxed version will be too.

When it comes to monthly fees, I of course don't want to pay for an extended beta test. That's why I didn't play some other games that long. Too many promised features were just not implented. And sometimes even these few features were bugged and/or kind of unusable.

I agree with you, because I'm chilling right now. Keep an eye on this forum and sometimes I download the updated client to give it a try. It's okay, as I'm busy otherwise too.

cheers.. :-)

[Somarl]

Yeah Cybin i agree, there are versions of incompleteness i am willing to accept of course. Just as long as its not a total wipeout as far as features are concerned but i dont believe it will be. I am confident in the devs abilities and will keep popping in on beta (when i dont crash out due to memory issues - even with 4gb, sigh) just to see how its all coming along.

*Rasies a drink to the devs
Keep going lads.

[xwhitemousex]

My thoughts about the combat systems.

There's really 3 different type of games I use as reference for combat systems.

1) EQ1, EQ2, WoW - You have to pick a target and this is only one you'll hit with your weapons. All defensive skills are passive, such as riposte, parry, block and such, except specific abilities like Spell reflect. Your character has loads of health and can take dozens of hits.

2) AoC - Your target takes the most of the damage, but you will hit anyone in front of you within a frontal cone, and within the reach of your weapon. 2H typically have longer reach than 1H's, and Polearms have even longer than 2H's. You have active blocking, but not very refined. Your character can alot of hits.

3) Mount and Blade - You have no target at all. Your weapon hits whoever is in front of you and within range. All weapons have different ranges, and also different types of damage, or even two damage types. Blocking has to be timed. Your character can be one or two shotted in the right (or wrong) circumstance (2H charged chop to the head, or couched lance at speed in your back)

My preferred combat system, as far as PvP goes, is hands down Mount and Blade. You can't just spam buttons, like 1) and 2). Button spamming = letting your enemy get free hits on you. Also, AoC feels like a prototype when it comes to moving away from the single-target type of combat, but I don't feel AoC really achieves what they wanted to do.

Also, the blocking system in Mount and Blade is really nice (and perhaps what makes the combat so fun). A shield blocks attacks from all 4 sides (overhead, left, right and stab/thrusts) but not behind you, of course. Blocking with a weapon if you have no shield though, only blocks one direction at a time. The game detects which direction your closest attacker in front of you is attempting to attack, and (if you have auto blocking on) will raise your weapon to parry an attack from that direction when you click RMB. However, your attacker can feint his attack by quickly tapping his RMB, and thus attack from a different direction than you set up your block. This makes for really intense 1v1 fights, where you have to actually pay attention to what your opponent is doing.

The attack directions you do, is controlled with mouse. Moving mouse forward+clicking LMB will do an overhead chop. Moving mouse down (towards you)+LMB will do a thrust/stab. And left/right+LMB will attack from sides, left and right respectively. Some weapons don't have thrust/stabs, like Morningstars and maces, so doing the "stab move" will default to overhead chops. Also some weapons have different damage types. Swords typically do "cutting" damage on swings, but "piercing" damage on thrust/stabs, and the different damage types have different mitigation factors vs armor types (cutting is not really efficient against heavy platemail for instance).

Furthermore, I'm a big fan of not having 15000 hit points like some games. Perhaps I'm too used to playing FirstPersonShooters where 1 shot can be enough to kill you. This should apply in cases where having a big 2H axe cleave your skull should be enough to kill you (unless of course you have a helmet to mitigate some damage). Even with the heaviest plate armor in Mount and Blade, you can still get killed almost instantly if you don't pay attention (such as riding full speed into a guy who thrusts a spear or pike into your belly). Also, heavy armor slows you down, so you can't move around the battlefield as easily to avoid getting 2 or more opponents on you at once. Everyone likes to zerg slow targets.

Surely, in the start people will feel that combat is too short. You get knocked out by 2 strikes and you'll feel like you're not getting alot of action. Well, I was getting schooled and beaten up in Mount and Blade for 4 hours straight before I started learning how to block and strike back properly (on the hardest difficulty, admittedly). But once I got the hang of it, the fights are alot more fun. You know that making mistakes is going to shred half your health, or even kill you, so the fights get more exciting and I often find myself fighting a long time against an opponent, trying to get a strike in while trying to hold back so I don't leave myself open for a strike back. Especially fun in battles when you hear the ring of steel over and over until you finally get that lovely strike that drops you enemy.

It could be that I am biased when it comes to the combat systems though, since I've played MMO's for a decade, and the majority of them... in fact... all of them except AoC have been the typical vanilla combat systems as mentioned in 1).

I want more challenge, and I only recently "discovered" Mount and Blade, which has a combat system that immediately made me addicted to it. Even after hours and hours of battles, I still find myself getting beaten up if I don't pay attention.

Cut short... it's not the armor... not the weapons... and not the equipment at all, but MY personal skill as a player which affects wether I live or die. The best armor in the game, and the most grand weapons won't auto-win for you. A peasant with a club can still kick your butt unless you know what you are doing as a player. The armor only helps mitigate some of the damage (at the expense of mobility), and the big damage weapons like halberds, glaives, bardices and 2H axes and swords only deal damage if you actually hit, and it comes at the expense of only having a 1 direction block (as opposed to a shield where you have block on all 4 directions).

That is... until your shield breaks from the damage it has absorbed ^^

As for the mounted combat in Mount and Blade... well... it's THE best mounted combat in any game, I ever played, and I've been gaming actively since the mid-80's You see horses getting oneshotted and killed as they charge into pikemen, knights riding down a line of infantry and knocking them all to the ground, storming against another rider with your lance, only to have him time his attack better and skewering you with his lance.

It's simply fantastic, and so much fun, and I really hope MO will look at Mount and Blade and implement the same type of awesome combat found there, if they haven't done so already

[Hodo]

I have to agree with xwhitemousex.

M&B HAS the most true to life combat system I have seen in a game. It can be improved on, but its damned good. The only other to me thats as good is Roma Victors... even though that could benefit from combat stances, and improvements to its dodge block and parry system. But I like how every body part has a hitpoint total to it, linked to a stat. That makes most combat VERY short, 1 maybe 2 hits and its over.... if you hit the right spots.

I also like how there is no loot bag in M&B, when someone dies, they just drop, and this means their stuff to.

Mounted combat I found was great, but overpowering. If you got the right horse, and skill combo you couldnt be stopped. And Archers lacked power, due to the lack of formations.

I also loved how in M&B weapons had a maximum range, and minimum range. If you had a 10ft long pike, you were near USELESS when they got 2ft from you. But you couldnt run through the weapon, it had substance, it was a solid object.

[xwhitemousex]

True, cavalry is really strong in Mount and Blade (maybe title of the game hints at that as well), or it could be that other units are simply a bit weak towards cavalry

Try equipping an Awlpike and ram that sucker into a horse when it charges at you. Unless it's an armored horse, it will insta-kill the horse and throw the rider off. If it's an armored horse it will stop and rear up, giving you a window of opportunity to rush to side of it and stab wildly at the rider ^^

I can't wait for M&B Warband to be out. There's an article about it at http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/m...d/preview.html

Seems they adress quite a bit of issues, and with the multiplayer part comming also I just can't wait ^^ Right now I'm in hardcore training at hitting properly with the couched lance, since I'm guessing that will earn quite alot of kills in multiplayer It's really tough, and if you miss you give them a good chance to score a really nasty hit. But if you do it, they are done for ^^

[Quitto]

Sounds like the system is flawless (almost)

[chaplainDMK]

Preaty good to be honest. But in my opinion the mercy thing should be fixed or something.
Why should you bother letting him live for a little cash when you can just bash his head in and take evreything he has.
oh, and hi

[blacktav8454]

Can't wait for release going to try to load beta get in on some action... Wish me luck lol

[PhallusMan]

Necropost!!!

[Saorlan]

Lock or delete this thread? We are far beyond "Alpha testing"

[Teiwaz]

Originally Posted by Saorlan

Lock or delete this thread? We are far beyond "Alpha testing"

Good idea

closed