Behind the Scenes: Developing My Indie Game's Combat System

[@anbagames]

What do you guys think of this super early stage of the combat system? What weapons or character skills would you like to see? Let me know in the comments! ⬇

[@HeroGetsu]

Enemies being able to hit each other would be a fun feature

[@s4bishii]

A pretty complete combat system, can't wait to see how far you take this! Great job!

[@anbagames]

Thanks man, appreciate it!

[@HeroGetsu]

I freaking knew it yeah lol

[@rodionstb4903]

Bob is actually a good sponsor!

[@jamesdoanecompositions]

Looking great so far!

[@maddockemerson4603]

I've mentioned before that you don't really need a stamina bar _(or dodging)_ for this kind of game, but if you're going to have one, blocking would be a good use of it. Don't give the player multiple overlapping gauges/cooldowns/etc to worry about; using one resource for multiple actions is usually better. See Monster Hunter _(especially 5th gen lance)_ for some pretty good stamina-based blocking mechanics. Alternatively, you could just give shields limited durability where they have a non-recoverable amount of damage they can take before they break and you need to grab a new one _(it should go without saying this only works well if the player is limited to one shield at a time and can't just select a new one in the pause menu like in Breath of the Wild),_ but a timed block/parry/bash doesn't use durability _(or maybe it still does but shattering a shield with a parry/bash does more stun/damage)_ which is how Skyward Sword and BotW do it - the advantage of that approach is that it's very intuitive for the player to figure out while still allowing room for expansion on those mechanics and mastery by the player. Shields of different quality could have more durability, a more generous parry/bash window _(see Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for example) or cause damage or longer stun on successful parry/bash, or magic shields might parry with a burst of elemental AoE damage, or be uniquely able to block or reflect elemental attacks. The possibilities are endless.

[@silchasruin4487]

Movement for movements sake doesn't feel very compelling until you incorporate some form of need or advantage to using that movement. Unreal Tournament comes to mind and so do the old Prince of Persia games. Another good example is if you played Ori and The Will of the Wisps. I don't see it in your video but using a mix of fluid animations and physics in the game makes the movement feel way better. Especially if movement is going to be a core mechanic, polishing it until its fun to just run around. Not just play well but feel good. Its looking great, but a good game usually sets itself apart from others just because of the amount of polish you've given it.

[@anbagames]

You're absolutely right, and I'm not gonna disagree! The enemies at the moment are kind of dumb; all they do is follow and do a basic attack. If I had a more complex enemy behavior system, proper level setup, and different enemy types, I could've shown it off better. Appreciate your feedback, and I'll demonstrate it better in an upcoming video!

[@SecretStages]

Lock on systems are tricky. I think I prefer systems that auto locks on, because there is just one less button you need to press. For my own game I also use that. I use a "priority" system. So enemies that have a high priority ( bosses and harder enemies that deal high damage ) will be selected earlier then enemies with a low priority level ( enemies that are small or deal low damage ). Once you attack an enemy it will automaticly lock on. I then use a timer. If you attack again before the timer runs out, the lock on will be extended ( and the timer will be reset ). For small/esay enemies this timer runs for a short time, while for harder enemies and bosses it takes more time before the timer runs out. You can also "break" the lock manually just by using manual camera control and rotate away from that enemy. My camera also stays mostly behind the player ( I allow it to rotate an offest to both sides ). I prefer that because it makes switching from melee to ranged attacks ( use a bow or gun ) faster.

[@anbagames]

Yep, tricky for sure! Sounds like you've really thought your system through, and I agree that less button pressing is a win for players. I’m just trying to imagine situations where it could cause problems or unexpected behavior. I'll give it some serious thought :) Best of luck with your game!

[@heirapparent8217]

Keep going! I believe in you!

[@anniquinia]

Wow, that video must have taken a lot of work! I love the mix of cool movement and classic Zelda combat. I really want to play it now!! 😭

[@anbagames]

Thank you! ❤️

[@MegaGangsta4life]

God of war has a great GDC talk about combat and the problems they had to solve to make it feel intuitive

[@anbagames]

I haven't heard that talk yet. Sounds cool, I'll listen to it tonight! Thanks!

[@MegaGangsta4life]

@ no problem! To be more precise you can implement an arrow icon that indicates where all offscreen enemies are, and it blinks red when an offscreen enemy is going to attack This way the player can anticipate it. Also they had to create a scoring system for enemy AI/aggression (who should have attacking priority) And lastly, they had to find a way to keep enemies on screen (not get knocked offscreen by powerful attacks) this way it doesn’t break gameplay

[@josephross8753]

That bow bug is probably from the rotation of back bone, guessing it's self correcting very similar to how fps camras get vary wired when the output code is typed wrong.

[@anbagames]

Thanks for pointing that out! I'm working with AimIK, but honestly, I haven’t looked into it much yet, haha

[@josephross8753]

​@@anbagames my best guess, and I'm pretty amateur about game dev, and I'm basing this on knowledge of Godot and have no real 3d animation experience, but the back bone rotation should the ray or the camera rotation, or does it not work like that?

[@anbagames]

@@josephross8753 I don’t really know the internal details, but technically, there's an effector (target) and AimIK tries to use inverse kinematics magic (I'm an amateur myself, lol) to turn the torso in that direction without exceeding any set rotation limits. Just need to put in some time and read up more, then it should all come together :)

[@AleksiVolkov-np9mt]

It would be cool if you can throw rocks to distract the enemies, and then back stab them xD. I think it can be really fun, and it's easy to implement :)

[@anbagames]

Good idea! I thought the arrow impact could serve as a distraction

[@TFVyse]

Bob, you`re awesome!! Love to see the progress of the ai system. Especially the aggro meter mechanics, gives a lot of opportunities on how to play the game. How could enemies react in cases where the hero is standing on a wall? Is there a solution for that kind of scenario? :) Wonderful progress, keep on going!

[@anbagames]

Thank you so much! In Breath of the Wild, melee enemies throw rocks when they can't reach the player. Maybe that would be a nice workaround!

[@gagz9k]

Surprisingly Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy has an incredible feedback feeling for the combat system, with a nice way to select enemies for quickly in combat switch. It gives off a feeling of overpowering control when you master the spells system and develop the necessary muscle memory. I think that's a good reference to look into!

[@anbagames]

I played Hogwarts Legacy at launch and remember the combat system being really good and "juicy." It took me a bit to get used to the controls, but after that, it was a lot of fun. Thanks for the tip, I'll take another look at the enemy selection!

[@timothycody913]

my favorite targeting systems are the ones from Arkham Asylum and Shadow of Mordor. they aren't the lock-on variety. they're automatic

[@anbagames]

Ohh, that sounds interesting. I have to admit, I haven’t played either game yet, but I’ll definitely check them out. Thanks for the tip!

[@rafaelhuard]

W Bob

[@anbagames]

The GOAT

[@aimojorma7674]

Was this really a movement-heavy combat system though? It seems like it's just a separate movement system and a combat system. The movement doesn't seem to add anything to the combat, so I predict that players will only use the movement system when they want to run away from fights, and ignore most of the move set when fighting enemies. I don't think you should advertise your game as something it's not, but if you manage to actually implement a movement system that enhances combat, it would be a huge selling point. Wishing you luck!

[@KemalTonbul]

Nice one! Greetings from turkey ❤

[@Dayoflu]

soooo nice !

[@anbagames]

Thank you! 😊

[@abdulhameedlawal8579]

How did you make the texture stylized, Look really fine

[@anbagames]

Thanks! Which textures are you referring to? The enemies were done by NHANCE Studio, and I created the character myself using Substance Painter and Stylized Smart Materials

[@abdulhameedlawal8579]

You also did the character , It really fit the texture

[@Oskratos]

Bob MVP!

[@anbagames]

The real hero of the game!

[@johnleorid]

Why is it movement-heavy? I don't see any benefits from wallruns or climbing. Or even any way to quickly get behind an enemy or enemy-lines to take out an archer. The combat seems not movement-heavy at all, it seems like you are locked in while attacking, basically just standing around, going one or two steps back and then forth again for your next attack. Mirrors Edge has a movement-heavy combat, but the best example is Overgrowth. In Overgrowth, combat IS movement, the dropkicks, the physics, it's all about speed, positioning, dodging and countering. If you look up some gameplay, you will see that there is never a moment where a character stands still in front of another character and swings a sword.

[@anbagames]

While I agree with you that there are definitely games even more movement-heavy than mine (great examples, by the way!), I’d say parkour mechanics (with more moves on the way) feel pretty agile compared to classic combat systems like Zelda or Souls games. You could probably compare both ways, and the vid title might be exaggerated for some, but in my opinion, it's still on the movement-focused side.

[@michaelperrigo]

FIRST! - awe, second.

[@fattcoke4705]

This game looks good, but the combat system showed is identical to the type used in souls games, which makes it look like it is at risk of becoming an unimaginative and uninspired dark souls clone. You should only copy from other games what you think is ideal for the game you're making, and that is usually never all of it. If your game is not combat-focused, then copying Souls games is probably fine though.