5 Ways Games Make Combat Feel GREAT

[@thegamedevcave]

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[@Outrack]

This is more for faster-paced combat systems (ie Platinum games), but the one single biggest thing that elevated the combat in my game is auto-targeting and distance matching. The trick with auto-targeting is to make sure control doesn't get taken away from the player - NieR Automata has a system where hitting the action buttons will orient the character towards the closest facing opponent, though input from the analogue stick breaks free from the system so the player never feels like they're being unnaturally locked into a direction they don't want to head towards. Distance matching is especially useful if you have combo strings as it ensures that the player's momentum is matched with the knockback on the enemies, which ensures your hits always land and the player character doesn't slip off to the side or misses a hit with the enemy pushed too far back. There isn't anything less satisfying than pressing a button and expecting an outcome only to have things not go the way you intended, just make sure to have the enemy set up to retaliate with a counter attack that voids the pushback so you're not simply tapping buttons without resistance (you can also set up some cool variety with multiple knockback states based on attack type, so basic attacks cause knockbacks w/ distance matching until voided by an incoming enemy attack, which itself can be voided by a heavier player attack, and so on). One other thing that might be helpful but is also very much game-dependent is to replace line/sphere tracing on weapons with a single collision sphere that activates and deactivates in front of the player at the moment of impact instead. As well as being more performant, this is what games like Devil May Cry and Kingdom Hearts actually use as it sacrifices one type of accuracy for another - instead of going for Soulslike "realism" of having hits register only when the blade connects, it makes sure that every intended hit connects regardless of any distance or overlap issues there might be. Line traces are commonly taught but have a tendency to miss on fast attacks unless you have it checking for overlaps on just about every frame which chokes your performance like it has daddy issues. Wanted to discuss this with you in your Discord but, well, lol.

[@thegamedevcave]

auto targeting is pretty huge yeah. Even is slower paced combat like darksouls, I feel like there still is some of that (although much less, the faster the combat is the stronger you need to help the player with targeting I feel) As far as collisions go, I personally don't love the line tracers method, it feels iffy to find actual hits. instead Personally i just just collision boxes which are still not entirely reliable in all cases if you combat is SUPER fast but for the most part, i find that they work and it prevents me from having to do speficic sphere or box overlaps for every animation, which is the most foolproof (but also overkill) way i've seen it be done.

[@camgoodkicks]

Love all of the games you mentioned but I think Devil May Cry is the unrivaled king of combat in games. Those are the ones I like to study

[@newtonbrown6694]

As always, great topic man and very helpful. Even with the game i'm creating (which has no combat in it) these principles are super relevant. My player character chases & catches various 'target' characters which then produce different animated events depending on various factors and ultimately changes the gameplay from that point onward. Can't wait to change the feel of these 'capture' events by adding a little screen shake and paying more attention to my follow thru, as well as the enemy AI's reactions. Keep up the good work!

[@thegamedevcave]

for sure a lot of this stuff applies to Gameplay actions in general, not just combat! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@MacronLacrom]

impactful sound and screen shake

[@thegamedevcave]

this is the one thing I didn't mention in the video and I am SO glad someone pointed it out!!! SOUND!!! i 100% skipped out on something that HUGE! (partly because i have a lot of temp sounds at the moment and I SUCK at sound design XD) While editing this video, seeing the darksould footage without the sound I was like " maybe it's not as good an example as I make it out to be..." no... no, i was just watching it without sound! Maybe at some point i have to revisit this topic more in depth on sound, once I myself suck less at it

[@MacronLacrom]

@@thegamedevcave Yeah, sound really carries. Even a blank screen with a vivid sound will paint some image in the users mind. You make make the animation as heavy as you want but if you make the sound a cusion/pillow plop then it will overpower everything. Removing the impact.

[@MacronLacrom]

Yeah, sound really carries. Even a blank screen with a vivid sound will paint some image in the users mind. You make make the animation as heavy as you want but if you make the sound a cusion/pillow plop then it will overpower everything. Removing the impact.