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Jason de Heras

23 Dec 20, 8 tweets, 2 min read

Sometimes it's a good exercise to compile a list of game elements to help focus a design. Here's a list of some forgiving melee combat properties for a single player 3rd person game. Of course, many factors will determine fun factor, challenge and mastery. /thread #gamedev

Basic attack effective against most enemies
Immediate cancel all actions with block, dodge, super attack
Omni-directional block
Generous parry window with no startup frames
Generous attack translation / reach
Generous Dodge invulnerability frames with no startup frames

Player attacks generally hit faster than most enemy attacks
One button dodge
Dodge with large translation
Minimal camera management / babysitting
Soft targeting on attacks
Player character visually pops out from enemies and environment
No instant deaths at full health

Systemic methods to refill health, stamina, super bar
Clear enemy attack anticipation poses that break default silhouette
Generous enemy attack anticipation time
Buffered / queued inputs that don’t rely on strict timing
Exploitable / broken player abilities

Generous / exaggerated player attack hitboxes
Large / long enemy hit reactions
Large hit reactions that eject the player away from danger
“Get Out of Jail Free Card” player ability
Clamping how many enemies can attack at once and how frequently

Generous targeting cones
Neutral left stick input = back evade
No startup frames on special/super attacks
Low level enemies taunt more than they attack
Ranged enemies always miss the first shot
Enemies don’t initially attack from offscreen

Invulnerable during special / super attacks
Minimal recovery frames on player attacks (cancel out after last hit frame)
Nerfed enemy hit collision (slightly smaller than weapon mesh)
Enemy attacks deal large reactions but low damage
Enemy attacks always lead to enemy’s death

Camera centers behind player when moving / attacking
Camera normalizes pitch when player moving / attacking
Zoom out based on # of enemies nearby
Camera keeps player on screen regardless of speed / distance of actions
Camera ensures player / enemy don’t obscure each other

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More from @jasondeheras

Jason de Heras

@jasondeheras

14 Feb

Enemies exist to encourage/discourage various strategies (and to make the player feel smart among other reasons). Sekiro is largely built around parrying (and stealth). Let’s examine the EARLY GAME enemies and what they try to INVOKE from the player. #gamedesign #combatdesign

GRUNT - This enemy is helpless once he starts blocking Wolf’s attacks and will be Posture broken in a few hits. His only STRENGTH is taking advantage of a PASSIVE player. Once you block his opener, he’s hyper aggressive forcing the player to evade to mitigate Posture break. 1/2

He has a VARIED mix of opener attacks (different anticipation poses, slower/faster hit frames) whose sole PURPOSE is to trick you into parrying early so he can force you into block stun. If there are nearby enemies, a passive strategy will be less effective and dangerous. 2/2

Read 12 tweets

Jason de Heras

@jasondeheras

13 Feb

What’s the purpose of a boss? Depends on the game, but usually bosses serve as a skill test, provide a sense of mastery, a set piece or a genuinely hard challenge. But, secretly, some are the ILLUSION of challenge. Let’s look at God of War’s first boss. #gamedesign #combatdesign

BLOCKABLE ATTACKS - Every attack from an enemy this large should be unblockable, right? Ironically, having attacks with different properties (blockable vs unblockable), regardless of enemy size, allows the player to engage with their entire toolset. 1/3

This initial attack doesn’t do damage if blocked. Furthermore, the follow up attack CONVENIENTLY misses the player by a hair if blocked. There’s a few hit frames on the column as it lays on the ground to discourage the player from rushing in, but presents no real threat. 2/3

Read 10 tweets

Jason de Heras

@jasondeheras

11 Feb

How do you make a player character feel powerful in a 3rd person melee combat game? Many factors determine this such as enemy design and progression. But it all starts with the player’s basic toolkit. Let’s look at some of Kratos’ moves and the invisible aspects. #combatdesign 🧵

EXAGGERATED HIT COLLISION - All of Kratos’ attacks feel EXTREMELY powerful in their own way. The Heavy Attack has the ability to hit multiple targets even if the actual Axe doesn’t make contact. The player receives a "bonus" for successfully hitting a single target. 1/3

The image below is my best guess on Kratos' weapon hit box (green) vs the axe model (red). If there’s a nearby clustering of enemies, this forgiving hit collision doesn’t require the player to make a choice but instead just hit one target to affect nearby enemies. 2/3

Read 15 tweets

Jason de Heras

@jasondeheras

8 Feb

Melee combat design is the art of creating rules that determine when/how a player or enemy are allowed to hit each other. The inclusion of key rules determines the player’s technical burden. Let’s compare God of War/ Sekiro who have similar mechanics. #gamedesign #combatdesign 🧵

ATTACK TARGETING - Generally, the player has to control 2 axes (player facing and camera facing) during intense reaction-based gameplay. Eliminating the need to use the Left Stick to aim towards a target greatly reduces the chances of an attack missing. 1/4

In God of War, the attack targeting (or “soft targeting”) is EXTREMELY forgiving. Without touching the Left Stick (aka “Neutral” stick test), Kratos automatically turns to his target on the initial frame the attack input is registered. 2/4

Read 19 tweets

Jason de Heras

@jasondeheras

1 Feb

What makes an easy (or hard) melee enemy? It depends on the combat game, but there are common enemy characteristics found in most melee games. Reverse engineering games is an exercise every game designer should do. Let’s look at the FIRST enemy in God of War. #gamedesign 🧵

The Draugr is the first enemy you fight and, unsurprisingly, it’s not much of a threat on its own. Its ROLE is to be a “punching bag.” On a side note, another fun game design exercise is to read up on your favorite game wiki and design additional content on paper.

AGGRESSION - Enemy attack frequency is a big factor in combat difficulty. I use the “Block Test” (if the game has one) where I stand and block to observe how often they attack. The Draugr has a TONS of downtime where it just idles - which is encouraging you to hit it.