What makes a combo feel POWERFUL? Most melee action games have a series of related attacks the player can STRING together. Combos usually have a FINITE number of moves until they END. Let’s look at Kratos’s barehanded combo in God of War #gamedesign #combatdesign 🧵
CADENCE - Combos are a TOOL the player uses to make PROGRESS on an enemy. The cadence/tempo of a combo gives the player a sense of progression and anticipation towards a satisfying climax or FINISHER. "Even" or linear feeling combos tend to be less exciting. 1/2
Notice in this diagram that the TIME in between each hit grows progressively smaller, EXCEPT right before the final hit where the amount of ANTICIPATION frames is the LONGEST. 2/2
POSING - Clear/readable/appropriate attack posing is the key to selling the EXPECTATION of power. Since the player has a limited amount of time (milliseconds) to digest each action, strong silhouette changes between each animation provide a sense of immersion/responsiveness. 1/4
A STRONG anticipation (or "Antic") pose is necessary to sell the follow-through and hit. Notice the varied Antic poses for all the attacks. Since the camera is always behind Kratos, the poses are authored with this in mind. 2/4
The HIT pose (and Hit Pause/FX/Impact SF/controller rumble/camera shake) gives the player a true sense of impact. Like other KEY poses, the hit frames are thoughtfully authored to sell maximum impact. 3/4
Aside from starting/ending attacks, the RECOVERY of attacks usually serves as the anticipation for the next attack in the combo (especially when button mashing). This is most evident between attacks 3 and 4 since those have the shortest anticipation between each attack. 4/4
HIT SNAPPING - Hit collision has to register instantly to make a HIT feel RESPONSIVE. The victim instantly snaps to sell that sense of impact. In this image, notice the enemy’s initial body position and then 1 frame later, the enemy is snapped towards the point of impact. 1/2
However, the enemy isn’t the only actor that snaps. Notice Kratos’s arm CORRECTS itself and snaps into the optimal hit frame. Since melee attacks have multiple active hit frames, the game finds the most powerful pose and “rewinds” the animation to match the contact patch. 2/2
HIT REACTIONS - The hit reaction is vital to selling the power of the combo. Hit reactions need to sell the TRANSFER of incoming energy. The DIRECTION of the hit is displayed in the victim as seen in the images below. 1/2
HIT PROPERTIES - The final attack of this combo puts the enemy in an EXTREME reaction that causes it to DISPLACE itself off the ground. In addition to the REACTION INTENSITY, the enemy is open for a kill finisher due to large stun buildup.
VARIED PERFORMANCE - Kratos NEVER attacks in the same manner. Right cross->Left Shield hook-> Right cross directly into 180 Left Shield backhand ending with a forward Shield thrust. For good measure, the Shield goes from "folded" to fully open to sell progression Kratos style!

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More from @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
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 Image
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
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
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
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. ImageImageImageImage
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.
Read 22 tweets
23 Dec 20
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
Read 8 tweets

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