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Jason de Heras 🎮

Mar 22, 2021 • 16 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

How do melee combat systems REINFORCE the fantasy of the player character? These gameplay systems are designed around a set of INTERCONNECTED rules that nudge players towards a certain playstyle or action. Let’s compare some popular melee action games. #combatdesign #gamedesign

Sekiro replaced the global stamina system from Souls game and implemented a Posture/guard meter. This discourages the player from being PASSIVE; however, the addition of the Parry mechanic allows the player to COUNTERACT this limitation via skill and mastery of each enemy. 1/5

Combat mechanics in modern melee action games have their roots in fighting games. Guard meters have been around for 20+ years and their purpose is to discourage players from INACTION. Since fighting game rounds are time limited, guard meters force the pace of the action. 2/5

Street Fighter Alpha 3 takes this a step further by losing a chunk of guard meter every time the player gets Guard Crushed. This extra tension creates emergent situations where strategy, counter-counter strategy and risk taking increases tenfold. 3/5

Sekiro’s Posture system is slightly more forgiving, yet functions similarly. The meter fills up as you block (or take damage). If the player is blocking as the meter overflows, they become stunned/vulnerable for a few moments. 4/4

Posture reduces fastest by, ironically, blocking (without getting hit). Parrying is HIGH RISK (mistime a parry and increase your posture) HIGH REWARD (increase ENEMY posture meter/stall yours). Attacking/evading/sprinting stall your meter as a way to balance unlimited usage. 5/5

Rage mode in God of War is a PASSIVE system where an (orange) meter fills up based on SUCCESSFUL attacks. The player isn’t forced to resource manage and it operates separately from the special move cooldowns. Instead of encouraging a playstyle, Rage mode serves as a REWARD. 1/6

Rage mode also has its roots in a common fighting game mechanic called Super meter. A bar fills up over time, and once full, gives the player access to a new ability. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo was one the first fighting games to introduce this mechanic, some 27 years ago. 2/6

The player can activate it to unleash massive damage. The Rage meter is a mechanical interpretation of the metaphor “Get Out of Jail Free Card.” Its advantageous to use in ANY situation. There are a handful of elements that make this mechanic extremely FORGIVING/POWERFUL. 3/6

The Rage meter can ONLY deplete if activated. The player isn’t penalized for playing poorly as you see in the 1st part of this video. The ACTIVATION serves as a powerful hit that launches nearby enemies. A full screen filter let’s the player know they are in a special state. 4/6

Kratos plays unique attack animations for Light/Heavy Attacks. The translation/reach of attacks is also increased to ensure the player has less chance of missing. The meter reduces on every attack button press as well as over time, so there's a small layer of strategy. 5/6

Enemies play UNIQUE hit reactions to sell the feeling of immense power. Also, the player gains some health over time and with each successful hit to enhance this RUBBER BAND mechanic. Finally, Kratos doesn’t play a hit reaction and I suspect there's damage reduction when hit. 6/6

In Spider-Man, the Focus bar is divided into 3 segments. It fills as Spidey attacks/takes damage. Each segment allows Spidery to perform 1 Finisher. The player can use meter to Heal as well. Similar to God of War, the bar doesn't deplete based on poor performance. 1/2

This element of choice/strategy designed into one meter is another staple of fighting games. In Street Fighter V, the player can choose to use each individual segment to pull of special "EX" moves. Or they can wait until bar is full to perform a Critical Art (super move). 2/2

The Regain system in Bloodborne is a high risk/situational-reward mechanic that allows players to regain a portion of health they just lost. When the player gets hit, the player loses health but can fill up their health up to a certain point (indicated by the white tick). 1/2

The player has ~3s to incrementally gain back health per successful attack. If the player is hit during this timeframe, the player loses the chance to gain back that initial chunk of health. This is an example of a HARDCORE rubber band mechanic with DIMINISHING returns. 2/2

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More from @jasondeheras

Jason de Heras 🎮

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Dec 22, 2023

What are some interesting enemy design layers that are slowly introduced to the player in Hollow Knight? Enemies need to provide increased challenge over the course of a game but also be digestible/fair to learn. Let’s look at early to mid game enemies. #gamedev #combatdesign 🧵

FORESHADOWING - The thoughtful placement & introduction of an enemy can be used to indirectly train the player for a much harder fight later. In general, boss fights requires the player to deal with intense boss abilities/patterns where learning is often done through dying. 1/2

Boss designs that build on or have similar behaviors to enemies already encountered allows the player to have a basic strategy and muscle memory as a foundation. The aggressive Vengefly has a dash attack that is very similar to the Hornet boss you fight a few minutes later. 2/2

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Dec 22, 2021

How do humanoid bosses in Sekiro remain predictable yet provide increasing challenge over the course of a boss fight? Let’s look at arguably one of the more difficult humanoid boss fights - Genichiro Ashina. #gamedesign #combatdesign 🧵

PLAYSTYLE - The player can influence the predictability of the fight with an aggressive playstyle with a mix of attack pressure and parry mastery. Passive or evasive playstyle invokes Ashina to perform arguably harder and a wider array of attacks to deal with. 1/3

Ashina’s neutral attacks (non-defensive attacks) have tricky movement/timing characteristics and hit with more frequency than counter attacks. He also has an unique unblockable grab out of neutral. Ashina rarely performs these attacks when on the defensive in the early fight. 2/3

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Jul 5, 2021

How does the Default controller layout of a 3rd person melee combat game influence gameplay? Console games need to strike a balance between intuitive inputs & supporting a wide array of mechanics. Let’s examine some melee games’ controller layouts. #gamedesign #combatdesign

GOD OF WAR (2018) - God of War employs a controller layout similar to most First Person Shooters in order to make Axe throwing intuitive and accessible to a larger number of players. Holding L2 brings up a reticle to indicate the Axe is ready to be aimed.1/5

The player can freely use their right thumb to move the camera around to select their target. R1/R2 buttons become contextual and serve as Axe throw attacks. In all, R1/R2 are overloaded with 5 unique movesets! (axe throws, axe attacks, barehanded, chains, rune attacks) 2/5

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Jason de Heras 🎮

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May 24, 2021

What does the act of getting hit convey about the melee combat system? How the player controls/reacts when taking damage contributes to the combat difficulty. Let’s look at two different 3rd person melee combat games, Sekiro and Devil May Cry 5. #gamedesign #combatdesign 🧵

Generally, in melee combat games, taking damage disables the player’s input for a small amount of time and becomes vulnerable to follow up attacks. If the player gets hit consecutively without being able to escape (dodge/block) this is usually referred to as STUN LOCKED. 1/4

In DMC5, the reaction system has safeguards to prevent Nero from getting stun locked. If hit during a reaction, the 2nd hit will not trigger a reaction (only damage). If hit multiple times within a short time, he’ll play an EJECT reaction that prevents follow up attacks. 2/4

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Jason de Heras 🎮

@jasondeheras

May 8, 2021

What are some design elements that make a challenging boss in Sekiro? Overall, Sekiro bosses skew hard compared to other action games so each boss needs to provide unique challenges. Let’s look at one of the middle difficulty bosses - the Guardian Ape. #gamedesign #combatdesign

ARMOR - Hit armor is an attribute that allows the enemy to absorb hits without taking hit reactions or having their current action become interrupted. This provides a risk / reward element in which the player must learn when each attack will hit. 1/3

There’s a limited number of attacks the player has time to land after the Ape has finished attacking. The player must be deliberate in how many swings to attempt before deciding to stop, block or evade. 2/3

Read 18 tweets

Jason de Heras 🎮

@jasondeheras

Apr 22, 2021

- PART 2 - #gamedesign #combatdesign Game freeze can also be used as NEGATIVE reinforcement. In Hollow Knight, the game freezes every time the player takes damage. In Bayonetta, the game freezes when she takes damage but only when the she’s past a certain health threshold. 4/6

The CONTEXT of how freeze is used makes sense for the rules of these respective games. Bayonetta is harder to hit and has more health so taking damage isn’t frequent; conversely, Knight’s health is an important resource that needs to be managed against casting spells. 5/6

In Street Fighter V, game freeze is used to inform the players that special attacks have been initiated. Aside from providing an exciting/visceral action, the freeze gives the players time to plan their next action given the highly technical nature of the game. 6/6