07/07/2015 - Melee Combat Recommendations?

[treyu]

I think you are trying to bring an utopic combat system for the resources you have and the base game you already have built. Games like Darkfall or Life is Feudal have great non target combat systems, but they spent many many years creating a very complex netcode and related combat system to make it professional and responsive. things that in my opinion after following and playing Xsyon from the beginning, you can't achieve. it is not an insult or a critic, I am being realistic and I think you should REALLY be realistic if you want your game to succeed. Combat is one of the most important things to get into a game, and I am not sure you realize how much. All my guild mates and friends that tried Xsyon didn't like it due to combat. Building is great, graphics are acceptable for the scope of the game, terraforming is great, crafting is nice, harvesting too, but combat.... combat is one of the main focus of an mmo that has PvE (and of course PvP), so it needs to be a very polished, fun and profesional. Which is not at the moment, has never been and if you continue trying to make a very complex, non targeting and groundbreaking combat system with your resources, you will fail again.

I am glad you are trying to change it finally, so use this change to create the best possible combat system for the scope of your game, the complexity of all its features and the resources you have. Games with lot of complex things like Xsyon (terraforming, free building, moving animals, etc) need to be realistic and don't look for a very complex combat system cause it is no possible to achieve if you don't have lot of guys working on it and lot of resources. A simplier combat system is NOTHING WRONG, in fact it will be much better because if it is polished, it works and it is beautiful to see, people will have FUN. No one plays Xsyon because it has a complex melee system or non target combat, they play it and know the game for other reasons. BUT they critize it because of its combat, lag desync in combat and lack of PvP incentives (due to combat too...).

With all that in mind, and even if I hate target combat, I am realistic and I know they are easier to implement, easier to fix lag desync and make it a polished system, and given all the great features Xsyon has, a target combat won't do harm, in fact it could do wonders as you can add abilities, magic, combos, even combat classes or specializations much easier, as all it matters is creating abilities and its effects. In a non target combat, and more witha a complex melee system where you aim your arms with mouse, it is crazy to implement all this with an indie game like yours. So I would choose a target system like Wow, FF14, etc and build it more complex from there later on. beleive me, you will greatly benefit for that change, in PvE and PvP.

But if you really don't want a target system, then go with a soft-target system like Elder Scrolls Online, The Secret World (when enabling "aim" mode), NeverWinter Online, Dungens and Dragons Online, The Repopulation, Tabula Rasa... it is a great compromise between both systems. You are actually targetting, but the system makes you feel like you are aiming as you always need to put the aim reticule into the mob/player to "maintain" the target so hits/abilities are registered. This system (as well as a pure targetting system) is MUCH less heavy network wise, which will free up resources for the rest of the system in the code.

Yous actual combat system is unpolished, unprofessional, plays badly and it is not fun. It was a great idea to try, but failed due to bad implementation because a combat like that needs MUCH MORE resources and people working on it, why do you think games like Darkall, Mortal Online, Elder Scrolls, Mount and Blade had to make compromises in other features to bring that type of combat and took them years of work with lot of people just working on combat and tons of tests?

Don't listen to people wanting a very complex system like mount and blade, mortal online or darkfall, they are very complex for your game...... think just in creating a POLISHED, FUN and with GOOD FEELING combat both in PvE and PvP

Oh, and there should be ZERO excuses to have desync and lag after so much time. An MMO can't have it, more if you have a non instanced world. It is like openning a food shop and giving excuses to your customers because your food is in bad condition because you don't have freeze conditioning, which should be something intrinsic to your bussiness. Everytime I have read your posts saying desync is not a problem, or some players have it others dont, or it is an issue related to people playing from different parts of the world, I just think this game should not even exist. No players should have desync in combat, does not matter the excuse you want to take. Professional and released mmos DON'T have desync or they don't launch till its fixed. Stop working on building parts, terraforming, crafting etc and make a combat system with no desync, no lag, that works for everyone THE SAME and if you can't, change things and take compromises till you achieve it.