The Real Trick of making Combat in RPGs fun...

There is a always a lot of talks around combat systems. But when i recal my experiences in 20+ Years of Online Games, the only thing that still sticks out in memory is the Engine of Dark Age of Camelot.
Here is why:
Each Style had its own animations with matching sound effects and it had wonderfull defense animations
in regards to block and parry. Together with the metallic sounds of swords parrying and the sound when the shield was hit by a weapon, it still sends shivers down my spine.

Also these combats were just "push button rows" the where more lively then any sophisticated glyps or other sets.
The changes between offensive and defensive animations and sounds feel much more real, also that the HIT you landed at the body of the enemy, was also matched by a sound. It feels like really hitting something.
So bottom line: High varieties in Sounds and animations, make combat more real and fun, than any "system"....

Whats so difficult in todays engines to implement animations with nice sounds that make each combat, regardless of autoatack, skills or moves to work this way. It would be the ultimate wish, to have these real life animations and sounds that ideally mirror real life swordsplay back in a game!

Cheers
Atlantur

 

uo player translation: conc blow, para blow, and crushing blow sound effects made the game feel more lively because the sound was engaging. Similarly with mages fizzle, and spell casts!

And liked, for the reality of the sound being stale.

 

Thinking back across the games I really enjoyed, the combat system really was never part of it. In fact, I remember enjoying games, enjoying combat in games, while muttering imprecations to myself about how annoying the combat interface was.

Getting good combat sounds hooked up would definitely help. Maybe some background combat music as well, something that would let us feel the rhythm of the battle.

 

I enjoy combat more in games where the combat is more tactical, and where thinking through the combat matters. If you remove tactics from the equation, sure, the differences in the systems don't matter much.

Comparatively, the visualizations don't matter much to me, although they do make the experience better also. So I support better animations, sound etc, too :>

 

Welcome Atlantur!

 

Thank you!

 

Welcome Atlantur!