Real Time gameplay of RTwP

[Surface Reflection]

To re-establish the curriculum for the third time...

There is a specific feature i saw in all so far released gameplay videos. That feature compounds with a few other ones, one being the way engagement is working now, to create combat gameplay that is not really good, inspiring or engaging.

The thing is that you kinda forgot to pay a lot of attention to the Real Time part of the combat. There is practically none of it. Its all just pause-pause-pause-pause. You are paying too much attention to pausing and the dry skills and mechanics... that dont visually translate into real time part of the gameplay at all.
If you really want to have a great real time with pause combat and gameplay - you really, really need to invest a lot of time and effort into the REAL TIME section of the combat. - speaking generally -

 

By that i specifically mean this: Your characters in this game close the distance to each other and then they just stand there and swing at each other, interrupted by frequent pausing - while they just stand woodenly, not moving, not dodging, not doing anything at all. Any action and reaction is simply transferred through stats and calculations. Not through physical movement of the characters or creatures.
Sure they move when the player makes them move around, but thats just walking to a different-same spot and then doing the same thing all over again. Visually.

 

The combat is really hampered by the animations style and overall visual approach. The new mechanics would actually fully blossom only with appropriate visual representation.

 

PoE currently uses the old DnD "characters stand in place in front of one another and swing away", which pretty much ruins any organic flow a real time combat should exhibit. But there is actually no need for that anymore. That old presentation was there because atleast partly the technology didnt alow for anything much better. Now it does. There should be some movement to those bodies, some should be lurching, heaving, stepping around, jumping back and forth etc. Barbarians should be ponderous, swinging with wild swings or strikes, Rogues agile and lean, fast moving, dodging. All combined with swings of attacks and defense moves. - (that are already there) -

 

All these new mechanics would play into such new physical moves and animations perfectly. But right now, they simply dont translate into the Real Time part of the "Real Time with Pause".

I had hoped that the game will take such approach when i saw all those guys experimenting with weapons around Obsidian offices in that old update... but it seems you guys were just taking in how the weapons move. Not how the people holding them move in combat.

However, due to incredible amount of work this kind of visual representation would require im thinking this is far from possible, especially at this stage of the game development.

On the other hand... you will not be able to make combat really interesting, engaging or new in any way unless you do it.
And... its real time components or flow will end up looking worse then many current Turn Based games.

That would be the situation described in general terms.

 

 

Of course its understandable that you moved in this direction because of legacy of IE games, but i feel that is one feature that also needed to get a bit of a revamp for the better, done appropriately, fitting for this specific style of the game.

There is about three or a few more months left, so its doubtful any major change would be attempted, but on the other hand its kind of a enough time to improve this side of the game if you would decide to do it. Hopefully, such improvements are already a part of the general work towards improving the beta into final release state.

It wouldn't exactly be a surprise....   some new animations had been added to and improved the Monk class, just recently... so its practically as usual in game dev.

- there is no updates that actually claim anything different, either. -

Anyway, It really feels to me it would be a shame to have combat less engaging (pun not intended) when the rest of the game is so brilliant and fresh and well done. Such as the awesome text adventures, a start of a very good main plot story, good characters, good dialogue, great locations and setting and all that stuff.

...

What can be actually done is a matter of being realistic and figuring out what additions and improvements of how characters move and visually interact could be realistically doable, considering the stage of development and other such realities.

Which means these would have to be minimalistic, fit for the style of the game and its PoV additions, made as expressions of new mechanics and character abilities - of course, since that would make them incredibly useful for players and devs and Ai, not just for making combat behave and look more organic, more "fluid" if you will.

A lot can be done with smaller changes of the already existing material, for example the speed of characters general movement could be reduced as or when their endurance gets depleted. The ordinary walk animation isnt that difficult to turn into a slower, kind of hobbling version that could serve to present some form of critical hits, or into fast two steps forward - attack, two steps back move. (using the ordinary attack animation).

Or to have those that are in engagement visually move around the area together, fighting their own small duel kind of a thing.

That would practically only use already existing assets and animations, you would only need to limit the range of their spin so they dont dance off too far away. Not a problem to set some radii, right?

 

Of course the real question is whether you devs would want to do this. If you dont then this thread wont matter much, there is no expectation on my side that you must do this because i am saying so.  Tis just a suggestion.

And it all wont work very well or achieve anything much if the Engagement mechanics stay the same as now, anyway.

Its a two pronged problem that crates a negative feedback loops for gameplay as experienced by the end user.

 

 

 

...

Due to the "community" practically being under control of trolls and cheap scum, no replies are needed.

Im just making a post for the devs to see my suggestion clearly.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Surface Reflection

[Jarmo]

Would be better post by far with the last bit removed.

But +1 anyway, as I prefer NWN1 combat to NWN2 combat, by a wide margin.

[LadyCrimson]

no replies are needed.

Im just making a post for the devs to see my suggestion clearly.

The third time may sometimes be the charm, but I get the feeling it may not be in this case. Since you stated no replies are needed this time around, this need not remain open...please do not repost this same topic yet again.