Combat Mechanics Proposal

[KuroKuma]

I’ll just quote myself then:

@KuroKuma

First, classes in the traditional way (wow etc.) are a no-go fir most uf us. If you just meant a classification for someone who specialized in something, then I said nothing^^

The system in zelda never felt good for me. The fights were lame or unfair. That wasn’t only because of the locking system. So you could change it to the better. But would it fit into Oort?Such a system does 2 things I dislike:

1. It gives away possible weak points of enemies.
2. It restricts the combat to attacks to certain points on the enemy.

And I’d imagine, that it would need more time to implement such a target system then simple hitzones on the enemy body.

About the skillwheels: It’s not a bad idea but I think it would favor playing with a controller.You’re right that you don’t need to look around so your mouse is free. But such a system makes it almost impossible to be used without targeting.
And to press two buttons at the same time, which are used for individual actions isn’t a good idea in dynamic combat.At least I would always use the wrong things^^

[Zouls]

Hmm…

@KuroKuma

And I’d imagine, that it would need more time to implement such a target system then simple hitzones on the enemy body.

@ben

We’re working on a weak spot system at the moment, actually. We can position additional hit boxes with different armour types to receive different damage. Should allow us to make some interesting behaviours and creatures (eg: creatures that can only be damaged on it’s back, etc)

here ya go…

[Zuonius]

@KuroKuma

First, classes in the traditional way (wow etc.) are a no-go fir most uf us. If you just meant a classification for someone who specialized in something, then I said nothing^^

True, I only made up the rogue-like class as an example so I could explain how the different abilities of a rogue would be used with the same control scheme. I did read on the Steam store page that there will be race abilities and jobs, so you can imagine how those could replace the words “class abilities” or “jobs”.

@KuroKuma

1. It gives away possible weak points of enemies.
2. It restricts the combat to attacks to certain points on the enemy.

1. The Devs have said that multiple hitboxes on an enemy are completely possible. Knowing these weakpoints wont necessarily make the fight unfair because you still have to think about timing and strategy.
2. This is true, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This allows for cooperative fighting, especially in Titan fights. Someone with a hammer can attack the feet of the titan to make him fall down while the rangers attack his face to distract him or something to that effect.

@KuroKuma

About the skillwheels: It’s not a bad idea but I think it would favor playing with a controller.You’re right that you don’t need to look around so your mouse is free. But such a system makes it almost impossible to be used without targeting.

Some people like controllers, and this could easily be translated for use on a controller.

The point is to only be able to use combat abilities while locked on to a target. That’s what I meant by quick engage/disengage of combat.

[Zouls]

Meh… honestly hardlock on targets would be a no go for me, it tends to work well in third person games but its not very skill based, in my eyes it would be much more interesting to aim, not using an inbuild aimbot. but that is just my thoughts on your proposal.

[Zuonius]

@Zouls

Meh… honestly hardlock on targets would be a no go for me, it tends to work well in third person games but its not very skill based, in my eyes it would be much more interesting to aim, not using an inbuild aimbot. but that is just my thoughts on your proposal.

I know where you’re coming from. Point-and-shoot would be nice, but I was trying to keep in mind that Oort is an MMORPG and balance is important.

Basically, the whole point of this system is to not have FPS mechanics or traditional MMORPG mechanics.

However, there is a small element of aim that could be worked in to specific situations. What if you quickly need to switch targets? You have to untoggle or let go of the target button, aim at the new target, and re-toggle. Seems simple but what if you only have a short amount of time to hit a creature in two places before he recovers?

[Vastar]

@ben

I definitely see Oort Online combat being more like a very light version of Borderlands combat more than something like WoW or Wildstar, if that makes sense.

@ben

We’re working on a weak spot system at the moment, actually…

is (as i understand it) a clear no to any form of target locking whatsoever.

[Zouls]

like this?

nah just kidding. time will tell, i am hoping for skillbased combat with hotbar skills still, having to aim them ofc.

[Zuonius]

Good point, Vastar.
RIP, proposal.

[ben]

Interesting idea – sounds like something that would be worth exploring for an RPG-heavy game! You’ve put a lot of thought in, well presented too. It’s always interesting to read this stuff even if it’s not necessarily the same direction we’re going in.

[adamlangridge]

Thanks Zuonius - you’ve put lots of thought into that. Great stuff.

[olihax]

@Zuonius

The whole point of this system is to not have FPS mechanics or traditional MMORPG mechanics.

This could still be acheived by having no locking on of hardpoints on titans. You also have to remember that we will have to fight creatures that are not titans, will we just lock straight onto them? If so then creature fights become really easy, you just aim and spam fire. However there might be more than one.

[TheBirne]

To be able to “lock” a target would be good for oversee the combat situation, especially when you can “tell” our lock to other players of the party (Calling targets per hotkey). But that locking should have no influence to hit or moving. All players should have to hit with the crosshair (FPS like) and also the movement schould be like in a FPS as well

[Zouls]

soo… like a sort of highlight? not aiming but having them so you can see their health and the likes? (if we assume players have a sort of portrait bar wowstyle) i think that would be great to try and figure out where players are.

but yeah i definately dont want hardlock, i think that removes most of the skill from the game since its just a tabtargeting combat system like wow, slightly changed

[Vastar]

Yep, something like the target markers in WoW would be pretty neat ,maybe even necessary, for groupplay.

[TheBirne]

Yeah, that exactly what I thought about … in GW you had “Ctrl-T” for calling a target (which got an arrow over the head) and “T” for selecting that target. So you could post a target as a group member, but others were not forced to have the same target. For example when playing a healer I rarely pressed “T”

[Zuonius]

@olihax

@Zuonius

the whole point of this system is to not have FPS mechanics or traditional MMORPG mechanics

This could still be acheived by having no locking on of hardpoints on titans. You also have to remember that we will have to fight creatures that are not titans, will we just lock straight onto them? If so then creature fights become really easy, you just aim and spam fire. However there might be more than one.

I imagined the combat to depend on evasion as well as attacks and abilities. In my mockup, the mo’pig has two targetable points. That would be used for dynamic fighting, like hitting his head to daze him and then hitting his rear to do damage.

To prevent spam from being an issue, you would simply have cooldown timers on all of the abilities, including the evasive ones. A good comparison would be a fighting game, where timing your blocks and dodges are important for counter-attacking your opponent.

[olihax]

Cooldown timers would work. Cooldown timers + locking at hardpoints, this turns it into a standard MMO style system though, locked aim and then manage cooldowns.

@Zuonius

where timing your blocks and dodges are important for counter-attacking your opponent.

This would be great!

[Zouls]

@olihax

standard MMO style

yes. a stand tab target mmo which most of us kinda wants to avoid.

[Zuonius]

@Zouls

yes. a stand tab target mmo which most of us kinda wants to avoid.

No, this system would be nothing like that.

[Zouls]

Again, i think weakspots would be neat, but i dont want hardlock cause honestly then what is the point of weakspots?

im not gonna try to argue more cause it is your opinion, but i just dont like that system, it works for some third person games like darksouls and zelda, but for this i would like to see people actually aiming.