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[Alec S.]

Currently working on the melee combat system.  Trying to balance making it feel good and crunchy and satisfying while also making it based on your character's stats and make it fit and interact with the other mechanics of the game.  Naturally, Strength and Dexterity are going to be the main stats effecting things like damage, attack speed, combo length and how hard it is for you to be knocked over (and how effective you are at knocking over your opponent).

[ANtY]

Now with saucy cowgirls!

add stamina to your melee combat, that shit's important

[Alec S.]

Possibly.  Trying to keep things as simple as possible unless given a reason to complicate things.  Plus I'm trying to keep melee from being at too much of a disadvantage in a game revolving around gun combat.

[Ant]

this is kewl

Are the gifs the current screensize? If so it kinda looks a bit too zoomed-in unless most of the fights are 1-on-1. Might be hard to see what's going on if there's more enemies in the fray as a lot would be happening off-screen.

[Alec S.]

The gifs are just a portion of the screen size so as to reduce file size and so that images aren't so big they'd require scrollbars on the forum.  The screen size I'm currently using is larger than the mockups on the first page.

[Alec S.]

High Dexterity:



High Strength:

[Alec S.]

Made some very basic multiplayer support so that I can test out the combat system independant of AI.  It also gives me a chance to test out gamepad controls in parallel with keyboard controls, so I can make sure both feel right.

I'm also working on planning and laying the groundwork for the AI system, which is this massive component central to the design of the game, which I've been trying to design around for as long as possible so that I could make sure the mechanics work in isolation.  Things like the dialogue system, however, will play so closely into the AI system that I'm going to have to start seriously focusing on implementing it once I'm happy with how the combat system works.

[Alec S.]

Screenshot Saturday:



Also, I did a little writeup of the combat system on my site:  http://renegadesector.com/2013/12/preview-bandits-and-bounties-combat-system/

[ashtonmorris]

Uh..Yes! Looks great.

[Alec S.]

Currently working on the dialogue system.  The goal is to make the dialogue system A) rule-based rather than dialogue-tree based and B) possible to use quickly, in real time as much as possible, in the middle of combat.  You don't lose control of your character during dialogue, and in fact, I want pulling out your gun to always be an option during dialogue.  Also, if the player has a focus-shot lined up on an enemy, they will be able to tell the enemy to drop their gun and give up peacefully.

Basically,there will be three buttons that perform context sensitive dialogue options, and then one which can pause the game and open up a dialogue menu to create more specific offers and demands (much like the diplomacy menu in a 4X strategy game).  The button's effects will vary based on the situation.  For example, if you're pointing your gun at someone facing away with their gun drawn, one of the buttons would be "drop your gun".  After they do, that button would be "turn around slowly".  If you're not in combat, that button would be a basic request like "have you heard any rumors?".

[Alec S.]

Working on ways to disarm your opponent.  One of which ties into the dialogue system and one of which ties into the melee system.  Currently you can focus-aim at your opponent and then tell them to drop their gun (currently they will always drop their gun in this situation, but once the dialogue system is more fleshed out, they will chose to drop their gun based on their current threat and tension levels).  You can also punch an opponent while they are trying to draw their gun to send the gun flying (I'll probably eventually incorporate some special skills that let you disarm your opponent when they've already drawn their gun, or disarm them before they've drawn their gun).

[Alec S.]

Got a few costume choices working in the game.

[ericmbernier]

Looks like those mustaches are customizable too. Awesome.

If not, they need to be!

[Alec S.]

We plan to have a number of facial hair options.  Also, you'll be able to change your hair/facial-hair color.

[Alec S.]

Progress Update:

I've been working more on the elements of moment-to-moment gameplay.  Polishing combat so it feels better and more consistent.  Because of the perspective in the game, I've encorporated shadows to give a better indication of the actual position of objects so you can get a better indication of what will collide with something and what will go around it.  In addition to that, there's now z-sorting which allows objects to move in front of and behind each other.

I've also made the crosshairs show how inaccurate your current shot will be.  This inaccuracy percentage is based on your Accuracy stat as well as the base inaccuracy of the gun.  So a rifle weilded by someone with good aim might have a very small margin of inaccuracy while a shotgun will fire a barrage of inaccurate shots.



You can also take your time and line up a focus shot in order to reduce inaccuracy to zero, but this takes time, a steady hand, and for you to remain a certain distance from your opponent (the time and distance are also based on your stats).  In addition to giving you an accurate shot (that deals critical damage), if an enemy sees that you've lined up a focus shot on them, they may surrender, at which point you can open up dialogue.

I've also finally been remaking the character creation screen in Unity. 

[Bones]

Can you hit the enemies into the cactus to cause more damage?

[Alec S.]

Not yet, but that's something I've been planning to add in there.

[Alec S.]

[Alec S.]

Continuing to refine the combat system.  There's no longer a dedicated aim button.  Now as long as your gun is drawn and you aren't running, your inaccuracy for your next shot will gradually decrease.  Once it gets to zero, aiming at an enemy within your focus range for a certain amount of time will allow you to take a critical shot against that opponent. 

I've also been tweaking the melee combat system to get it feeling right.

[Alec S.]

Gif showing off the melee combat.  Includes the charged punch, which is an ability you can give your character in character creation.