Chad Verrall

Sometimes it's a good exercise to compile a list of game elements to help focus a design. Here's a list of some forgiving melee combat properties for a single player 3rd person game. Of course, many factors will determine fun factor, challenge and mastery. /thread #gamedev

Basic attack effective against most enemies Immediate cancel all actions with block, dodge, super attack Omni-directional block Generous parry window with no startup frames Generous attack translation / reach Generous Dodge invulnerability frames with no startup frames

Player attacks generally hit faster than most enemy attacks One button dodge Dodge with large translation Minimal camera management / babysitting Soft targeting on attacks Player character visually pops out from enemies and environment No instant deaths at full health

Systemic methods to refill health, stamina, super bar Clear enemy attack anticipation poses that break default silhouette Generous enemy attack anticipation time Buffered / queued inputs that don’t rely on strict timing Exploitable / broken player abilities

Generous / exaggerated player attack hitboxes Large / long enemy hit reactions Large hit reactions that eject the player away from danger “Get Out of Jail Free Card” player ability Clamping how many enemies can attack at once and how frequently

Generous targeting cones Neutral left stick input = back evade No startup frames on special/super attacks Low level enemies taunt more than they attack Ranged enemies always miss the first shot Enemies don’t initially attack from offscreen