gromit
Arcane
Okay, here's how I see it. In all of the games before, you had to be pointing at something to hit it. The rolls were not magical "attack shit within my general area" functions... well, outside of the "magically attack shit within my general area" spells. So, to hit things, you had to be able to point a cursor, it's a given.
Now, Morrowind's combat system was very, very simple. Outside of the enemy blocking a successful attack, one roll resulted in either a successful hit, or the now infamous whiffs. In Oblivion's combat, the hit will always occur when you swing at a target within range. My understanding, though, is that it may not necessarily be "the hit" as seen in Morrowind; it isn't going to give you a free ride through the single check that was present in that game, call it damage, and call it a day.
If a lower speed attribute than the opponent makes it easier for them to move out of the way of your swing or get a block attempt in, if lower strength makes it easier for them to withstand the blocking impact or for their armor to absorb the damage, if piss-poor swordsmanship makes these, being effortlessly parried, and all other forms of failure more common, then we're still pointing, clicking, and letting the numbers do their thing. It's removing the "pretend something happened" and replacing it with the logical progression of events based on skill. I would rather have that indication of what happened to my attack, see the blade glance off their shield or armor, see them effortlessly parry my newb swings, than see a sword go through them.
At this point, please let me reaffirm that I am wicked, wicked queer for stat-driven combat. I think it's tragic that so many people think it has no value beyond what it attempts to abstract, just like many think of videogames in general. They cannot appreciate it as a wholly different system of play, complete with its own charm, and instead only see "the old, not real way" of doing combat. On the attacking side of things, I just don't see where harm has been done to the stat-reliance of combat, and the opportunity for more stat interaction may have arisen from the need to explain misses. If the game comes out an misses all of these opportunities, I'll cry and you can laugh.
However, that's on the ATTACKING side.
Ultimately, the only change to this combat system, regarding its preference of math over twitch, is that whether or not the player even attempts to block is no longer up to the stats, even if the success of it is, and the player dodging is no longer a "just pretend" moment arising out of your statistical ability to dodge, even if the speed at which you can dodge is based on the stats.
This is what means twitchier combat - moving a stick or pressing a key, within a window whose length will hopefully at least vary based on stats, in reaction to an NPC's attack. I would hold no issue with seeing swings get resolved more elegantly than "WHIFF!" if my chance to even have a chance did not come down to pressing a button in time.
Can I dodge this? Then I'll pretend a little if moving me to the side automatically comes off a little odd in playtesting. Can I block this? Great, throw up the fucking shield already. You know I want to block something if it's about to hit me, so don't wait on me to tell you so.
Debates over whether or not a swing has a chance to have never existed, versus some stat-induced action happening to prevent it from connecting or dealing damage, are some very small potatoes compared to creating a situation based solely on reaction time, and if you guys should be up in arms over anything for making the combat twitchy, it's this.
Oh, and by the way... too bad about levitation, seems it's gone the way of the rope arrow. Which used to be up, but not anymore. Ba-dum dum.
Now, Morrowind's combat system was very, very simple. Outside of the enemy blocking a successful attack, one roll resulted in either a successful hit, or the now infamous whiffs. In Oblivion's combat, the hit will always occur when you swing at a target within range. My understanding, though, is that it may not necessarily be "the hit" as seen in Morrowind; it isn't going to give you a free ride through the single check that was present in that game, call it damage, and call it a day.
If a lower speed attribute than the opponent makes it easier for them to move out of the way of your swing or get a block attempt in, if lower strength makes it easier for them to withstand the blocking impact or for their armor to absorb the damage, if piss-poor swordsmanship makes these, being effortlessly parried, and all other forms of failure more common, then we're still pointing, clicking, and letting the numbers do their thing. It's removing the "pretend something happened" and replacing it with the logical progression of events based on skill. I would rather have that indication of what happened to my attack, see the blade glance off their shield or armor, see them effortlessly parry my newb swings, than see a sword go through them.
At this point, please let me reaffirm that I am wicked, wicked queer for stat-driven combat. I think it's tragic that so many people think it has no value beyond what it attempts to abstract, just like many think of videogames in general. They cannot appreciate it as a wholly different system of play, complete with its own charm, and instead only see "the old, not real way" of doing combat. On the attacking side of things, I just don't see where harm has been done to the stat-reliance of combat, and the opportunity for more stat interaction may have arisen from the need to explain misses. If the game comes out an misses all of these opportunities, I'll cry and you can laugh.
However, that's on the ATTACKING side.
Ultimately, the only change to this combat system, regarding its preference of math over twitch, is that whether or not the player even attempts to block is no longer up to the stats, even if the success of it is, and the player dodging is no longer a "just pretend" moment arising out of your statistical ability to dodge, even if the speed at which you can dodge is based on the stats.
This is what means twitchier combat - moving a stick or pressing a key, within a window whose length will hopefully at least vary based on stats, in reaction to an NPC's attack. I would hold no issue with seeing swings get resolved more elegantly than "WHIFF!" if my chance to even have a chance did not come down to pressing a button in time.
Can I dodge this? Then I'll pretend a little if moving me to the side automatically comes off a little odd in playtesting. Can I block this? Great, throw up the fucking shield already. You know I want to block something if it's about to hit me, so don't wait on me to tell you so.
Debates over whether or not a swing has a chance to have never existed, versus some stat-induced action happening to prevent it from connecting or dealing damage, are some very small potatoes compared to creating a situation based solely on reaction time, and if you guys should be up in arms over anything for making the combat twitchy, it's this.
Oh, and by the way... too bad about levitation, seems it's gone the way of the rope arrow. Which used to be up, but not anymore. Ba-dum dum.
It's called real life, my friend... it has amazing graphics, and doesn't take a computer to play. (yipsl: If your people were raped in the past, sorry, but tough! I'm done editing this. Don't all wear such short skirts next time.)bryce777 said:
