Orange Juice: Melee - A Half-Life 2 Modification Thread

Hello to all!

I've just dived in to the world of modding. I've got this idea and I just wanted some comments and input from the rest of the forum. Tell me what you think.

I realize the description is kind of bare, but I'm working on some design stuff right now and as soon as I've nailed the specifics down I'll post them.

Thanks.

Spade_OJM

EDIT: Whoops, here a link : Moddb.com

Edited by: Papa_Naxos

you need a better description. this also should have been in mod ideas sinces you said its an idea. welcome though lol. please tell me more about it...

It's a mod... and an idea.. heh. Well it _will_ be mod. Someday. I know the description is a bit weak, but I want to nail down the finer points.

I can tell you it won't be like anything I've ever seen or played. One type of gameplay that I'm pretty much set on doing, is a tournament mode.

In tournament mode, each person logged into a server is part of the tournament. At any point in time there will only be 2 people engaged in combat. The others can watch the fight, or they go to an area set aside for others to spar off for fun and practice.

Some specifics about the combat systems:

There are several defined angles of attack.
- You can slice at your opponents body from the left, the right, or you can attack with a direct stab.
- You can attack your opponents head with a stab or come down upon them like hammer to a nail ( BAM! Ouch )
- You can attack your opponents leg from the left or the right ( leg, not legs, because his/her body will not be facing you directly, one leg will be in front of the other )
- Their will be different styles of attack depending on the weapon of choice. Avatars do not have unique attacks planned at this time ( simply because that would add a huge amount of animations for the mod )

The blocking system will also be unlike anything I've encountered thus far.
- For every attack that comes your way, you will have to block it, or you will get hurt ( obviously :] ). Blocking will not be: "oh, looky, i pres dis boton to blok all the atacks" Each attack will have to be blocked manually. This might sound odd, frustrating, annoying, or simply overkill, but the blocking system will have a feature that allows the attacked person to get a small glimpse of where the strike will land before it happens. Call it a warrior's intuition, if you will.
- There are three ways to avoiding injury: Blocking with your limbs, blocking with your weapon, and dodging. This also may sound like overkill, but the mod is trying to give the player almost unlimited freedom in how he/she plays, much like a real warrior would be able to attack and defend without using premeditated "combos". I've not yet pinned down exactly the ( default ) layout for commands to allow the player such freedom. Time will unravel the answer.

Footwork:
- The game will employ a system of footwork that will also play a role for players who want to go even deeper into their strategies. Currently planned are two stances. They are fairly straight forward. ( If your opponent is north of you ) You can either face west-northwest, with your right foot forward, or you can face east-northeast, with your left foot forward.
- Depending on your stance, you have different attacking options available to you.
- Attacking with regards to footwork:
- Basically, you can attack and change your foot work ( you push forward a bit, and your back leg become your forward leg ) and your opponent must take a step back ( this will happen automatically ) thus forcing your opponent to change his attacking options. Note that forward attacks ( ones that change your stance ) take away a greater amount of stamina ( whoops, I'll get to that in a moment ) and several forward attacks in a row will deplete your stamina.
- You can also attack without forward motion, this takes less stamina.
- Blocking with regards to footwork:
- When you block an attack, you have between 2 and 3 options with regard to footwork. In the first case, you might block the attack without changing footwork, this is the default block scenario.
- Also, you could block and step back ( your forward foot now becomes your back foot, and thus your stance is changed ). This back step could also occur involuntarily if your opponent executes a forward attack.
- Lastly, iff ( if and only if ) you are attacked with a regular ( not forward ) attack, you can push your opponent forward, unbalacing them momentarily ( they will be unable to attack as well ) allowing you to push forward with your own attack, or take a small pause in the action. This type of block takes away a good portion of your stamina.

In regards to stamina:
- Well, this isn't too unusual. You know the drill ( mostly ). You can attack until you are without stamina. Forward attacks take away more stamina than regular attacks. Blocking ( unless it is a forward pushing block ) does not take stamina ( or it is not planned at this time ).

Phew.. well. Much more than I intended to write when I began. I hope this gives you a better feel for what my idea ( mod, whatever ) is trying to become. Again, I welcome any and all critisms/ideas/etc. Though constructive is preferred. Telling me "I don't think you can do it on HL2" or something similar, is only a waste of our times. Other than that, Fire Away!

Thanks Again.

Spade_OJM

Edited by (in order): Papa_Naxos, Papa_Naxos

That's a big set of expectations for such an engine.It's near impossible if not highly improbable to get some of that accompished.

It would be fun though.

Cyanide, which parts do you feel are lacking/un-doable?

Thanks.

Spade_OJM

Well, I actually see that the whole attacking certain body parts / footwork are just as easily achieved by moving and aiming with their mouse.What I find that would be easy is the whole manual blocking.You could easily assign them to keys, but you would have to make sure that you have collision factors and what not, not to mention insane amounts of code.

CyanideCotdPnuts wrote: Well, I actually see that the whole attacking certain body parts / footwork are just as easily achieved by moving and aiming with their mouse.What I find that would be easy is the whole manual blocking.You could easily assign them to keys, but you would have to make sure that you have collision factors and what not, not to mention insane amounts of code.

You will be moving and aiming with your mouse, just where you aim your mouse determines the angle/direction/destination of attack :]

I'm glad you agree with the blocking system. That's the area I thought I would get the most heat.

I appreciate your comments! Please, more! Everyone! I really want to know if something like this sounds worthwhile to anyone else?

Thanks again.

Spade_OJM

Er..what I meant is that it wouldn't be easy, sorry :p.

Ah, heh, well, darn. That's ok. It is not unexpected. No worries. I will find a way to make it work or I will fall on my face trying. Thanks again for the input.

So, other than your doubts about the ability to implement said features, do you find the concept interesting/unique/potentially fun to play?

Spade_OJM

Well, in what forms of melee are we talking, or mroe specifically what time period is this covering?

Meh, no real time period exactly. There is no story ( sorry folks ) It's all about how much quality and excitement you can squeeze out of a single battle. If I pull off what I have in my head, then the losing player will have just as much fun as the winning player ( other than that they lost, heh ) So it's much less about winning and losing, and more about the joy ( or fun, at least, heh, maybe joy is too strong a word ) found in between.

In terms of combat type, well, the mod aims at bladed martial arts, with some punches and kicks added in for good measure. And so the feel will probably be Oriental. Of course there might be a nice english broadsword squeezed in there, who knows, eh?

Does that answer your question?

Spade_OJM

Seems good...