Some combat mod ideas

[FalseLight27]

I'd like to preface this by saying this is my first playthrough, and I'm only on my first couple of hours (trying to track down Reeky) so I haven't seen everything yet. But overall I'm underwhelmed so far, which is a shame because I still see that the game has so much potential that can be unlocked if the right mods get developed. I don't know if the points I'll raise have been mentioned before but I'm bringing them up anyway just in case.

 

I mostly want to ask if it's at all possible for the following mods to be created somewhere down the line:

 

1. Grappling - Winning fights with just a sword against an armored opponent isn't very immersive. I know the game expects me to pretend I'm working the blade into the gaps in the armor and thus drawing blood, but it's just not very impactful even if I do. I think a good way to remedy this would be to repurpose the tackle animation into something like a wrestling/MMA takedown during locked combat, letting you get up on top of an enemy and finish them off with a dagger if they're sufficiently tired and bloodied. If there is no animation in the files for pinning a downed enemy and stabbing them, I think just the regular mercy kill animations would do (Ideally in first person).
   
2. Blunt hits causing knockouts - On the topic of swords, I think blunt hits from swords, such as with the pommel master strike, should serve a key tactical purpose in that it should make the enemy more likely to get downed and mercy killed. In lieu of a proper grappling mechanic, the "knockout with blunt attacks - mercy kill with blade" kind of flow should at least make combat feel like less of a LARP in that if I hit the enemy enough times in the shoulder plate they lie down and play dead lol. A mercy kill hotkey or shortcut (I'm thinking check for whether the player is preparing the thrust and their crosshair is pointed at a downed enemy) to skip the dialogue stuff would save time if still in active combat. IF a grappling mechanic is possible, giving this effect to blunt hits would add even more depth to it . Plus it can also include an option to just knock out people in combat or dialogue so you can rob them without killing them.
   
3. Spear-wielding enemies shying horses - This I think would be a bit easier to implement. Just write a script or add an attribute/perk that makes enemies wielding spears near you spook your horse, right? The reason for this is because it's way too easy to cheese entire groups of enemies as long as you're careful not to get unhorsed, especially with a polearm. This should remedy that and make taking on gangs of enemies actually dangerous and require a lot of care and strategy to deal with. Of course, it should come with an appropriate animation to make it look like the spearman is actually trying to scare your horse, but the regular attack animations should be enough, as long as the modder can induce the spearman to attack even if the horseman is some distance away.
   
   I think this could evolve into something that ties into an AI behavior in which a gang of enemies try to box in or trap horsemen. A spear guy scares your horse, forcing it to run off in the opposite direction against your will, where a bunch of guys will be waiting to unhorse you and chop you to bits. But I feel like AI stuff would be much more difficult (as it is in any game) so simple solutions first.
   
4. Mounted combat (NPCs on horses) - I'm pretty sure this has been mentioned several times before but I'm just confused why no one's gotten around to implementing them in a mod yet? Surely animations, AI behaviors and such exist in the game files as Cuman horsemen were present in Skalitz. Letting bandit or Cuman gangs have at least one or two mounted dudes would be a great way to balance out the havoc you can wreak all by your lonesome while mounted, too.

That's about all off the top of my head but I had a couple of other ideas, will update this post as they come to me.

Edited July 24, 2023 by FalseLight27