LE A revamped combat system (?)

[InsertVegetable]

Alright then, I've just registered, this is my first post so please bear with me. I'm sure many of these things might have been suggested before and some of them might even exist but I'm quite new to this modding thing (I'm usually the type of person that prefers to play games the way devs intended) and know very little about the process of modding itself (I'm on the end-user side of things). So some of these ideas are probably going to sound obvious and/or very wrong so please be patient with me.

 

The reason I'm mentioning this is that I have a couple ideas that could potentially help improve the combat in Skyrim (which, as extensive research into existing modifications has made me believe, is beyond help) - but the fact that no one seems to have done this before makes me convinced that there is something about my suggestions that is either not feasible or would simply not work as intended. If that's the case, please let me know and try explain the issues.

 

My aim is to essentially open discussion on possible ways to improve skyrim's combat and learn as much about the modding process as possible. Now I am aware there are existing combat modifications for Skyrim such as Duel, but these seem to be aimed at raising combat challenge as opposed to tweaking the mechanics of combat itself.

 

 

So here's a list of tweaks that I have in mind that I believe could improve the feel of combat if implemented:

 

- First of all, the feel and mechanics of the basic attack. the combat in skyrim feels floaty and unsatisfying, making mashing the left mouse button to flail your weapon of choice around until everything on screen is dead the standard course of action. Bethesda attempted to counter this using a prolonged wind-up animation before every attack but this is facing the entirely wrong end of the issue - possibly making it worse since it removes the feeling of immediate feedback when attacking. I think that removing the wind up animation frames and start the attack animation immediately after pressing the button would make the whole thing feel more responsive, while adding a delay at the end of attacks while the character needs to stop the weapon swing, regain balance and get back into an attacking position could work towards removing the buttonmashing element. This delay would depend on the weight of the weapon as well - so while swinging a greataxe would be roughly as fast as swinging a sword without the wind-up animation, the delay at the end would be longer, leaving the player exposed.

 

- The heavy attack is now just about the same as the light one, only the animation is slightly different and it deals more damage. It needs to be set apart and more controlled. A wind-up animation would be more appropriate with the heavy attack, however, what I'm suggesting is that holding the attack button would now 'charge' the heavy attack through this wind-up and releasing the button would launch it. releasing the button without fully charging the heavy attack would cancel it and the weapon would return to the idle position. Alternatively, binding the heavy attack to a different key could sidestep this entire 'hold to charge attack' business.

 

- there should be no way for the player to interrupt their own attacks with either a different attack or a block. this, coupled with the delay at the end of attacks, should create a penalty for badly timed attacks.

 

- Stamina management is all over the place. It serves no practical purpose in the game other that to get on the player's nerves. This needs to be revamped completely. Stamina should be depleted through both light and heavy attacks, as well as blocks. It should run out fast, with only a couple swings - depending on the weight of the weapon. However, it should also regenerate fast - stamina regeneration should kick in after a short delay and be back up to full in a matter of seconds. The player should not be able to launch any attack or block when they are out of stamina. Holding the block button should slow down stamina recovery.

 

- Well-timed blocks should stagger enemies, which would give the player a slight damage bonus.

 

- all of the above should apply to the player as well as NPCs

 

Now most of this is idle speculation and an attempt to analyse combat mechanics of other games and bundle them together into something that I feel like it would work fairly well with Skyrim. It might not be feasible or might not solve the issues in practice - or even create a whole new set of issues. I assume that you people have more experience with this so... what do you think? Can this be done? Would it work? If not, why not? Any other ideas out there?

Edited November 10, 2014 by NotLordAtkin