A melee combat mod idea I've had rolling around in my head.

[RetroNutcase]

First off, I'm not gonna lie, I'm no animator, I'm no modeller, I do know a few basic things about coding, but I'd probably need to learn more if I were to help on the coding front of a mod idea like this. Anyway, let's start with the basics, shall we? I have no idea what it'd be called, but the aim of this combat mod, were it possible, would be to give Oblivion's melee combat (and possibly other forms of combat) a much more action oriented feel that emphasizes things like timing, and fast paced battles. Overall, the aim would be to give the game more of an Action Game feel in combat, but without making the player too powerful or over the top. Admittedly, some of the inspiration from this is taken from over the top action games, but a good chunk of it is also taken from the action RPG Demon's Souls.

 

-Desired Melee Attack Changes-

This is where a lot of the big changes would be.

 

Quick attacks would, if possible, have a limit on how many could be done in a row based on weapon type, skill level, and soforth. IE, even if you had the Fatigue to swing 20 times, you would be forced into a brief pause after, say, 5. They would more or less be like combo attacks in action games, and if possible, would be influenced by a direction key: IE, pressing forward with a sword and comboing would focus on narrower attacks aimed straight ahead, while moving left or right would instead do wider ranged attacks. They could also, as long as the enemy did not have enough defense (Through things like their armor, fatigue, blocking, etc) cause brief periods of stagger.

 

Power Attacks would be heavily changed, in that they would be a lot more unique based on directional input, and would also be viable "Combo finishers" that can be used to deliver a powerful, heavy final hit to a quick flurry of normal ones. Their effects would vary, depending on weapon used, and the type of power attack. For example, with a 2h longsword...

-Forward would perform a powerful overhead swing, the kind that would, if there was gore (not that I think it's necessary in THIS game) split the opponent in two.

-Right or Left would perform a wide spin attack with the sword, effectively hitting multiple targets all around the player if surrounded. The fatigue and recovery time would be notable though, so it wouldn't be a move you'd spam. More like a panic button if you suddenly find five enemies surrounding you on all sides.

-Back would perform a rising slash, going from low to high, with a chance to knock an enemy off their feet or even briefly send them in the air for a juggle opportunity: IE, you could then use another brief combo to land additional hits before they hit the ground.

Power attacks would also be more likely to inflict heavier forms of stagger, which could then be used to open up for another combo, or put some distance between you and your attacker while you plan your next move.

 

-Desired Melee Defense Changes-

Defense would ideally get a lot of changes as well, due to faster paced nature of combat. The biggest change would be a timed guard system. While quite a few mods have done this, I'd be aiming to re-create Demon's Souls timed block system, which offered a very good risk vs reward setup. The idea is one must parry at the exact moment of impact. The timing window would be rather tight, but the payoff would be well worth it. A perfectly timed parry with a shield of parry weapon would put the opponent into a unique stagger, and prime the player for a Riposte. By attacking then, the player would deliver a devastating counter attack that inflicted critical damage on the enemy. The idea here is simple: If a player is good at timing their counter attacks, they can end a fight in one or two blows via Riposte.

 

On the guarding front, guarding would be both beneficial and risky for various reasons. The first risk: defending would not be an end all way to prevent being hit, or punish a constant attacker. Simply defending would reduce damage, but not cause any recoil/knockback for the person attacking. Passive blocking would also still significantly lower damage, so timing blocks perfectly would not be required unless one was aiming for a Riposte or just wanted to fully block damage. The risk would come in the fact that one can only keep their defense up for so long, constantly defending against attacks would eventually result in what fighting/action games call a Guard Crush, where your defense is broken and you're put into a brief stun period. The less defensive attributes someone has (Weaker armor/shield/stats), the easier it is to eventually guard crush them. Tank characters would be able to endure quite a bit of punishment before suffering a guard crush, while lightweights would quickly find their defenses broken and end up punished with an easy combo attack.

 

The overall idea behind blocking would be that timed blocks would inflict recoil (and allow Ripostes), whereas normal guarding would not require timing and would block a certain number of hits before your guard went down.

 

-How various matchups would work-

In this section, I'll talk about a few other mechanic ideas and how they would benefit/hurt various matchups, based on the type of fighter.

 

Lightweights would have the biggest advantage in speed, as lighter armor or no armor gives them better movement speed, less fatigue spent on attacks, and thus makes them ideal for hit and run, or sneak attacks. Their downsides would be that they couldn't easily force an enemy into stagger without either parrying and riposting, or waiting for a proper opening to attack: IE, attacking a heavy hitter that's on defense or just starting to swing their warhammer would not be a viable tactic. However, dodging the opponent's swing, then attacking them before the swing fully ends (but the danger has passed) could force them into a stagger and allow a full combo to be landed. Lightweight weapons like daggers would not hit very hard, but would be able to hit several times quickly, and fast enough that they could punish heavier attackers by exploiting the speed difference between the two.

 

Middle weight weapons would more or less be middle of the road, so I haven't given them much thought yet, aside from the fact they'd have decent speed and hitting power, but not an overwhelming amount of either.

 

Heavyweights would rely on their defense and resistance to being recoiled/flinching to deal with foes, as well as the fact their attacks are slow but leave quite a mark when they land. They also would be designed around overpowering defenses of lighter opponents, often smashing through their defenses in a couple of swings. In exchange however, their attacks would be slow, and leave openings to counter-attack in the event they missed. Against lightweights, they would rely on mistakes they made, for example, attacking too early, at which point they could prime a Power Attack to break through the weaker attack (The idea here being that heavy weapons/armor would get a brief flinch resist during the initial part of a swing) and then punish their opponent with further hits. Heavier weapons, particularly blunt, would be more focused on causing staggers/stuns to allow further blows to land, though their fatigue drain would limit how many consecutive blows could be landed.

 

So yeah, I admit this was mostly rambling, but I think you see the idea I have here: Give Oblivion's combat a more fast paced, action feel, and have a system that rewards well timed actions.

 

I doubt this'll go anywhere, I have minimal knowledge of coding for Oblivion, and I can't animate, but...Thought I might toss the idea out and see if it could go anywhere.