[Heretic] Melee system experiment

[TerminusEst13]

Hi.

One thing I've been experimenting with for a while is how to make melee fun in an FPS. This is an experiment I'd like to share with other people and see if I've succeeded.
You are a dude with a sword and a shield. No real concept, no real story, no custom graphics really yet since this is just an experiment.
Hell, no real other weapon replacements yet, so really you'd just march around the first level.

Primary fire swings your sword. Clicking it at different times results in a different combo, much like Devil May Cry, and there are three different combos. Holding it down charges up your sword for a lunge. Alternate fire uses your ranged attack, hucking a spiked alchemical grenade. Just in case an enemy is too far for your sword.
There are also two custom buttons. One hefts up a shield, which slows you down and protects you from all ranged attacks and most melee attacks. Enemies straight up in your face will be able to work through the shield anyway. Another button is a kick, which knocks enemies back because I still think that is the best feature in Brutal Doom and am intent on ripping it off in everything I make. You're able to use the buttons in different scenarios, like blocking an attack mid combo and then finishing it off later, or "kicking" while blocking to do a vicious shield bash.

Here is a screenshot of a shield. It pretty much demonstrates nothing about the system, but it is a pretty shield. Neoworm did a good job on it.


Here's a download. Sorry, Mediafire link for now, I'll find another host later.
http://www.mediafire.com/?02hrw9ajakyqe0r

Please enjoy, and let me know what you think.

- Shield sprites by Neoworm.
- Sword sprites from Oblivion daggerfall.
- Grenade smoke effects by Pillowblaster.
- HacX Boot by an unknown artist. If you know, please yell at me so I can credit him!
- Boot swing sound effect by qubodup on Freesound.
- Boot hit sound effect by thebondman on Freesound.
- Sword draw, sheath, sword swings, shield lift, shield lower, shield block, and shield bash taken from the Oblivion Combat Sound Replacement.
- Shield swing taken from Kohan 2: Kings of War.
- Shield wall puff taken from Painkiller.
- Grenade ammo pickup taken from Painkiller.
- Sword wall puff and hit sounds taken from World of Warcraft.

[Triple S]

This is pretty fun! Any plans for more melee weapon types (spear, two-handed heavy weapons like greatsword/battleaxe/big-ass hammer, bo staff, dagger/twin daggers for fast, fancy stun-lock combos)?

I feel as if there needs to be a better visual representation of the sword's range. The sprite alone doesn't give the sense of depth I feel is necessary for melee combat. Perhaps some thin slash trail effects? Also, I think having a slash able to be used after a shield bash would be nice. Right now there's a long pause after shield bashing that wastes the stun. Lastly, the window for performing combo attacks needs to be smaller. There's a HUGE amount of time between the first click and when the slashing combo can no longer be used and when the thrust-slash combo can be used, then a huge amount of time between being able to do that and the weapon resetting. Same thing goes with the shield bash to stab combo.

My suggestion is to make the five-slash combo accessible through just standard firing, but after the first slash you can hold fire instead of just tapping it, causing you to start the thrust-slash combo. Holding fire after the second slash will start the shield bash combo. Of course, once the thrust or shield bash comes out, you'll need to start clicking again to keep the combo going.

EDIT: Haha, apparently the shield shares at least one sprite with the Silver Shield pickup.