"Melee Combat Animation" - An EQ 1 Nightmare.

Jayzan

One thing about EQ 1 that I never could quite shack was my utter disdain for the poor melee animation.  It made me want to hurl.  You could stand back 10 paces from your target and be swinging into thin air and still hit your target!  The Enemies would all just kind of cringe like they were having a stomach ach for a second, and then go back to the same hum drum attack style.  Even the Monks could land a punch from 10 paces or a Kick, and there was no blocking.  A monk should be able to block punches and have some variety.  Anyone ever seen the Movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" ? 

Now, I have seen the EQ2 movie, which is obvisouly just a trailer and not actual game play footage, for the combat sequence anyway, but that's the type of melee combat I want to see in this game.  You should be able to thrust your sword into the victim.  You should be able to cut off their arms or behead them in one swipe, especially if you are a much higher level then the target.  I want to see deformation of the targets.  Cuts, scrapes, and bruises upon the places where the blows are landed.  Monks should be able to catch incoming fist, or arrows that are shot at them, just out of reflex.  They should take some tips from the developers of Mortal Kombat 4 Deadly Alliance. 

Does anyone know what the Combat animation is actually going to look like?  And please don't tell me it will suck as bad as EQ 1's combat animation!

Crestguard

Ugh, what you are asking for is utterly impossible.  If you want to go around cutting limbs off, find a few games in PS2 or play Ninja Gaiden on XBox.  That is not what this game is about.  Though the combat might seem a little ackward, it is very difficult to make collision combat work, further more, there isn't really a whole lot of eligent fighting moves and such in a massive multiplayer game when there is a lot going on.  Though with the new emotes I've seen maybe they will be able to spice up special moves and arts of the sort.  But as for thrusting your blade through creatures or cutting of limbs, that wouldn't fly, especially not during long battles or epic challenges where they are meant to last for 15 to 30 minutes.

Misti

I have to agree with Crestguard, though it would be nice to have combat as detailed, varied, and realistic as some action titles, it really doesnt work well in most rpg games where stats determine most combat actions and especially mmorpgs where there are so many bases for the developers to cover.

I personally didnt mind EQ's combat animations but am glad to see they have improved them a bit for the sequal.  You may want to watch the movie at the link below to see how things are looking currently during a fight.  I think there will still be changes between now and release though, especially once external closed beta begins.

Its been a bit since I watched it but I believe the dark elf scout blocks and dodges durring the fight.

http://eq2players.station.sony.com/journeyofheroes.vm 

 

ramadin

I didnt see anything wrong with animations in EQ1, personnally I didnt want to be fighting mobs (at lvl 65) that were gigantic and have their toe or leg taking up my entire screen while fighting.  I'd kinda like to see the whole mob, not just a close up of its leg, thats why they make you be able to hit from further away.  But asking for cut off limbs, blood, cuts, etc = lag.  Server lag, not just video lag.  If every mobs limbs are falling off and you have 2000 people fighting on the server, well, it just wont work.

 

 

Laying in bed, looking up at the stars, a single thought passed through my head. Where the fuck is my roof?

Jayzan

Misti - I tried your link and it worked, but the site doesn't play the movie.  It just pulls up a black window with no video on it.  Hmm....

Misti

Hmm, thats from the official site so I am not sure why it wouldnt work for you.  Did you wait for a while for it to load?  It just stays a blank screen while it buffers I believe.  If not then maybe it requires a plug in you dont have?

Sorry I am not much of a computer guru so I dunno why it wont work for you. 

rathma

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Originally posted by Jayzan
Misti - I tried your link and it worked, but the site doesn't play the movie.  It just pulls up a black window with no video on it.  Hmm....

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 Scroll down on the black screen and you'll se it's buffering. The movie can take up to 5 minutes because of such high quality. The wait is worth it if you want to see how the combat animations are for the game. Personally i think they look very realistic!

Playing: City of Heroes/ Dark Age of Camelot
Upcoming: EverQuest II

Jayzan

I never did get Misti's link to work.  Could be my permissions, but I found this other video. 

http://www.megagames.com/news/show.cgi?&idtype=movies&database=198&section=downloads&

It shows some combat animation for eq2.  Some of it looks ok, but when they are fighting the dragon it looks like classic eq 1 animation.....

Docthart

I liked the melee in EQ1. It made it easy for people to attack mobs when grouped. it also allowed you to get a better view of fight becuase your not right up on the mob. Sure I could change my camera and zoom out and what not, but Im fighting and didnt want to do that. Atleast thats my perosnal opinion. And for EQ1 and its time it was great.

goliath142

In the game Asheronscall2 they have some cool things the arrows hit the mobs and stick but you wont see any blood in eq2 or it may get a higher rating and the kiddies couldnt play!

As I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil BUT it will have no choice but to FEAR ME!!!

Jayzan

This new 8 minute move looks promising.  The people get knocked down during combat.  They actually appear to be making contact with their weapons, in most cases. And at the end when the dragon layed everyone out a few times that was awesome!