Original post by Jiia With four attack buttons, I don't think I can afford to require holding another.
Hmm i think it's mostly up to key layout, really. Four keys arranged in the WASD pattern are operated with three fingers, that leaves anything located under either the thumbs or pinkies as potential convenient 'mode' key... can hold these without affecting other controls.
Original post by Jiia If you don't count jump and block as combat buttons ;)
Ahh, good point. in my defense i actively avoid thinking of jump as part of combat, and i blame it on the horde of bunny hopping idiots from number of games -.^
(dodges or a lunge as part of combat, sure... the dumb i-have-spring-up-my-arse jump thingie that you can only really see in games, never >.<
edit: on second thought can still fit these controls, i guess... three fingers of left hand on WASD for movement, pinky on shift for combat mode, thumb on space for jumps. Right hand in similar manner controls four attacks and block, and you're left with room for one more key for anything... be it target cycling, weapon swap, healing action, super attack charge or whatever.
I'm not implimenting the arse-spring system. I have no idea why so many 2D games got perfect jumps, yet 3D games never seem to nail it. What is the issue there? It's the exact same algorithm.
There are six types of offensive jumps. One is a hop, four jump in the direction you're pressing, and the last is a running jump. Each of them have three fighting states. Take-off, mid-air, and descent. That's 18 fighting states right there. Not that all of them will contain unique moves. The take off state can be used pretty easily by just executing an attack right after you press jump. It will most likely be used to start air-duels and launch opponents into the air. The mid-air is lengthy enough to be just as easy to use, and will probably be useful mostly for smashing launched opponents back to the ground. Descent is both harder to time and aim, but will give extremely devistating attacks. Sort of a gravity intensified death move.
An example of a sword combo: HighLeft, Forward+HighRight, Jump, HighRight, wait until you recover, LowRight, back+HighRight. Which would do the following: Shield or hand jab, downward high slash which has you almost crouched, hop + bring the sword back up into a really nasty launching slash + knock the opponent up with the same gravity you jumped with, recover from the inhuman excercise you just performed and organize yourself as your opponent tries to figure out what the hell is going on, knee the opponent in the gut as you both fall, bring your sword back down to meteor him into the ground.
Of course your opponent would have several places he could have turned the combo around on you if you hesitated, if his speed is high (agility), or his recovery time is faster (endurance). There are also some fighting states that actually put the enemy into a state, which allows them to literally use your moves against you.
It's basically just a modified version of the combat in my 2D fighter I showed images of, but with easier control sequences. It will be less dramatic, though. In that game, each successful air attack slightly bounced you and your opponent up so that gravity had a very small effect as long as the combat was going heavy. It was possible to do a launch on someone and completely finish the fight in the air, but both fighters had to be pretty tricked out to pull it off.
Err, anyway. What the hell was my point? I guess I'm thinking out loud again. Sorry to bore the heck out of everyone that accidently read through that.
There are a lot of PC analog controllers out there. I own three different types, but I've yet to find any as worthy as the PS2 controller. I have no idea if there are any legal issues with using a Playstation controller on a PC. I doubt it, but I'm not sure. Oh well, Sony got their controller cash.
The USB contraption that hooks it up can cost less than $10. DirectInput reads it just like any other. Perfectly in fact, down to the way the D-Pad can be switched to analog control with the red light button. The adapters also work with PS1 controllers.
Just in case you didn't realize, it's possible to program your control system so that any type of devices can be used. I have mine set up where one player can use any control on any device for any action :P
For example, they could map the space key to menu, a button on a controller to jump, and a button on the mouse to attack. Outside of the input engine, the game has no idea where the signals come from. So it doesn't make things more complicated.
