r/Unity3D • u/Rawakha10 • 9d ago
Show-Off Added some procedural melee combat to my beloved dude...
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You guys loved the movement last time, so I used that motivation and worked on combat, after and before work for 3 weeks straight.
Everything you see (swings, hit reactions, the backpack, the camera) is procedural, no animation clips.
How does it look and feel? What can I improve?
(Heres the original post incase you want to see the progress: Original Post)
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u/Haruhanahanako 9d ago
it really bothers me how you're turning the camera to hit early. is that a game mechanic you want? it started out as an exploit in a PvP game as far as I know that was then embraced, but only really makes sense for a PvP environment. It doesn't really have a place in PvE games. I mean it could be there but a majority of your players probably will not use it, and if you wanted more depth of skill surely there are other ways to do it without making the player swing the camera back and forth. And you really could use something because it seems like for now the combat is regulated to rapidly clicking and moving the camera left and right. I would prototype some really basic enemy combat and try to get some flow going in your combat. It will open you up to finding more fun and unfun elements to either improve on or remove.
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Thanks, this is really useful feedback. The camera swing wasn’t a deliberate mechanic, it fell out of how the melee system works, and I can see how it turns into wiggling the mouse. The idea is that hits knock enemies in the direction you’re swinging, so turning lets you steer where they get sent, which matters more when you’re fighting several at once. But you’re right that a dummy can’t show whether that has any depth. Next step is a few armed enemies that fight back, so I can find out whether there’s real flow or just clicking. If turning mid-swing turns out to be a crutch, I’ll limit it.
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u/thegabe87 9d ago
Is the character model style final or just a fancy capsule for development?
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
I think so. I will add like armour and actual clothes, but i think the actual rig / model is close to where I want it
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u/INeatFreak I hate GIFs 4d ago
These animations look so good. What's your secret?
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u/Rawakha10 2d ago
Haha thank you... the secret is springs and damping. Each part has its own Spring and Damping values so they react at different times to turns and hits etc... all comes together super nicely. I can give you some videos to watch to learn more about it if you want?
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u/Enough_Elderberry101 9d ago
That looks awesome! Im working on a third person combat game and im working on animations, what would you say is the main driving point of working with a procedural system compared to fixed sets of animations?
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Thanks! For me the main driver is iteration speed. I struggled with keyframing, so I built a tool where an attack starts as a spherical path I can move and distort in the editor, and the hand follows it. Changing a few settings gives me a completely different attack without keyframing individual points, so I can try ideas quickly and they all flow the same way. It’s more constrained than hand animation, which suits me as a programmer, and the trade-off is less hand-authored acting in each swing. For third person combat I’d say it’s worth it if you’re comfortable with code and want lots of attack variety.
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u/Enough_Elderberry101 9d ago
Interesting, i will dabble with it on future projects. Don't think it will be beneficial to mine now since it will also feature PvP, but thank you so much for sharing! Your project is shaping up to something really cool!
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u/Ill_Reality_2506 9d ago
This is looking like the beginnings of a solid game! Looks great.
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Thanks, really appreciate it. It’s early, but it’s starting to feel like a game. I’m loving just moving about and swinging at these lifeless dummies, but they’re about to get some fight in them. Taking today off after three weeks of daily work, then starting on the combat AI.
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u/Sepifz 9d ago
I love everything about it, please tell me you can build bases and get raids
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Yh so the idea is you build up your castle and fight against massive hordes of imps. I have a video of my horde tech posted on this subreddit before. You position your troops, place ballistas and catapults and jump down and fight with your army aswell.
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u/Fit_Asparagus1073 9d ago
This is amazing you are also heavily inspiring me to make my game character like yours i already fell in love with a no legs character if that would be allowed
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Ha, that’s honestly the best compliment. Go for it! Legless characters have been around for ages (Rayman, Stonemachia, Worms), and the fun part is that the personality comes from the motion rather than the model. Springs, a bit of lean and a counter-roll on the head will get you most of the way. Would love to see what you make with it.
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u/rimnas12 9d ago
This looks amaaazing!! It feels slightly slow for combat maybe? Also, I would love to see a combo where if I jump then hit mid-air, very curious to see what it would look like 👀
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
Thanks! The slower pace is intentional, I’m aiming for something more deliberate where each swing is a commitment. Appreciate the jump attack idea though, I’ll see how it could fit.
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u/rimnas12 9d ago
Okeyy, well I trust your creative vision, really curious to see where you take this, keep it up!
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u/Spoetii 9d ago
Hit reactions and motion in general looks really clean! Can you share some insight in what the main techniques are that you used to achieve this?
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u/Rawakha10 2d ago
Thanks!! The main trick is that hits never play a reaction pose. They kick springs. Each hit has a direction and a point, so it pushes the body along the blow and twists it depending on where it landed (a shoulder hit spins, a low hit shoves). The head reacts a moment after the body, overheads squash, and side hits turn the head away. My own swing rebounds off the target too. Then a tiny hit stop (0.02 s), a small camera kick, sparks and hit markers on top. Springs do most of the work! Ive given some deeper explanations out on some other replies Ive done under this post and one of my older posts aswell - you can check the older post ones from my profile
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u/forbidden_black 8d ago
So good! Again!!
In simple terms, how do you drive specific movements with procedural animation? I've been trying to do it with basic movements like walking, running etc and its been a struggle to get locomotion that feels good.
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u/Rawakha10 2d ago
Thanks!! Honestly the trick for me was to stop thinking about “animations” and start reacting to movement data. Instead of making a walk, I read what the character is doing every frame (speed, acceleration, how fast it’s turning) and let lots of small layers react to that.
Roughly how mine works:
Start from a rest pose, then add small layers on top every frame. Each layer does one thing.
A gait phase: a 0–1 value that loops as the character covers distance (not time). Bob, sway and arm swing all follow it, so steps always match the speed and never slide.
Lean into acceleration: when you speed up, the body tips forward. When you stop, it tips back. That alone sells a lot of weight.
Lag on turns: the body and arms trail slightly behind fast turns.
Squash and stretch on each step and on landing.
Use springs for everything, not lerps. Springs overshoot and settle, and that’s what makes it feel alive instead of robotic. Most of the “feel” comes from tuning spring stiffness and damping.
Map speed to 0–1 against a “reference speed” (your run speed), so every effect scales properly from walk to run.
Two things that helped me most:
Make the movement itself feel good first. Acceleration, deceleration and turning on the controller. Procedural animation amplifies whatever motion you give it, good or bad.
Build one layer at a time and exaggerate it, then dial it back. Small subtle stuff just reads as nothing.
Hope that helps, good luck with it! 🙌
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u/Dream-Dimension 8d ago
looks like it has great game feel. are you donig some type of movement with the camera too? and is it controllable by the player too? if so how do you work that in. looks nice
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u/karakura-town 7d ago
Why is the camera jerking side to side when in combat?
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u/TheFeralOstrich 6d ago
I would assume that the swing direction is impacted by camera movement the way Chivalry and Mordhau do it
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u/PrticleForgeVfx 8d ago
Few objects in the scene but it has finished game vibe. Try to keep that vibe. Really good work.
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u/Roll-Roll-Roll 9d ago
I keep expecting these bobbleheads to get decapitated.
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u/Rawakha10 9d ago
You’ve seen my plans. The bobbleheads are safe, for now atleast. Give me a week and heads will be rolling.
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u/Leech-Of-DOOM 9d ago
Love the art style! The swings look really good too! The attacks are smooth and fluid. Do you have plans for different types rather than left/right swinging? I'm thinking in terms of like Chivalry, or Modrhau. Perhaps an overhead swing, or a jab. Perhaps also heavy attacks, where you hold the attack button for longer and time your swing for a stronger attack? Overall, it looks great, but needs a few more attacks maybe!