About putting more life in death

[StrikerJG1]

Hi everybody.

I was playing Exanima in arena mode today and as I was mechanically slaying my opponents my mind got lost in thoughts.
As I was wandering in my thoughts and the game it occurred to me that everybody dies the same way : The cry of the life leaving the body and the body falling on the ground like a puppet. And I have to say that physics in the game makes it convincing.

But it feels like a repetitive procedure to me. What bothers me is when you slice someone multiple times and then, on a weak hit that said person dies instantly while 2 seconds ago he has still enough life and energy to try to deliver powerful blows.

I used the search function but I didn't manage to find any thread on that subject, that's why I created this post and I think that the name of the tread resumes it well and by the way I'm very satisfied with what the devs are doing, I really enjoy the content we have so far. But let's make it better

According to me the only way that someone instantly dies, is knocked out or fell unconscious is when :
1) Brain trauma (bad hit on the head)
2) He lost a lot of blood
3) He can't take pain any more or any psychological trauma(he then faint or coma)

Maybe we can list other reasons like broken spine and others but I'll stick with these three "common" reasons.

In case n°1, the way people actually die is convincing.
In case n°2, I think it might do the trick if we see that loss of blood (like blood spurting out of wounds, blood on the floor, etc...) and that people can then pass out even between hits (background bleeding mechanism).
In case n°3, we can imagine that they would beg mercy, express their pain or their fear of death, etc...

What are your ideas about that ?

Edit : And what about a crippling mechanism ?

 

[RobG]

I think this has been discussed a bit maybe not so much on the forums, more in stream chats and things like that, I believe there is some plans for something like what you are saying I believe eventually there will be 'finishing moves' so the last blow of a fight which kill will trigger some kind of animation such as blood spurting decapitations etc etc. Someone like @Tony (who I think I was speaking with about this at one point) might be able to inform you a bit better as to what has actually been said/dismissed in regards to epic deaths. I imagine it will take a while for them to implement things like this which are pretty much entirely superficial and have no impact on game play really.

 

[Tony]

Rob pretty much nailed it: eventually finishing blows (a strike that is both powerful and one which would kill someone) may trigger dismemberment. Crippling isn't likely to occur for the same reasons weapons don't break; the devs don't like mechanics that inhibit a player from continuing on and enjoying the game. Being crippled is basically a death sentence and death has very severe consequences. It's a balance of what is actually fun for the player and what is just tedious.

 

[-Tim-]

Crippling isn't likely to occur for the same reasons weapons don't break; the devs don't like mechanics that inhibit a player from continuing on and enjoying the game. Being crippled is basically a death sentence and death has very severe consequences. It's a balance of what is actually fun for the player and what is just tedious.

AI getting crippled would still be very cool to see though. It would add a lot to immersion, especially with the way animations work in Sui Generis. This would be a very acceptable exception IMO to the idea that AI follows the same moveset and rules as the player.

 

[Tony]

AI getting crippled would still be very cool to see though. It would add a lot to immersion, especially with the way animations work in Sui Generis. This would be a very acceptable exception IMO to the idea that AI follows the same moveset and rules as the player.

Again, not likely to happen. Madoc cares a ton about the player and the NPC's not cheating one another; the player and NPC's abide by the same rules and on the same playing field. Being able to cripple an NPC while they couldn't do the same to you is like turning on a "God mode" cheat.

 

[Faelivrin]

Madoc also mentioned bandages more than once.

 

[Orlacktherof]

Well, If you do smack someone before they fall to the ground limp, they still cry out in pain.

 

[ezazenyem]

I agree that broken limbs would take away from the gaming experience. Imagine a situation, where an unfortunate hit from the first enemy break one of your leg... Can't walk, and even if you crawl yourself back to safety, you should wait for some months to recover...
But if there would be some "magical" healing item, like the glowing jar, broken limbs could add to the difficulty of the game, especially in coop, where your friends can defend you, while you are incapable of fighting and heal you up after the battle. And if the jars would be rare, like they are now, this would be an interesting feature.

 

[Bullethead]

I think this has been discussed a bit maybe not so much on the forums, more in stream chats and things like that, I believe there is some plans for something like what you are saying I believe eventually there will be 'finishing moves' so the last blow of a fight which kill will trigger some kind of animation such as blood spurting decapitations etc etc..

That sounds MUCH better than the mental image I got from the thread title "Putting More Life in Death". That made me think of opera, where when somebody takes a mortal wound, he sings for 10 minutes .

In Exanima, it seems that most characters go down from knockouts (non-permanent damage) instead of fatal trauma (red bar). Thus, some finishing move is essential to keep the guy from singing is dying aria .