We as the the blows that can end fights. we already have those, you take a nice head shot with a voulge before you get a helmet and it may very well be the end of your game. Even a punch can knock you out in one. The yellow bar simulates that very effectively already.
Totally agree about permanent and temporary damage.
But we re not discussing that. one point of the discussion is lack of stamina which comes by damage too.
Don't get me wrong friend, I'm not saying that stamina doesn't exist and having fought in armor on a number of occasions as well as doing boxing, jiu jitsu, capoeira etc... I can certainly say that you're right. it's much more difficulty and tiring to do so. What I'm saying is that the amount of time we spend fighting in Exanima is much less than what we generally spend fighting in say a sparring session. If you have been fighting an opponent in Exanima for 3 minutes then you're doing something wrong. In a sparring session you don't stop when you've "won" you continue to fight the same person multiple times. In the arena someone should be dead long before they become tired. In the campaign you have ample opportunities to rest between fights, even when encountering 2-3 violent enemies.
It seems to me you have mastered the combat beyond what the AI can offer you. Congrats! i m far from it, my fight goes well beyond 3 minutes. So you are facing another problem, lack of challenge.
That is another problem, that stamina implementation may, maybe, help to solve adding an extra layer of challenge.
I think the more important thing though is figuring out how to deal with the stamina issue. What happens when you run out of stamina? is that the point of exhaustion when you actually pass out? or do we restrict the player from attacking? defending? what purpose does the stamina bar serve? How do you punish them for not being more efficient? But most importantly... does it make sense?
My suggestion? Mimic reality.
You get slow, defense and attack, so you better conserve energy to do a good blow than keep worthlessly trashing around.
You re stamina is low ? you better get defensive and wait for it to replenish, which IMO should be fast (relatively fast) to not hinder gameplay much. (i think here lies the challenge of adjustment)
Stamina bar cannot be superior than the maximum yellow bar. (total bar minus red bar)
Cannot be superior than 150% than the actual yellow bar.
Out of stamina 100% you can walk and defend, dont expect your attacks to have much effectiveness, or any.
Stamina regenerate way faster when you are totally static. (like waiting to see whose of those 2 last combatant in fray will win)
I agree that the yellow bar, today, simulate partially stamina and in this partially is well done.
What i would do if a stamina bar is implemented is make the yellow bar grow faster.
I'll give you an example. Skyrim had a stamina system, and at the end of your stamina bar you were no longer able to attack. Well unless you were willing to put all of your points into stamina (which I usually did until I had about 200 points) then you'd be exhausted after swinging your sword a mere 10 times or so. I found this highly annoying because I chose to play a mainly melee fighter and I really resented having to stand there like a lump taking shots waiting for my stamina to recharge so I can continue playing the game. Especially since I could easily swing my sword more than that in real life. So I worked and worked and every single level I pumped up my stamina until I didn't have to worry about it. So instead of using my points for interesting things I used them to offset a bullshit mechanic that stopped me from playing the game. but now I could say, "well I guess I'm in good enough shape to play the game now" it was completely meta.
Although i don t totally like the stamina bar in Skyrim, i find it sound.
You have to consider the mistake of practically all games that have RPG have in them. At the beginning your a dried chickenshit, your usually way below a normal person. IMHO this is a error in concept.
You have to consider 2 others fact:
1) People that have some training, or some good degree in fitness (fighting requirement and fitness requirement aren t quite the same, the breathing management and muscular demand maybe totally diferent ( i know you know it)), usually easely forget how "normal" people, especially unfit people, are weak, slow, unable to stand damage, and some time weak willed. Not all minds are fit, nor made for combat.
Tell me that have you never received criticism, even just voice tone or look, for practicing martial arts of fun and interesting, as if you were some weird person ? Looked as if you are an alien ? Someone that should invest his time in something more usefull. And, in some extreme case, a violence lover ? And i ll call you a lier!!!
(unless all your friend are in military, police and train martial arts).
2) When you are used to fight, or a similar experience, those weak settings piss you even more than a normal person, because you compare your caracter to your own aptitudes... and it seems super duper overly weak.
There s another fact here. In skyrim and others similar games, one of the basic concepts is specialization. Fighters are supposed to get stamina and life, mage mana and life.
So its totally normal that you pumped stamina, it is what was expected of your, and in such, cull your grow in other habilities.
What wasn t expected of you, was you taking few stamina, remain a fighter an manage your swings.
What i disagree in Skyrim bar is exactly what you dislike. The fact that you couldn t parry anymore, and could only dodge via moving, and even that not much.
But seek in your memory... Have you never seen newbies to any martial sport that can only sit and breath after a short time, in a combat it could be the very: sit and die. (or start running and pray or ask for mercy)
In my experience, unfit people can only swing a "heavy" (so daggers and the like are off the radar) weapons a certain munber of time until it ain t effective anymore.
Not because the weapon won t hurt anymore, but because it will be so slow and so weak that parrying or dodging wil be kid joke.
Although IMO it make sense IRL, gamewise it s not fun.
So a good solution, slowness, to me seem to be. You swing your weapon /rise shield a bit too late to parry effectively, your movement are slow and the ennemy, presuming he has better stamina, parry you with ease. So your start moving around to avoid blows, and get yout breath back.
Also this could breath some usefullness to the "forfeit combat" option which actually, is quite useless, since you can keep battling with 10% of life (temporary or not) as if you had 100%.
[/quote]Anyways I think we've beaten this dead horse long enough haha. Cheers.[/quote]
Relax, conversation, even in antagonist way, is enriching.
