No Saving, No Problem...

[Bullethead]

....because I'm making no progress to save anyway

Geez, 2 hours nearly all spent in the Novice Arena. Plus lots of reading the guide on how to do things, watching many videos of experts. And yet I rarely even get past the 3rd opponent, that fat guy in the pink shirt with the morning star and buckler. I won't even bother mentioning how my couple of VERY brief attempts at the dungeon have gone. It's very embarassing as I've done a fair bit of fencing and stick fighting in real life

But despite all that, I really like the whole combat system. I just wish I was good at it. I suppose I'll get there someday, hopefully before Sui Generis comes out so I can actually see some of that world before I die. It sure looks pretty. And to give myself some incentive, I gave Exanima (love both names, BTW) to a couple of friends so SG is maybe half an hour closer to release.

Anyway, I'm very glad I found Exanima by sheer chance. I just decided to page through about 2 dozen pages of my Steam queue yesterday and it eventually turned up. Looking forward to more.

 

[Tottel]

It's very hard at first, and even looking at pro's play will help you only so much.

You have to keep trying until you suddenly make that *click* in your brains. When that happens, you will suddenly just cruise through it.

 

[-Tim-]

It's great to see you're struggling but not giving up and not blaming the game for your struggle! It shows character.

You have to keep trying until you suddenly make that *click* in your brains. When that happens, you will suddenly just cruise through it.

I second this. However, I have 100s of hours of playtime and I still die in the arena or the dungeon if I'm not careful and focused. Just keep at it, it will be worth it. Like any art or skill, every second you spend playing and practicing contributes to your proficiency and ultimately enjoyment of this game.

Also don't forget: you can get through the entire first part of the dungeon without fighting. Most zombies are not aggressive if you do not provoke them.

 

[Bullethead]

You have to keep trying until you suddenly make that *click* in your brains. When that happens, you will suddenly just cruise through it.

Yeah, but that "click" has to be based on something you're learning subconsciously, probably visual cues and/or just getting the rhythm down, which is, after all, how you learn fencing in real life and why feints work.

It would be nice if some expert put up a tutorial of what to look for so us noobs wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel completely. I mean, noobs will still have to develop muscle memory and timing, but just being able to recognize threats and opportunities in time to do something about them would be a huge help.

I second this. However, I have 100s of hours of playtime and I still die in the arena or the dungeon if I'm not careful and focused.

Which is as it should be. I spent thousands hours (and dollars) back in the day playing highly realistic MMO combat flightsims like Air Warrior, Confirmed Kill, and Aces High. You had to learn all the real-life maneuvers and be able to apply them properly to your circumstances, develop incredible situational awareness, etc., to get good at it. Sure, you could mosh with equally unskilled folks on a fairly equal basis but had no chance against somebody who knew what he was doing. I eventually became an expert but it was a LOT of work, and even then I was far from invulnerable (mostly because there were many enemy experts and I was often somewhat drunk).

Just keep at it, it will be worth it. Like any art or skill, every second you spend playing and practicing contributes to your proficiency and ultimately enjoyment of this game.

You know, again comparing Exanima to those online flightsims.... In the online flightsims, expert players could meet with noobs for 1-on-1 lessons. When I was a noob I benefited much from this, and later became an instructor myself. I've read the dev posts that putting Exanima/SG online has huge problems due to the physics of the word, but maybe it would be possible to have empty online arenas where the only moving parts were the players. Then we could have huge dueling tourneys as well as a venue for combat instruction.

 

[Murf]

I've read the dev posts that putting Exanima/SG online has huge problems due to the physics of the word, but maybe it would be possible to have empty online arenas where the only moving parts were the players. Then we could have huge dueling tourneys as well as a venue for combat instruction.

It's not just physics of the 'world' the entire game is physics based, including the players, virtual skeletal and muscles groups are governed by the physics AI.

As for the combat, you have to try and separate real life and this game, just because it is physics based does not mean anything you know about real fighting will help you adapt to the mechanics of this game. As players we have gotten used to playing certain games, certain types of ways, just because we have always done it that way does not mean it is the only way, nor does it mean it is the best way. Case in point, I have seen a few people who have never played this type/style of game and they picked up and got comfortable withe ht mechanics of movement and combat without any issue whatsoever. They were relatively proficient after playing for less than an hour. They had nothing else to compare it to and therefore had no bias in how they thought it 'should' behave.

The hardest part is forgetting what you know about playing this type of game, but as others have already said, it is almost literally a 'click' Your brain just starts to process things differently and after that you have a hard time recalling why it was so difficult in the first place.

And the older your are, the harder it is to change your brain.
Brain bias is a b!tch.

For reference:

Keep at it, it will eventually 'click'