Ranged Weapons?

[Marc]

Regarding spears or similar weapons, it would be nice to have an ability where you could hurl it at an enemy, javelin-like. For example in the hope of ending an engagement quickly or to thin the enemy's ranks if the odds are against me, I'd hurl my equipped weapon to try and get a hit. If it fails then I'd immediately equip my secondary weapon/spear that I was carrying around in my inventory. Therefore I'd carry around two spears, one for a ranged attack that I'd pick up again after the battle is over, and one for melee combat.

On another note it would be nice to have weapons break or snap when struck with enough force, such as spears with wooden hafts. If porky took a swing with his massive flail and struck the wooden haft of a spear or quarterstaff, I cant picture it taking no damage.

 

[Fawz]

Regarding spears or similar weapons, it would be nice to have an ability where you could hurl it at an enemy, javelin-like. For example in the hope of ending an engagement quickly or to thin the enemy's ranks if the odds are against me, I'd hurl my equipped weapon to try and get a hit. If it fails then I'd immediately equip my secondary weapon/spear that I was carrying around in my inventory. Therefore I'd carry around two spears, one for a ranged attack that I'd pick up again after the battle is over, and one for melee combat.

On another note it would be nice to have weapons break or snap when struck with enough force, such as spears with a wooden hafts. If porky took a swing with his massive flail and struck the wooden haft of a spear or quarterstaff, I cant picture it taking no damage.

I really like your idea of carrying around 2 different sets of weapons. It was quite common at the time and could fit well in Sui Generis if they have a system to throw your weapon/used ranged weapons and be able to swap in combat with relative ease.

As for weapons breaking mid-combat, that's a very controversial feature that most probably won't make it into the game. It would have drastic changes on the way the game handles gameplay and progression. You can read up on the subject in the extensive thread. There are many posts by Madoc on the view BM holds for having a durability & repair system for weapons.

 

[Marc]

As for weapons breaking mid-combat, that's a very controversial feature that most probably won't make it into the game. It would have drastic changes on the way the game handles gameplay and progression. You can read up on the subject in the extensive thread. There are many posts by Madoc on the view BM holds for having a durability & repair system for weapons.

I was hesitant about bringing up durability because of that very thread haha. Thats why I only mentioned wooden weapons though, they wouldnt need to be repaired if snapped and they'd probably mostly be of low quality except for some types of bows maybe. Then again I dont know if most people would be satisfied with wooden weapons being the only breakable ones, but I would be especially when you take into consideration all the complications brought about by weapon durability mentioned in the thread you linked to, which seem to mostly apply to metallic weapons.

One image that comes to mind is me equipped with a bunch of javelins with wooden hafts, tossing them one after the other at an oncoming porky equipped with a tower shield to try and strike some of its exposed flesh. Then dismally watching them bounce, splinter and snap as they impact its shield before it thwacks me away into oblivion

 

[Avramovic]

Don't know if it has been mentioned, but... how about greek fire / 'molotov's' ? Some sort of incendiary bomb, that would explode on impact and do fire DoT on target and/or small area?

It also might be fun to utilize similar objects, but with smaller (and more localized) effect and much shorter range - lamps with fuel in them, torches... as thrown weapons? Both as weapon or means of distraction.

 

[turtleman155]

sounds like a relic kind of weapon that could be found in the underworld ooh

 

[SergeDavid]

Day six; complete rewrite number three and I've still not managed to record my thoughts. A long list of procrastination has proceeded me as my tongue twisted and turned against the paper, saying nothing in all its gabbering.

The sun beat down in waves of stifling heat as the winds taunted us on the city wall with gentle hints of a breeze. As paid guards we had to stand guard with crossbow and pike at the ready. Both of them a joke as the apprentice made crossbow wouldn't toss a bolt five feet let alone straight and the use of a weapon such as a pike on the wall against peaceful farmers and their cows or the occasional bird that shat on your helmet was absurd. Us who got placed on wall duty uphold the belief that such a duty was instead punishment. Hell if we ever did have to fight I'd find more luck throwing my pike and using the crossbow as a club.

"Oh shut yer yap Bill, the heat is bad enough without having to listen to yer complaining." The man who spoke spit on the ground and glared at his companion. "I didn't even say anything!", "Well I could hear it, and I can hear that too. It's yer own fault for getting caught with that whore of yours by the captain, an smelling of booze while on duty." "Yeah yeah, if it wasn't for that brat that threw a rock at me I wouldn't have gotten caught. Taught him well not to throw things at a guard."

 

[cnileoleman]

If I remember correctly thrown weapons will be a thing. Let's talk about knives. I throw them. A "perfectly balanced" throwing knife has balance somewhere in the grip (most don't really have handles). Some might disagree, but this type of knife will work for both spin and no-spin techniques. Since the knife rotates around this point, a bp that's far back will make the grip act as a driving force behind the point. It also "slows" rotation, which makes it easier to control. I prefer no-spin/thorn style because it's very organic and easy to change distance with. I don't need to worry about distance as much because there isn't a full rotation every x feet. You can't completely negate spin, but there's less margin for error and you quickly develop a feel for it. Anyway, since the physical properties of a thrown object determine the way it rotates in flight, would it be possible for there to be no-spin throwing way down the road? (Also, low quality throwing weapons might have terrible balance. For instance, a throwing axe with the bp in the head. Since it would be almost impossible to hit with anything other than the handle, there would be incentive to get one decent/great throwing weapon instead of 5 crappy ones.) Just food for thought/discussion.

 

[Die_by_Sci-Fi]

I think that it's better if developers continue their way, where realism dominate above skills and modificators. I think that it's better make more unfriendly, hard to use throwing system, but system that work in borders of physics laws.
And somebody write before that because you cant carry big amount of axe's and other heavy throwing weapon with you, it's not comfortable "run and collect your axes from the ground". Yes, it's so. But do you really think that it's must be easy? It's not Diablo and not Crimsonland, i hope. It's more hardcore and experimental game.
Guys, keep on. I hope that you'll be go forward in your own way and give to us your unique vision of the game

 

[Vold]

I wonder how fast does an arrow travel... Will we be able to dodge or auto-block/deflect them?

 

[cnileoleman]

More than 100 feet/second, so dodging/deflecting an already loosed arrow would be pretty crazy. Moving out of the target zone the instant before they fire would be risky but would work.

 

[turtleman155]

maybe if you have a shield just cower behind it.

 

[Marc]

I remember a myth busters episode where a skilled swordsman was able to reliably deflect arrows with a katana from about 20 meters away then charge down the archer but the marksman wasn't a particularly skilled archer.

 

[Vold]

Maybe he is the same samurai from this video:

 

[cnileoleman]

I remember a myth busters episode where a skilled swordsman was able to reliably deflect arrows with a katana from about 20 meters away then charge down the archer but the marksman wasn't a particularly skilled archer.

They were also capping the arrows with tennis balls if memory serves, but you and @Vold are onto something awesome.

 

[Marc]

Maybe he is the same samurai from this video

That's one impressive samurai! The one on mythbusters was caucasian though. I don't remember much else about the episode but clips from it are probably online somewhere. I can't imagine deflecting an arrow with a sword would be anything but very challenging in game, and something one would want to avoid unless left with no other option. The games overhead view would make it even more challenging, the limited visibility giving you less time to react to incoming projectiles not to mention if enemy archers are allowed to target you from off screen. That being said, thaumaturgy that allows you to push away nearby objects (incoming arrows) or slow time would seem like decent ways to repel/deflect arrows

 

[NachoDawg]

I am hopping for a button that lets go of what ever is in your hand. That way you can do an overhead attack + button to throw any weapon! Including axes and knives.. . Or a 2 hander

 

[Guy]

This is what medieval archers did/could do. Took this dude some ten years to achieve this level, and he started in his 40's (I think), not "from the womb" like many medieval archers would have been.

As for throwing knives, not all use rotation. Close throwing strikes can be made at 5-6 feet away with a horizontal motion and a open release instead of a snapped wrist technique. Best with forward weighted knives as opposed to weight neutral, however, the technique will work with both types.

This is the best game I have played in a long long time. Combat is HELL, and feels realistic in ways that most others fail to achieve. Good luck and carry on!

 

[J.G. Elmslie]

This is what medieval archers did/could do.

It really isnt.
Lars is doing what's considered "trick shots", with a very low-powered bow.

I know a lot of people in the historical archery community, and they've all comprehensively demolished Lars' videos, many times over.

I'm not going to go into the very long essays needed, but suffice it to say, his archery is roughly the equivalent of the trick-shooters you see at cowboy events in the US. It takes skill, a lot of it, but its not medieval, and its not archery for warfare at all.

 

[Parco]

trick shooting could be a fun milestone if archery/ranged becomes its own trainable skill, might be weak/useless against the more heavier armored opponents or/and with shields, but against multiple enemies with cloth/leather (or non at all) it might become more useful being able to shoot fast and precise even if the hits got low penetration power than using longer time on a more high powered bow.

 

[Guy]

Sure, from a massed volley outdoors, hunting, all the normal moves and duties of the archer. With other people working as a team. I would think a single archer in a lone setup, like our character is (for now at least), I would imagine a lot more movement would be in order, lacking the usual draw/aim time. Like a cowboy (or Jerry Miculek) in a wild west show, advanced skill is necessary.

Or maybe an adjustment of tactics. A quick draw (and shoot accurately) would be more beneficial than distance, precise aiming time (due to target being very close) and over all power, which diminishes over distance, needs to be less to inflict the equal amount of energy and damage to an opponent.

Give me this prankster in the vid all day long over a stationary typical historically acceptable accurate archer.