Weapon's "weight" stat.

[Peasant135]

Edit: It seems that I was mistaken. The developers themselves confirmed it:

Spoiler

The post below is no longer relevant if not for historical purposes. If you see anybody having false info about weapon's weight and balance pls direct them to this thread.

I did it. Now I know what this is all about. I can finally explain what does this stat tells you. The position of the ball on the line indicates how far this weapon's center of mass is located from its grip. Use this knowledge to git even more gut in this game. Peace.

Edit: I think a visual example would be useful. Here:

The indicators seems pretty self-explanatory but in case I'm wrong: the yellow line is the lenght of the weapon with the colored dot its center of mass, the red dot is the center of the "handle" and the orange line is the distance between them.

 

[crashingtingler]

this is a revelation if youre right. are you sure?

 

[Peasant135]

The only way to be sure is to have the developers themseves to confirm or deny it. But I believe to be right. Think about it: the slider is more to the right on the similar weapons that have more mass shifted towards their pointy ends. Think about Voulge vs Spear and on the other end 1hSword vs Dagger. It just fits with the whole physics based engine. What's the best way to model real life weapons than to simulate their natural behaviour?

 

[crashingtingler]

taking a look at it, i think youre right too. there are weapons with exactly the same weight distribution but are obviously very different in size and actual weight.

i never thought about it, but i think youre def right.

 

[Peasant135]

Updated the first post with some pics.

 

[zhuliks]

Updated the first post with some pics.

Im afraid you are wrong here. Thing is its just a polearm/2h weapon grip. Quarterstaf is a polearm and metal bar is considered 2 handed, so they have different grips. Furthermore it would make no sense to have weight define where balance point is, especially since there is a balance variable.

Weight is basically what it means - weapons weight it adds to damage like impact and defines how fast and balanced weapon is, just that.

 

[gugand]

I think he is right. The baricenter near the hands means that wwapon is more balanced and that means weapon is more manoeuvrable. On the other hand, the impact damage is less. Axes and maces have the weight bar is next to the right side of bar.
Anyway we need developer explain that and/or they had more info in tutorial

 

[MrApophos]

Look at the Pole Hammer - the dot is roughly halfway along the weight line, yet the majority of the weight of a polehammer is in the the head - I can't explain that with either of these theories, be it centre of gravity or total weight.
I am inclined so far to go with the centre of gravity theory mind you, as it fits with most weapons..

 

[Peasant135]

Actually its not so unplausible to immagine that the polehammer's CoM is located nearer to the grip. Its head is not as massive as that of a sledgehammer and an extremely long iron pole would likely weight a lot and infuence considereably its weight distrubution, which coupled with its wider grip results in a better balanced weapon than the Sledgehammer.

 

[MrApophos]

You've got me there.

 

[crashingtingler]

my favorite example of this are these maces, they are obviously very different in weight just by looking at them, but the weight stat is nearly the same.

but then there are some confusing ones, like the quarterstaves, which have a balance much like a sword.

i feel like this is for balancing and making them useable but its just speculation.

 

[Homiccus]

they are obviously very different in weight just by looking at them

Not so obviously different in weight. Spiked club is a solid chunk of wood with plenty of volume and additional thick metal bands - and wood is deceptively heavy. Morning star's haft is much shorter that two-handed mace's, however the volume of metal used looks the same to me, as whatever materiél was used to lengthen the haft has been 'deducted' from the head - take a closer look: the morning star sports a solid metal ball, while the two-hander's head consists mainly of flanges.
Balance attribute might be used in connection with weight to determine the 'speed' of a weapon.

EDIT: And anyway... I wouldn't be at all surprised if the attributes were all procedurally generated using advanced scripts to calculate the weight and point of balance (based on specific weight by volume of materials used) and tied to 3D model of the weapon.

 

[gugand]

It is weird that every parameter is use balls and half balls but the weight that use a point on a line.
I think the same as Homiccus. I will not surprised if the weapon characteristics are calculated using the 3d model and the different material parts.

 

[zhuliks]

I cant believe you are still going, dont you realize how ridiculous those pictures are? Its just weight of a weapon done in a representation of a slider because none of the weapons have numbers in their description by design.

 

[gugand]

We all are waiting for answer from developers. Meanwhile we continue on our mental trips
Description of weapon is used to give us an idea of weapon behaviour and balls and half balls are just an indicator, not a value. The only exact value can be the weight or the position of baricenter. I am still thinking that the weight bar is indicating the baricenter position.
Looke at this link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=495540006
A one-handed axe can't weight more than a two-handed sword.

 

[Peasant135]

An interesting exception to the rule is the basic metal bar: while you might expect it to be balanced like a sword, its center of mass is in fact is shifted considerably from what its geometric shape suggests, toward the striking end.

So far my best theory to explain this anomaly is that contrary to what its description suggests this bar is in fact mostly a hollow pipe, partially filled at one end with some heavy metal(likely lead) to give it more mass at the striking end. Because of this it feels more like a two-handed axe.

 

[Homiccus]

An interesting exception to the rule is the basic metal bar

In this case you'll have to extend your exception to both cage bars. Also, if the metal bar was partially hollow, it would need to have worse balance than said cage bars (all weight on one side). It has 2.5 pts versus 1.5 / 2 pts of cage bars.

A one-handed axe can't weight more than a two-handed sword.

Hmmm... that's an interesting one, but I think I can attempt to prove you wrong. I can only check my own bearded axe vs. my own 'two-handed' sword.
I have got a Type XVIa 'longsword', which weighs 1.8 kg @ total length of 118cm. Genuine combat weapon would be slightly lighter as the blunt edge is 2.5mm thick and this would be shaven off in the process of sharpening.
My late medieval bearded axe, with ~50cm haft, weighs...

Spoiler

1.7 kg

...give or take.
Now. Given that three of the 'two-handed swords' in Exanima are actually 'longswords' (or 'bastard swords') and the 'battle axe' is made with crude and slightly oversized haft, I think it is entirely possible to have a single handed axe weigh more than 'two-handed sword'.

 

[gugand]

You have the point. I just have memories of some years ago.
I remember i wielded a 2 handed sword once (a friend at time had some modern swords), in think it was a bit longer than yours. I rember it was heavy, heavier than a wood-axe i use to cut branches. Maybe that sword was more unbalanced of the axe. I never weight axes in my life

 

[zhuliks]

In Madocs words: "Weight is just weight, and it's weapon class specific, it's comparative not absolute" So that explains why wooden clubs might appear to have similar weight as 2h maces. Weight parameter is there to compare weapons of same class and type much like coverage parameter doesnt represent absolute values but is there to compare similar items.

 

[crashingtingler]

Heres the full conversation, hope this clears things up.