Suggestion to improve combat

[Cr1x]

First and foremost I want to say I love the whole concept behind Project Zomboid and very much looking forward to playing the finished game.

 

I have followed Project Zomboid for quite some time. Every now and then I will download a new build, get all excited, give it a whirl but ultimately be left feeling it is not quite there yet.

 

Last night after loading the Steam build I was left with the same feeling. I have spent some time thinking about what it is that is disappointing me and I have narrowed it down to two things, the first one I will detail here:

 

1. Combat

 

At the moment the combat is the least satisfying part of the game. The close quarters fighting doesn't feel right at all – it is all too random. I always feel like I lack the precise control I want and once they get close to me the character simply slows down (to represent being grabbed by the zombie) and I keeping hammering the run button until I either get away or die.

 

I understand why this has been done and that you want to make the fighting difficult, yet for me, the one thing I really want to enjoy turns out to be dull and tedious.

 

Yet the solution is easy:

 

Make the combat more precise, if I swing a bat and hit them on the head make them go down first time (then finish them off on the ground as normal)

 

If they get close to me, make them grab hold of me and force me to shake them off by frantically alternating between pressing A and D (left and right movement keys)

 

Fighting zombies has always been about avoiding being overwhelmed. One zombie is easy to avoid or fight, a horde of zombies is something else and usually fatal.

 

I hope my suggestion is some use to you. I personally think it will improve the fun factor massively – I hope you will agree.

 

Cr1x

 

[EnigmaGrey]

How does "frantically alternating between pressing A and D" make combat more visceral? It's simple enough to abstractthis with the run button and just assume that's exactly what the character is doing (struggling to get free of grabby hands) until an animation is in place to demonstrate this explicitly.

I loathe the "mash two buttons in a specific time and pattern for several seconds" paradigm that seems to have become mainstream with the recent Walking Dead, Hard Rain, and Tomb Raider games.

[RoboMat]

Make the combat more precise, if I swing a bat and hit them on the head make them go down first time (then finish them off on the ground as normal)

 

Are you sure you kept the correct distance for the attacks? Bats should hit with their end or else they aren't effective. 

 

I'm also no fan of the button mashing.

[Rathlord]

I loathe the "mash two buttons in a specific time and pattern for several seconds" paradigm that seems to have become mainstream with the recent Walking Dead, Hard Rain, and Tomb Raider games.

This sums up my feelings nicely as well. I think combat may be more deep than you're giving it credit for. Each weapon has a specific 'sweetspot' where it has the maximum effect. Just like in real life, I a zombie gets under your guard you'll need to push then away or run away yourself before being able to swing. Balancing exhaustion from swinging and the trade off between charging for a powerful hit and taking many rapid swings is also an important feature.

All in all I think there's certainly room for improvement as far as precision goes, but personally I've never found PZ combat unrewarding r disappointing.

[Spaniard]

Yeah, to be honest, your suggestions seem to add more tedium than fun to the combat system. As is, you have to time your swings and I feel that not only makes sense.After a while, fighting zombies in groups becomes easy, but it also makes me too over-confident and I ended up biting off more than I can chew. Hah, all in all, except for a few tweaks, I like the combat system.

[Cr1x]

My personal opinion is that this method would work well but more importantly it would be more fun but I totally accept that it comes down to personal taste (maybe there could be a menu option offering different control methods).

 

I look forward to seeing how the combat develops as we move towards a release date.

[spaghetti-boy]

I don't like the idea of a half-baked quick-time event either. Noone likes quick-time events do they?  In my opinion they're just annoying and i find that they are in loads of games now.

[Cl0nec0mmand0]

If they get close to me, make them grab hold of me and force me to shake them off by frantically alternating between pressing A and D (left and right movement keys)

Id rather have to move my mouse left and right than this.

[TinnedEpic]

The only kind of button mashing I approve of is:

 

Personally I think the combat mechanics are fine as they are. Plenty of random elements to keep things interesting .