So, thus far no game has been announced that will make full use of the Wii in sword-fighting. RS sounds pretty limited, and Zelda will be even more so. This is fine, since both games have a different focus - RS on gunplay, TP on dispatching weeker foes with speed and vigor. But I want a system for an action/RPG that's deep enough for satisfying duels and flexible enough to handle a Zelda-esque variety of enemies. A literal mapping of sword to controller is impossible - the remote can't sense its 3d position, or its X-Y orientation when not pointed roughly towards the sensor bar. Nor do I think it would be very desireable. So here's my proposal, geared to produce combat that's fast, adrenaline-pushing, but also requires you to think and pay attention to your opponent. Revise, criticize, or propose your own.
L2: Duck
Nunchuck flipped up, down, left, right: Jump forward, backward, left, right
Nunchuck + L2: roll
L1: Lock-on. With this on, independent turning is still possible but slowed and bounded so the target always stays on screen, and will automatically center on the target when allowed.
B: Block
A: Attack
Turning/Aiming: MP3 "expert"
Running backwards instead of jumping is noticeably slower than running forwards, and strafing is slower still.
Now, when A is pressed, a couple of things happen. First, the turning goes off. The sword gets drawn back. If the button is released with the cursor on the enemy's head or torso, a quick jab will result. But holding and dragging the cursor off to the top or sides will result in the character moving the sword out in that direction, and with the release of the button the sword would slash from that direction (the two bottom corners would result in a slash to the legs). This would be slower, but much more effective than a jab. A jab that hit a shield or armor plate would lose most or all of its damage, while a slash would still pack a punch. Thus, a jab would have to be well-aimed in many cases. How far you drag determines how hard the slash is. Obviously, turning would remain disabled for a brief moment after letting go of A, otherwise every slash would annoying redirect your view. Dragging the cursor to the bottom center would result in a jab up from underneath the opponent's guard.
Using B to block would be a similar enterprise, but some turning would still be possible. You would block only so long as you held B. Blocking jabs would be quite hard without a shield, requiring you to sweep the cursor in front of you very quickly to beat the blade away. Blocking slashes would require you to put the cursor in the direction you think the slash is coming from. How accurately you did this would determine how likely your block is to succeed, with a shield being more forgiving than a sword.
Damage would only be assigned, and blocks would only work, based on collision detection. No collision, no damage or block.
There are a lot of possible specialty moves - for example, you could have a disengage, where after releasing an overhead slash you could drag the cursor quickly to the side, resulting in your blade scooping around to strike from that direction instead, potentially fooling your opponent. There would be rules about armor - high armor would dramatically limit how fast and far you could jump, roll, backpeddle and strafe. You could have many different character architypes - fencer, (very weak block but fast and difficult-to-reach torso) sword-and-shield, two-handed sword, axe (no jabs and bad block but powerful slashes), two-weapon, each type of equipment with its own set of special moves acquired during the game.
Topic: Ultimate sword-fighter (Read 1454 times)
