Melee FPS, Roman style.

#1 I. List of stuff
A. Swords
1. Long Sword
2. Short Sword
3. Dagger
4. 2 daggers (in ea. Hand)
5. Mystic sword (uses power of the gods)&&
6. *name* sword (each for a famous roman person)&&
7. Earth sword (uses power of the ground and earth)&&
8. Sea Sword (uses power of all sea and rivers)&&
9. Wind sword (uses power of the wind)&&
10. Lava Sword (uses power of the Lava and Fires)&&
11. Elemental Sword (once all swords of the elements have been found, this one is creating by forging and smithing all of them together)&&

These could be added to any number of different weapons. Don't forget Maces, Spears, Poisioned materials, Machetes, knifes, scythes, throwing axes, war hammers, broadswords, scimitars, halberd, cutlasses, battle axes, hatchets, crossbows, chain swings (forget name), rock-throwing, boomeranging, normal fists/kicks...

&&- might not have to do with rome people, but, I like to carry on...

EDIT: BTW, I might be able to help you, but I'm not sure what your working on, so email me, in profile.

#2 This is great! I love swords and shields...
Throwing a knife is still my favorite way to kill in FPS games!

I played RUNE a lot and it's still one of my all time favorite games!
My point is - this style game is right up my alley!


I would LOVE to work with you! I can draw charachters, buildings, uniforms, etc. and skin 3d models... humans, weapons, buildings, etc.

I've made several Motocross Madness 1 & 2 race tracks, rider and bike skins. Making tracks required a B&W displacement image to create track elevation changes and textures for the track that I made in Photoshop. Then I imported the displacement map into 3dsmax and set the height of the black to white height changes, lighting locations, imported the texture and rendered the image. Finally, I made the "in game" image that users see before choosing the track in the game. We had a 3dsmax tutorial to follow and a plug in for exporting.

Annnyyyyyway... you can see some of my tracks & skins here:

http://www.motocrossmadness2.com/alias_profile.php3?Account_ID=246

http://www.motocrossmadness2.com/alias_profile-skins.php3?Account_ID=246

I hope this isn't against the rules here... but... they just released the source code "header files" for RUNE! It may be a way to jump start your game!

"Human Head Studios is pleased to provide the source code header files for our hit game Rune. For you modders with a technical flair, this will allow you to create new mods and enhancements for Rune and take the game to new heights. Please note that you will need C++ 6.0 in order to properly compile code using these headers. For further technical information and tips and hints for working with Rune, check out http://ed.runegame.com"

#3 I second the "check out the Rune source code" suggestion.

I worked on a game ALOT like this for Torque a long time ago. I think I have some of the programmer art laying around.

ONE WARNING FOR YOU: Figure out how you are going to get hand to hand combat working over the internet. If you can settle for something like Rune's system (which was basically run around and slash, very little like a fighting game or real fighting, more of an arcade feeling), then it will be possible with Torque. But if you want it to play like a fighting game where you have to time blocks and counters, then you should rethink your game, because it basically is not possible with the client server model that Torque, and most game engines for that matter, uses.

Good luck with it!

#4 @ Josh

"(which was basically run around and slash, very little like a fighting game or real fighting, more of an arcade feeling), "

You, simply dident play rune enough to grasp its very delicate and extreme difficult melee animations and heavy calculating package system.

"But if you want it to play like a fighting game where you have to time blocks and counters, then you should rethink your game, because it basically is not possible with the client server model that Torque, and most game engines for that matter, uses."

Exactly what Rune is. And its packages are far more advanced than what Torque has inbuilt.


@ J Mills
Go ahead and look at the C++ headers, HH released recently.

#5 Well if it is a Roman Game, you will need the Gladius, it is a short, iron sword, developed in spain used for the Roman army.They also carried a spear, which would bend and break off the tip when it reached it's target. Those and a shield were the Main weapons of the roman soldier.

One thing to note, is that if you were bogged down with armor and weapons, you couldn't "Hack and Slash". In fact that is totally opposite of the Roman fighting style. The Greeks developed the Phalanx, a group of soldiers moving as a unit, the Romans perfected it. Romans moved as a unit with shields up to protect from any projectiles, than when the time is right they would break, throw their spears, and rush in for hand to hand combat.

I know this might sound trite, as an Art Historian by trade, but I hate games which are historically inaccurate. My feeling is if you choose to use a culture, "use the culture" be accurate in your depiction. Otherwise make it more general, like "Ancient Times" or "Iron age". But if you choose to use Romans as a theme do some research, and get the facts and look right.

#6 @Christian or Troy

Where are the Rune headers ?
Would be interesting to look at them , played that game to much !

#7 Christian: I played it plenty, trust me. It's combat had nowhere NEAR the depth of say, Capcom vs SNK or even Dead or Alive 2 or 3.

#8 A *first* person melee game? doesnt sound enjoyable, frankly. There's a reason why there are not purely FPS melee games in the market - first person viewpoint makes it helluva hard to judge distances, maneuvre and fight multiple opponents in hand to hand combat.

#9 Start here:

http://ed.runegame.com

http://www.runegame.com/news.php#entry2229

#10 First Person Stab, Slice, Scourge, Scalp, Skin, Slap, Sting, etc. It could work. Just start out simple with a few of weapons: blade, spear, bow. Get it running and start hacking other players. Also, do it over the internet like someone else suggested. If you can get a decent fighting system working then build on that. You do not have to get complicated on the fighting interface if the ambience is good and it is fun to acquire fame, wealth, and possibly freedom. I like the idea of doing it Roman period correct, but it does not mean the Romans did not abduct a martial arts expert from the orient to fight in the games. You have some freedom in that respect.

BTW, the anglo iceman in the Swiss Alps had meridian point tatoos all over his body. Similar to oriental tatoos. Europe had other cultural influences from all over the world even in Roman times.

#11 Uhm...my brother, I, and some friends had begun!! work on a project called Medultile ( Medieval Multiplayer Battle). Its very similar to your idea except more based on European medieval warfare. Although the project never really landed I could help you with your idea (2d art, "bit" of 3d art, sound "MUSIC", etc) ...

#12 There was a huge tutorial, more like a 60 page cut and past of code into torque engine, i am working on that right now. I am also and couple of my friends at school are very interestd in making a melee online game. Please
let me know if I can help out. Here is my skils:
3dMax, maya, photoshop,C++,scripting
steven_zuccaro@hotmail.com
Ill keep watch on this post. Hope something materializes. PS: We are working on a mech online type game at the moment. Still working out the detaills.

#13 There was a huge tutorial, more like a 60 page cut and past of code into torque engine, i am working on that right now. I am also and couple of my friends at school are very interestd in making a melee online game. Please
let me know if I can help out. Here is my skils:
3dMax, maya, photoshop,C++,scripting
steven_zuccaro@hotmail.com
Ill keep watch on this post. Hope something materializes. PS: We are working on a mech online type game at the moment. Still working out the detaills.

#14 Id be interested in helping out with a medieval warfare game of this sort.

i was thinking along the lines of having spears, hatchets, knives and short swords, all throwable, as well as non throwable weapons like poleaxes, battleaxes, longswords etc.

and possibly a war machine or two such as a catapault as to wreak havoc upon the enemy.. but someone would have to model that..

let me know if you're interested.

#15 I am very interested. Please email me at steven@zuccaro.info.
Those sound like really good ideas relative to the game. I am
still trying to get the melee combat to work. Having trouble with the code
and keep getting compile errors. But I am sure I will be able to
figure it out.

#16 Also posted earlier someone mentioned rune. I wouldnt mind taking
a look at that game, I just hope EB games has it so I dont have to order
online.

#17 From what i saw of RUNE, it was 3rd person perspective.....

#18 Zooming in or out from 1st to 3rd, or adjusting the FoV angle is easily done ^^

He he, its old but it rocks....

#19 I have one idea I've always wanted to see implemented for melee use in FPSes...

Like in most 2D fighting games (Street Fighter, etc.) you have different ways to make the same strike, for example, a punch can be a crouched punch, a standing punch, a running punch, a held (powered up) punch, or even a jumping punch... but it's always just a straight jab.... This is the same setup even in 3D thrid-person fighting games, like Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, etc.

....Now, in 3D first-person, you have even more opportunities to create varied strikes of the same basic attack.... To elaborate, say you are standing facing your opponent, you could press one key to punch (or swing a sword) but there are many possibilities depending on how you move the mouse:

1- a straight jab to the opponent's front

2- a swing from the right to the opponent's side
3- a swing from the left to the opponent's side
4- a swing straight down over the opponent's head
5- an uppercut type swing

So those are the basic angles, but now you can include the diagonal, in-between angles, to create 4 more angles of attack, for a total of 9 different angled attacks.

Now combine that with the ability to jump, crouch, move forward, run, move back, move side to side, and, well you get the point, there are so many possible moves, but all achieved with the same attack button in conjunction with the mouse movement and other keys.

Now, of course, you could also block with your shield in all of these directions too, which makes it more fun.... For example, imagine this battle scenario... your enemy comes running at you and he makes it look like he's going to swing his sword at you from the left, but then switches to the right, you quickly turn your head (move the mouse) to the right and block with shield, and immediatley counter attack with a diagonal swing to his left side (move mouse left + up + down), and you hit!!

Actually, the game "Die By the Sword", roughly had this kind of dynamic control, but in first-person view it would be 10 times easier to control and see.

Anyway... to my knowledge, this kind of "mouse swinging" control hasn't been implemented in an FPS type game....(?) But it would be very cool to see, IMO.

....

Another thing, about FPSes not being suitable for melee combat....mmm, IMO, I don't think so. Yes it's hard to judge distances, but the same is trur in real life.... if I have a spear in my hand, and I've never used it before... it's hard to judge if I can hit a target at first.... but with practice, you could easily tell how far from the target you have to be to get a good hit. It's a matter of judging distances, and that would be all part of the fun. Combine that with a few well designed ranged weapons, and you would have an excellent game.

#20 Maby have your mouse control swings of melee weapon, and left and right buttons control the weapon to use ? A shield in the right hand, and sword in the left. Also, can push a certain key like e or w to affect the type of swing or angle of swing. Good input ! I dont think a mouse swing would be efficient enough in a an online fps, also i think that the view should be able to switch from 3rd to first, just in case you have a bow and need an aiming recticle or something.