11-27-2020, 02:15 PM
Ghost Of Tsushima Combat Designer Discusses The Difficulties Of Katana Balance
<p>One of the big challenges when designing a game based largely around realistic sword combat is finding the right balance so that attacks feel powerful without combat relying on one-hit kills (unless you take the <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/games/bushido-blade/">Bushido Blade</a> path). When designing PS4 exclusive <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/games/ghost-of-tsushima/">Ghost of Tsushima</a>, Sucker Punch Productions had to find the right balance, and now the game's senior combat designer has provided a deep dive into what their process looked like.</p><p>In a post on the <a href="https://blog.playstation.com/2020/11/25/honoring-the-blade-the-lethality-contract-and-combat-balance-in-ghost-of-tsushima/">PlayStation Blog</a>, Theodore Fishman has delved into some of the issues they faced while designing the game's combat. A term he uses throughout is "lethality contract"--the player's understanding that if they cut an enemy with a sharp blade, they'll likely die. While it's possible to make silent kills and standoffs instantly lethal, getting the balance on standard combat was difficult.</p><p>"When we did our early playtests we received very negative feedback that enemies felt like 'sword sponges,'" Fishman recalls. "My favorite quote from players was 'I felt like I was hitting enemies with a foam bat.'" Giving the enemy a form of hitpoints wasn't working, so the team ended up integrating a "maximum hits to kill" system, whereby no standard enemy could withstand endless attacks.</p><a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ghost-of-tsushima-combat-designer-discusses-the-difficulties-of-katana-balance/1100-6484913/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f/">Continue Reading at GameSpot</a>
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ghost-...01-10abi2f
<p>One of the big challenges when designing a game based largely around realistic sword combat is finding the right balance so that attacks feel powerful without combat relying on one-hit kills (unless you take the <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/games/bushido-blade/">Bushido Blade</a> path). When designing PS4 exclusive <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/games/ghost-of-tsushima/">Ghost of Tsushima</a>, Sucker Punch Productions had to find the right balance, and now the game's senior combat designer has provided a deep dive into what their process looked like.</p><p>In a post on the <a href="https://blog.playstation.com/2020/11/25/honoring-the-blade-the-lethality-contract-and-combat-balance-in-ghost-of-tsushima/">PlayStation Blog</a>, Theodore Fishman has delved into some of the issues they faced while designing the game's combat. A term he uses throughout is "lethality contract"--the player's understanding that if they cut an enemy with a sharp blade, they'll likely die. While it's possible to make silent kills and standoffs instantly lethal, getting the balance on standard combat was difficult.</p><p>"When we did our early playtests we received very negative feedback that enemies felt like 'sword sponges,'" Fishman recalls. "My favorite quote from players was 'I felt like I was hitting enemies with a foam bat.'" Giving the enemy a form of hitpoints wasn't working, so the team ended up integrating a "maximum hits to kill" system, whereby no standard enemy could withstand endless attacks.</p><a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ghost-of-tsushima-combat-designer-discusses-the-difficulties-of-katana-balance/1100-6484913/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f/">Continue Reading at GameSpot</a>
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ghost-...01-10abi2f