There are a few things I have observed about melee combat that Vermintide 2 and Dying Light did correctly, from which I believe KF2's melee combat can benefit from.
-------------------
In KF2, regardless of whether you are using a blunt or sharp weapon, the hit registration on melee weapons is not properly projected to the player. Some possible options include the Overwatch route: where in melee hits are conveyed through cartoonish decals or particle effects.
However, since KF2 err towards the realistic side of things, what Vermintide 2 and Dying Light does seems more appropriate to KF2's design.
So, to answer the question, "what did Vermintide 2 and Dying Light did correct in melee (that KF2 can learn from)?"
Essentially, the melee combat in the two aforementioned game successfully convey hit registration to the player by changing the weapon's swing animation if a hit lands on a solid object: that is, if you swing a sword and hit an enemy or a wall, your sword will stop short in mid-swing if it was not a clean decapitation.
-------------------
Why is this important? Well, because it improves player immersion, and also communicates to the player whether a melee attack landed or not.
Weapon animations that stop in the presence of a solid target give rise to a "meatier" combat experience; it makes the difference between hitting a 200lb biological weapon with an axe, as opposed to say, bopping a balloon-- You want that axe to literally stick it to 'em.
Hit registration feedback on melee weapons have been an issue in KF2, especially for the Static Strikers. The manifestation of the problem is more apparent in the Static Strikers, because the punch animations occur linearly outwards from the player (unlike weapons that work like Class 1 levers, e.g. swords, which you swing around), since we are working in a 2D projection of a 3D space on the player's computer screen, it is hard to tell whether punches land or not because 3D depth cannot be properly conveyed on 2D media.
To summarize, here is an example of what can be done to improve the visual feedback in KF2's melee combat, using the Static Strikers (blunt weapon) and Katana (sharp weapon) for illustration.
Static Strikers:
1. Punches that do not land swing by without resistance
2. Punches that do land are halted by the "impact" with the object
3. Heavy attacks are not halted on "impact" for small Zeds, but light attacks are
4. Heavy and Light attacks are halted by "impact" on large Zeds
Katana:
1. Slashes that do not land swing by without resistance
2. Slashes that land without decapitating is halted mid-slash
3. Slashes that decapitate passes through the subject.
Of course, there are fancier stuff that can be done, but are completely optional. For instance, an axe swing can get stuck in a Zed's skull, in which the 1st person animation would show the player "unsticking" the axe from the skull. But that is not the point of this post.
-------------------
In KF2, regardless of whether you are using a blunt or sharp weapon, the hit registration on melee weapons is not properly projected to the player. Some possible options include the Overwatch route: where in melee hits are conveyed through cartoonish decals or particle effects.
However, since KF2 err towards the realistic side of things, what Vermintide 2 and Dying Light does seems more appropriate to KF2's design.
So, to answer the question, "what did Vermintide 2 and Dying Light did correct in melee (that KF2 can learn from)?"
Essentially, the melee combat in the two aforementioned game successfully convey hit registration to the player by changing the weapon's swing animation if a hit lands on a solid object: that is, if you swing a sword and hit an enemy or a wall, your sword will stop short in mid-swing if it was not a clean decapitation.
-------------------
Why is this important? Well, because it improves player immersion, and also communicates to the player whether a melee attack landed or not.
Weapon animations that stop in the presence of a solid target give rise to a "meatier" combat experience; it makes the difference between hitting a 200lb biological weapon with an axe, as opposed to say, bopping a balloon-- You want that axe to literally stick it to 'em.
Hit registration feedback on melee weapons have been an issue in KF2, especially for the Static Strikers. The manifestation of the problem is more apparent in the Static Strikers, because the punch animations occur linearly outwards from the player (unlike weapons that work like Class 1 levers, e.g. swords, which you swing around), since we are working in a 2D projection of a 3D space on the player's computer screen, it is hard to tell whether punches land or not because 3D depth cannot be properly conveyed on 2D media.
To summarize, here is an example of what can be done to improve the visual feedback in KF2's melee combat, using the Static Strikers (blunt weapon) and Katana (sharp weapon) for illustration.
Static Strikers:
1. Punches that do not land swing by without resistance
2. Punches that do land are halted by the "impact" with the object
3. Heavy attacks are not halted on "impact" for small Zeds, but light attacks are
4. Heavy and Light attacks are halted by "impact" on large Zeds
Katana:
1. Slashes that do not land swing by without resistance
2. Slashes that land without decapitating is halted mid-slash
3. Slashes that decapitate passes through the subject.
Of course, there are fancier stuff that can be done, but are completely optional. For instance, an axe swing can get stuck in a Zed's skull, in which the 1st person animation would show the player "unsticking" the axe from the skull. But that is not the point of this post.
Last edited:
