Particle for hitting chainmail armor w/ sword?

[Ishtvan]

I was wondering if there's any particle effect that would be appropriate for the sword hitting chain mail armor. Plate mail gives a spark (sometimes, it's random), cloth and leather give blood, but right now chain gives nothing.

 

Realistically, it wouldn't necessarily give off anything, but it helps a lot to aim your attacks in melee if you can get feedback by seeing where you're hitting. It also makes it seem more real and not just like we're arbitrarily playing sounds.

 

Would a small puff of dust be appropriate, like when people get hit in kung fu movies? It could be randomized like the plate mail spark, so it doesn't always appear, but enough times to give you the feeling that you're really hitting stuff.

[Tels]

I'd like that, such small particles really give you more depth and feel (instead of the "hitting empty air" feeling).

 

However, why not play it always, but only sometimes? This way the player could rely on seeing the particle, and not be left wondering why he sometimes hits and sometimes not (if he can't hear the sound f.i. clearly enough).

[Springheel]

If we're going to do a particle effect then it should be blood. Blood is the signal to the player that they have successfully hit and done damage. Maybe the blood effect could be a smaller version of the one for flesh?

[Ishtvan]

@Spring: Okay, a blood spatter would work, as long as it's different enough to distinguish it from the flesh one. I guess we shouldn't assume that everyone's armor is dusty.

 

@Tels: I was trying to go for some realism with the spark not happening every time. In RL if you hit a fencing mask with a sabre, you get a spark maybe 1 in 100 or 1 in 50 times. So already having it happen 60% of the time is already very exaggerated. The player also hears the different sound every time, so there's no need for a crazy lightshow every time there's combat. 60% probability is still enough I think.

[Tels]

@Tels: I was trying to go for some realism with the spark not happening every time. In RL if you hit a fencing mask with a sabre, you get a spark maybe 1 in 100 or 1 in 50 times. So already having it happen 60% of the time is already very exaggerated. The player also hears the different sound every time, so there's no need for a crazy lightshow every time there's combat. 60% probability is still enough I think.

 

Yeah, I know it is more realistic if it doesn't go "spark" or "dustpuff" all the time, but it A: looks more cool and B: gies you the sense of "I did hit", because you don't have physical force-feedback. Games are a bit different than real-life, so one needs to work with that.

 

But I trust you do it right