Combat...generally not liked?

[Springheel]

Like many said before, the animations are appropriate but could also be improved, and that would be fantastic. A bit more sound would also be great,

 

You'll be happy to hear that the next update includes improved animations and some better sword clash sounds as well.

[RPGista]

^^^ Brilliant!

[AngelWolf]

What if we removed swordfighting completely and gave the thief a dagger, the ability to kick, and a close range gas releaser created by the inventors guild? It always seemed odd to me that a thief like Garrett wouldn't just rely on dirty tricks to get away. Kick them in the shin or groin and throw dirt in their eyes, then run. Oh and maybe throw some caltrops over your shoulder...its hard for someone to chase you when they have a piece of sharp metal lodged in their foot...especially if it's covered in sleep poison.

Edited August 27, 2012 by AngelWolf

[AluminumHaste]

Now that I've considered it further, I am not sure I recall any game that uses direct mouse movement to control sword movement. Sword actions are usually relegated to key hits and sometimes relative to player motion.

 

There's only one game that I know that uses mouse movement to control sword movement; Die By The Sword

[PPoe]

And TES:Arena. Good game=)

[Midnight]

What if we removed swordfighting completely and gave the thief a dagger, the ability to kick, and a close range gas releaser created by the inventors guild? It always seemed odd to me that a thief like Garrett wouldn't just rely on dirty tricks to get away. Kick them in the shin or groin and throw dirt in their eyes, then run. Oh and maybe throw some caltrops over your shoulder...its hard for someone to chase you when they have a piece of sharp metal lodged in their foot...especially if it's covered in sleep poison.

 

Didn't Thievery use caltrops? I quite like that idea, the flashbomb and mines are already serving a similar purpose though. Definitely wouldn't want to remove the combat, it's intended as a last resort (and is actually kinda fun once you practice a bit )

[AngelWolf]

I guess it comes back to the image of the thief in classic dungeons and Dragons and Sierras quest for glory series, where sword fighting is not the thiefs calling card. also, rogues in world of Warcraft have abilities that aid them in running away when things get hairy.

[Xarg]

Shrug, you can also spec swords (anything not dagger but 1h really) and give warriors a run for their money with the right setup, so I would hesitate to use WoW as an example of how to lay out the TDM thief..

[RPGista]

Combat is a very important part of TDM, it was very nicely achieved both code and design-wise, and adds not only fun for any particular sneaking mission, but also leaves the door open for different themed missions out there (adventures, rpg-like maps, or maybe simply a duel with a nasty lord to close the mission). The good thing about having a capable character, with several different skills and weapons/tools is that the mapper can hand pick exactly what he wants to allow the player to use in order to keep the coherence of his own story and world. Many missions already dont provide the player with a sword (to my dismay), forcing you to use other tools. Its all up to the mapper. I gave a lenghty report on why I think this fighting system "a la Mount and Blade" is cool (on the previous page).

[simplen00b]

What if we removed swordfighting completely

I'm not a fan of hand-to-hand swordfighting cuz I'm rubbish at it , but I don't think there's any point in taking it out of TDM (like RP says, the mapper can do this for a specific mission if he/she wants). There are plenty of other options to allow the player to fight 'dirty', and actually, my favourite way of fighting dirty involves zombies and the sword:

there's nearly always somewhere where you can stand just out of reach of the zombies and then lean forward and whack em

The downside is, it doesn't work with guards cuz they just start chucking rocks at your head.

 

The upside is, it works with zombies.

 

Which is good.

 

Hate zombies.