Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 325 Battle System
While Huang Wenfeng's live stream was in full swing, with comments flying everywhere.

Suzhou and Hangzhou, Net Intent, Justice Online Studio.

The atmosphere in the spacious rest area was somewhat somber.

Like many large companies, Justice Online also has a rest area. However, like many studios, the rest area is never a place to rest.
Same today.

A large group of people were gathered around a computer screen, which displayed none other than the game "Floating Dreams".

Coincidentally, they also chose the martial arts contest to choose a husband.

However, his progress is much faster than Huang Wenfeng's.

They had now entered the battle interface with Li Bangui.

"It's about to open!"

Sitting at the very front, in charge of operating this demo, was Xiao Wang, the best operator in the studio. He was temporarily called over by the studio's producer, Liu Tianlei.

"WASD to move, Shift to dodge, left-click to tap, right-click to attack, Q to block, E to use the ultimate skill, and G to switch targets."

"This combat system is a bit too simple."

Everyone present was a game developer, and their first reaction upon seeing the combat introduction was that the combat system was very simple, with only three sets of attack moves.

These correspond to light attacks, heavy attacks, and ultimate moves, respectively.

Even though there are definitely derivatives, such as light taps, heavy taps, light-heavy-light, etc., it is still incredibly easy for players to get started.

Because you can actually just randomly press the left and right buttons alternately.

"It doesn't look that great."

However, when the battle truly began, everyone's eyes lit up.

Just like in many games, the boss is given a close-up shot before the boss battle.

There's a similar setup in "Floating Dreams and Long Songs." Before the fight officially begins, the camera gives Li Bangui a close-up, and a line of semi-transparent text is displayed next to him.

"Ranked 183rd on the Human List: Li the Half-Ghost, the Smiling Yama"

Immediately afterwards, the battle began.

Li Bangui, as the first boss, didn't have any fancy lighting effects. He just raised his sword, swung it down, and blue light quickly appeared on his body as he charged towards the player.

At this moment, since it was the first battle, the game immediately entered bullet time and prompted players to press the Q key to block. Xiao Wang pressed Q without thinking.

Then came a loud "clang!"

On the screen, the swordsman in blue slashed his longsword to the left, not only deflecting Li Bangui's attack but also striking him in the opposite direction.

"Holy crap... this feedback animation..."

The so-called expert will know whether there is something or not as soon as he takes action.

The parry animation was quite smooth. While this was partly due to the top-down view making the character's movements easier to see, the game itself provided excellent feedback on the parry counterattack animation, including the force and sound effects.

After demonstrating the block, Li Bangui stepped back and then charged up again. This time there was no prompt, but Xiao Wang still subconsciously pressed Q.

In many games, blocking can be fast or slow.

However, in "Floating Dreams and Long Songs", at least with the boss Li Bangui, you basically charge up and then unleash your attack. As soon as the opponent's light appears, you press the counterattack button.

You can then turn the tables on your opponent.

The judgment was relatively lenient, and it was applied three times in a row.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

After three counterattacks, Xiao Wang looked at the message that appeared above the BOSS's head: "[This is interesting, but I'm going to get serious now!]", and inexplicably felt incredibly satisfied.

Even if he had only actually parried. After Li Bangui said it was "interesting," the battle indeed changed, and his actions also changed. He no longer charged forward with his sword, but instead charged straight at the enemy.

The default skill given to players in the "Floating Dreams and Long Songs" DEMO is the Qingfeng Sword Technique.

The Qingfeng Sword Technique emphasizes lightness, speed, and agility.

Xiao Wang controlled the green-clad swordsman in his hand, and after blocking Li Bangui's three powerful and heavy attacks, he also used a move from the Qingfeng Sword Technique.

With a few quick left clicks of the mouse, the swordsman's longsword transformed into a series of afterimages, swiftly piercing towards Li Bangui.

A handsome batch.

However, Li Bangui was no pushover either. With a flick of his longsword, he struck first despite being behind.

In a typical domestic game, at this point, it would basically be a matter of "each fighting their own game," with numbers appearing above both sides' heads.

However, in "Floating Dreams and Long Songs", if both characters use light attacks to clash, they will enter a brief "chess state", meaning that the attacks of both sides will cancel each other out.

What appears on screen is the clanging and clashing of swords between the two sides, but this neutralization only lasts for two to three seconds.

Because different techniques and weapons have different speeds and attack power assessments, Qingfeng Sword Technique is fast, but Li Bangui's sword technique is even faster.

Therefore, in this "game", Xiao Wang's character, the swordsman in blue, was unable to defend himself and was caught by Li Bangui, who delivered a series of light attacks, causing his health bar to drop by one-third.

"His attack speed seems to be faster than ours? Yes, this system seems to be all about attack speed?"

Since it was the first battle in the demo, the others present were not quite clear on how the game was judged. Seeing that light attacks were losing, they immediately started offering advice.

"Try going around behind."

"No way, this BOSS is quite fast, it'll be hard to get around."

"Try to counter his heavy attack... no, try switching to heavy attack yourself."

"it is good"

After his first head-on confrontation failed, Xiao Wang immediately changed his strategy. When the opponent rushed over and launched a light attack, he dodged backward, intending to unleash a charged heavy attack. However, as soon as he charged up...

The opponent swung his longsword and then charged forward.

Because Li Bangui's charged charge has a shorter wind-up than Qingfeng Sword Technique, Xiao Wang's charged attack was already coming at him before he could even unleash it.

This time, Xiao Wang couldn't dodge it.

After that, Xiao Wang tried several more times, and without exception, the result was the same.

The Qingfeng Sword Technique's heavy strike has a very long wind-up. Although it can occasionally hit, it is quite difficult to execute.

"How am I supposed to fight this? I can't out-attack with light attacks. As soon as I charge up, he charges! When I use a heavy attack, he uses a light attack."

The exhilarating feeling I previously experienced from precise parries.

They immediately entered a state of anxiety.

"Something's wrong."

A middle-aged man sitting behind Xiao Wang suddenly spoke up. He was He Zhiyong, the chief planner of the Justice Online studio, known as "Old He". He had been a core member of the planning and creation team since the beginning of Tianxia 3.

He is still very sensitive to this kind of basic game design.

"You must be playing it wrong. Didn't the system just say you could change your cultivation technique? Try changing it."

In the game's UI, besides the health and mana bars, there is a circular icon with a small sword drawn on it and the words "Qingfeng Sword Technique" written next to it.

Below the icon, there's a small button prompt: "Tab key, quickly switch between martial arts techniques."

(End of this chapter)