Anyone ever played that old game, die by the sword?

[Thorn]

This just came up in me, although it would probally take two decades to implement, I'm still going to suggest it. Here a quick 'n short copy from a review:

Die by the Sword threatens to introduce a revolutionary new play mechanic. Its technology is such that you are granted complete control over the hero's sword arm. Using a mouse or numeric keypad, you can order Enric to swipe his sword from point to point in any direction, and his momentum will determine how much damage he inflicts.

I'd like to add that by pressing the right mouse button, you'd hold your sword upside down.

This whole new game mechanism really made dbts worth my time (all those years ago).

Imagin if you could make in mount and blade just about any swing humanly imaginable; making fancy moves by doing so. Imho this would be a great aim for the developers, guaranteeing that their game will be even more unique, while making fighting generally very challenging.

(DbtS could do it without ragdoll physics, hell, that name wasn't even invented back then ;P)

 

[vanedor]

Yeah, I tried that game, back then. At least its demo. It was a bit like the training M&B, except you had a lot more different moves you could do with your sword. Didnt like it enough to purchase the full game.

 

[Hado]

Yea, I still have the CD and x-pac lying around somewhere.

The simulated arm was called VSIM or something and the engine was advanced for its time. For example on one level you were hung upside down from a rope and had to fight 5 guys. The physics rocked..you could cut someone's limb off exactly where your sword hit, and then pick up the piece and throw it back at them or beat them with it while they hobbled around without a leg or whatever.. lol. There were also levels set in dangerous arenas such as one above giant spinning fans, and you could get knocked down and chopped to pieces..funny stuff.

Controls took a lot of effort to master, but it was worth it. You could also record and macro movements, say a side to side swing or a spinning somersault chop and bind it to a key. Combat sometimes looked like a bunch of retards waving their arms around awkwardly though, especially when you were a noob and your mouse->arm sensitivity wasn't high enough.

Had multiplayer, too

 

[Ingolifs]

I had the demo.

Could never really master the combat system though.

 

[Berny]

i had the same idea!

http://taleworlds.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2179

 

[Qoatl]

I remember that game. You could instantly kill an enemy if you got in a good shot and lopped of his head. The combat system really helped to make this an attainable goal, as you could choose any start and end point combination for your swing (and, thereby, the angle of the swing as well), so you could aim for the neck in any situation.

Hmmm... now I feel old, since I hadn't considered DBTS to be a particularly old game. In my world, 3D graphics are still a relatively new phenomenon. Sure beats Atari football

 

[HAL_9.0.0.0]

Yeah i remember that game, took a bit of practice to get really good but was worth it, especially in multiplayer , do you remember those skeletons near the end of the game they were really hard to kill, only thing i disliked about the game was the fantasy setting

Have any of you played Hidden and Dangerous 2 ? one thing i like from this game is the stamina and the different speed settings which you control with the middle mouse button speed one is sneak speed 2 is walk speed 3 is run and speed 4 is sprint, of course faster you went the more tired you got, id like mount and blade to have that, the less stamina you had the slower you swing your sword/less damage and more likely to be knocked down or if your stamina is very low your blocks would be less effective especially against someone who has full stamina etc. Also would stop enemies from running backwards as all you can do in HDD2 is walk backwards.

 

[Ashram]

DBTS was awesome (tho the end was a bit abrupt imho), but this fighting style would be horrible in M&B, at least if it was exactly the same: I often find myself stuck in packs, and, well, in DBTW, the sword wouldn't go through a limb unless it cut it, so, well, I'd have my weapon stuck pretty fast in battles
That said, since you already control your horse with the keys, the gameplay, with a couple changes, would be perfect for it, imho, if you controlled the guy, while walking, the same way you control the horse (bare the acceleration thing, of course), too.
You can hardly make more realistic than that in a videogame, anyway.

 

[RJK]

I remember it - I'm glad the game has a name! I would like to get it again one day.

I used to sit there and do the quick battles over and over. I loved playing with the sizes of the fighters, making over-sized goons that could barely support their own weight or swing their clubs. Then I'd have to reduce their size a bit, and laugh as the ogre swatted his opponents around the room.


The game that M&B actually reminds me more of is Drakan (http://www.planetdrakan.com/), which had very similar fighting on foot. Most of my skills for attacking and avoiding hits came from this game.

There were swords and axes. It also allowed a few combos, but you could win without them. Archery allowed a degree of auto-aim, but was best without it for you to hit aerial targets. Besides fighting on foot, you could also ride a dragon, which was extremely fun for raining down fire on helpless enemy foot soldiers. It was, of course, a completely different experience to horse riding


RJK.

 

[Serak]

Hi everybody! Thanks to God! Thanks to Allah. I have played that game and I think it is one of best games i have ever played. I've started a topic in turkish forum. But only one guy appeared. When i meet this topic i became very happy. I want to connect every person who has played that amazing game.

 

[GaGrin]

Ugh.

DBTS was always the kind of thing I WISH worked.  But the fact is that the numpad control was too restrictive; (and unresponsive) and the mouse control more than a little erratic.

I actually think Mount and Blade offers a much better (simpler, responsive) and just as good range of motion for the weapon.  The ability to aim your swing in addition to choosing the aspect (ie - direction of attack) is more than enough.

The only thing I would add (to this game at least - it would differ if i was making my own super-game ) is making weapons STOP when they hit peope/animals/the environment so that the crush limits motion and swords aren't treated as magical light-sticks that deplete some imaginary pool of "hitpoints" - just make things a little more physical.

I can't criticise DBTS - it was extremely brave to try doing what it did and I think more people should try out ideas like that.  I just think it was more awkward than playable really. Maybe I'll have another look and change my mind - who knows? I just doubt it.

 

[Simo]

Ugh.

DBTS was always the kind of thing I WISH worked.  But the fact is that the numpad control was too restrictive; (and unresponsive) and the mouse control more than a little erratic.

I noticed the same thing too.. The level where you were hanging from a rope was quite hard.. The sword wasn't really easy to control. BUT i really loved it.. Oh how i'd like to try the full version! I only played the demo though back then.

I too have thought about that for M&B and it would be just great if it could be done.. Though it should be done a little bit better than in die by the sword.

 

[Ingolifs]

I always found the sword weas easy to control up to the point where you actually faced an enemy. Then things would become confused and you'd be struggling to wind up an attack while they were poking your face off.

By the way, isn't that game Determinance (search for it) attempting something similar?

 

[Serak]

To Gagrin: I know a few person who thinks like you. But it wasn't games fault. You had to pass an excersize period. I played DBTS with using numpad keys. I didn't prefer mouse and arcade movement system.  I used only 4-6 keys for attacking and it wasnt sufficient for me. I could kill many enemies which were stronger than me /like ogrees, goblorc, exc.). To my mind game's movement system provided players to overcome more poverfull enemies (really poverfull). But players had to quick attacks and quick flees. Timing was very very important for this game. İf your timing skill is not enough you die very quickly. You attack your enemy than you flee before his attack (if it is stronger than u). So the game was very exciting. I want to play it online.