RUN!!!!!!!!!!

[Illinest]

In Call of Duty, you are given a "sprint" button.
When you press the sprint button, your speed increases dramatically while an "endurance bar" decreases quickly. When your endurance bar reaches 0, (after about 5 seconds of sprinting) You slow down to a jog and cannot sprint again until the endurance bar refills completely. (Which also takes about 5 seconds)
If you can limit your sprint to less than half of the length of the endurance bar, then you can immediately resume sprinting again before the endurance bar completely refills, but if at any time you drop to less than half endurance, you MUST wait until the bar is completely refilled again.

I think that this feature would add depth to the gameplay. Timing your "runs" would become an important part of your melee combat strategy, as you would need to balance the needs of closing distance with an archer versus "saving" your run for a quick retreat from the horde of axe wielding barbarians.
Sprinting could also be a trainable skill (differentiated from "running" of course) which would allow you to lengthen the endurance bar and allow for longer sprints.

In addition, the same mechanic could be applied to mounted combat, with sprinting (hopefully) giving the additional benefit of added charging damage.

 

[Skyrage]

That should be part of the athletics skill...

Really good idea, but all units should have this then...not just the player...

 

[Illinest]

Yes, all units should have it. I'm an equal opportunity idea maker.

 

[corksacker69]

a quick sprint on foot could be used to quickly get out of the way of that charging horse, and could be incorporated into a kind of quick dash attack that does added damage. i like it. the idea of 'stamina' or 'fatique' has been thrown about alot, and i really think it should be put into the game. it has a lot of possibilities.

 

[alesch]

Heavy armours should limit sprinting more than they seem to limit normal movement. It's really hard to notice any difference when walking around in heavy armours in the game, but sprinting in chainmail wouldn't be that easy.

 

[Illinest]

Yes I definately think that the normal encumbrances should also apply. If the difference in speed is relative, it will still feel useful even if you aren't actually running that fast.

A man in plain clothes carrying only a dagger might run at 10 mph and sprint at 20

A man in full plate might run at 3 mph and sprint at 6.

(1.6 Km to the mile)

In this way, the plate mail warrior still wouldnt be moving fast, but it would SEEM much faster relative to the normal running speed.

 

[Dread]

Sprinting would be a fairly nice feature. Encumberence should effect it pretty well, as its quite difficult to run a sprint when weighed down by 50 pounds of assorted armor and weapons you're carrying. It'd be useful if you're an archer/skirmisher dude, and it'd also perhaps balance out the AI archers and skirmishers, give them a last defense if they're caught up in melee and want to get away. On horseback it'd be fairly nice, too. My name's Dread and I approve this suggestion.

 

[DaLagga]

Well, let me be the first to disagree. While i do support the idea of a stamina bar, i don't like the idea of sprinting. Just imagine of those dozen river pirates used that feature to surround you in a couple of seconds? Even if you could do it as well, it would certainly be more beneficial to those with superior numbers. And since you couldn't sprint backwards, fighting a few enemies at once would literally turn into a game of hit and run. While it may be fairly realistic, i think it would take alot of the fun out of battles.

 

[[P]aradox]

Well, let me be the first to disagree. While i do support the idea of a stamina bar, i don't like the idea of sprinting. Just imagine of those dozen river pirates used that feature to surround you in a couple of seconds?

But the stamina bar should affect everything you do, whether it's running or attacking. Basically you could have it so that if you sprint somewhere, you're too tired to attack until the bar fills up some more. If you want to get more complex you could have it so that if you constantly swing your sword or fire your bow, the bar also drains until you rest. Maybe just have your swings go slower and do less damage over time.

If a dozen river pirates sprint to get to you and you wait, you'll be able to slaughter them with ease.

 

[tsuken]

good post paradox, I think that's a good idea.

Also add stamina to horses so they can't constantly run at top speed.

 

[alesch]

Horses can usually run at full speed longer than humans though, so the bar would have to be a lot longer. You could make it so that some horses tire faster than others, the charger and the warhorse would tire pretty quickly after charging aroudn the battlefield at top speed.

 

[tsuken]

yes ofcourse, but charging down people would cost stamina, getting hits costs them stamina, etc.

Maybe hits should decrease the maximum amount of stamina you can have (for the current battle)! This would work out very well I think. Someone hit a few times or with a few arrows in his chest isn't going to be very effective in battle or sprint for very long. This would also apply to horses.

I think we're on to something good here

 

[corksacker69]

i can imagine someone whos weighed down with heavy platemail and 4 heavy weapons in their pocket would tire a lot faster then someone whos naked with a one handed sword. if everything you did on the battle feild drained stamina, like walking to swinging a weapon, and stamina regeneration was directly affected by encumbrance, then using lighter equipment would indirectly have merit because you would be able to fight longer because your stamina would regenerate faster. swing and walk speed, along with damage, could be influenced by your current stamina as well.

i think it should be done in such a way so that having low encumbrance would enable you to fight on almost forever, swinging and sprinting almost as much as you want because your stamina would refill so fast. only when you start getting high encumbrance is when you should really pay attention to when you swing and when you sprint, because your stamina will burn faster then you can regain it, and you wount fight as well. there could also be room for the athletics skill in here, giving you a bonus to stamina regeneration.

tieing stamina regeneration to curent hp is an idea as well, although it would be crippling to soloists who typically take a lot of hits.

the problem i see is, that people will stay away completely from very heavy setups and equipment. this could be solved by making every x points of strengh reduce the encumbrance penalty by 1, so as your character progresses, he could gradually carry more equipment into battle with no affect to encumbrance.

but yeah, the aspect of stamina and it affecting every aspect of how you fight is an excellent and very innovitive idea. take notes armagan .

 

[tsuken]

Yeah exactly corksacker69. I don't know exactly where my post was, but I was sort of looking for a way to make unarmoured/light armoured men have some advantage over heavy armoured men, I just couldn't think of anything else except increased attack rate and a chance to dodge attacks. But as you state it, you make it fit together quite realisticly.

 

[corksacker69]

i was always vying for some sort of advantage to using lighter armor as well, so theres always a tactical advantage to using it forever rather then just a temporary stepping stone to black plate. i think that all of the armor in the game should be tactically viable. more severe penaltys for encumbrance is one solution, but the other idea is a very unique and creative way of indirectly nerfing god mode black plate and creating a stepping stone for more combat features. win/win

 

[Eird-Way]

Well, let me be the first to disagree. While i do support the idea of a stamina bar, i don't like the idea of sprinting. Just imagine of those dozen river pirates used that feature to surround you in a couple of seconds? Even if you could do it as well, it would certainly be more beneficial to those with superior numbers. And since you couldn't sprint backwards, fighting a few enemies at once would literally turn into a game of hit and run. While it may be fairly realistic, i think it would take alot of the fun out of battles.

Do you really think jogging backwards swinging constantly, indefinitely. until you manage to take down your enemies is cool?

A stamina feature would make the game's pace much more satisfying, and would eliminate those endless and silly games of tag. An archer should be able to run away and fire at slow-moving attackers, but if he could do that indefinitely (as you can in M&B) one man with a bow could kill a whole army, needing only patience. And that is stupid.

A game should never reward the player just for being extremely patient.

 

[Illinest]

Well, let me be the first to disagree. While i do support the idea of a stamina bar, i don't like the idea of sprinting. Just imagine of those dozen river pirates used that feature to surround you in a couple of seconds? Even if you could do it as well, it would certainly be more beneficial to those with superior numbers. And since you couldn't sprint backwards, fighting a few enemies at once would literally turn into a game of hit and run. While it may be fairly realistic, i think it would take alot of the fun out of battles.

Do you really think jogging backwards swinging constantly, indefinitely. until you manage to take down your enemies is cool?

A stamina feature would make the game's pace much more satisfying, and would eliminate those endless and silly games of tag. An archer should be able to run away and fire at slow-moving attackers, but if he could do that indefinitely (as you can in M&B) one man with a bow could kill a whole army, needing only patience. And that is stupid.

A game should never reward the player just for being extremely patient.

I like looking at it this way, but I also think that the original scenario is not as dire as he suggests. Assuming equal equipment, you would use your own sprint feature to avoid being encircled by running away until you reach a point where you can use terrain to your advantage.
e.g. Run to the cliff and use that to limit the approaches your enemy can take, position yourself in a doorway so they can only come at you one at a time (anticipating indoor battles )

The heavily armored warrior who can't run fast enough to get into a better position would only be reaping the rewards sown when he chose to wear full plate. (More effective against single opponents but difficult to use when surrounded.)

I think that changing character movement could bring a TREMENDOUS benefit to the game, in short.

 

[okiN]

corksacker69, I don't see how faster stamina replenishment for unencumbered fighters would make any sense.

This is the way I see it: Maximum stamina and stamina replenish speed should both be based on strength and agility, and also be affected by athletics skill. Agility should also slightly increase movement speed, maybe one third as much as a point of athletics skill per point of agility. The same ratio between agility and athletics would apply for max stamina and stamina replenish speed, whereas each point of strength would increase them as much as one point of athletics, but have no effect on movement speed. It seems more logical than the present system where movement speed is independent on agility if you don't take the athletics skill.

Max stamina and replenish speed should be independent of encumbrance, but in addition to limiting movement and attack speed, encumbrance should increase the stamina burn rate significantly. That way you'd be able to rest up just as quick when you're heavily armored, but you'd have to do it a lot more often. As outlined, stamina should be consumed by running, attacking and sustaining damage, and low stamina should make you unable to sprint or jump and lower damage, movement speed and attack speed.

When on horseback, the horse should have its own stamina bar. You could have the horse's maximum stamina and stamina replenish speed depend on the horse's quality, and the stamina consumption rate depend on the horse's armor weight. Chargers would have the highest max stamina and replenish speed, but also the fastest loss rate. Hunters should be the most stamina effective ones, since they're the strongest of the unarmored horses. Obviously the horse's stamina consumption rate would also be affected by the encumbrance of the rider. Stamina should be consumed by the horse's jumping, sprinting and taking damage. Low stamina should cause inability to jump or sprint, lessened movement speed and weaker charges, and in extreme cases the inability to charge through infantry.

That's how I think it should go. What do you guys think?

 

[Illinest]

corksacker69, I don't see how faster stamina replenishment for unencumbered fighters would make any sense.

This is the way I see it: Maximum stamina and stamina replenish speed should both be based on strength and agility, and also be affected by athletics skill. Agility should also slightly increase movement speed, maybe one third as much as a point of athletics skill per point of agility. The same ratio between agility and athletics would apply for max stamina and stamina replenish speed, whereas each point of strength would increase them as much as one point of athletics, but have no effect on movement speed. It seems more logical than the present system where movement speed is independent on agility if you don't take the athletics skill.

Max stamina and replenish speed should be independent of encumbrance, but in addition to limiting movement and attack speed, encumbrance should increase the stamina burn rate significantly. That way you'd be able to rest up just as quick when you're heavily armored, but you'd have to do it a lot more often. As outlined, stamina should be consumed by running, attacking and sustaining damage, and low stamina should make you unable to sprint or jump and lower damage, movement speed and attack speed.

When on horseback, the horse should have its own stamina bar. You could have the horse's maximum stamina and stamina replenish speed depend on the horse's quality, and the stamina consumption rate depend on the horse's armor weight. Chargers would have the highest max stamina and replenish speed, but also the fastest loss rate. Hunters should be the most stamina effective ones, since they're the strongest of the unarmored horses. Obviously the horse's stamina consumption rate would also be affected by the encumbrance of the rider. Stamina should be consumed by the horse's jumping, sprinting and taking damage. Low stamina should cause inability to jump or sprint, lessened movement speed and weaker charges, and in extreme cases the inability to charge through infantry.

That's how I think it should go. What do you guys think?

The only thing I don't agree with is the stamina loss when you get damaged.
Although I understand WHY it makes sense, I think it will create a situation wherein the first hit that you suffer will precede a cumulative snowball effect of stamina loss.

I prefer that the player does not lose stamina when he is hit, although I might be able to support stamina loss due to BLOCKING an attack. (which may curb the uber-effectiveness of shields...)

If an explanation is necessary, we can assume that the character gets a shot of adrenalin every time he is hit and that the adrenalin shot roughly cancels out the loss of stamina.

 

[Ilex]

The only thing I don't agree with is the stamina loss when you get damaged.

Instead of stamina loss there could be a certain time you have to wait to sprint after being hit in "a critical spot". Like a hammer to the chest might get you "winded" (if that is the right word).