Underwhelmed by MP Sabre Combat

[Solo4114]

Well, now that I've managed to get a good way through the SP game, and have had more than my fair share of sabre duels against Tavion, Shadowtroopers, and Reborn, I have to say that MP sabre combat is rather underwhelming.

 

I have been holding off voicing a strong opinion here until I'd had enough exposure to SP to make an effective comparision between MP and SP. Frankly, SP is elegant, flashy, and fun, whereas MP is dull, random, and irritating.

 

There are two problems, as I see it, with MP.

 

1.) Collision detection.

 

Collision detection in MP is rather, shall we say, LOW. You hardly ever lock sabres, when you do clash, the graphics simply make the same sparks as you would if your sabre touched any other object (as opposed to the SP light flash that occurs when sabres clash), and blocks seem to be mostly nonexistent. This has led to people randomly swinging the sabre around, either twirling, or using strong stance, in the hopes of actually hitting someone. My theory is this: if collision detection between the sabres was more accurate, and it was actually possible to BLOCK a sabre strike against you, even if you're not facing it directly head-on (as is the case in SP), sabre combat would be MUCH more fun in MP. If people knew they couldn't simply flail around with the sabre, spinning, running in and out, hoping to catch someone with a heavy swing as they run by, you might actually have more cinematic duels. Fix this issue, and I suspect many people will sing Raven's praises.

 

2.) Speed.

 

Maybe it's just me, but MP sabre combat seems slower. Not simply because of lag, mind you. I notice it to be slower even when I'm playing against bots on my own computer. Now, by slower, I don't mean in terms of the speed at which the players run around. That's PLENTY fast (a little too fast, if you ask me -- I can't run as fast backwards as I can forwards. can you?). I'm talking about the actual sabre swings and such. Maybe this is because many "filler" animations were removed from MP combat. If this is the case, I'd like to suggest they be added back in. The filler animations serve two purposes. First, they increase the feeling of immersion in the game. Second, they provide the player with visual feedback that when they press a key, it's having a meaningful result. Sometimes it feels like I've pressed a combo or have hit a swing key, and nothing's happening. Regardless, it's rather irritating.

 

I'm not going to get into the issue of force powers or gun vs. sabre balance right now. All I'm talking about in this post is my problems with sabre combat in MP. Yes, it's still fun sometimes, but lately, it's just seemed a little too chaotic and, frankly, boring to me. However, if MP could be made to mirror SP's style, I think the game would be fantastic and a hell of a lot of fun.

[stellerwinds]

Couldnt agree with this post more. He is 100% correct on all issues.

 

MP is a chaotic mess because of these problems. The backwards speed issue is annoying as well. But there are really some glaring problems expecially with the strong stance hitting when it shouldnt. It is not a lag issue as solo eludes to, just play vs bots to see this.

MP is turning into spazomania because of the exploiters.

[Sartori]

completly agree!

MP saber fights are VERY VERY one dimensional, little or no actual tactics other than change distance constantly and tyr to slash horizontal whne your opponent goes vertical.

 

BORING!

 

fix it so that duels actually mean something.

 

Ep4 Vader v Obi Wan is a wonderful example of 2 masters, (slow it down and even the non-kendoists can pick up the action) unfortuantly that was to subtle for the kiddies so they went in the Kung Fu theater mode for Ep1.

 

Could we please have a nice balance between the two?