Developer Update #3 Siege Engines and Combat

Good (Insert your time of day) everyone

Welcome back to the next developer update, this time we are focusing on a couple areas of interest which are siege engines and combat.

As combat is our main focus at the current time and the stuff I'm sure a lot of you are excited to hear about, we will be covering its progress in most, if not all updates we do.

The other aspect of this update will be siege engines and the work that is being done on them.

We are also going to try and use these updates as a way to give you some more insight to the planned functions behind the work we discuss.

Animations

Fraser has been working hard on replacing all of our placeholder animations for our siege engines and their respective character animations for operation.

Raiding will be a very large aspect of Renown and because of this we want players to have access to a plethora of options when it comes to the complete annihilation of your enemies.

We aim to have multiple tiers of Siege equipment similar to our weapon and armour progression. The following are some of the late-game Siege equipment that is currently being worked on.

Siege tower - A Large movable tower used to gain access to people's walls while providing a decent amount of cover and a defendable position while advancing, we plan to allow customization of these towers much like the building system, This will entice players to make sure they have scouted bases properly and made appropriate adjustments for an upcoming raid.

Battering ram - The current battering ram is on the larger side allowing for multiple players to push and operate, while also having a roof for cover from enemy archers. This particular battering ram will be used for stronger gate variants and will make quick work of a lower tiered base.

Catapult - This variant of catapult is moveable and will be used as a method of clearing archers from defendable positions, as well as doing considerable damage to structures while also allowing a faster firing speed than other ranged raid equipment. The down side is the shorter range, putting yourself and the catapult closer to potential death.

Trebuchet - Our personal favourite, the trebuchet, these are very large tools of destruction and are something to be desired and feared. Offering immense range and damage at the cost of manoeuvrability and resource cost, these will be crafted in parts at your base and moved via cart to a desired location, make sure you are happy with the location of choice as deconstructing these will take some time and would not be easy nor quick to change its position during a raid.

Once these are complete we will be working on a video showcasing them and their function.

Modelling work has continued on creation of weapons, here is the bastard sword with our new showcase setup

Programming

The following section is written by Mr Z, the Lead Programmer and Combat Designer.

The melee combat in Renown will appear to be extremely similar to players who have played games like Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and Mordhau. Having a combat system that is easy to play but hard to master is crucial for competitive games, and Renown is no exception. The fights are brutal and personal, unevenly matched fights end quick, while closely matched ones can last minutes. Renown is not like a typical shooter where players often die in under a second of seeing their enemy. Instead you'll see your enemy coming well in advance, giving everyone ample time to decide whether they will fight or run away in fear.

Players are able to perform moves such as Feints, Ripostes, Drags, Dodges, using footwork to make their opponent miss their attack, crouching under swings, etc. Weapon choice plays a huge role in how players will engage, determining range, damage, and effectiveness with certain moves among other things. Weapons that are slow are more effectively dragged and crush the stamina of opponents that block them, while faster weapons benefit from having initiative in fights and being more unpredictable to defend against. We want all weapons to feel skillful to use while also not determining the outcome of battles merely on the equipment of the players, skilled play should be the main factor in deciding a battle. A player may have a full suit of armor and a sword but he will stand no chance against a lesser equipped opponent if he is unable to parry their attacks.

Programming work for the last few weeks has been exclusively on the melee combat systems, specifically on the Networking side of things. The majority of melee mechanics are fully implemented, and the current build of combat is a joy to play in our testing sessions. As soon as the networking is stable and free of bugs, we expect players will be able to have skillful duels with each other. Currently the combat animations are placeholders and it wouldn't make sense to show them at this stage. We understand that many in the community want to see footage of the combat, but we have decided to hold off on showing it until the networking is stable and after new animations are made that will do it justice.

Head over to our discord for a short video of a recent multiplayer test https://discord.gg/Tr2DxFh

Thank you everyone for reading these updates and we look forward to speaking with you again.

Enjoy your week.