New Physics-based Combat Paradigm Showcased (Mouse and Keyboard)
This is a SLOW-MOTION CLIP (50% SPEED) | Technical Alpha Trailer Here
Moving the Mouse Cursor directly controls the sword. This is not VR
In this video, there are 0 animations. Its pure physical interaction and every collision is unique. You can re-direct your move at any time.
The Math
Rather than using standard vector math to apply physical forces to weapons, I'm using Aerospace Control Theory to simulate the sword's motion. The sword's stiffness is governed by a Multi-Modal Harmonic Oscillator, allowing the sword to vibrate at multiple natural frequencies simultaneously. This allows for very organic, tactile interactions that emulate the stiffness of materials.
This gets rid of the "dead", "damp" "sloshy" feeling of collisions in standard VR games, and altogether circumvents the "Drunken Puppet" feeling of non-VR physics-based combat games. Here, the elastic recoil makes the sword feel truly alive as it actively bites back into the opposing weapon. It feels incredibly snappy, fluid, and responsive. This brings us much closer to modelling how energy reverberates and dissipates through objects in video games.
I've written 3 blogs about the Technology and Design Philosophy of this game on the HyperMad interactive Blog.
The Magic:
I'm using Unity's built-in Physics but I'm only using AddForce() and AddTorque() to control the sword. My formulas simply tell Unity exactly when, where, and how much force to apply. I'm Using Unity as the engine and my Bloodfall Harmonic Resonance Model as the driver. The Math is so precise that it stabilizes the sword without adding drag, friction, or joints to stop the sword from overshooting. The sword is essentially a super advanced alien spacecraft that can fly better than any man-made object to date.
I never manually change the momentum, speed, or location, or use joints. Physics are always acting on the sword - not only during impact. I don't even use OnCollision callback when the weapons clash, as nothing specific happens in that moment. This is a continuous, non-abstract simulation.
From a gameplay perspective, this means PC gamers will finally experience Speed, Precision, and Physics in a single PC game. I can confidently say this is the Holy Grail of Melee combat.
The Technical Alpha is currently accepting play-testers on Steam. The game is called BLOODFALL (Recently Featured by IGN and viral on Twitter). You will be able to test the Physics and controls while progressing through a defensive gauntlet. Full combat System to be showcased in a subsequent official free demo on Steam, when its ready.
