Combat

Shields

I’ll be honest: Shields were more of an afterthought than something planned in the beginning (even for a melee focused game), so there are going to be some caveats.

You can think of shields as passive weapons. They are not controlled via kinematics, but is controlled by a kinematic weapon. Your sword’s movement drives the shield, and is kept close to your body to allow free movement of the primary arm.

I initially experimented with a kinematics driven shield (see video below) but quickly ran into technical problems. First, colliders often tunneled through the shield since it is so far from the body, and I can only apply kinematic controls to one equipped weapon, otherwise I’d have to set up a million keybinds to toggle between whether to move the shield or my main arm, which steepens the learning curve for a game that already has a wacky combat mechanic.

This is one of the caveats that you need to consider in order to frame the idea of swordplay into something not usually depicted in mainstream media. Combat here is seen through the lens of Bushidō, where honor and skill takes precedence over material and tactical superiority.

Under the rules of Bushidō, relying on a shield instead of parrying was seen as dishonorable, and differences were settled in small duels rather than in large formations. I scaled down the shields as well so as to make it not as much of a crutch.

The shield is held close because the ideal combat scenario is a small skirmish—either solo or in a tight-knit group. In such cases, there’s no need for large, forward-facing shields like those used in formation-based warfare.

Elbow Drivers

Elbows are now procedurally driven as well, allowing you to take up more realistic sword fighting stances like the Ochs Guard, as the westerners like to call it.

Target Switching

The issue of switching targets on the fly, which was pointed out in the last blog, is now addressed. Only difference is that instead of pressing X and right mouse, you press Left Alt and right mouse. If you are currently locked but want to switch targets, just press left alt while holding the right mouse and look at your new target.

Strafing

NPCs are now capable of moving sideways in combat, adding an extra element of randomness to shake things up a bit, and watching them circle their opponent is also pretty neat.

Models

Muttium

Muttium was once a legionary castra which eventually became a settlement due to its strategic location as a border town.

Muttium’s centerpiece is it’s large wall flanking the east, which serves in defending the empire and as a traffic control channel for extracting passage tax.

Beyond these walls lies the Metzacoatl Cartel,  depicted as a semi organized confederation of tribes who works together to smuggle narcican, a highly addictive drug, across the empire and elsewhere.

The cartel, while not a legally recognized nation, wields a lot of financial power, and you could leverage this opportunity by working for them as drug smugglers, but such a lucrative career is full of dangers and often meets a brutal end. 

Smuggling drugs is not the only form of making a living. Besides looting and laboring, you can make bets on gladiator games or visit Muttium’s bank to manage investments. You will be visiting the bank quite often as money will always flow back here, and it’s where you can purchase loot boxes for epic skins and NFTs (I’m joking).

These are roadmaps for the next update, so story related mechanics are still not implemented. That being said, I’m probably going to pause developments on Blade Ballad after this update to work on some side projects. The game is good enough to play purely for the combat while I draft out a more cohesive storyline along with a wiki for it.

Redesigns

A lot of models have been reworked for a little bit of extra detail and immersion. They haven’t been properly rigged yet though, since I’m lazy on meds and aesthetics can be ignored for the time being since it doesn’t affect gameplay.

The human mesh now has basic muscle definition and facial details, and the new head was ripped off a free model on cgtrader.