Project information
- Engine: Unity
- Team: Endeavor One - Unannounced Project
- Feature Implementation Date: June 2024
Player Swing Simulation, Hit Prediction and Dynamic AI Dodging
This was a gameplay feature I developed after working closely with design. The goal was to make combat more dynamic, and give the enemies a dodge that was simple and dynamic, instead of fully jumping away from the player, and leaving the player's area of threat.
This feature involves simulating the player's weapon swing path, predicting when and where an AI would be contacted, then warning the AI to blend their dodge animations to attempt to dodge the attack.
These dodge animations were very simple, and there would likely be more animations to blend between on a final shipped product. The animations active in this clip include a simple head tilt back, head tilt left/right, chest evade, and step backwards.
There are some notable bugs and issues with the enemy's animations such as dodge animations playing late, and these issues were later resolved as is seen in the final footage video. We even adjusted the AI later on to have certain states that were marked as non-interruptible, so the player could strike at a specific moment without being dodged.
This feature helped make combat feel much more dynamic, and was a huge selling point for this unannounced project.
I also worked on the blocking and parrying mechanism, that has the AI respond in different ways based on the velocity of the player weapon when hitting the AI weapon. If you'd like to discuss either mechanic further, I'm happy to discuss them more!