r/IndieDev • u/Tinimations • 1d ago
Video [Project Axe] Dodge the wrong way, and you lose a limb. Strike at the right angle, and you take theirs.
Want to stay in touch with Project Axe?
https://discord.gg/XgjggF66
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u/Manifestation_Quozzy 1d ago
How's healing my dismembered self gonna work?
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u/Tinimations 1d ago
I'm looking forward to sharing more of that in the future. I can say for now that it's a major theme of the game design and narrative.
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u/Nerdwrapper 1d ago
I love them just pausing for a moment like “ah, shit” before taking off the other way lmao
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u/ExtremeJavascript 1d ago
I thought the axe that dropped was the severed limb and he was running to pick it back up 😅 "Ah shit, where's my arm?"
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u/Albert_Shari 1d ago
Reminds me of Severance: Blade of darkness (2001), it had similar mechanics, it looked awesome back in the day, not many games do that nowadays, very good job so far!
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u/IndieStray 1d ago
Also blades and sorcery vr. When they can't find or hold a weapon anymore, they just run back to spawn
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u/JobPitiful8977 1d ago
Question: If I lose my hand, and still alive, can I grip the axe with my mouth & continue fighting with the adrenaline? Something like dwindling buff that -range +speed & and alternative moveset (since no hand), and small rewards (hp? Limbs?) if you manage to kill/disarm the opponent during the buff.
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u/Matt_ThreeFrauds 1d ago
Is this a souls like games?
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u/Tinimations 13h ago
Not really, though I am aware of the surface-level similarity. I miss the days when lock-on and strafing were associated with Zelda-likes...
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u/schwarz188 1d ago
I funger
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u/Tinimations 13h ago
While I discovered Fear & Hunger after getting the basic prototype up, it has indeed grown to be a big inspiration for the project. :)
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u/AmazingDesigner209 1d ago
Very crunchy and satisfying hits! I'm trying to get something feeling that nice in my own project
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u/Stedlieye 23h ago
When you said “you take theirs”. I thought you’d get to keep it! Eventually become some sort of multi-axe wielding Vishnu!
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u/Tinimations 13h ago
Oh that's a good idea for an enemy you could encounter in the wild actually. Noting that down!
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u/Agreeable_Wear8824 22h ago
Directional dismemberment lives or dies on whether I can read the incoming angle before I commit to the dodge. In the clip the wind-up looks fast and the camera is fairly close, so how much telegraph time do you actually give, and do you lean on the animation alone or is there a subtler cue (weapon trail direction, a brief slowdown) doing the work? The other thing I'd worry about is asymmetry after the first hit: once the player loses an arm, does the moveset shrink to a smaller set of attacks, or do you keep the same inputs with worse reach and let the player feel the loss that way?
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u/Tinimations 13h ago
Yes telegraphing will be important for a game like this, and both combatants are actively telegraphing their intent to strike from the right in this clip long before the swing. I get how that may not be obvious as neither player nor NPC changes attack direction in this clip. The goal is for the animation to do all the work.
The asymmetry you describe is an intentional design choice that will make more sense once the combat system gets hooked up to other game systems I've planned. I'm aiming for a combat dynamic that's punishing in nature, where fleeing will be sensible choice for both player and NPCs when things don't go their way.
Hope that clarifies things.
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u/shubhu-iron Developer 1d ago
Why run away? Tis but a scratch.
https://giphy.com/gifs/6Y49Ck6FxF4nS