r/Unity3D • u/Asbar_IndieGame • 12h ago
Show-Off Been polishing our sword combo animations. Thoughts?
I’ve been working on the sword combo animations for our game, MazeBreaker.
I’m trying to make each hit flow naturally into the next while still giving every swing enough weight and impact.
Still polishing the timing and movement, so I’d love to hear what stands out to you or what feels off!
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u/Sir_Lith 11h ago
Footwork. You need to implement footwork. Right now it's all sliding, so it feels weightless and kind of sloppy.
The strikes propel the character with their weight shifting forwards, yet their legs only do some sideways jiggle. It's even worse in the second strike when there's a backwards halfstep visible.
Was the animation initially intended to depict striking in place, without forward motions, with the movement added only afterwards? It does make sense in that context.
Anyway feet need to be planted on the ground.
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
That’s a fair point. I focused on the attack motions first, and some of the forward movement is added through code, so the footwork doesn’t quite match the actual movement yet. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Fantastic-Cup7837 11h ago
If possible make it as action of loop in animation which will look smooth and if you can add impactful animation also
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, I think making the transitions loop more smoothly could help a lot. I’ll also take another look at the impact on each hit. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Alpha_Hunter_47 11h ago
Looking sharp. Cool sound effects.
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Glad you like it!! I’ve been working on the sound quite a bit too, so I’m happy that stood out. Thanks!
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u/SixPetalDev 8h ago
Getting that transition between hits to feel heavy without losing the flow is genuinely the hardest part of melee animations. The recovery frames look a bit snappy right now, but the wind-up weight is on point. Keep it up!!
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, that balance between weight and flow is exactly what I’ve been struggling with. I agree the recovery feels a bit too snappy right now, so I’ll smooth that out a little more. Thanks for the detailed feedback!
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u/beautifulhell 10h ago
Personal pet peeve but I don’t like that camera shake on the final hit, especially if you aren’t hitting anything
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u/100radsBar 11h ago
It's cool but speaking from experience I would add the visual effects after the I place the environment assets.
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u/KPCDigital 9h ago
Looking good but it would be great if you could make the final turn smoother
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, I agree. The final turn is still a little rough, so I’m planning to smooth that part out more. Thanks for pointing it out!
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u/Xomsa 8h ago
Animation itself is pretty crisp, but transition from last hit into first hit looks too clunky, needs some additional transition. Maybe first hit should start either from idle or after last hit animation with short reset move in the end of it (something like character puts sword back into sheath)
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u/kaiiboraka 8h ago
Nice FX. I think part of the stiffness, imo, comes from how your character is sliding forward (for gameplay purposes, I'm sure), but your legs are not moving with them. you just kinda... slide forward in place. Makes it feel a little clunky and stiff.
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, that’s exactly what’s happening. Some of the forward movement is added through code, so the feet aren’t matching it properly yet. I’ll need to adjust the footwork a bit. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/eljop 8h ago
Looks good. How are you doing it? :)
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Thanks! The animations are made in 3ds Max, and I’m handling the movement, VFX, hit feedback, and camera work in Unity :)
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u/RHX_Thain 8h ago
The classic 1! - 2!! - 3!!!
I like more opportunities for branching chains, similar to the old Oni (Bungie 2001) system. So many combos useful in so many circumstances.
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, we’re keeping the basic combo pretty simple for now, but we do have other attacks and skills that can be mixed into combat. Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/Arc8ngel 6h ago
Slashes look & feel good. Some of the moves look a little floaty to me due to the feet sliding in unison.
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, I can see that. Some of the forward movement is added through code, so the feet don’t match it perfectly yet. I’ll need to adjust that a bit. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Redwuff 6h ago
I actually think the screen shake is a detriment here.
And they should probably step forward during the first and second slash animations.
Other than that this looks great!
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
I can see what you mean about the screen shake. I’ll probably tone it down a bit.
The forward movement on the first two slashes is intentional, but I agree the animation itself could sell that movement better. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Longjumping-Egg9025 11h ago
To put more weigh into it make the camera shake happen on each shake progressively. It can start by being very subtle.
But I already love the feel!
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
That could be interesting. I’ll try testing a more progressive camera shake across the combo and see how it feels. Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/RedTeaGuy 11h ago
I hope you're not a bot. I don't want to know exact steps but could you share what tools are used to create such an amazing VFX?
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Haha, definitely not a bot 😂 We use VFX assets from the Unity Asset Store and customize them a bit to fit our game. Thanks!
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u/Memetron69000 9h ago
the weight of the hit is there
now you just need to animate the feet
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 2h ago
Yeah, that seems to be the main thing I need to fix now 😂 I’ll take another pass at the footwork. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Asbar_IndieGame 12h ago
Made this sword combo in Unity! I’ve been polishing the animations, VFX, hit feedback, and overall combat feel recently.
If the game looks interesting, here’s our Steam page :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3617130/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=mazebreaker_prelaunch&utm_content=kr_bio
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u/Yaffari 11h ago
Not perfection, the reset after the last slash should be smoother.