Indie Devs Keep Rethinking Combat After Launch
13 posts across 2 communities in the last 60 days; 54% from r/IndieDev.
“Ok so im an upcoming game dev newer to this and I was wondering about something: Im gonna have the players characted hold a sword, the sword can be on his back or in his hand. Its of course going to deal damage and what not. Should I model the sword as part of the character as…”
“Hi everyone! I'm working on an incremental strategy game where you build a settlement and grow it into a powerful army, with Total War-style battles. The idea is pretty simple: you start with a small settlement, build and upgrade structures, grow your economy, and research new…”
“Gunblade Ranger is a post-apocalyptic roguelite shooter where you wield a sword and a gun simultaneously in precise, brutal combat. It draws inspiration from Nuclear Throne, but focuses more on customizable builds, complex combat mechanics, and metaprogression. Perform…”
Several indie developers are grappling with challenges in combat implementation, game mode design, and balancing gameplay mechanics. This includes rethinking existing systems, experimenting with new approaches to action-focused incremental games, and struggling with asset creation and marketing.
SOURCES (29)
“Hi everyone! I'm working on an incremental strategy game where you build a settlement and grow it into a powerful army, with Total War-style battles. The idea is pretty simple: you start with a small settlement, build and upgrade structures, grow your economy, and research…”
“Gunblade Ranger is a post-apocalyptic roguelite shooter where you wield a sword and a gun simultaneously in precise, brutal combat. It draws inspiration from Nuclear Throne, but focuses more on customizable builds, complex combat mechanics, and metaprogression. Perform executions at the right moment, stack mutations that create synergies, customize weapons with attachments, and create your perfect build as you fight through the wasteland! Features: - 2-player local co-op - Fast paced combat - 7”
“I was recently working on some changes to my action roguelite based on player feedback. One player suggested adding an auto-attack function where you can hold down the attack button to keep attacking. Thanks to that guy — he also provided detailed feedback with many other fixes, and it made incredible sense. I never thought of it that way. Isn't it more fun to press a button and unleash the attack yourself? Doesn't it feel more engaging when you press the button — like you're the one”
“We've been working on this for a little over 2 years now, and we're finally trying to get the rest of the game funded through Kickstarter. The demo is free on Steam too. Also, no AI was used for the game's art, animations or programming. We made it all ourselves. submitted by /u/Mev_Studio [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone! I've been working on the combat for my dark isometric action RPG. One of the abilities I’ve introduced recently (and I'm having a lot of fun with) is the Parry. If you time it right, you can deflect (ALMOST) all incoming attacks and briefly stun nearby enemies around you, giving the player a small window to turn defense into offense. Still tweaking the timing and feel, but I really like where it’s going. I'd love to hear your thoughts on look and execution! submitt”
“Hello everyone, this is my first post here, so I hope it fits well! I'm working on an ARPG in UE5. Still super early, but I wanted to get some outside eyes on the combat before I go too far in the wrong direction. The video shows two things: basic combat and a boss fight. Nothing fancy, just the default UE5 environment and raw gameplay. I’d love to know: what do you understand about the gameplay just from watching? What do you like, and what don’t you? -Does the combat feel readable, and is”
“Hey everyone! I launched a Steam demo for my co-op game Divine Gambit last week and now I want to show you some co-op gameplay footage from a playtest. I am playing without HUD, because it just looks better for a recording, but nothing is faked, nothing is edited. This is the game. Divine Gambit is a chaotic 3 player online co-op action game with tower defense elements. In a nutshell, you and 2 friends are given a Village to protect. You use the days to stock up on resources, build wacky defense”
“Hey r/IndieGaming ! 👋 We just pushed a new update for Emberhaven , focusing on combat feel, world generation, and a round of bug fixes based on player feedback. Here's what's changed: ⚔️ Combat Updates Adjusted knockback for Axes, Swords, and Spears — fights should feel punchier and more consistent Improved Stone Pickaxe mechanics and visuals Enhanced Mosquito Elite visuals and behavior (they're meaner now, sorry) 🏝️ Environment Improved island terrain elevation for a more natural”
“How to capture that satisfying combat feel? Please disregard the placeholder character and animations for now; I used Trellis (AI) to generate the temporary placeholder character. I also build a Combo Screen, where you can build your own combat moveset to fight depending on the enemies you are facing. submitted by /u/Good-Loquat-5424 [link] [comments]”
“In my game you mainly deal damage by colliding with the enemies. I got feedback wanting more fun weapons and abilities. So here I added an axe that makes you start to spin around in a whirlwind and damaging nearby enemies. The axe only procs when you reach 5x combo points, which you can build up by bumping into enemies in a short duration. So with a weapon like this is changes the play style a bit. The main playstyle so far has been a MMO style tank with shield and board - dealing damage with th”
“There are multiple skill variants and spell variations for each ability slot, but we picked the best ones to showcase for now. As you can see in the video, we're experimenting with a new mechanic for the Blood Mage where casting spells costs your own HP! Does the balance between the HP cost and life-steal feel right for a fast-paced roguelite? Also, what do you think about the VFX readability and style? Thanks in advance for your time and feedback! Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/”
“Hey guys! After a lot of work, the Steam demo is finally here and I'm really excited to share it with you. It features a specially tuned skill tree and runs about 20–40 minutes depending on your choices. Hope you enjoy it! You wake up in a dark forest with only a fire. The forest tries to consume you by draining your lantern's light every time you go into it, and you must keep feeding the fire to progress and uncover why you're there. Steam Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/49”
“Hey! I recently came across a game called Beyond the Blight, and it inspired me to create something with a similar combat system. The basic idea is that you see an enemy on the screen and click directly on them to deal damage. However, in Beyond the Blight, I felt that the combat lacked variety, since attacking mostly comes down to repeatedly clicking the enemy. I’m looking for games that develop this concept further and make it more engaging or skill-based. For example, they could introduce tim”
“Hey! I recently came across a game called Beyond the Blight, and it inspired me to create something with a similar combat system. The basic idea is that you see an enemy on the screen and click directly on them to deal damage. However, in Beyond the Blight, I felt that the combat lacked variety, since attacking mostly comes down to repeatedly clicking the enemy. I’m looking for games that develop this concept further and make it more engaging or skill-based. For example, they could introduce tim”
“Ok so im an upcoming game dev newer to this and I was wondering about something: Im gonna have the players characted hold a sword, the sword can be on his back or in his hand. Its of course going to deal damage and what not. Should I model the sword as part of the character as its going to be mainly attached to him and wont be dropped or put down? Or would it work better to have it modeled separately and have its own hit box and just script it so the player cant put it down at all? Also for the”
“Hexborn is a blood-soaked roguelite FPS where Doom-style combat meets Vampire Survivors-style escalation. You push through procedural dungeons, draft brutal perks, and snowball into an occult killing machine. I’m currently preparing the first public demo, and one system I’ve been polishing is how special abilities are earned. In the current build, abilities don’t automatically recharge on cooldown. Combat fills a meter, and once you’ve built enough energy, you decide when to spend it on somethin”
“Hi everyone! I've been developing Noctheron, a dark turn-based RPG featuring pixel art exploration, tactical combat, and a world consumed by plague, fear, and corruption. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the atmosphere, combat, and overall presentation. Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4905890/Noctheron\_The\_Eclipse\_Bringer/ submitted by /u/SpecterXIX [link] [comments]”
“I’m developing a fast-paced third-person action roguelike. The player has a sword, a gun, and a movement-focused kit. I’m struggling to find a satisfying approach to roguelike progression. Basic upgrades like “deal 20% more damage” are boring, but highly transformative upgrades can change the weapons so drastically that they stop feeling like the same weapons. They also tend to decide the player’s entire build very early. I want players to create distinct builds, but I also want the sword, gun,”
“I’ve been learning Unreal and it’s BP but also been diving into c++ this is a video of a fully C++ games I’ve been making inspired by Elden ring, Stellar blade, DMC5 and genshin impact SUGGESTIONS ARE REQUIRED ( can use a few ideas :D) submitted by /u/Ok-Chard-8874 [link] [comments]”
“Hey! I have been wanting to experiment with new weapon types for my upcoming game. Solo dev here working on BLIGHTFALL. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3839680/BLIGHTFALL/ submitted by /u/blightfalldev [link] [comments]”
“Most incremental games focus on optimization and watching the numbers grow. I wanted to see what the genre would look like with much more action and real-time combat. This is the first teaser from the game I've been working on. Feedback is always welcome! submitted by /u/Low_Dentist_5929 [link] [comments]”
“Combat is what primarily defines our game Ember's Oath. We balance power fantasy with challenging enemy encounters. Dodge out of attacks, unleash flames from the ground, and swing your flame sword to scorch down your enemies. A free, playable demo is coming out at the end of this month. Wishlist Ember's Oath on Steam to stay up to date on its development :) submitted by /u/foolswithblades [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone! We've been working on a major update for our multiplayer tank shooter, DEPLOYMENT , and this time we wanted to focus less on adding new content and more on improving the overall gameplay experience. One of the biggest additions is a brand-new game mode called Thick Skin . Instead of making battles faster, we went in the opposite direction: every tank now has a much larger health pool. This makes fights last longer, gives players more opportunities to react, use abilities, reposi”
“I was trying to program the logic for an enemy in a 3D, one on one, fighting game, but trying to look up the old term for game AI, just floods the results with crappy gen AI stuff, like "how to make a game with AI" type stuff, which muddies my search for learning how people used to program the decisions made by the NPC's when fighting and reacting to the player. Is there some term i can look up that wont get me flooded out by the new meaning of ai in games? Is there any resources w”
“Hi there! for almost half a year I'm working on a math based shooter game and its getting more and more polished lately. The goal is to have extremely math accurate combat, all enemies are numbers, the players weapons are operators (minus, plus, multiplication, division, modulo, root and sum) and currently 9 bosses where each boss has 1 math concept to beat (like a Spider with the sieve of eratosthenes). This part is pretty much done, except for polishing and balancing of course, and i still”