Momentum-based movement - Feedback thread

I rather like the change as it gives me a real sense of weight on the world, and combined with all the past animations and additions to the in world character, I get a closer and closer feel that I’m controlling a person rather than a video game avatar. I also use heavy armor exclusively and the roll added to that is a god send for my experience as well.

3 Likes

Coming from being a thief with light armor and full agility. The rolling distance is really bad, especially with the new walk to run system.
My character feels incredibly sluggish, if I run into a bump I start walking, if I run and jump I start walking. Theres no air control anymore, even with double jump. Climbing walls and trying to stick to ledges while falling all just feels wrong. I’d like to see this tweaked because as of right now it feels tedious and punishing.

3 Likes

Hey! I like the roll alot! but the momentum based movement needs some tweaking. the delay is a bit long and the resulting animations are kind of… well… … cheap? It looks like you took two steps back on all of the hard work making the animations cooler and more realistic.

I’m all in for the spirit of this change though, it just needs cleaned up a bit.

2 Likes

Big dislike. This update ruined pvp. The light roll was op. 2 medium pieces and 3 light was the meta and thats what you wanted to get rid off. You also wanted people to use agility. Now everyone will just use heavy armor and a bit of agility to improve their roll. You just replaced the old meta for a new meta instead of fixing the problem. Also it looks like you’re walking on oil everywhere and it takes way too slow to get on speed while running. Also the fact that you can’t move that much anymore mid air is a pain, but the combat changes are the worst. Especially the roll and

2 Likes

I am disappointed with the super sluggish nature of how combat works now. Basically what we did was to remove the skill and timing needed to pull off an actual dodge under a blade or around an attack from say a dragon tail swipe and replaced it with a convoluted momentary hyper armor preventing damage. This neither adds to the difficulty of game play nor the action based fun garnered from it. The momentum based running is completely tuned wrong. We are supposed to be warriors chiseled from the rigors of surviving in the wastes. Now I can’t dart off any faster than a toddler or a 65 year old woman in a tough mudder competition.

Bottom line guys is this. I haven’t been able to pass on another go round of CE since you released the game on steam in the very early days. I’ve enjoyed the heck out of all the mods, updates, etc etc. This DLC was supposed to be such a huge improvement that I wouldn’t want to put it down again for another couple of go rounds. Now all I can think about is how I am going to fill my personal time without slogging through the now boring and mundane Conan Exiles. With that said, I am an engineer who knows its better to always offer a solution to problems I present so here goes.

regarding running…the delay in acceleration is WAY WAY to noticeable. Make it momentary if at all and ramp it up a lot faster. Also if you really wanted it right, make the pace at which you accelerate based on overall agility stat. If the goal was the make lighter armors more viable, then add in a way to make the overall DR % contribution from light and medium armor more useful. As it stands there is a 22% disparity from the FE versions of heavy vs light…that’s just too much damage intake difference to even consider light armor…perhaps improve the heavy armor plates when used on light/medium armor to make them more meaningful.

WRT to the combat dodges (rolls), roll this back and rework what you were trying to do. It’s just killed the game for many. I think I understand your idea, but its only making combat sluggish and mundane.

WRT to thrall limits this should be upped to about 15 but it works fine as is…just sorta disappointing. Perhaps add in some NPC placeables like you can find in mods in order to give the appears of castle wall guards and so forth. Just for flavor.

Thanks if you listened, I hope things get better.

Druuna

4 Likes

I voted dislike on the momentum-based movement.

Relieved to know I’m not the only one who has those, and yes this sums up my sentiments quite nicely!

Here are the specific pain points I have:

  • The initial starting speed feels like I’m standing in tar.
  • Even when I’m nearly at a standstill, it’s still night impossible to jump off an edge and latch onto it again — something that I feel is as much Conan Exile’s signature move as double-tap dodges are for the Unreal Tournament series or strafe-jumping for Quake.
  • The build-up speed to a full sprint is far too lengthy. Even out-of-shape, middle-aged me can reach top speed with more finesse than my well-toned, cat-falling character can.
  • Glancing collisions remove too much momentum. This is particularly evident when trying to move around in your own crafting and living areas. Even when I’ve had too much to drink IRL I’m not as hampered by furniture as my character is.
  • Farming resources is now pure pain, and not merely because of the sluggish delay when trying to move from node to node. Why? Because not only has an option to disable screen shake not been implemented yet (that’s 7 links, FYI), but with the delay between each swing it’s actually more pronounced as my eyes have a chance to refocus again during the 1/4 second pause that’s been introduced between the backswing and the next forward swing. I can only hope that this was a bug because the delay is completely unrealistic and makes the least enjoyable aspect of the game truly excruciating.
  • From a purely subjective gaming standpoint, I much prefer crisp, precise movement like in UT (and CE before this patch) to the slippery momentum-based games like Quake (and CE post-patch).

That said, I do think there could be a happy medium. My advice would be:

  • Nearly instant start & stop for our base movement speed from pre-patch (i.e. where you’re holding forward, but not holding either sprint or walk).
  • Shorter ramp-up between base speed and running when we press & hold sprint.
  • Increase air-control somewhat so we can once again grab onto cliffs within 3-4 foundations height if we leap off at a walk, or 5-6 if sprinting.

Some additions I’d love to see that I think would make combat & movement more dynamic:

  • When sprinting, make the forward roll execute a sort of diving tumble.
  • When sprinting, make crouch put you into a slide that has a chance for a knockdown vs. a human-sized opponent, or a stagger if they have sufficient agility to resist the knockdown.
  • If sprinting and a player presses walk, the character should dig in their heels to come to a stop.
  • Add double-tap dodges similar to what heavy armor used to be. They should use less stamina than a roll, but include no I-frames, and have a shorter settle. (If I can make such a hop when I see a bike headed for me on a walking path, my character should be able to as well.)
  • If when crouching or holding walk at the top edge of a cliff, add an animation for the character slipping over and entering the climbing pose (for crouch) or hopping off and being an ideal distance to latch-on with walk.

As for the new dodge (which I realize this poll is not about), I’d have preferred to stick with the old one, but it did keep me alive thru the terrifying and exciting new Cimmerian Berserker purge last night, so its not all bad. Still feel a bit slow (at 20 AGI) for a video game though.

9 Likes

I gave up on Ark before even trying combat, simply because the movements in that game felt clumsy or bad compared other games I’d played.

This will likely cause some new players to do the same. I’ve even entertained the idea myself.

You can’t just introduce a game element that no other similar games have, if it doesn’t also have an immediate benefit. It’s a gating effect for getting more players. Many will turn around at the gate. The benefits to PvP won’t be worth a damn in that group of players. Try another approach. Like only applying it in combat somehow.

Moving around is a huge element in the game. From node to node. Crafting table to crafting table. Chest to chest. Coming back with loot is gonna be more frustrating. Enjoying creating parts in one crafting station to use at another is gonna be more frustrating. Mining and gathering is gonna be more frustrating. Every. Single. Action. That. Involves. Repeated. Movement. Is. Gonna. Be. More. Frustrating. (Do you see what I did there?)

5 Likes

accelleration is fine, but there needs to be a better difference between light and heavy armors. wth accelleration AND the dodge changes, it’s too much in the same direction, and theres less utility to light armors, especially after 20 agility stat points. light armor should still be significantly faster, it already lacks the protection. and the dodge roll difference is so minimal it’s pointless. light armor should retain the previous longer dodge roll, medium armor works best with the new dodge roll, and heavy was fine with the side step, but it’s distance/timing/protection should have been adjusted appropriately. maybe only make backwards a roll and leave the other directions as a step.

it just feels hasty and not adjusted.

but i do think momentum was a good addition, just not implemented well across all armors.

1 Like

I like the concept of the new system but the acceleration phase could use some speed up.

I dislike it, the caracter feels heavy even in a light armor. When we run, we cannot change directions, it’s like we are cars and we need to stop rushing to be sure to not fall of a cliff… Cliff that you can no longer hang on to save your life !
Some people don’t have good computers and fall a lot because of the lags. Please, don’t forget them !

4 Likes

welcome to the forums. as it appears that your feedback is about the dodge/roll mechanic rather than the run/jump/climb mechanic, you may want to post your feedback here:

1 Like

I chose the middle ground, but I think the momentum should only apply to Sprinting mechanics.

If the new momentum system applied only to Sprinting, it could solve the issues people have with crafting, gathering, and climbing while still helping limit disengagement in combat :slight_smile:

1 Like

Slow acceleration when starting and stopping.

Lack of control when starting and stopping.

Inability to alter your character’s direction when falling.

Dodge/roll animation looks clunky.

Inability to quickly change direction.

In my opinion, this movement update does not make the game ‘realistic’. Modern day athletes, fighters, and soldiers would agree. Quickly changing direction is a part of almost every sport. Rolling around like a grandpa getting out of bed wouldn’t help you as a soldier. Losing control of your body and lack of speed when accelerating would be detrimental as a fighter.

This game is based in a time where lack of physical capabilities and athleticism would leave you dead in the sand with an axe in your back. Unless there is a new hidden stat called arthritis, this movement system is pretty bad and needs to be tweaked at the very least

Speed up the animations. Give us back control of our characters.

Thanks

12 Likes

I say remove the momentum based movement and instead go with a health based system. The more hurt you are the more sluggish you get. You already have hurt animations. If I get low on health I shouldn’t be able to sprint away full speed.

4 Likes

mining animation–a bit slow, but it is mining so other than a fraction of time more spent out harvesting, i can live with it.

Dodge roll—First time i felt i had a chance to avoid hits in Heavy against any NPC. the side roll is the better of the three directions. Back roll and forward roll seem to be more about attack, counter attack, and side to side is avoid. That is really how it should be.

Acceleration–a bit slow, an does feel unresponsive at times. But in general, the more i played, the less i noticed and started to game learn it (which is after a while to adjust, it feels 2nd nature).

Mounts—Still breaking a horse, so no data yet.

Parkour—I miss the ability to cliff dive. I have a feeling this is intended though, as that was one of the easiest escape tactics from cliff fights.

I have tried to add those keymapping items into my input.ini file but for some reason it is not registering and still using WASD.

As for the movement issue, I think what they were going for is making your movement more strategic in combat so that you weren’t just tumbling all over the place. Have you tried a high agility build? I, personally, have not put anything in agility yet and still find combat acceptable and similar enough to what it was before that it isn’t too jarring of a change. While I think they need to tweak the dodge/roll a bit, the movement itself seems more weighted and satisfying to me… shrug

This post is absolutely correct. I chose neutral to the poll; I believe that the change could be implemented, however needs tweaking in its current state. Harvesting stone and wood is slower now, and as CodeMage indicated it feels cumbersome to even move around within your base now. The momentum acceleration seems unrealistically slow. Jumping forward from a stand-still seems to barely jump any distance at all now, and again has a very unrealistic feel to it.

I personally do not engage in PVP as often as many others, but I can understand the reasoning for implementing the momentum. I would like to see this momentum mechanic implemented, but tweaked or improved so that life as an exile is not such a cumbersome, “slow clumsy” (as earlier put) endeavor for day-to-day living outside of PVP.

6 Likes

Its quite an indirect nerf at the Oil of bounty, which uses a timer… You need longer to go from one stone to another and you even pick slower…

A trick I do is to un-arm in between nodes to buy more time with it…but i get your point. TBH, after getting a foothold on server, i don’t use the bounties for harvesting anymore. 2 FoP are better served for semi-permanent weapons imo.

The movement / momentum is okay… I get why it’s changed and I hated the running for 2 hours pvp.

The jumping / parkour / in air controls makes me very sad. It was one of my favorite things in the game.

Imo you have too much of a tendency of pendulum swing changes. Like the Annihilater or Lifeblood spear, you nerfed to uselessness.

Maybe you should have only implemented the new roll first and see how it worked. Or only apply momentum to sprint, not the normal run / air controls etc.

1 Like