Ive read all the thread and there are some very good ideas. Most are good for another game not this one. You cant expect the fighting quality of a Street Fighter game in esf, the kind of fighting action for games that are fully dedicated for strong low kick or weak high attacks. The thing is meelee can be improved only so much, and it would be very hard to bring it up to the standards of other fighting games that are solely dedicated to fighting. Entering a melee struggle to start defending complicated punch kick combinations is not half-life. There are a great deal of improvements if you want to bring the fighting up so much. I find the current melee system very satisfying. Obviosly most disagree. Ive seen a lot of suggestions on how fighting could be done with combos and low defend and high defend.
What I think is that the fighting should not go any further than attacking and blocking. The only addition that I see necessary is the adjusting of the left click for a smaller much faster attack that does not send the player flying. However i do think that blocking should remain with the current health penalty, or should have a much bigger drain to the ki. Defending should be only so good. I like it how it is right now. This is what I think should be done with the melee:
When you swoop to a locked on target, and you get close enough it stops, and does not swoop any more in the direction of your locked on enemy. I dont know if this can be done, it probably isnt too hard, that at this point the left click (while aiming at the enemy in front of you) becomes the weak attack. When you finally end a swoop (you are in melee range) then you must press the primary again to perform the fast attack. So it is still the players's choice to either slam or weak attack.
This fast attack that will do a smaller damage than the secondary slam attack, but does not send the opponent flying, making it possible to connect many of these without interrupting your combo. I'd like to see this small attack as a flurry of punches or kicks (this is random), and ive heard of many who do. This small fast attack should inflict about 10 damage at an undefended target and 1 or maybe 2 when defended(the slam inflicts 3-4). This values are for people of similar pls. A person should be able to squeeze 2-3 fast attacks in 1 second or so.
This may seem like a bit too much, but remember you are open for a counter attack while you do this. A fast fight of attacking and defending, teleporting behind one's target, maybe getting in a couple of fast attacks before slamming the target, or maybe the opponent finally defends that slam, that leaves you open to attack, and suddenly he gets in a combo of his own. Whether you risk the fast attacks is your call, but fights wil still require fast reflexes and faster thinking, and that is very dragon ball style. Of course doing fast attacks and quickly defending should give the enemy less reaction time for countering.
If you properly dominate the movement of your character (after including the fast attack) the fights will resemble very much those seen in the show. Melee is not about standing still and pressing keys, its about moving constantly trying to avoid the others attacks and getting through his defense. If he stays put defending, (I hate that) you have to find a way to get him in the back or sides. The fighting right now is very balanced, and a fast attack would give you the ability to get in some extra damage and also look a lot better.
I trust the esf team to be able to maybe link up a slam after a fast attack to make it look more like a smooth flowing combo.
I hope at least part of my suggestion is taken into consideration.
Ive written a lot about very little, just a change in the left-mouse click when you are near an enemy, but what im trying to say is that maybe there is not a lot more that is needed. Certainly, there are some extra features and tweaks that are always nice, but I like it more like it is now, not too complicated and yet with a potential to give very fast paced fights. Its not about adding more and more but using what you are given.
Im open to suggestions and improvements to this fast attack system.