Troper Fencing Academy

^^ Well, you'd need weighted motion controls, an omnidirectional treadmill, force-feedback gauntlets that extend to the shoulder... good luck with that. Dx

^ Given that elements like footwork and absolutely precise blade position would be necessities of that, a game of a completely accurate nature would be too difficult even for swordsmen.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:31:21 AM by MadassAlex

I meant more something that could be mapped to a Playstation controller. I don't need a fuckin' Holodeck experience here.

Hmm.

!!!

• R1 = Ready strike
• Right Stick = Camera Angle/Strike angle when readied
• R2 = Raise hilt
• L2 = Lower hilt
• L1 = Unarmed strike/pommel strike (when readied)
• Left stick = movement
• Control Pad = single-step movement
• R3 = Change stance
• L3 = Change stance (other direction)
• Square = Switch stance from right/left or left/right
• X = General actions?
• Triangle = ???
• Circle = ???

A lot of it is abstracted (which is why I described it as an algorithm and not as a game design). I design mainly for text and tactical, not realtime 3D, so you can do things you couldn't get away with if you had to model everything in 3-space.

But yes, a lot of tradeoffs have to be made to make it playable even for people that know what they're doing.

edited 16th Jul '11 12:49:23 AM by Nornagest

I hadn't even considered a realistic fencing game that wasn't real-time.

It's a pretty interesting idea. My only concern is that players would have too much time to think.

Gothic has pretty nice real-time swordfighting. Not completely realistic, of course, but better than 90% of other games.

edited 16th Jul '11 1:56:09 AM by MilosStefanovic

Hm. . . How effective could Dual Wielding be? You see it motherfucking constantly frequently in fiction, but I've never seen it used in Real Life in a way that could beat someone proficient with a single blade and a buckler.*

EDIT: Added the part about the buckler. Looked like I was talking about a single one-handed sword. . . eheheh.

edited 16th Jul '11 3:00:27 AM by Diamonnes

There are styles of dual-wielding based on rapier and dagger. I think there's also a backsword and dagger variant.

All rapier arts are essentially for dueling. Backswords were more warlike weapons, and the Scottish backsword and dagger infantry could make two kills in about one-and-a-half seconds.

It can be done, you just don't want a large weapon in the off-hand. This is less about weight and more about size. Two long weapons will get in the way of one-another and remove two-handed techniques, but using a dedicated one-handed weapon and a utility weapon like a dagger can provide some pretty nice results.

Rapier and dagger isn't so different from rapier and buckler. The dagger works in much the same way the buckler does, but has more offensive application, although that's mostly opportunistic.

edited 16th Jul '11 3:39:52 AM by MadassAlex

The Blossfechten confuses the hell out of me. Gods damnit why does it have to be a poem?

I think it was so the illiterate could better remember it.

Fuckin' Europe, man.

More than anything, it was code to prevent outsiders from understanding. I mean, reading that, you'd be thinkin' "What the fuck is it with this dude and oxes?"

That said, I did summarise it for good reason.

And you can check out this for clarifications.

edited 16th Jul '11 11:25:59 PM by MadassAlex

*looks at URL*

Wiktenauer. Seriously?

I still laugh. Every time.

Okay, so, since I'm southpaw, should I take everything in your summary backwards (for instance, using the Vom Tag guard close to my left breast instead of right) ?

I was of the assumption that you could use stances like Vom Tag on either side, but the only thing that changed was the relative position of your hands. Feet too, probably.

Yeah, you can reverse everything.

If you're a lefty, you just have your left hand towards the crossguard instead of the right hand, and you begin stances with the right leg forward rather than the left. You dominant leg starts back so that you bring your entire dominant side forward with the first strike.

There's one thing that's been bugging me: I can't think of a decent way to defend against a rising strike from Alber with anything in my own training. It's not unblockable, certainly, but I'm having immense difficulty conceiving a defense against it that isn't clumsy or unwieldy, much less one that lends itself to a counterattack like I'm used to.

It's vexing.

Alber excels at quick thrusts from below, so you don't really "defend" from a rising strike. You step to void and stab them.

That said, Alber is not a guard I use often. I tend to stick to vom Tag and Ochs.

Thrusts? How counterintuitive. You have two edges on the sword, it seems only natural that you'd try and make use of it by... swinging the sword up.

Something of a luxury in kenjutsu, which is why they don't teach us to stop it very much.

As far as stances go... I always preferred waki-gamae.◊

edited 16th Jul '11 11:54:06 PM by Blackmoon

False edge strikes kinda suck when you're working against gravity... much better coming down, or from the side.

Also, Alber transitions well to a form of Pflug that's held out at arm's length, so that transition would be the best way to parry a rising strike from Alber. If you didn't wanna void.

^ That stance become hilarious when I realised that the fighter's ass is their weakest opening.

edited 16th Jul '11 11:58:40 PM by MadassAlex

Not as though it's not defensible, though. A simple hip motion and move your sword a little, and you can block a lot of strikes coming from that zone.

Alex, think fast: What would you do if you're using a longsword against an opponent with a shorter weapon (say an arming sword) and a buckler?

edited 17th Jul '11 12:18:10 AM by Diamonnes

I'd try to keep him at range and use the length of my weapon to my advantage, but you didn't ask me.

Well, the specific situation I was thinking about was if you struck from Vom Tag and the opponent blocked high with the shield and struck toward the torso, how would you counter that? *

Well, just speaking as someone who does kenjutsu and not Germanic stuff, I'd just follow through with the strike; drag it across the shield if possible and try and get my blade in the way of their strike.

Or get cut in half and bleed to death, that works too.