This one guy, Jordan Mechner, has designed a lot of the interesting martial arts simulations over the years. Prince of Persia, the Last Express, and even Karateka (if you were gaming in the 80s).
The Last Express was really interesting. It's mostly a Myst-style, er, mystery, with animated cut-scenes. But even despite the limited interface there is a cool fight mechanic. You can only survive by predicting what the opponent's next attack is going to be by subtle shifts in body posture, and doing an appropriate countermove.
"his one guy, Jordan Mechner, has designed a lot of the interesting martial arts simulations"
How does one even begin to write a martial art simulation? Does one model the human body (model things like "a human elbow can turn x degrees in 2 planes" or whatever)? Does anyone have any references to (or demo code on) how to write a martial arts simulation? Thanks in advance.
Well, I really just meant "games". I'm not a game programmer, just an occasional player.
But, maybe I chose the word "simulation" because his works are always grounded in ordinary body physics. The typical fight game is really a button-masher with the reward of seeing a body fall to the ground if you win. Mechner's fight mechanics are about things like leverage, timing, moves and countermoves. They aren't really 'realistic' either but he's going one level deeper.
