The Fighter's Resource [Program] (Updated 4/26/17)

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I think I figured out something I felt would be worth implementing in the game:

Buffering Attacks
Buffering basically means storing button presses. It goes a long way in making a game feel responsive. A good example of buffering is God of War. When you press attack Kratos does his first move. Pressing attack again at an early part of his animation will buffer the next move and he'll execute it when his first attack ends. Without a buffer system in the same scenario, most people would be frustrated if they pushed attack and then nothing happened because they didn't press it at the exact right time. In a good control system, this doesn't only apply to attack chains, you can buffer a jump after a roll for example. Some games allow you to buffer whole attack strings (I think Soul Caliber does this?) so if you press attack 4x you'll get the 4 hits in the chain, but I think most games only buffer one move.
In Tutorial Fighter, when you press attack, you're just setting the variable buffer=1. When buffer=1 that means an attack is queued up and it will play when possible. Here's some pseudo code to show whats happening on a basic level:

Code:

Code: Select all
    Press "A"
      set buffer=1

    if buffer=1
      if no attack is playing
          play attack 1
          set buffer=0
      if attack 1 is playing
          play attack 2
          set buffer=0
      if attack 2 is playing
          play attack 3
          set buffer=0

The attackTimer comes into play with buffering. When you press attack, the attackTimer is set to a certain time, then counts down to 0 using timedelta. You can only go into the next attack while the attackTimer is greater than

UberLou's Fighter Tutorial

You probably had to do this to make the specials work, but I was thinking of how you could use this technique on a more general level.

I'm also programming a little key input engine in GM, like you find in practice modes in fighting games.