And a One and a Two …
Timing is one of the major keys to great combat. When the player presses a button, the character should immediately perform the attack. If you want your combat animations to feel smooth, you must strive to have your game run at 60 frames per second. While many games run satisfactorily at 30 fps, lagging and stuttering that can happen at these lower frame rates will really impact your player’s combat experience. Don’t waste time with long and elaborate wind-up animations. If you do this, it will throw off the player’s timing and he may end up missing or striking when he doesn’t want to. Quick moves can be rapidly done in succession, but they tend to lead to button mashing.
When designing combat for touchscreens or motion controls, keep the moves localized. Don’t expect the player to stretch all the way across the screen or room. Give the player lots of opportunities to stretch and take a break.
Lunges are more fluid thrusts...