Suggestion for archery improvement - From a real archer

Combat system
#1

Hi guys, love the game so far, including the archery. I do feel however that you missed a trick with how you implemented archery in the game. First let me just say that the overall ‘feel’ of the archery is pretty good, not perfect, not to the same standard as sword play in the game, but certainly better than many other games. ‘good enough’, however, seems to be beneath the standard of this wonderful game, so here is my simple, easy to implement suggestion that would massively improve at once the realism, usability, and enjoyment of archery in KCD.

As per archery in real life, the bow should be held in front of the game camera higher and more centrally than it currently is, allowing the player to use a combination of looking down the shaft of the arrow, and a position on the upper limb (the main bit above your hand) of the bow as a general aiming reference. It would act as a rough ‘iron sight’, a simple aiming device that would remove the need for any crosshair, aim assist, or other. I honestly believe this to be objectively the best solution to the current archery issues whilst also keeping in line with the core design principles of the game, satisfying player demands, and as something that is quick and easy (I assume) for the devs to implement vs other potential solutions. I’d like to know what you all think. Please give my idea some consideration, I think it would be a big improvement without taking anything away from what is already great about the game.

101 Likes
#2

Very good idea, i hope anyone from the staff will view this

3 Likes
#3

Thanks, the more likes and comments this gets, the higher the chance of the devs seeing it.

2 Likes
#4

Yeah this is good for people that want the cross hair and people that don’t, good mix of both

1 Like
#5

Just wondering, Do you think its possible that the bows from that period were maybe difficult to hold in such a position due to the draw strength required? Im not an archer but want to get your opinion. Just wondering why the developers didnt do it this way from the start and im thinking it might have something to do with historical accuracy. Seems like an obvious option to do it your way. Just wondering though. Have no insight into archery.

3 Likes
#6

That’s a fair question. The reason we hold bows that way is precisely because it is the easiest and most efficient way to draw them, it’s a posture that uses the natural shape of your skeleton and joints to provide maximum support and stability. Additionally it’s also necessary to help you aim the bow (with traditional archery at least). This would be the historically accurate way to portray it. If a bow is too difficult to draw, it is because the archer isn’t strong enough to draw it (yet) - Greater draw strength can be achieved through regular practice and strength training. This is represented already in the game, by the way that you suffer a heavy accuracy and aiming time penalty if you use a bow that is stronger than Henry’s strength stat. This is a great mechanic - my suggestion wouldn’t undermine this mechanic in any way, it would just optimise the archery experience a lot.

3 Likes
#7

I would also suggest setting RMB to bring the bow up to aim and draw, leaving it hanging low by default, you would then draw and release with LMB as normal, using RMB to cancel the shot again as we already can.

4 Likes
No archery perks?
Please make archery realistic
#8

Why didn’t I notice this before, when I use a bow I draw the and use a cheek anchor. I wanted to do a bit more research and I’ve seen this before, but This guy has expanded his skill since the last time I watched. You should watch this.

4 Likes
#9

I’m familiar with Lars. He’s a good archer, but that’s trickshooting, not combat archery. He uses very light bows and sets up all his equipment and his environment very carefully to pull off each trick. He’s a talented man, but not a good source for historical archery.

7 Likes
#10

This should definitely be a thing. It’s very intuitive. I am playing on Xbox and the first thing I had done when I got the bow was pull the Left Trigger to draw. I would love to see your ideas implemented into the game.

2 Likes
#11

I think it would be cool to have a English long bow that shoots two football fields away. Would be cool in a gigantic battle

#12

There are longbows in game already. An English longbow would not be historically accurate. Two football fields isnt particularly long either, I can easily shoot that far with a normal recurve. Longbows are better for shooting level at an armoured opponent within 70m.

1 Like
#13

English longbows were basically yew or ash bows

#14

They were more than that, but yes that was a typical material.

1 Like
#15

I want to see this in the game!

1 Like
#16

A very good idea. If it’s not implemented directly a modder will probably do that later.

1 Like
#17

I keep thinking the same thing. The way your character holds the bow is completely unrealistic. Watch champion archers, they pull the arrow right up to their cheek, sighting down the shaft. Of course, there’s also some even easier solutions than changing animations, and those are in the form of Perks. The Archery skill has 0 perks, and I don’t understand why. There’s so many great perks they could do, with draw speeds, armor penetration, etc, but 1 (I think necessary) perk would be giving you cross-hairs of some sort. It’s so frustrating shooting at a bunny that’s 10 feet away and missing it by a hare (pun intended) 30 times in a row. At least they don’t run away. Which is silly, but otherwise I’d never get a single bunny. Which is funny, because I do just fine in the archery contests, I can hit the bull’s eye almost every time, but those darn bunnys… maybe it’s a hitbox problem, but still, something would be better than nothing at this point. Archery isn’t really useful outside of hunting, and even then it’s incredibly frustrating. Trying to hit a moving target? Not a chance. I was riding right along side an enemy on a horse shooting at it from less than 10 feet away and it took me a good 20 shots before I hit a horse.

1 Like
#18

Lars Andersen is a garbage archer and has proved to be a fraud. Don’t bring up such bullshit

1 Like
#19

No need to get hostile about it friend, a few reasons why would help get the point across just as soundly.

#20

Lol, don’t worry. It’s just that Lars Anderson is a showman first, and an archer second. His hubris has earned him a fair bit of resentment within the archery community. There are lots of technical things we could go into, but he doesn’t represent archery well. He does put on a good show, and displays some well honed skills, but you should take it all with a big pinch of salt. It’s definitely not archery at its best, by any means. It’s like the difference between WWE and actual fighting.

3 Likes
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