{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/melee-combat--t012","type":"mechanic","id":"melee-combat--t012","lang":"en","title":"Fighting games and duels","summary":"A duel turns range, startup and recovery into exchanges of advantage: the player provokes an action and selects a response.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/melee-combat--t012/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/melee-combat--t012.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/melee-combat--t012.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Melee and combat systems","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-3817d420df0baa92","source-e7703f0b61e1f579","source-b67a8fdac5557e73"],"sources":[{"id":"source-3817d420df0baa92","title":"Robert Nystrom: State","url":"https://github.com/munificent/game-programming-patterns/blob/master/book/state.markdown","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-e7703f0b61e1f579","title":"Godot: AnimationTree","url":"https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/animation/animation_tree.html","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-b67a8fdac5557e73","title":"Street Fighter™ 6","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364780/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"A duel turns range, startup and recovery into exchanges of advantage: the player provokes an action and selects a response."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t012-variants\"></a>\n\n- Attack height: different target zones require different defenses or stance changes. <a id=\"t012-v1\"></a>\n- Whiff punishment: leaving an attack's reach opens a response during recovery. <a id=\"t012-v2\"></a>\n- Move canceling: a permitted transition reduces commitment at a resource or condition cost. <a id=\"t012-v3\"></a>\n- Defense breaking: passive blocking loses to throws, accumulated pressure or a changed angle. <a id=\"t012-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"In a training duel, a long lunge catches retreating movement but lets the opponent approach and answer with a short sequence after a miss.\n\nPrototype check: Test a hit, a block and a miss for each move separately; resulting advantages should follow the permitted state transitions."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Melee combat revolves around distance and the moment of commitment. Starting an action can temporarily remove the ability to defend, so opponents need readable preparation, reach and contact results. These overviews separate decisions about targets, continuing a sequence, choosing a defense and escaping a bad position. Start by testing one attack and one response without decorative effects. The dedicated boss reference remains available in the direction map; this catalog covers the other contact-combat topics. Sources illustrate state and animation-transition models rather than prescribing a universal combat formula."}],"relations":[{"type":"uses","direction":"outgoing","label":"Sources in the selection","key":"resource/state-pattern","title":"State: Game Programming Patterns","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-state-pattern","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/state-pattern.md"}],"placements":[{"catalogId":"melee-combat","id":"t012","title":"Melee and combat systems","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/melee-combat/#t012","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Fighting games and duels","description":"A duel turns range, startup and recovery into exchanges of advantage: the player provokes an action and selects a response.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/priority-street-fighter6-09.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Street Fighter™ 6","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364780/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1364780/ss_201488fc9f1aa5e29e2fc6d96ef2b66e41ddf32e.1920x1080.jpg?t=1791866175","credit":"CAPCOM Co., Ltd.","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"An airborne attack meets a low opponent position","alt":"An airborne attack meets a low opponent position","markers":[{"x":53,"y":50,"label":"Attacking fighter in the air"},{"x":77,"y":74,"label":"Second fighter’s low position"}]},"tips":["Make range, startup and recovery distinguishable."],"examples":[{"title":"Street Fighter™ 6","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364780/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/melee-combat"}}