{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/melee-combat--t020","type":"mechanic","id":"melee-combat--t020","lang":"en","title":"Breakable parts, injuries and conditions","summary":"The player selects a target part or effect type to change its capabilities rather than merely reduce shared health.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/melee-combat--t020/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/melee-combat--t020.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/melee-combat--t020.md","aliases":["Destructible parts and wounds"],"tags":["Melee and combat systems","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-3817d420df0baa92","source-e7703f0b61e1f579","source-347f53116d536fb1"],"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-347f53116d536fb1","title":"Bulletstorm","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/cutting-in-half","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"The player selects a target part or effect type to change its capabilities rather than merely reduce shared health."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t020-variants\"></a>\n\n- Local durability: a separate part has its own break condition. <a id=\"t020-v1\"></a>\n- Functional loss: damaging a weapon, limb or sensor changes the target's behavior. <a id=\"t020-v2\"></a>\n- State accumulation: repeated effects cross a stagger, injury or vulnerability threshold. <a id=\"t020-v3\"></a>\n- Part recovery: the target repairs or reconfigures unless the player maintains pressure. <a id=\"t020-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"A mechanical guard can lose leg function and slow down, or lose its ranged weapon while retaining fast melee attacks.\n\nPrototype check: After each break, check available actions and visible changes; attacking an already broken part should follow an explicit rule."},{"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":"t020","title":"Melee and combat systems","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/melee-combat/#t020","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Destructible parts and wounds","description":"The player selects a target part or effect type to change its capabilities rather than merely reduce shared health.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/impact-cutting-in-half.webp","width":498,"height":276,"game":"Bulletstorm","sourceUrl":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/cutting-in-half","originalUrl":"https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/bulletstorm_boneduster.webm","sourceFrameSeconds":0.41,"credit":"People Can Fly / Epic Games; frame from clip via GameMechanics.org","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host: GameMechanics.org. Visible source watermarks preserved. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"An enemy model separates in Bulletstorm","alt":"An enemy model separates in Bulletstorm","markers":[{"x":50,"y":25,"label":"Detached model part"},{"x":51,"y":62,"label":"Remaining model part"}]},"tips":["Connect model changes to clear changes in the target’s capabilities."],"examples":[{"title":"Bulletstorm","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/cutting-in-half"}]}},"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"}}