Combat lab: spacing, recovery and supers
This one-minute combat lab explains controlled measurements from the current development system. Original game footage from an earlier prototype provides context; labeled diagrams present audited results. No new live recording or completed balance pass is claimed.
Prototype footage and measured results · Explanatory captions · Captions included in the video · Download video · Download transcript
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Spacing changes after contact
At the same 62-unit center gap, finished open-space light-normal defender travel measured 5.4 units on hit and 22.2 on block. Nia and Ren produced the same normal results in both player slots. At a wall, nearby grounded melee transfers displacement into attacker recoil; projectiles and lifted attacks follow different rules.
Recovery creates conditional responses
Some blocked heavy normals leave time for a late, in-range response. The audited close Nia heavy-punch case has eight live attack ticks remaining when the defender recovers. The CPU response checks visible recovery, remaining stun, startup and predicted reach, while projectile defense keeps priority. Safer attacks, cancel pressure and distance can prevent retaliation; a block does not guarantee a punish.
Super cancels and the work ahead
All 24 tested close Nia and Ren normal-to-level-one-super routes, covering six normals and both slots, stayed true combos against guard held after the first hit. The 12-tick activation freeze held gameplay state. Moving Crosswalk Crash and Switchback pressure consumed separation in blocked fixtures and ended at a 62-unit gap. Those measurements identify further tuning work rather than prove finished balance.
Throws already animate both fighters
The current game runs paired attacker and victim sequences through grip, lift or carry, slam and release. Each character has an eight-pose grapple sheet: separate attacker and victim body drawings selected by capture phase. The same pose vocabulary is shared across throw styles, so it does not yet give every individual throw a distinct animation. More expressive gripping, bracing, pivoting, tumbling, landing and get-up drawings are still needed. The next animation pass should add contact anchors for hands, shoulders and hips so the bodies remain visibly connected during transitions, while preserving seated characters and existing capture, damage and escape timing. These are improvement targets, not a completed throw-animation revision.
Collision shapes still need closer pose fitting
The current region that receives a hit is a simple rectangle positioned from the fighter's foot location and character width and height. Crouching or a low-profile move shortens its height, and jumping moves it above the floor, but it does not fully follow the head, torso and limb positions in every drawing. A tucked, leaning or tumbling pose can therefore look different from its collision shape. Future work could fit head, torso and lower-body regions to animation poses and gameplay states, and review attack reach and contact height alongside the drawn striking limb. Jump clearance, crouch evasion, corner pressure and throws need controlled checks before changing those shapes; the visible outline alone should not determine combat rules. An all-character collision rewrite has not been implemented.
Different reach is part of the roster
Characters do not need equal reach. In the current six-button combat mode, most normals share a base reach template: light punches use 59 units and heavy kicks use 129. Juno gets a 17-unit reach bonus, Sung-min gets 11 for his seated attacks, and Ximena and the five taller bosses get seven. Nia has separate standing light- and medium-punch reach values of 68 and 86. Body width affects separation and the distance at which an opponent can be hit; it does not automatically give every large character longer normal attacks. Specials are individually authored, and advancing strikes, command grabs, travelling blasts and sustained beams cannot be compared by one normal-reach number. The roster descriptions alone do not define these rules. Longer reach should be readable and weighed against startup, recovery, damage and mobility. The regular attacks currently share strength-based timing, so a complete set of individual normal profiles and reach-versus-speed tradeoffs is still future balance work.
Reach must agree with the drawn strike
The newer Nia and Ren art reveals specific alignment work, rather than a reason to make every attack longer. At current render scale, Nia's standing light-punch extension reaches about 96.8 units forward while its attack box ends at 80; Ren's extension reaches about 103.8 while its box ends at 71. Ren's heavy-kick drawing places the striking foot about 181 units above the floor, while its current standing collision band occupies roughly six to 88 units. These measurements compare the current drawing and source geometry; they are not new live-match proof. Nia's standing medium punch is already much closer horizontally, so one uniform range increase would be inappropriate. Close-range medium and heavy normals also use a shorter collision range even where the new art uses the same drawing. The next pass should fit the striking limb and contact height, then verify both player slots, close and far spacing, crouching, jumping and recovery. The 54 targeted reach and animation checks pass, but they verify bounded mechanics and stance selection rather than prove every drawn contact matches. This audit did not change roster balance or claim that all poses are aligned.
Read the full video transcript
FIGHTING IN THE STREETS — COMBAT LAB: SPACING, RECOVERY AND SUPERS Earlier original-game footage is contextual. Diagrams report controlled engine tests; they are editorial graphics, not runtime capture. 00:00:00 COMBAT LAB The combat lab measures spacing, recovery and super cancels. Earlier prototype footage provides context; diagrams show controlled test results. 00:00:06 ONE STARTING GAP. TWO OUTCOMES. From the same close starting gap, a light normal moves the defender 5.4 units on hit and 22.2 on block. 00:00:16 AT THE WALL, RECOIL CHANGES SIDES At a wall, nearby grounded melee transfers displacement into attacker recoil. Projectiles and airborne sources follow different rules. 00:00:24 A BLOCK CAN LEAVE AN OPENING Some blocked heavy normals leave recovery openings. A late, in-range response can punish; safe attacks and greater spacing change the result. 00:00:35 CONTACT CAN FLOW INTO A SUPER All 24 close Nia and Ren normal-to-level-one-super cases stayed true combos. The 12-tick activation freeze held gameplay state. 00:00:45 MOVING PRESSURE STILL NEEDS WORK Moving Crash and Switchback pressure consumed separation, ending at a 62-unit gap in blocked fixtures. That remains balance work. 00:00:53 FIGHTING IN THE STREETS Original designs and artwork by Keyeske Yamada. Game made completely in Codex GPT 6.1 SOL. Music scores by Codex, remixed in Suno. Scope: Nia and Ren fixtures, close range, both player slots. Results do not establish universal punishes, maximum-range routes, all-character balance or newly recorded gameplay. Motion can consume separation and remains under review. Caption-led explanation with an existing verified Suno remix.