In Mecha Striker, Tory Nguyen wants players to move quickly while still choosing when to dodge or attack. He liked the timing of rolls in Souls games and wanted to bring that feeling to a mech dash, alongside slides and bunny hops.
Boosts overheat if used too often, leaving the player unable to dash until they cool down. Attacks build combat heat too, so players have to choose when to press forward and when to recover.
Getting the movement to feel right took more than adjusting its speed. Tory’s early mechs were blocks assembled in Godot while he was still figuring out their final designs. That made it hard to judge how they should move.
He eventually modeled the mechs in Blender while continuing to tune their movement in-game. The comparison below shows early and current versions of the same Warrior frame.
Boost startup, sustained thrust, coming out of a dash and sliding into a bunny hop all needed their own animations. Tory would test a sequence in-game, adjust the movement speed or animation, then try it again.
In the early prototypes, Tory sometimes could not even tell that a dash had happened. He lined up the leg boosters and adjusted the left and right movement animations. Dashes now leave brief afterimages, while slides throw dust and sparks across the ground.
Footsteps, landings and hits also make the camera dip and settle. A quick camera punch makes each dash feel faster.
Customization can change how the mech moves too. Each part has its own weight and stats, affecting acceleration and speed. Parts can also break off during combat, and the mech keeps fighting even after losing an arm or its head.
You can follow the game and see its movement in action here:
- Gameplay: Tory’s Reddit post
- Dev log: Mecha Striker on X
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