Hey guys i've discovered some issues regarding parrying/blocking that I find keeps the game from being as realistic and fun as can be in my oppinion. I think a few simple changes to the hitboxes and parry boxes could change this and am looking for some help and advice for how to edit them, both for private use and to upload if applicable. If you know how to edit hitboxes and parry boxes and/or compile changes into mods, but are not interested in changing shield/parry systems of this game, please do not feel discouraged to send me a message with some advice without having read the text below, if it doesn't interest you, don't feel obligued to read it :)

I would like to add a parrybox to the weapons and shields at all times, even when not being used to block or attack. Parry boxes on weapons would mean weapon collsion would work like a parry whether the weapon is idle in your hands, mid parry or mid swing. However, I would like to limit this parry box/arc whatever to just the weapon or shield - so that clicking the parry button doesn't neccesarilly mean a successful parry - the parry will have to meet the weapon at some stage and stop the weapon from hitting your hitbox. This could mean parry could be held down just as with a shield, but without being overpowered, as the parrybox of the weapon (now present at all times) must intercept strikes.

This could mean some crappy parry jobs may not stop the hitbox of say an axe or bilhook swung overhead, and that stabbing attacks may go around, under or over the parrybox of a lazy, unaimed parry. This would also mean that parrying too early against someone who either feints OR drags the attack or does that spastic spinning, looking at the sky and then your feet crap (typically people favor one and dispise the other), would not leave you defenceless, your parry still has to meet the incoming attack and stop the attack from hitting you, but you are not left defencless from an initial early parry, but I think this could make spastic ♥♥♥♥ a little less unreadable when looking to counter or intercept which I would like :) It would also stop feints from being 'overpowered' as some call them, but parrying a feint to the left may leave one open to the real attack coming from the right, even if they continuously hold the block key.

On to shields. Chivalry players know that turteling with a shield leads to a shield break, and anyone who has ever swung a stick, axe (or even swords - not me though) will realise that to get full power and speed one must follow through and a shield can get in the way. Anyone who has done any sort of martial art/combat sport, with or without weapons, probably realises that relying on covering up/shielding (as seen with some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ UFC fighters trying to kickbox when they should stick to collage wrestling) does effectivly stop incoming damage, but also leaves one open in othe places, leaves them open to offensive footwork (closing distance) and being knocked off balance.

Keeping this in mind, when one becomes confidant parrying incoming attacks, a free hand to grapple or assist in parrying seems far more attractive than a hand stuck with a chunky shield which just gets in the way of the attacking arm, and moving the shield out of the way to attack only leads to further telegraphed attacks. Why then, would anyone use a shield, assuming they have some parrying skill? Other than blocking projectiles (already in chivalry), being used as a secondary weapon (already in chivalry) and forming shieldwalls and tactical group defence (not applicable to chivalry), how does a shield benefit one in a one to one fight? Here are a couple benefits of the shield which a change to hitboxes and parryboxes could bring to chivalry:

1. Larger area of defence. It seems obvious, but once one learns to parry (and I know this from doing a little eskrima and european swordmanship martial arts - very little, but enough to know this) a shield can seem obsolete, and even with a shield, it can prove more effective to parry with your weapon to maintain a better field of view and allow for offensive footwork.

BUT if an attack is coming in from the shield side, faster than you can to block (maybe off balance, maybe you fell for a feint on the otherside with the weapon - althought blocking with weapons with a shield equipt goes beyond the scope of the parrybox changes i wish to bring) or simply maybe the fast sword attack coming from your shield side is too fast to bring your big front heavy axe to meet in time. A shield, while impairing offensive swings and footwork, and impairing vision when using to block (plus leaving you open to aggressive offense and grappling - not applicable to chivalry though) - has its defencive benefits over parrying, particularilly against attacks from that angle OR as a last resort when parrying is less practical/possible.

2. When attacking with sticks and (in my experience rubber) knives and swords and axes with an empty left hand (often called a live hand to aid in parrying and grappling), actually commiting to an attack leaves you open. You can lunge in and stab someone lethally, but as you come in they will get you too if they cant get out the way. This can be difficult to avoid if one's footwork is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ leading to frontal as opposed to angled attacks BUT all this changes with a shield.

A shield protects you while you attack. You come in to attack with your right arm, and the shield is there to protect against their right arm. You may even see some 'experts' (lets face it it's hard to judge some balding forty year old on the internet's skill with traditional martial arts, as opposed to combat sport martial arts like boxing, mauy thai, mma etc) use the shield held behind their head while attacking with one arm as if the shield did not exist, but using the shield as armor when making an attack where without the shield they would be open to a counter/trade.

HOW OFTEN in chivalry do you lower your shield and immediatly an attack from that direction goes through the shield to damage/kill you. A shield should not need to be 'activated' for it to deflect blows. I think this already works for projectile weapons (arrows, throwing axes) without the shield being raised, but I swing a sword right through someones shield (or weapon) as if they were ghosts and score kills/damage, and the same happens to me.

Adding a permanent parry box to the physical shield and weapons (and if possible even when weapon/shield are on ones back), reducing the parry box of weapon parrys to that of just the physical weapon, and allowing unlimited parrying (so turtling with weapon block just like shield block) I believe would make the game far more realistic and for people like me who enjoy realism (or at least want less unrealism). While I can already tell this idea would not be accepted or favoured by everyone (which is fine), I think many people would like a mod that adds these changes and I think for players like me who like to feint, move, time and intercept attacks, that spastic spinning ♥♥♥♥ wont pose so much of an unfair threat (if it kills you its your fault, you are not left defencless from early parries anymore), and to the spastic spinners who feel cheated by feints (and left defenceless) this may not make feints such an outrage. Feinters might learn to do a little dragging themselves, and spastic spinners may even throw in some feints.

I am looking for some guiadance on how to edit hit boxes and parry boxes and hopefully compile the changes into a toggle-able mod for upload, but nether the less am looking to make such changes to my own private copy of the game. Any help or guidance would be much appriciated :)

Any thoughts or input from others not helping create this mod/ these changes, please feel free to discuss anyway I'm very interested what everyone has to say. :)