Page 17 · DAI 3.0 Client Combat

Directional Combat & First-Person Weapons

DAI provides the physical client-render/input foundation used by Musashi Story to replace Minecraft's default up/down hand swing with screen-space blade movement that matches the attack effect.

Reference implementation, not a universal automatic rule. The current 3.0 bridge recognizes Musashi Story's Katana, Nodachi, Wakizashi and Naginata. Other experiences can use the architecture as a reference, but custom weapons do not automatically gain this control scheme from resource-pack JSON alone.

Control Model

SHEATHED
   ↓ hold LMB
DRAW / READY  ← camera origin captured
   ↓ move view
DIRECTION PREVIEW (8-way)
   ↓ release LMB
SLASH → RECOVERY

No >=5° camera movement on release → FORWARD THRUST
Hold RMB while blade is active       → HALF-DRAW GUARD

Direction Contract

1 · UpVertical upward screen-space cut.
2 · Up-RightDiagonal upward-right cut.
3 · RightHorizontal right cut.
4 · Down-RightDiagonal downward-right cut.
5 · DownVertical downward cut.
6 · Down-LeftDiagonal downward-left cut.
7 · LeftHorizontal left cut.
8 · Up-LeftDiagonal upward-left cut.
9 · ThrustNeutral release with less than the directional threshold.

Why the Engine Has to Participate

A datapack can own damage, state, reactions and server-authoritative gameplay. A resource pack can swap models and supply slash sprites. Neither can independently replace the physical first-person hand transform or selectively intercept Minecraft's attack/use presentation.

DAI client bridge

Reads physical LMB/RMB state, captures yaw/pitch, resolves direction, suppresses vanilla attack/use for supported blades and transforms the rendered main hand.

Datapack

Owns the experience's combat state, damage, release logic, reactions and screen-FX actions.

Resource pack

Owns sheathed/drawn/guard/attack weapon models, textures and matching directional screen sprites.

Musashi 3.0 Reference Controls

Hold LMB  = begin draw and capture camera origin
Move view = choose one of 8 directions
Release   = commit selected slash
No >=5° movement = thrust where looking
Hold RMB  = half-draw diagonal guard

The physical key mappings remain readable for item-model conditions even though vanilla attack/use behavior is intercepted for the supported blade.

Synchronizing the Visual Hit

The most convincing presentation uses the same direction ID for all layers:

  1. Resolve the camera direction.
  2. Choose the physical hand + blade pose.
  3. Select the matching resource-pack attack model.
  4. Fire the same-direction slash overlay or sprite.
  5. Resolve gameplay hit/damage through the experience's authoritative logic.
  6. Recover to the drawn or sheathed state.
Do not use the old vanilla swing underneath the custom motion. The reference implementation suppresses it for Musashi blades so the player does not see two conflicting attack animations at once.

Testing Checklist

  • Verify all eight direction boundaries independently.
  • Verify a release below the five-degree threshold resolves as a thrust.
  • Verify RMB enters guard without activating unrelated vanilla item use.
  • Verify switching away from the blade immediately clears custom render/input state.
  • Verify normal Minecraft weapons retain normal behavior.
  • Verify the resource pack's slash sprite direction matches the physical weapon motion.
  • Verify third-person/gameplay damage remains authoritative even when first-person presentation is client-side.
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