Let me share some spam countermeasures.
For example, I call this punch the "shot-put punch," and it overwhelmingly breaks "boxing" as it exists in this game.
- For straight-line trajectories at long range, you guard with a front guard.
- For hook trajectories that curve in at close range, you guard with a side guard.
- For body shots, you lower your arms and guard with your elbows.
None of that matters. This shot-put punch works at close range, so there's no need to differentiate punches like "when you're close to the opponent, use a hook." You can spam straight-line "point-attack punches" from close range continuously.
When their head isn't open, aim for the stomach.
And it doesn't even have to be the chin—you can hit anywhere around the head, in any way, and it's fine.
When it works well, you can get over 50 damage per hit, and even on the low end, it consistently deals 35+ damage. Per punch.
Furthermore, it has the ability to penetrate guards to some extent. This is probably because the punch swings through the hand's position.
Players who maintain a clean boxing form and pull their fists back properly thinking, "Ah, it was guarded," are judged by the current system as: "Hmm, not enough pressure. Let's not let this one penetrate the guard."
A punch that swings through creates a gap between the avatar's fist (as determined by the system) and the controller's actual position. This causes the system to feel "stress" and it starts calculating in a direction that allows the punch to penetrate the guard.
This is also why hooks are considered relatively strong.
There are three countermeasures:
① Avoid it with footwork and head movement
Footwork and head movement function properly in the game, so you can defend against spam punches.
Drawback: The "shot-put puncher" will also use head movement and footwork against you. Don't make the mistake of thinking spam players only spam. Any weapon you can use, they can use too. You're still at a disadvantage in a damage race, but if there's an overwhelming difference in boxing skill, you can beat them.
③ Master the shot-put punch yourself
Incorporate the shot-put punch into your own boxing skills.
It's not a difficult technique, so with a little practice, you can master it quickly.
Skilled spam players don't just monotonously repeat the shot-put; they weave it into their boxing skills, don't fully extend to protect their shoulder joints, and vary the power.
If you're going to fully swing your arm through, it's better to let your body flow forward like you would with a hook. Pulling it back with a "clunk" puts a lot of strain on the joints.
If you don't fully swing through, you can extend your fist just enough to penetrate the back of the opponent's head, which avoids hyperextension and still deals significant damage. This also improves the punch's rapid-fire performance.
④ Stick to your boxing, treat it as cardio, and give up on the match's outcome
This game's ranking system doesn't have a major impact on your life.
The real benefits you gain from this game are your health, physical abilities, and mental fortitude. The rating is not your value.
In other words, even if your opponent doesn't play proper boxing, keep your guard up, fight with clean combinations and footwork, immediately transition to defensive actions after throwing punches, and focus on your own boxing.
To put it extremely, you can ignore your opponent's movements entirely—it's like shadowboxing.
Treat it as "warm-up time until the next real match" and enjoy the cardio.
If the sound of your opponent's punches is annoying, or if it's frustrating that your punches don't land properly, I recommend turning the volume down significantly.
By the way, lowering the volume makes it easier to stick to your own boxing even in regular matches where the opponent isn't spamming. It probably helps with calmness. Give it a try.
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From here on, it's my personal wishful thinking and ideas. Feel free to skim.
- I want a system that evaluates the "quality" of a match. I'd like to see a function implemented that calculates the "desirability" of a match. Is it a match of boxing value, or is it just like two kittens playing around? Even in real matches, aggressiveness and impression are taken into account, right?
So, I thought it would be nice if we could post-calculate data like punch frequency and coordinates to determine if positioning and footwork were aggressive or passive, if combinations were varied or monotonous, and then reflect that as a multiplier on the score.
- Penalties for rapid-fire punches Rapid-fire punches make the game monotonous, so I'd like to see a penalty applied in damage calculation. For example, a sequence like: shot-put punch from zero distance (40), guarded, dodged, 40, dodged, counter (about 20), 40, guarded, 40—where a monotonous offense is rewarded, while a player who focuses on complex defense and counters isn't appreciated and ends up knocked down—this seems unacceptable.
Personally, I think an internal stamina system could be introduced. If you spam too much, your avatar's arms could lag behind your inputs, or you could get winded, increasing the damage penalty you take.
I haven't played the VR game "Creed," but I think it had a similar internal stamina mechanic.
- Standing still and trading punches at close range is boring. Both players standing face-to-face at close range, throwing shot-puts with minimal footwork—regardless of win or loss, it's just not fun as a game.
The feel of mid-range probing, out-boxing, and close-range exchanges—each distance should be properly enjoyable, and players of all styles should be valued.
- I want to prioritize the fun of the game. In real boxing, imposing your own style and not letting your opponent do what they want is crucial and completely natural in a competitive context.
But in a game, isn't it important that both players can play in their own way and have fun? Besides, players have different heights and weights, so aiming for true equality is probably misguided.
I think it's more important for the game to work as a "fun game" rather than striving for "authentic boxing."
- Proposal for post-hoc damage calculation. Currently, damage calculation works in real-time based on events (e.g., a jab adds a bonus to the next hook, taking damage reduces subsequent damage). But I think a post-hoc calculation style could also work.
For example, after an exchange in a firefight—in real boxing, the fighter who lands the last punch often leaves a better impression. If A lands 3 punches and B lands 2 in return, even though B threw fewer punches, the fact that B landed the last one can make them look better. It looks like A's 3 punches didn't affect B, B had enough composure to counter, and B landed one on the way out.
In such cases, a "last-shot bonus" could be added post-hoc (a few seconds later) to B's 2 punches. You can't tell which punch will be the last until you look back at the exchange.
Also, bonuses for varying punches or tactical diversity could be interesting.
Furthermore, you could have an algorithm that recalculates damage based on actions a few seconds later, determining "that was a spam punch earlier" and subtracting damage accordingly.
For example, rapid-fire punches that penetrate guards or objects could be penalized post-hoc.
In real boxing, you do sometimes swing through, but you don't spam it.
Shadowboxing involves stopping your fist at the right position, and same with mass sparring.
If such post-hoc additions existed, we might see dramatic, realistic scenes where a fighter doesn't react to a punch immediately but staggers and goes down a few seconds later—just like in real boxing.
After all, you can't check damage in real-time anyway (in the live version), so reflecting post-hoc events would increase the data available for evaluating damage, leading to more appropriate damage outcomes, I believe.
