Fighting the Freeflow Way: Counters, Grabs and a Street That Reacts

A scrap on the corner, and the police it brings.

Fights in Philadelphia Fiefdom flow from one person to the next, and you read your opponent instead of a health bar. Press attack and you lunge at whoever you're pointing at. Counter when someone winds up, grab someone who's open and throw them into a wall. Hurt shows on bodies: people slow down, hunch over and stagger. And everyone else on the street has an opinion about it.

The fighting takes a lot from the best third-person brawlers: one button to attack whoever you're aiming at, a counter on a tell, and only one or two people swinging at you at a time. This post is about how it works and what I changed to fit a city where every passerby is simulated.

How does attacking work?

Attack throws the next blow of a combo: a jab, a cross, then a hook to finish. Presses during a blow are kept and thrown when it allows, so it rewards a rhythm, not mashing. Hold attack and you wind up a haymaker that goes through any guard. Running or in the air, it's a flying kick through whoever's in the way, and at someone on the ground, a stomp.

Each blow goes at whoever the stick points to, within about four and a half meters, and the blow's step-in becomes a lunge to reach them. With the stick at rest, it's the nearest person in front of you. That's what lets you flow from one opponent to the next.

How do counters and grabs work?

The same squared-up start, two ways out of it: a counter on the swing, then a grab and a throw.

Counter. When someone winds up a punch at you, their fist draws back and catches a cold glint of light. That's the tell, and it's in the world, not an icon over their head. Press counter then and their blow is turned aside, they're rocked back and open, and your own blow goes straight in.
Guard and parry. Hold guard to block blows from the front. Raise it just as a blow arrives and it's a parry: the swinger is left open, and your next blow lands double.
Dodge. Tap guard with the stick held for a quick step that way, untouchable for a moment.
Grab. Grab someone who's rocked, hurt or not guarding and you hold them in front of you. Attack knees them. Grab again and you throw them the way the stick points. Near a wall or a bin, the throw slams them into it, and a flying body knocks over whoever it meets.
Slide. Crouch out of a sprint and you slide, sweeping the legs out from under whoever's in the way.

There's also a hidden flow. Land blows without getting hit and it builds, until your next heavy blow is a takedown. Nothing on screen counts it. You feel it.

How do you know how hurt someone is?

There's no health bar and no numbers. Hurt shows on the body in four levels: slower first, then hunched over, then staggering as they walk, with bruises coming up. Near the end, standing still, they go down on one knee. Hurt eases off with time.

Fresh: The same player standing unhurt, then badly hurt: hunched over it, with bruises coming up. — The same player standing unhurt, then badly hurt: hunched over it, with bruises coming up.

Hurt: The same player standing unhurt, then badly hurt: hunched over it, with bruises coming up. — The same player standing unhurt, then badly hurt: hunched over it, with bruises coming up.

A big enough blow knocks someone flying. They're down for a moment and then get up, and a wall stops them hard. Past a limit, they stay down, badly hurt, and an ambulance comes for them. If that's you, you wake up outside the nearest hospital with a bill.

How do the people you fight behave?

When you hit someone, they answer it. Some fight back, and the rest run. Those who fight back do it in one of three styles, set by their temperament:

Brawlers wade in close, throw long strings of punches and rarely block. A few of them pull out a bat or a pipe.
Boxers keep their distance, circle, and read what you're throwing, blocking or slipping it.
Scrappers hang back and dart in for one punch.

They read you too: throw the same blow over and over and they get better at reading it, so mix it up. Only a couple of them swing at you at once. The rest circle, waiting their turn. Beaten past their nerve, they run.

What does the rest of the street do?

Everyone nearby hears the fight. Some people run, some stop and stare, and some run into the nearest open shop. Throwing punches is a crime. What people see, and some of what they don't, is called in, so you pick up wanted stars, up to three, and a patrol car comes for each one. The police head for where you were last seen, not where you are. Stay out of their search area and out of sight for a while and a star comes off. A new outfit or a haircut from a shop takes one off too. If they catch you, you're cuffed and wake up at the precinct with a fine.

Hit-stop, the tiny freeze on a big hit, is drawn only on the two people involved, never by slowing the game itself, so in co-op the other player's game doesn't pause because you landed a haymaker.

Quick answers

Is there a health bar? No. You read hurt off the body: how someone walks, stands and looks.

Can you pick things up and fight with them? Yes. A bat, a pipe, a bottle: each hits harder, wears out and breaks. Some things, like a trash can, you can only throw.

Does it work in co-op? Yes. Both players can fight, and the host runs every blow, so both see the same fight.

Follow along

Philadelphia Fiefdom is an online sandbox set in Philadelphia. Last time was the traffic. Next is how I got all of this running on a handheld: making it run on Steam Deck. Join the playtest list to play it early, or come say hi on Discord (opens in a new tab).