This game has some issues with hit detection, but it's nowhere near as bad as you described.
It might be a v-sync issue, but I doubt that. Maybe it's just you missing your attacks at times.

The shield hitbox is pretty small though, it won't block your screen fully.

Yeah I'm surely not hitting 100% of my attacks, but when you get hit by enemies that are clearly still in the stand up animation or you slice a guy in half with a jump attack and instead of stumbling backwards he proceeds to left right you which means death, hardocre becomes a game of luck instead of skill.

By v-sync issue you mean it should be enabled? I found some other settings people suggested and I haven't tried yet. I also have the feeling that the longer the game runs the worse it gets. It happend a couple of times that I got stuck on a fight and after the game crashed and I restarted I won the fight instantly. But that's just a hunch.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Yeah I'm surely not hitting 100% of my attacks, but when you get hit by enemies that are clearly still in the stand up animation or you slice a guy in half with a jump attack and instead of stumbling backwards he proceeds to left right you which means death, hardocre becomes a game of luck instead of skill.

Yeah, the worst thing is that enemies tend to hit you before their animation ends, but usually it happens when you are standing behind them. Other attacks you can clearly see and block.

A piece of advice I can give you: don't rely on melee combat all the time. There are so many ways to kill your enemies, you don't even need to use weapons at times, even though sword fighting is a real fun.

Also, try to play defence: use your shields and be more mindful when it comes to attacking. And as I said, face your enemy while blocking, otherwise you will get hit. If the enemy is below you (e.g. on the stairs), then you should crouch.

Get yourself some armor and health. Steel plate armor protects well and with extra health you can tank more attacks, even on hardcore. Having extra health (70 and above) will save you from a hit or two as well.

And when you attack, try to avoid hitting enemy's weapon, since it can actually deny your hit. Same goes for shields and helmets (orc helmets, to be specific). Aiming for the head is generally good though, it will deal x3 damage.

Lastly, if you are using the Earthfire sword, then you might have noticed that enemies don't flinch when you attack them. This is a bug, it can be fixed, but I don't think you want to edit config files, so either be aware of don't use this sword at all.

By v-sync issue you mean it should be enabled? I found some other settings people suggested and I haven't tried yet. I also have the feeling that the longer the game runs the worse it gets. It happend a couple of times that I got stuck on a fight and after the game crashed and I restarted I won the fight instantly. But that's just a hunch.

V-sync on can cause input lag, so this might be an issue for you. Extra fps can help fight better as well, though all of that is to be tested.

If you have constant crashes, I suggest getting the Mod Launcher. It should fix crashes and might improve performance overall. In the future modders might adress the issue with the hitboxes, so that might be improved as well.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3378556750

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.
I've played through a few times already. This is supposed to be a hardcore sword only run.

I'll look into your suggestions. Crashes are bearable but if there is a fix it wouldn't hurt.

Lastly, if you are using the Earthfire sword, then you might have noticed that enemies don't flinch when you attack them. This is a bug, it can be fixed, but I don't think you want to edit config files, so either be aware of don't use this sword at all.

Yes this is exactly what I am using atm. It it also pretty obvious when you hit/miss due to the on hit effect. You wouldn't have a link to the fix for this? Otherwise I try to google it.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.
I've played through a few times already. This is supposed to be a hardcore sword only run.

I'll look into your suggestions. Crashes are bearable but if there is a fix it wouldn't hurt.

Lastly, if you are using the Earthfire sword, then you might have noticed that enemies don't flinch when you attack them. This is a bug, it can be fixed, but I don't think you want to edit config files, so either be aware of don't use this sword at all.

Yes this is exactly what I am using atm. It it also pretty obvious when you hit/miss due to the on hit effect. You wouldn't have a link to the fix for this? Otherwise I try to google it.

You won't really find any fix, since I believe I'm the only one to acknowledge and fix it. I want to upload it somewhere, but first I want to get rid of other bugs. For example, using shields lowers your damage and even adrenaline gain, so I want to fix all of that first.
Actually, I have already fixed these, but I'm trying to find other exploits and bugs to compile into one big mod. And I'm a bit busy or lazy to do all of that.

Though you can fix it yourself with this thread:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/2100/discussions/0/4851030327579978660/

Or I can send you a file via discord, that would be the easiest way. Don't forget to grab the ML on your way, it will make modding easier.

Definitely download Mod Manager, it will help you.
You can also download Restoration Mod from the same guys who made Mod Manager.

Ok so I got the mod manager and that really improved things a lot. Still a few odd things here and there (golbins suck in this regard) but nowhere near as prominent as before.

I also switched my main sword since I have no idea how to make a mod. But even with the lesser damage it is easier than with the earthfire sword since the little downtime I get now allows me to block or move.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Ok so I got the mod manager and that really improved things a lot. Still a few odd things here and there (golbins suck in this regard) but nowhere near as prominent as before.

I also switched my main sword since I have no idea how to make a mod. But even with the lesser damage it is easier than with the earthfire sword since the little downtime I get now allows me to block or move.

That's nice, but what's up with goblins?

Ok I give up. It seems it doesn't have anything to do with any settings or starter options but just maybe with the amount of enemies on the screen. I'm in town with the many guhl fights and I am able to throw barrels through enemies without effect consistently. Shield bash does nothing 50% of the time. My sword is imaginary. It is really impossible to fight this fight without the "tricks" because it is all just luck based if the engine registers your hit or not.

I have killed half of the enemies buy doing a jump attack or throwing barrels then quick load until it actually hits and I can kill the enemy then quick save and onto the next enemy. This is beyond ridiculous and I'm 100% sure the OG game on the OG system was not this bad.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Ok I give up. It seems it doesn't have anything to do with any settings or starter options but just maybe with the amount of enemies on the screen. I'm in town with the many guhl fights and I am able to throw barrels through enemies without effect consistently. Shield bash does nothing 50% of the time. My sword is imaginary. It is really impossible to fight this fight without the "tricks" because it is all just luck based if the engine registers your hit or not.

This is extremely weird, is your fps consistent and fine? No input lag and such?

Yep 60 fps all the time says the display. Another thing that doesn't work is the jump button. I mean it never worked on stairs but on this installation I sometimes can't even jump on flat ground. That's extremely crippling when you rely on jump attacks.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Yep 60 fps all the time says the display. Another thing that doesn't work is the jump button. I mean it never worked on stairs but on this installation I sometimes can't even jump on flat ground. That's extremely crippling when you rely on jump attacks.

This shouldn't happen at all. Do you have any other issues? Do you have any custom configs, mods, etc? Any other things that seem to be weird?
Lastly, could you record any of those issues perhaps?

Yeah of course. I have tried a lot. Most changes didn't help. Restarting and the mod seemed to be helping a bit though. After the groups of enemies the smaller fights went well.

I believe it is hard to notice on lower difficulties, since you can just eat the damage, but on Hardcore most enemies can kill you in two hits, so when a hit doesn't register it costs you half your health or your life.

I thought about recording it but I'm almost through with this run so meh.

Again, thanks for your help.

Originally posted by CombatWombat:

Yeah of course. I have tried a lot. Most changes didn't help. Restarting and the mod seemed to be helping a bit though. After the groups of enemies the smaller fights went well.

I believe it is hard to notice on lower difficulties, since you can just eat the damage, but on Hardcore most enemies can kill you in two hits, so when a hit doesn't register it costs you half your health or your life.

I thought about recording it but I'm almost through with this run so meh.

Again, thanks for your help.

Could you be a bit more specific about what happens with those hits and so on? I might test these things myself, I can even try to do that with all the settings you are using, if you don't mind sharing. Just describe everything in detail, if you want to.

This all sounds extremely strange, so I will try to understand what seems to be the issue here. Maybe if I find the the reasons, then I can report them to the Restoration Mod team in the future.
It might not help you now, but perhaps in the future the modders will fix these issues.

Or you can record all of what happens, that would be most useful. You can load chapters and get yourself some gear with console commands as well.

"hit detection" it hits where you aim when close enough, thats it. regular source engine hitscan weapon with short range and some delay to match the animation. hitscan=if your crosshair is on the enemy at the moment of firing you´ll hit. meaning, if an animation doesnt match the moment of hit, it´ll feel wrong