Reduce physics resistance of enemy models and their gear

[Asherron]

So after spending a few hours in the new update I finally had reason to really get up close and personal with the new cutting mechanic, I also tried to see if enemy physics behaved any more differently this update. I tried a few new things and was actually kind of disappointed in what I found.

TL;DR Version: Basically the bodies and weapons of the enemies are far, far too resistant to pressure and force imparted onto them by the player. It feels more like fighting a wood or stone training dummy than a fleshy being. Cutting is also a bit difficult to get to actually happen outside of very deliberate throat slitting.
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Scenario 1: I have an enemy pinned against a wall by their throat and I'm ready to drive a dagger or sword into them. Sure, I could just stab forward violently but I decided to try something else. I pressed the tip of the dagger to their gut and then began pushing forward. To my surprise nothing happened. I may as well have been pressing the blade against the stone wall itself. The NPC's body flexed inward juuuust a little bit but nothing else happened, in fact it seemed to be actively resisting the pressure of the blade similar to how shields do. I was unable to stab the dagger into the enemy unless I reeled back and really thrusted forward with it.

Sort of related to this, I've also found that while stabbing at enemies on the ground, sometimes the blade will just rebound off of their stomach, cause me to jump, and then just slide harmlessly along their side instead of piercing them.
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Scenario 2: I decided to try a new fighting style in which I wield a hatchet in my main hand and a dagger or sword in my left. The idea was that I could either parry enemy blades away and then chop into their neck or shoulder, or (and this is what I really wanted to do) I could hook the axe around the edge of the enemy's shield and violently wrench it away to get in with my sword or dagger and stab them. Some things seem to not have changed with this update however and no matter how violently I impact an enemy's shield or weapon I may as well be swinging at a wall.

No amount of force or momentum is going to knock the weapon or shield away, nothing is going to cave them in, nothing is going to disarm them (unless you strike the hand actually holding it.) Any impact to the NPC's armament or any attempt to tug them in any direction by yanking with an axe or locking blades will resort in barely a moment of give before they finally right themselves and resist being moved anymore. Period. In fact they are SO resistant to being moved by any outside force that when I managed to get my axe blade stuck in a wooden shield, as I tried to yank it free rather than yanking the shield along with it or making the NPC stagger, my arm simply stretched an extra foot or two until the game forced me to let go of the weapon.

I can envision it now, if warhammers are released, you go to strike the enemies shield and while it flexes inward for a moment, you're completely stopped in your tracks and the enemy doesn't even lose their footing.
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Scenario 3: This one may be more my fault and I'm still trying to tamper with the available physics settings to find what works. Is anyone else having difficulty achieving actual cuts? If I take a swing at my enemy's back as one would when they are off balance, I find that often a cut is not drawn, but the game treats it as a chop. I've tried slowing down and actually running the blade lengthwise along their skin and while sometimes this works? Usually it doesn't register any damage at all unless I YANK the blade violently in one direction or another.
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Considering how far down on the road map some of the features of this update were, I feel that things may have been a bit rushed. Draw cuts, dismemberment, and penetration of wood feels like it could use a bit more development since it's so hit and miss.

[Malum Caedo]

I think it would be a benefit to the game if the dev released a blog describing how they handle weight/inertia/force to calculate body damage on NPCs. I agree that fleshy skin resistance seems off. It really feels like I'm swinging incredibly dull blades(unless it's the dagger), and impacts appear to be more akin to a club than a bladed weapon. If we could see how some of the physics are handled maybe the community could pitch ideas on clever ways to finesse the engine into creating sharper cuts and stabs. Don't get me wrong, the blades do eventually cut, but you have to apply waaaay more force to do so than what would be needed with a sharp blade carrying some decent weight behind it.

-That said, I REALLY like how the dagger feels now. Throwing it feels perfect(previously was very wonky and inconsistent), and it is much easier to pierce with the dagger than any other weapon. Depending on how they handle the blade damage through the physics engine it could be as simple as applying the dagger's model for damage to other weapons and simply scaling that damage up/down depending on weight/type of blade.

Note: I was digging through the JSON files and noticed a parameter for "knockout" on body limb objects. What exactly does this parameter do? Will it disable an arm/leg preventing use without loss of the limb? Like if a clubbed an NPC in the leg would they be hobbled but still able to move/attack?

-It also appears that you can change the ""penetrationToughness": 0.30000001192092898" value in the JSON file. That should lower the threshold needed, but because it's a non-weapon specific value would change it for all weapons.