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Combo Innate Skills

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Sleys edited this page Sep 14, 2026 · 1 revision

Combo Innate Skills are designed for advanced combat abilities that require multiple possible animation paths.

Unlike Sequential Innate Skills, which always progress through a fixed list, Combo Innate Skills use a node-based system to create branching combinations.

The system can be understood as a small animation state tree:

  • Entry points act as the roots of the tree.
  • Nodes represent individual steps of a combo.
  • Next nodes determine what can happen after the current node.
  • Conditions determine whether a transition can be followed.
  • Global entry points can interrupt the current route and start another one.

This allows complex combinations to be described entirely through JSON without creating a separate skill for every possible combination.

📁 File Locations & Loading Methods

Depending on whether you want users to be able to modify the skills locally or bundle them inside your mod, choose one of the following paths:

⚙️ Option A: Local Config Folder

Use this path if you want the setup to be easily accessible and editable by servers or pack developers.

  • Path: .minecraft/config/epicfight_edp/innate_skill_builder/combo_innate_skill/*.json
  • ⚠️ Rule: You MUST explicitly declare the modid field inside the JSON when using this folder.

📦 Option B: In-Jar (Bundled Data-Driven)

Use this path to ship skills natively pre-configured inside your mod jar or data-driven setup.

  • Path: data_driven/<your_modid>/innate_skill_builder/combo_innate_skill/*.json
  • 💡 Rule: The modid field can be safely omitted inside the JSON because the directory's namespace acts as the fallback namespace automatically.

🌳 Understanding the System

A Combo Innate Skill consists of two main structures:

Entry Points
     │
     ▼
   Nodes
     │
     ▼
 Next Nodes
     │
     ▼
 Next Nodes
     │
    ...

The easiest way to visualize the system is as a tree or graph.

For example:

BASIC_1
   │
   ▼
BASIC_2
   │
   ▼
BASIC_3
  /    \
 ▼      ▼
HOLD   BASIC_1

When BASIC_1 is executed, the next valid node can be BASIC_2.

After BASIC_2, the next node is BASIC_3.

From BASIC_3, the combination can branch into different paths depending on the current condition.

🌱 Entry Points

Entry points are the roots of the combo system.

They define where a combination can begin.

"entry_points": [
  {
    "node": "BASIC_1",
    "physical_condition": "normal"
  },
  {
    "node": "AIR_1",
    "physical_condition": "in_air",
    "global": true
  },
  {
    "node": "DASH",
    "physical_condition": "sprinting",
    "global": true
  }
]

Each entry point references a node by its ID.

Entry Point
     │
     ▼
 BASIC_1

The entry point itself does not contain the animation. Instead, it tells the system which node should be used as the starting point when its condition is satisfied.

📋 Entry Point Parameters

Field Type Description
node String ID of the node used as the entry point.
physical_condition Condition Physical state required to activate this entry point.
global Boolean Determines whether this entry point can interrupt another active combo route.

🔑 Node IDs

Nodes are identified using strings.

"nodes": {
  "BASIC_1": {
    ...
  },
  "BASIC_2": {
    ...
  }
}

The name itself has no special meaning.

You can use any identifier that makes sense for your combo:

AA1
AA2
AA3

BASIC_1
BASIC_2
BASIC_3

DASH
AIR_FINISHER

HEAVY_ATTACK
HEAVY_FINISHER

These strings effectively act as the IDs of the nodes.

For example:

{
  "node": "BASIC_1"
}

references:

"nodes": {
  "BASIC_1": {
    ...
  }
}

🧩 Nodes

A node represents an individual step in the combo.

At minimum, a node defines an animation:

"BASIC_1": {
  "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo1"
}

A node can optionally define one or more possible next nodes:

"BASIC_1": {
  "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo1",
  "next": [
    {
      "node": "BASIC_2"
    }
  ]
}

The next list defines the possible transitions from the current node.

📋 Node Parameters

Field Type Description
animation Resource Location Animation executed by this node.
next Array Optional list of nodes that can follow the current node.

➡️ Next Nodes

A node can have multiple possible transitions.

For example:

"BASIC_3": {
  "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo3",
  "next": [
    {
      "node": "HOLD",
      "physical_condition": "use_item"
    },
    {
      "node": "BASIC_1"
    }
  ]
}

This creates two possible routes:

             BASIC_3
              /   \
             /     \
      use_item     default
          │           │
          ▼           ▼
        HOLD       BASIC_1

The transition containing physical_condition requires that condition to be satisfied.

📋 Transition Parameters

Field Type Description
node String ID of the node to transition to.
physical_condition Condition Optional condition required for this transition.

A transition without a physical_condition can be used as the default route.

🔀 Branching Combinations

The main advantage of Combo Innate Skills is that a node does not have to lead to only one node.

For example:

"COMBO_3": {
  "animation": "example:combo3",
  "next": [
    {
      "node": "AIR_FINISHER",
      "physical_condition": "in_air"
    },
    {
      "node": "GROUND_FINISHER"
    }
  ]
}

The resulting structure is:

                  COMBO_3
                 /        \
                /          \
           In Air          Default
             │                │
             ▼                ▼
       AIR_FINISHER     GROUND_FINISHER

This allows the same combination to branch into different attacks depending on the player's state.

🌍 Global Entry Points

The global property changes how an entry point interacts with an already active combination.

{
  "node": "AIR_1",
  "physical_condition": "in_air",
  "global": true
}

A global entry point can be evaluated even when another combo route is currently active.

This means that a condition can effectively cancel the current route and start the global entry point's route.

For example:

BASIC_1
   │
   ▼
BASIC_2
   │
   │ Player jumps
   │
   ▼
AIR_1
   │
   ▼
AIR_2

Without a global entry point, the currently active basic route could continue normally.

With:

{
  "node": "AIR_1",
  "physical_condition": "in_air",
  "global": true
}

the airborne condition can take priority and redirect the combo into the aerial route.

🧠 Global vs Normal Entry Points

The distinction can be summarized as:

Normal Entry Point
    │
    └── Starts a route when the combo is available.

Global Entry Point
    │
    └── Can interrupt an already active route.

For example:

"entry_points": [
  {
    "node": "BASIC_1",
    "physical_condition": "normal"
  },

  {
    "node": "AIR_1",
    "physical_condition": "in_air",
    "global": true
  }
]

The basic route can begin normally:

BASIC_1 → BASIC_2 → BASIC_3

But if the player becomes airborne while the combo is active:

BASIC_1 → BASIC_2
             │
             │ jump
             ▼
           AIR_1 → AIR_2

The global AIR_1 entry point can take over the combination.

⚔️ Physical Conditions

Entry points and transitions can use physical conditions to determine whether a route is available.

The available conditions are:

Condition Description
normal Default condition; player is alive.
in_air Player is not on the ground.
sprinting Player is sprinting.
use_item Player is currently using an item.
kneeling Player is holding the sneak key.

These conditions allow the combo graph to react to the player's current state.

For example:

{
  "node": "AIR_1",
  "physical_condition": "in_air"
}

requires the player to be airborne.

📄 JSON Structure & Schema

A complete Combo Innate Skill has the following general structure:

{
  "modid": "epicfight",
  "name": "combo_test",
  "alwaysAllow": true,

  "entry_points": [
    {
      "node": "BASIC_1",
      "physical_condition": "normal"
    }
  ],

  "nodes": {
    "BASIC_1": {
      "animation": "example:attack1",
      "next": [
        {
          "node": "BASIC_2"
        }
      ]
    },

    "BASIC_2": {
      "animation": "example:attack2"
    }
  }
}

📋 Main Parameters

Field Type Description
modid String The target mod namespace used to register the skill.
name String Unique internal identifier for the custom innate skill.
alwaysAllow Boolean Controls whether the skill is allowed independently of the normal skill activation restrictions (energy).
tooltip Array Optional list of custom tooltip components.
entry_points Array Defines the roots of the combo graph.
nodes Object Collection of all nodes referenced by the combo graph.

🔗 Putting Everything Together

Consider the following configuration:

{
  "modid": "epicfight",
  "name": "combo_test",
  "alwaysAllow": true,

  "entry_points": [
    { "node": "BASIC_1", "physical_condition": "normal" },
    { "node": "AIR_1", "physical_condition": "in_air", "global": true },
    { "node": "DASH", "physical_condition": "sprinting", "global": true}
  ],

  "nodes": {
    "BASIC_1": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo1",
      "next": [ { "node": "BASIC_2" } ]
    },
    "BASIC_2": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo2",
      "next": [ { "node": "BASIC_3" } ]
    },
    "BASIC_3": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/rushing_tempo3",
      "next": [
        { "node": "HOLD", "physical_condition": "use_item" },
        { "node": "BASIC_1" }
      ]
    },
    "AIR_1": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/combat/axe_airslash",
      "next": [ { "node": "AIR_2", "physical_condition": "in_air" } ]
    },
    "AIR_2": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/heartpiercer"
    },
    "DASH": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/battojutsu_dash"
    },
    "HOLD": {
      "animation": "epicfight:biped/skill/battojutsu"
    }
  }
}

This creates a graph similar to:

                         ┌──────────────┐
                         │   BASIC_1    │
                         └──────┬───────┘
                                │
                                ▼
                         ┌──────────────┐
                         │   BASIC_2    │
                         └──────┬───────┘
                                │
                                ▼
                         ┌──────────────┐
                         │   BASIC_3    │
                         └──────┬───────┘
                              /   \
                 use_item    /     \  default
                           ▼         ▼
                      ┌────────┐  ┌─────────┐
                      │  HOLD  │  │ BASIC_1 │
                      └────────┘  └─────────┘


              Global Entry Point
                     │
                  in_air
                     ▼
               ┌──────────┐
               │  AIR_1   │
               └────┬─────┘
                    │
                 in_air
                    ▼
               ┌──────────┐
               │  AIR_2   │
               └──────────┘


              Global Entry Point
                     │
                 sprinting
                     ▼
               ┌──────────┐
               │   DASH   │
               └──────────┘

The important concept is that the nodes themselves form the combination, while the entry points determine where the combination can begin or, when global, where it can be redirected.

🧭 Example Flow

Suppose the player begins the skill normally.

The system starts at:

BASIC_1

The next activation advances to:

BASIC_2

Then:

BASIC_3

At BASIC_3, the player has two possible transitions:

BASIC_3
   │
   ├── use_item → HOLD
   │
   └── default  → BASIC_1

If the player is using an item, the combination becomes:

BASIC_1 → BASIC_2 → BASIC_3 → HOLD

Otherwise:

BASIC_1 → BASIC_2 → BASIC_3 → BASIC_1

Now consider the player jumping while the basic combination is active.

Because AIR_1 is a global entry point:

BASIC_1 → BASIC_2
             │
             │ player enters air
             ▼
           AIR_1 → AIR_2

The current basic route is abandoned in favor of the aerial route.

⚠️ Important Concept

A Combo Innate Skill is not simply a list of animations.

It is a collection of relationships between nodes.

Sequential Skill:

A → B → C → D


Combo Skill:

       ┌── B ──┐
       │       │
       A       D
       │       │
       └── C ──┘
        \
         └── E

The sequential system describes what comes next.

The combo system describes what can come next depending on the current route and conditions.

This distinction is what makes Combo Innate Skills suitable for more complex combat systems.

EF: Extended Datapacks

📦 Data

🧰 Core

👁️ Visuals

⚔️ Combat

🗝️ Skill Builder

🛠️ Innate Builder

🗡️ Animation Operations

⚙️ Third-Party

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