Method of fighting in video games

[Seekker]

Have game developers though the idea of a method of fighting that don't require killing players and mobs but get them the options to surrender, knocked unconscious or to weak to fight anymore when they reach 1% health they get arrested by guards instead ?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Sadly most games don't experiment with that nuance. Combat almost always boils down to just lowering the enemy's HP to zero and killing them.

I can't remember the name of the game, but I'm pretty sure there was a first person medieval game (Kingdom Come Deliverance, maybe?) where if get a guy's HP low enough, the NPC might stop attacking you and beg for mercy, allowing your to rob any items on them. The idea might have been halfbaked so that they just started attacking you a few seconds later anyway, so it was optimal to just kill them so they don't stab you in the back.

In Mount & Blade, there is a morale mechanic, where you are able to use shock tactics to kill a tremendous amount of the enemy army in a short amount of time, some enemy soldiers will start breaking off to flee, and soon enough it will turn into a rout. You can choose whether or not to chase them down and kill them, though gameplay wise it is optimal to kill everyone (because otherwise the fleeing enemy force will just go regroup with a larger enemy force).

Also in Mount & Blade, if you use blunt weapons like staves, maces, or punching people, you can knock out enemy soldiers instead of killing them. You can take knocked out enemy soldiers as your prisoners, either taking them to a nearby town and selling them into slavery, or you can take them back to a castle you have and put them in a prison camp, and later on use them for prisoner exchanges. You can also try persuading prisoners to join you. Selling them into slavery is the optimal choice, but if you have enemy lords taken captive, you want to keep them in prison and refuse any prisoner exchange requests (otherwise they'll be released and go around raising armies and fighting against you again). The more enemy lords you have thrown in prison, the fewer armies you have to face.

- - - Updated - - -

In a recent interview with Dishonored 2 developers, apparently there was an idea thrown around that there would be multiple ways you could choose to deal with one of the antagonists. You could choose to kill him. You could choose to brutally mutilate and torture him. Or you could choose to leave him alone and spare him. Unfortunately, the whole "leave him alone and spare him" idea was cut because the higher ups didn't want to expand the budget to allow for more voice lines, which is sad.

[PC2]

Have game developers though the idea of a method of fighting that don't require killing players and mobs but get them the options to surrender, knocked unconscious or to weak to fight anymore when they reach 1% health they get arrested by guards instead ?

That's less satisfying than completely destroying the baddies.

It's a good idea for a kids game where there could be conflict of some kind but it never leads to anything morbid like death.