Play Kenshi as usual: explore, trade, recruit. When a fight breaks out around your character, Kenshi pauses and the whole fight moves into Half Sword: you, your recruits and every enemy, as physics-driven Half Sword fighters carrying their Kenshi names, factions and gear. When it ends, the outcome goes back into Kenshi.
In a fight
- You control only your own character. Your recruits fight beside you on their own.
- Kenshi weapons become Half Sword weapons: katanas become longswords, sabres falchions, hackers axes, heavy weapons long poleaxes, blunt weapons maces, polearms polearms. The weapon's Kenshi quality grade (Rusted Junk up to Meitou) and weight carry over. Crossbows can't be swung, so their owners fight with their fists.
- Kenshi armour becomes Half Sword armour: hats, hoods and helmets, cloth, mail and plate, leggings and boots, by armour class.
- Kenshi stats shape each fighter: attack, defence and weapon skill set their skill; strength and toughness set their build; Shek stand tall and Hive stand small.
- Big brawls stay playable: how many fighters share the field (3 to 8) follows the frame rate your PC manages; the rest wait at the edge and run in as others fall. A roster in the corner shows who is still standing on each side.
- Backspace (hold) retreats: the fight goes back to Kenshi as it stands.
After the fight
Wounds go back onto each Kenshi character's body parts. Fighters knocked out in Half Sword are knocked out in Kenshi; those killed are dead, except you: if you fall, you're left down and dying, so a squad member with a first aid kit can save you. Anyone still waiting at the edge carries on the fight in Kenshi. Animals never enter the arena (Half Sword has none); they keep fighting in Kenshi.
Good to know
- Needs Kenshi 1.0.68 on Steam and Half Sword (Early Access 0.6). On any other Kenshi build, fights simply stay in Kenshi.
- "You" are the first character in your squad. To pick someone else, put
you = Name in %LOCALAPPDATA%\KenshiHalfSword\settings.ini.
- Outside fights, Kenshi still lets you select and order your recruits.
- Solo: both games are single-player.
- Both games run at once. Between fights Half Sword waits in its arena at a low frame rate so Kenshi gets your PC.
- Nothing from either game is copied. The mod reads your running Kenshi and builds the fighters from your own Half Sword.