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FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

7 years ago

So, I'm working on a battle system (non-RPG) of sorts for my storygame. I'm developing ideas for mechanics. How does this sound?:

Each fight has a number of opponents.

There are up to 20 variables meant to represent said opponents. FOE1, FOE2, FOE3, ...

When the "FOE" variable is at 1, it indicates that the enemy is present. Otherwise, it is at 0.

At the end of every fight, the variables for all FOEs return to 0.

The objective of each fight is to either get rid off all present FOEs or to gain a certain number of SCORE. Each fight has a specific number required to end it and have the enemies lose morale and retreat or to give the player the total upper hand and enters a scene where he gets an automatic victory.

Main character has ability to acquire skills while training.

These "skills" are actually items that can be used at specific times when facing opponents. Certain skills like "Headlock" or "Roundhouse Kick" work in specific cases. Once used, they're gone. Further training is required to gain them again, but it's risky as it could have the character killed and result in GAME OVER. Maybe I'll create another variable so "EXPERIENCE" could be used to in a sense buy skills.

There also various weapons available, but I'm still fleshing that out. Guns, crossbows, and the work play under a long-range combat mode, but that works differently from melee where stuff like batons and brass knuckles are used.

Certain enemies have specific attributes. Some are large, some agile, some have armor, giving them immunity to certain weapons. It's the player's job to get used to which weapons and skills are most often effective against particular enemies and to plan accordingly as they progress through the game.

Better weapons are acquired at the end of fights. Only one long-range and one melee weapon can be used at a time.

Certain guns like revolvers and pistols can be used for both long-range and close combat.

Training with weapons unlock weapon-specific skills that are dropped when the item is.

Boss battles work slightly differently. Much trickier, less freedom as to what the player can get away with, and may require the player to defeat the boss' surrounding companions to raise SCORE before they can deal an effective blow. (EDIT: Or maybe SCORE only increases while the boss takes damage and hurting the minions don't do anything to SCORE in boss battles as the minions continue to file in.)

There's more to it, but it's not fully constructed yet. Feel free to share any feedback or suggestions.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

7 years ago

You're complicating things far too much. It's easier to create one singular foe and entitle it a "mob", or something like that. 

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

7 years ago

Nah. The way I wanna work things out is so that each foe has to be hit individually during the fight. If I just bunched 'em together in a mob, then I wouldn't be able to make specific enemies be hit, 'cuz it'd just be a number dropping instead of a specific variable. Say FOE 1 is down, but FOE 2 is still standing. The two are equipped differently, but if the variable was just "Mob," they're be no way to make any difference between the two.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT (and perhaps fight again)!

7 years ago

If you want any advice from a Historical European Martial Artist on uses, skills and descriptions about close combat weapons, feel free to ask me. It would make my day.

Personally, I think skills being learnt and then forgotten because they are used is a downright absurd idea! Perhaps training a specific set with a maximum limit or something (e.g. three 'special moves' at a time) would be advisable.

If factoring experience and abilities gets too complicated for you (since a CYS script for it is tricky), perhaps homogenising the skills into brawling/long guns/single hander/double hander/pistols/etc and using them to determine attack and defence using them might work out better.

As a final note, please don't go ahead with infinite minions, it is one of the most preposterous and horrible features seen in fiction. The only exceptions should be necromancy or something very one-off that is believable (and even then not pushed too hard on the player).

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT (and perhaps fight again)!

7 years ago

The story takes place in modern times, but feel free to share any ideas of weapons and their uses on this thread. I might find a way to make them work out.

Losing the skills wouldn't be the equivalent of forgetting them, but it just that you wouldn't be able to use them again. I guess it technically doesn't make logical sense, but if you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it. The maximum-limit-special-moves idea sounds great.

By "using them to determine attack and defence," do you mean them like stats? Because the fight scenes aren't like that. They're based off specific actions during the fight chosen by choosing the given options on each page or using items during specific times. (This will take a lot of menial work, I know.)

And I'll try not to do the infinite minions thing during regular battles. During boss battles, where the main objective is to defeat the head honcho, I might. I don't know about you, but the whole infinite enemies during certain fights somewhat appeals to me. One of the bosses during the game is a highly-ranking police officer, so the idea of troops continuously filing in until the end makes sense to me. I won't make so that it's impossible, but the bosses will have an ample amount of backup.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT (and perhaps fight again)!

7 years ago

Even better. My apologies, I assumed you meat statistics and die-rolling combat scenes like others use often.

I admittedly cannot advise on projectile combat, but I know styles of how close combat weapons would be used and can guide you to some useful treatises and manuscripts (such as Fiore's Fior Di Battaglia). This can make fight moves and actions more realistic along with hopefully also being more dynamic and interesting.

If there is an infinite minion boss, at least make it obvious then so players don't waste time eliminating threats that merely reappear as if by magic.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT (and perhaps fight again)!

7 years ago

Well, I might use a little die-rolling stuff for things chance-based. Like things that could miss or misfunction or when an opponent guards certain attacks. But that wouldn't be the norm.

Also, I'll be sure to come to you for questions about weapon usage. Realisticness is something I'm aiming for, but dynamicness is favorable.

And yeah, there would be segments before that would make these things obvious. Like the police officer saying, "We need all units in this area" or something in the story so that the player knows well ahead of time that this particular character is well-supported.