[WIP] Demo for combat flow/mechanics

from Elemental Forums

    Well, I posted a lot of thoughts about what I think combat "should" be like in Elemental. I described how I think the statistics can change HERE and HERE, and then went on to describe how the combat flow should change HERE.

NOTE TO STARDOCK: I'll be happy to share my (very much uncommented) source code or discuss any parts of this system. Just shoot me a PM.

    And then I thought, "Who's actually going to read any of that? Is my idea really going to make sense in a few quick blurbs?" I decided the answer was "probably not," so I put a little extra effort into it - and that's what this post is about. I've been building a working model of my combat system in a small demo application. There aren't any fancy graphics, but I've built a (dare I say) elegant engine that allows customizeable units, abilities and effects (standing on the shoulders of what SD did with Elemental). Now, I'm trying to figure out how/if I should "put it out there" for evaluation and further discussion. But first, questions:

   1. Is there any interest at all from the community/SD in a project like this?
   2. Which forum should I post a download link in?

I'm looking for some feedback before moving forward. Thanks in advance.
NOTE: The mechanics in my model work very much like the posts I linked to at the start of this post.
 
    Here's a screenshot of the main interface:

And a closeup of the "combat log" while you're "playing:"

"Playing a game" is a little different for everyone.
Gnilbert

 

elemental
32,815 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm not a game designer, and I have no idea if your idea would work with Elemental, but I wanted to say that it's pretty nifty k1

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

k1

I think this gives a very clear example of some interesting combat mechanics for the game. If all or most of the unit abilities from MoM were included, I think most people would have more fun in tactical battles.

Does your model include resistances?

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Definitely worth looking at!  Is it using the same core mechanics of elemental? i.e. how radical a change would potentially have to occur in programming?  Is it AI'able?  i.e. decisions trees and such - or preset activities?  Expandable, i.e. down the road a year can abilities still be added?  How quick is a "round", is it action by action or preset actions then a both-go or a wego/yougo? 

Toss it out there for some playtesting, refine, toss some unit card images on it, Assign ratings, and you have a minigame.  Get enough people playing it, profit! (even if only in terms of getting it in the game)

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

I remember reading your whole post, your system looks incredibly sleek and functional to me, they surely should take this in consideration.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

First off, wow! Thank you for the responses so far - I'm definitely feeling encouraged to go ahead and wrap up the demo so I can put a link up for you guys to play with!

    At the moment, I'm actually tuning my "test units" to make sure that it really shows off the idea without requiring you to mod it first. In the first version, I'll probably have all the "create your own units/abilities/effects" options turned off, so the focus will stay on how easily all the nuts and bolts fit toger... plus I've got this crazy CNF things I might put in for the tag requirements... lol.

Is it using the same core mechanics of elemental? Yes, mostly. The concept of an ability is pretty much the same, only now there's a distinction between "Action" and "Reaction" abilities. Additionally, I've added "tags," which are like "keywords" from Magic or "types" from D&D. When you get right down to it, other than the combat flow, everything else is just extending their current model. 

How radical a change would potentially have to occur in programming? This one is a tough question, but I'll answer it like this: I wrote all the game mechanic interactiosn from scratch, by myself, and in my spare time over three days. I'd imagine a team of programmers who already had a model that some parts of this mostly extend could do it in a week or two.

Is it AI'able? How quick is a round? What's it's "go" style?  It's I go, you go. At the top level, there's one "Active" player who moves all his units, then the next player becomes "Active." But, each time you "declare" an action for one of your units, your opponent declares one reaction that is "provoked" by that action, so the game proceeds along a very quick "I decide, you decide" path, where the turns are much more interactive, and turns are quick. 

Is it expandable, i.e. down the road a year can abilities still be added?  IMHO, this is the absolute best thing about it. It's so freakishly customizeable that it's surprising. In my current (working) model, almost everything is moddable - unit stats, abilities, effects, required tags on target units, provoking units and provoking abilities. I'm currently cleaning up the part that applies tags to stats granted from equipment. For convenience, the "core attack resolution" is hard coded, but I have some great notes based on expression trees for how to get that moddable quickly 

Get enough people playing it, profit! (even if only in terms of getting it in the game) The biggest thing for me would be seeing it in a real game!


I'll try and finalize things for my first demo post this weekend (I've got a birthday party and a wedding to attend first!),
Gnilbert