Combat Systems

[Swift]

Just wanting to see what sort of combat visitors would like to see implemented in Hero7. What kind of Real-time combat are you looking for? Or perhaps a turn-based system? Do you know of any other types of combat systems that might work? Post here!

[Corsair5]

I think a combination of QFG5 and QFG2 would be good. Because in five, it's a large area, and you can fight multiple baddies. And two had the coolest system, imo. You walk into said area, and draw your weapon, whether it's a dagger or a sword or a sling (Upgrade from throwing them rocks!) or whatever, and either advance towards your enemy, hold your position, fire off your rocks or daggers, or run like a frightened pansy. When you close to range, you can attack, using the NUMPAD. You target your current opponent by clicking, that centers your guy on him so you don't have to constantly make corrections.

[Swift]

Hmmm... taking the best of both QG 5 and 2's combat systems and combining them. Good suggestion, Corsair.

[Corsair5]

Though there isn't much good about QfG5's combat.

[Swift]

That's true, but being able to fight mutliple enemies all at once is rather realistic and appealing.

[ndcent168]

How come I get flamed for saying that and he gets Kudo's?

But that's what I'm looking for in combat.

[Swift]

Flaming you? Look, you were basically rude, implying that you have the right to decide how the game ought to be developed and that you have the right to "Smite" anyone who has a different opinion. You're not in charge of this game project. You may contribute ideas, but you don't get to decide what gets used for Hero7. That's up to the game makers to decide, not you. And "smiting" people just because they have a different opinion shows narrow-mindedness on your part. People are entitled to their own opinions. You can't force them to accept yours.

[Jafar]

How come I get flamed for saying that and he gets Kudo's?

But that's what I'm looking for in combat.

He was suggesting, while you seemed to be demanding.

[Corsair5]

QfG5 combat did keep me entertained, but it wasn't the best of them. However, I'd rather have QfG5 combat than KQ8 combat...Blugh..

What would be REALLY cool would be a combination of all five combats, although QG1old and QG4 combats really couldn't be used.

[Pwincess]

I love all the different types of combat (except for the KQ8 system), however if I had to choose one, I'd have to pick the QFG 4 combat system (Strategy style).  However I should mention that I also love the nwn's and diablo combat systems.    

[Corsair5]

My personal favorite combat style out of all combat styles is probably QfG2. Revamped so that dodging and different attacks actually did something, and it would rock.

[Reish Vedaur]

I've actually recently started working on a combat system I've been brainstorming for since I was 14.  Each limb would have its own amount of health.  The max health would never increase, but could decrease if it took enough damage.  Two times the sum of the max health for all the limbs would be the overall max health of the character.  Each limb would have a % modifier, and whenever damage is dealt to that limb, the % on that limb would be added to the damage to the overall health.  If you lose all the health in a limb, it would be severed or mangled.  If you lose all the overall health, you die.

Stamina and mana, on the other hand, may be built up.  The loss of stamina affects your stats (agility, dexterity, speed, strength, etc.) by a percentage, so the more stamina you have the slower it affects those stats.

Weapons and armor have three different damage/armor classes: bludgeon, slash, and pierce.  I've been told this is similar to Asheron's Call, but I haven't played it so I wouldn't know.  But all weapons and armors have a different value for all three, and there's no enchanted weapons or gradually-better equipment to get.  If you can handle it and you have the money, it's always available -- rather than constantly getting better and better in some unrealistic Diablo/MMORPG fashion.

Armors protect individual body parts differently, because some places are very hard to protect (points and cases: hand, back of the knee, pit of the elbow, etc.).  This detail is expanded on later, but for now... Armor has three values applied to it for each armor class, those being a minimum, a maximum, and a percentage.  If an amount of damage dealt to an armored body part is below the minimum, the attack bounces off and does nothing.  If the damage dealt to an armored body part is above the maximum, the attack goes straight through the armor and does 100% of the damage it was meant to.  If it's between those two, then the armor protects against its percentage of the damage.

Shields do not add to protection but rather serve as a deflector.  The only things a player would have to concern themselves with about a shield is its size and design, and how much of a pounding it can take.  Outside of that, every shield handles the same.

This battle system could be applied to many different forms of adventure or RPG games, and doesn't even have to stop at medieval; it would work even up to modern combat with assault rifles and artillery, and if modified correctly could even be applied to a first-person shooter.

However, back to where I was headed for *this* battle system.  The sequencing and ranged attacks have yet to be worked out, and all the equations have to be redone from all the original concepts I had.  But with what I've stated here, the battle system becomes a lot more based on skill than levelling -- in fact, the term levelling shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence with this system.  You could stick to the core stats and have "Weapons Use" for the overall skill level of your character, or you could split it up into many different skills and then set proficiency levels for every tool (anything from a loom to a broadsword), with the core stat determining the initial proficiency level for weapons that fall under that stat's classification.

Actual combat, if computerized, would deal in attack and defense simultaneously since, with this system, even a lowly goblin attacking a QfG4 character could potentially kill him.  You would be taxed to attack and defend with good timing, dodge, and find weaknesses in armors or attack and defense styles.  But the opponent would always be doing the same (unless it's a monster, at which point it typically won't have to concern itself over that since it can pretty well knock you over and chomp straight through your armor anyway), and since all armors have weaknesses against some form of attack (especially bludgeoning), you will always be vulnerable in some fashion.

*shakes out hands*

Also, I'm rather fond of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time combat system.  Not that that's an option.

[Danny]

The limb idea reminds me a little of "Die by the Sword"
or the movie "Monty Python and The Holy Grail"    :hero:  
Maybe your idea can be implemented using total-body scales like:
pain, blood loss and broken bones %,
in addition to specific limb scales: attached (yes/no), movability% (broken%), pain%, infection%, where 100% = need to remove limb or to risk death.

My favorite combat mode in QFG was in QFG5 - choice of weapons,
fighting with keyboard so that each key present a different move (but using the mouse as an alternative control gives very limited movement to those that use it),
however I think there should be more moves - ability to kick and to hit sideways with elbows even when holding a sword, to spin while on ground to knock an enemy over,
all this in order to enable fighting against multiple enemies at once using keyboard with both hands (to combine moving, attacks, defences and magic/throwing things).

A good option could be to use the q...e to z...c keys (for limb movements) in combination with the numpad (for moving around in field) in order to get more control over movements + other keys for throwing things/casting.

Personally I disliked the combat mode in QFG3 the most and think the strategy in QFG4 took the fun out of fighting. What I really hate is fighting in turns (one move at a time).

One game that I think had great fights was "One Must Fall: 2097", except for the keycombos that are annoying.

[Silverbolt]

Aetolia (MUD) has limb damage, and also, some classes, the unarmed ones, also have balance for separate limbs.

[Corsair5]

The inevitable future of your scheme, Silver.