Alternative combat mechanic ideas?

[Hedge]

I'm still only learning RPGMaker but I have a project in mind and I wanted to ask you for some feedback and ideas.

I'd like to make a game in which the protagonists are not just a small party of adventurers but leaders of an army. Obviously, the standard sideview battle won't work with this theme. I have 2 alternative ideas in mind.

First is to make a tactical battle system, probably using Gubid's engine. The problem with this is that as far as I know, this engine only represents your player characters on the tactical map, while I would need regular units too, so that's an issue.

The other idea is to have no visualized combat at all, only a dialogue detailing the situation, and presenting the player with tactical options. Based on the choice of the player, strength of army, skills of leaders and a random factor, a result would be calculated (outcome, losses, etc).

So, what do you think?

 

[jonthefox]

I've thought about this before ,and I think it has potential if done well.  

I think if your game is story-based, then the dialogue method could work well.   But it sounds like if you want to use such a system, your game will be tactics-based; the fun of the game springs from tactical decisions and being the general of an army.  In this case, I think you should still use "battles."  You could have different "party members" represent different battalions or cohorts of an army type...i.e. light infantry, heavy infantry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, etc...  You might consider having your main character not being able to directly attack enemy units, but use skills that buff your armies or provide tactical benefits or trade-offs.     I know you probably considered much of this already.  Good luck.

 

[Wavelength]

I would recommend handling the combat through events on a map (whether it's the map you're already on, or a separate "battle map", is up to you), and show the troops battling it out, fighting, and falling based on the player's decisions (and whatever random/stat-based processing you want to do behind the scenes).  Think of it almost like a huge LARP.

 

[Hedge]

I like that and it would be cool to implement it. I'd think of something like the old DOS game Centurion: you give your orders at the beginning of the battle and see it unfold (and maybe also have some options at crucial moments during the battle).

Would it be difficult to do this in RPGmaker?

 

[Nirwanda]

An alternative is what some strategy JRPGS have done having each unit represent a small army. For example Yggdra Union, Tactics Ogre or Laevantein Tactics.

It's pretty fun, and also lends itself to a variety of gameplay elements, all three of this games are radically different, if you care enough to look them up. Of course, it'll require some creative use of the program (or scripting) to pull this off, but a game with such an unique approach would definitely be great.

 

[Wavelength]

I like that and it would be cool to implement it. I'd think of something like the old DOS game Centurion: you give your orders at the beginning of the battle and see it unfold (and maybe also have some options at crucial moments during the battle).

Would it be difficult to do this in RPGmaker?

Time-consuming yes, difficult no.

 

[whitesphere]

The Civilization games do the same thing, with showing a single "Tank" unit which represents an entire battalion of tanks.

So I think it's reasonable to have a single player "unit" represent an entire military unit.  If I were doing that, I might use one of the battle-on-map ABS scripts, because in strategic combat games, the terrain is always a factor, such as "Calvary isn't effective in swamps"  Not sure if the ABS scripts can include terrain as a combat modifier, but that seems to be the right idea.

Or, use another combat script but still include the terrain (identified by Terrain ID or by Region ID) as a major combat factor.

 

[Eschaton]

It's not finished, but you could give GTBS a shot if you are interested in strategic gameplay and managing an "army."

If you want to go for something simpler, Tsukihime's party manager sets up the framework to switch parties in a manner similar to Final Fantasy VI.

 

[Hedge]

It's not finished, but you could give GTBS a shot if you are interested in strategic gameplay and managing an "army."

If you want to go for something simpler, Tsukihime's party manager sets up the framework to switch parties in a manner similar to Final Fantasy VI.

Thanks, I already knew of Gubid's engine, and it was already a candidate.

The other one looks really useful though, if I can make it work with overland-map-combat.

 

[Eschaton]

If you're going to do combat on the map, you can try Victor's Map Turn Battle or Falcao's ABS.  The former requires a lot of other Victor scripts and precludes movement.  The latter uses too many buttons for my taste.

 

[Hedge]

If you're going to do combat on the map, you can try Victor's Map Turn Battle or Falcao's ABS.  The former requires a lot of other Victor scripts and precludes movement.  The latter uses too many buttons for my taste.

Thanks Eschaton, I've checked them and Falcao's system gave me an idea.

What if I made the game work like a real-time action-rpg, but with the avatar of the player representing an entire army, and every enemy also representing a group of hostiles?

When the player gets hit, he loses troops (=HP).

Special attacks represent advanced tactics the player may learn.

Weapons may be switched to "Troop types".

Etc.

I don't think this is a concept that has been attempted before, though please correct me if I am mistaken.