Amount of Fighting

[atasuke10]

I'd like to get peoples opinions about something.
I've been having issues with how to balance fighting/dialogue, i ve been putting a lot of dialogue and very optional fighting. (there are very few mandatory fights) I want to know what people prefer.
Do you prefer to have mandatory fights, or have constant story with the option fight being purely optional (since in my plans there is no leveling system, the fighting only gives you points you can
trade in for helpful things.
But it still feels like there should be a forced balance... I don't know. that's why opinions please. ( didn't include puzzles in this scenario because while I do put puzzles in, i'm not that big on them)

 

[ArcaneEli]

I mean I'd prefer mandatory fights in some cases where like a Bully attacks you and you have to defend yourself instead of

the bully attacks you and you just automatically kill him.

 

[Dark Horseman]

If you're doing something like Deus Ex: Human Revolution where a player can potentially avoid every single encounter in the entire game, don't suddenly force them into a fight. People actually really hated it when they were forced to fight bosses when their character weren't specialized for combat.

In regular rpgs, most players expect mandatory fights, but having the option to trick/convince a boss or progress without fighting is gravy.

 

[atasuke10]

If you're doing something like Deus Ex: Human Revolution where a player can potentially avoid every single encounter in the entire game, don't suddenly force them into a fight. People actually really hated it when they were forced to fight bosses when their character weren't specialized for combat.

In regular rpgs, most players expect mandatory fights, but having the option to trick/convince a boss or progress without fighting is gravy.

I mean more in terms of: since there is no level system, it wouldn't be mandatory to fight most of the time, unless you want to get extra weapons (which give different skills) and broaden your

options. While it helps in beating the game, it wouldn't be mandatory. (trying to balance the game in a way that even if its more difficult, you can still beat it with the basic

weapon)

but I can see how when normally fighting is only optional, you're suddenly forced to fight and that's frustrating.

But at the same time, making fighting mandatory has some good effects as well as negative (since a lot of people dislike grinding or too much fighting, including myself)

I don't know if thats a good idea or not, 

 

[Matseb2611]

I'd say it depends on what you want your game to be. What's the main gameplay - are battles and physical conflict a big part of the gameplay or are they minor? Everything else will depend on this. For example the amount of gear and items you include in the game will depend on how frequent the battles are. The more battle-focused the game is, the more skills, items, and equipment customization the game should ideally have in order to keep things interesting.

If the battles aren't frequent, then what is the player doing most of the time? Does the gameplay involve them exploring, or perhaps engaging in dialogue a lot in order to uncover something? You kind of have to establish what your game is - is it a dungeon-crawler RPG, a sandbox RPG, a narrative/story-driven RPG, a puzzle game, a visual novel? When you establish this, you'll be able to know what aspect should be the focus.

 

[atasuke10]

I'd say it depends on what you want your game to be. What's the main gameplay - are battles and physical conflict a big part of the gameplay or are they minor? Everything else will depend on this. For example the amount of gear and items you include in the game will depend on how frequent the battles are. The more battle-focused the game is, the more skills, items, and equipment customization the game should ideally have in order to keep things interesting.

If the battles aren't frequent, then what is the player doing most of the time? Does the gameplay involve them exploring, or perhaps engaging in dialogue a lot in order to uncover something? You kind of have to establish what your game is - is it a dungeon-crawler RPG, a sandbox RPG, a narrative/story-driven RPG, a puzzle game, a visual novel? When you establish this, you'll be able to know what aspect should be the focus.

Based on this I have my answer xd even if I give the option to beat the game without it, fighting in that sense is still a big aspect of the game so i guess theres my answer on mandatory fighting. (so based on that theres no harm in including some mandatory fights, it's even beneficial)

thanks for all the feedback

 

[Matseb2611]

Yeah. It sounds like your game is a story-driven RPG, which means that the story is the focus, but RPG gameplay still needs to be present. If it's just story, then it becomes more like a visual novel. But if combat takes the focus away from the story, then it becomes more of a dungeon crawler.

 

[bgillisp]

I would say if there are no levels in your game (which if I read it right there aren't), then you may want to ask yourself what is the purpose of fighting? Is it to get more powerful? Is it to gain items which will power up the player? Or is it just there? If the latter, you may want to add levels, else the player is going to feel there is no point to the fights.

One thing to think about...how about giving the player the option to (if they are clever enough) to avoid battles, or to find clever ways to win fights? For instance, maybe you found an item that the boss is allergic to, and if you use it, the battle is over in one turn?

 

[atasuke10]

I would say if there are no levels in your game (which if I read it right there aren't), then you may want to ask yourself what is the purpose of fighting? Is it to get more powerful? Is it to gain items which will power up the player? Or is it just there? If the latter, you may want to add levels, else the player is going to feel there is no point to the fights.

One thing to think about...how about giving the player the option to (if they are clever enough) to avoid battles, or to find clever ways to win fights? For instance, maybe you found an item that the boss is allergic to, and if you use it, the battle is over in one turn?

You get weapons out of fighting, or getting the currency and exchanging more powerful equipment with it. It's not a dealbreaker but it certainly

makes it way easier if you do do those things.

 

[Tigersong]

So you're saying that combat (and all it entails) is optional? Because in that case, maybe there could be rewards for fighting and/or not fighting. It's more work for you, but there could be different endings depending on whether the player engaged in combat. Another possibility is a stealth mechanic to liven things up.

By the way, how are you implementing a "level-less" combat system? Did you just set the actors' levels to a maximum of one?

 

[atasuke10]

So you're saying that combat (and all it entails) is optional? Because in that case, maybe there could be rewards for fighting and/or not fighting. It's more work for you, but there could be different endings depending on whether the player engaged in combat. Another possibility is a stealth mechanic to liven things up.

By the way, how are you implementing a "level-less" combat system? Did you just set the actors' levels to a maximum of one?

The different ending is actually a pretty interesting idea for this scenario, it sounds like fun

Yes most of it is optional and the player not fighting won't make it impossible to beat the bosses, just a little bit harder

Funny you mention the stealth mechanic,\. there's actually one in there,\. Though I havent used it much,\. maybe I should utilize it more,\. and about the levelless combat system\. yes all actors

start on level 1, having all their base stats and never changing. (I actually considered putting in Stat booster consumables but then it makes the battles impossible to balance for those who grinded a lot

for those consumables, so i d rather just not have that in,\. instead the stat boosts come from equips solely which you get through battling and very few times through the world.