Custom Side_View Battlers

[Pine Towers]

Hi guys. Just wondering about a thing.


RPG Maker 2003 and MV have built-in sideview battle, and the others have scripted ways to implement it, so I guess this discussion applies to all, even if the subject seem to narrow.


The actors in 2k3 and MV uses bare-handed poses, with the weapons showing during the attack. This, obviously, was implemented because of the generic approach an engine such as RPG Maker must attend to.


The (IMHO) most know non-default sideview battlers are Holder's Battlers. Here we see them with their weapons in hands. This allows for custom movement patterns, but restrict, lore-wise, the characters (a swordsman cannot equip a bow without seriously affecting the suspension of belief from the player).


The reason I created the thread was, since most of the public doesn't enjoy default assets, this means that sideview battlers would also have to be custom made. In your opinion, what would be the best approach?

1. Unarmed. Characters may have custom poses, but when attacking they assume the same attack pattern so to use the weapon sheet (assuming MV - and speaking of MV, how do I align the weapon sheets to a custom sv_battler?).
   
2. Weapon. Characters have their weapons on the sprite. Can even have more than one (a gunslinger with a pistol and knife) using different animations depending on the attack (slash, thrust, shoot, use item - again, assuming MV).
   

This have implications on several game design approaches, since a gunslinger in the (2) shouldn't equip a whip or shotgun, even if realistically he could do so.


What do you say? 1 or 2? Or do you have a third option/opinion on the subject? Feel free to discuss!

 

[Haydeos]

I've been testing my skills trying to make custom battlers for my actors, and I'm going with option 2. If you give them custom attacking animations, the default weapon images don't fit anymore.


For the record, my tests are failing...miserably.

 

[Jefries]

It will be better to choose 2 because I really don't like how the weapon only appears when attacking.

 

[Victor Sant]

without action sequences, i would go with 2, with action sequences (that can show weapons on all motions) i would go with 1.

 

[ksart]

I would have to go with option 2 preferably with a way to change the sprite used with each weapon equipped, which of course would limit the release to pc only. If i were planning to release to mobile, i would still go with option 2 and just limit the type of weapon equipped by each actor. since i plan on using sprites larger than standard size in any game i make, that would be the only option open to me unless there is a way to retarget the weapon sheet to non-standard sizes.

 

[sabao]

OPTION THREE! This will require knowledge in programming, or maybe a common event will suffice, but I doubt it's too difficult. 


Option 1 is great because you have the ability to create weapon sprites separate from the character, providing the possibility of having unique sprites per weapon. The problem here is that the graphics were designed to accommodate a large number of possible combinations of sprites, so animation isn't as expressive as many would like, which is why the more tailor-made Option 2 is appealing, but limits a character to just one type of weapon. 


Why not have a script that changes the battle sprite according to the weapon equipped? It shouldn't be more than just running a check of what weapon type the character is wearing anyway. The problem here, of course, is that you'll need to draw and animate several types of poses for each character depending on how many fighting styles you give them. It's more work for whoever's doing graphics, but you do have the benefit of unique animations and visualized weapons in this case. 

 

[Pine Towers]

Thank you all for your opinions. They're great and really helpful on forwarding my game project.

 

[Sharm]

I think somewhere in between would be good.  The sprites would be weaponless but be animated with a specific type of weapon in mind.  An axe and a broadsword would have one animation, a whip and throwing daggers might share another, and so on.  Less work than option two, but with some of the benefits too.  If I must choose I'd say 1 is best if the games have some avatar customization and equipment affects the look of your MC, and 2 is the best for really epic action animations.  It would depend on the game.