Having a default-ish battle system interesting

[Seacliff]

So right now, I'm working with a basic and simple battle system (with side-view and some ui scripts, but it still plays like a basic battle system.) But despite the many years I put into RPG maker, I am having a lot of trouble coming up with unique random encounters.

I want to collect some ideas, what are some types of enemies and troops you guys put together to avoid each battle slamming the attack button? Any quirky trick on enemies or battles that will get extremely hard if you take your time? I'm interested ways to make battles fun.

 

[Stapleton]

Have a special mechanic in your game that adds a different dimension. Galv's battle favour just that and it is easy to implement. Good place to start. http://galvs-scripts.com/category/rmvxa-scripts/battle/#post-390

If you do not want scripts of any sort, try adding in a troop battle with custom AI you control in the conditions. Set the weight of the random encounter to be more rare, so once in a while BOOM an elite monster or what not comes and scares you.

 

[Wavelength]

Simple Man's Quest for the Playground (for RMVX) was the game that inspired me to pick up the PC RPG Makers in the first place because I was so shocked at how good a default-ish battle system could be made in an RPG Maker game.  The really amazing thing about it is that it doesn't use any scripting whatsoever - just a lot of really creative eventing.  Some of the humor might go over your head because the game is a loving jab at the RPG Maker Pavilion community and its history, but as far as battle design goes, I think it's great study material!

Of the default-ish battle systems I've made, the one in How Badly Do You Want It? is probably my favorite.  I completely changed the mechanics and rewards for Crits, offered two different ways to pay for magic (one of which refills as the battle transpires), made manipulation of Agility into a completely legitimate battle strategy, and gave each enemy troop a unique twist of some sort.

I recently played Skyborn and was pretty impressed with the smart modifications made to the default-ish battle system (despite some balance issues), so that's another one to check out for some inspiration.  The Threat system in particular adds so much to battle strategy.

I think the best advice I could give, at a high level, is to create lots of interesting and necessary skills, and to have some kind of other factor that the player can manipulate besides the standard HP/MP/TP.  SMQ has cooldowns, How Badly has Turn Points and Crit Points, and Skyborn has Threat.  Another thing I'd note is that all three of those games have unique status effects that can greatly affect a battle.

 

[hiromu656]

Using a default battle system I think a really simple way of making battles interesting is by having "Troops" of varying weaknesses. Paper Mario uses a fairly basic battle system but enemy appearances themselves give off clues as to how to approach them. When you see a spiked enemy you know not to jump on it and when you see a flying enemy you know not to use your hammer. It's a very small detail that creates for more interesting battles. Not sure how you would implement something like that exactly, but on concept alone it can be helpful in leading to ways to create a similar effect in your own way.

Something that the early Shin Megami Tensei games did wrong in my opinion is that they would throw sometimes even 8 of the same enemies, which obviously meant they all held the same weaknesses. For instance if the enemy was weak to fire, you could use your All Enemy fire skill and clear them in a single turn. When a battle contains enemies that have, contradictory weaknesses even (one weak to fire, other reflects fire for example), you're more involved in the fight, which makes exploiting enemy weaknesses that more satisfying. Which would hopefully make the battle interesting and enjoyable.

 

[Warpmind]

As far as designing encounters... I find that this little piece (while technically written for tabletop) is a good article to jog the creative impulses.
http://www.howlingtower.com/2012/04/improving-random-encounters.html
 

 

[Matseb2611]

- Enemies with resistances to physical element (or whichever is used most commonly).

- Enemies with very high evasion (which would require to be hit either with certain hits/magic spells or to be afflicted with a state that nullifies their evasion)

- Enemies that counterattack

- Enemies with very high Def (requires either debuffing or attacks that ignore Def)

- Enemies with worthy elemental weaknesses (why spend 2 turns slamming attack when I can kill it in one turn with that fire spell it is weak to)

- Enemies that heal themselves/their team (if your game has skills to prevent or diminish that, the player will be wise to use them)

 

[bgillisp]

I recently played Skyborn and was pretty impressed with the smart modifications made to the default-ish battle system (despite some balance issues), so that's another one to check out for some inspiration.  The Threat system in particular adds so much to battle strategy.

Seriously? I hated that threat system, as I felt it penalized me for having people attack late in the combat round, as all that did was take away the threat that had accumulated on the tank. Also, it meant that all late battles were watch the enemy KO your tank, as they will never attack anyone else, so I hope you have a revival item.

 

[TheRiotInside]

Adding anything that forces the player to think (even for a second) is usually a step in the right direction.

- Maybe a tree/plant type enemy that, if attacked with fire with violently burst into flames (either damaging enemies which is helpful, or damaging your party which is not).

- Maybe a mushroom that has a chance to poison/paralyze/sleep you if you attack it up close (forcing ranged attacks).

- Other games add features where chaining elemental attacks gives bonuses, like dousing an enemy with a water attack, making a subsequent lightning attack more powerful.

- An enemy that starts buffing the enemy party if it's still alive after a couple of turns.

- Maybe a troop of two, with one enemy acting as bodyguard over the other. You can attack them both, but the bodyguard will fly into a dangerous rage if you damage/kill the enemy they're guarding.

Oh, also try to make all of your skills/spells useful in some way. Instead of a weak and strong ice attack, make the weaker one have a chance to freeze the target for a turn, while the powerful one has no side effects. Maybe a weak wind attack also boosts the user's agility, making him attack earlier next turn. If your elemental magic is in tiers and they all just do damage for varying MP costs, most players will abandon the weaker versions after a while. If the weaker ones have some kind of potentially useful side effects, then they are more justified.

Also status effects. Make them work on bosses! Most games have state-inducing skills just inflict a state without doing any damage or anything. Purely utility. Thing is, during regular battles, you're usually better off just attacking, and on the only enemies where it would be useful (bosses), they're all immune! You can get around this even if you're just using regular states and no scripting. Make a poisoning skill inflict two poison states: one that does the normal 5-20% max HP damage per turn, and one that does only 1-2%. Make normal enemies immune to the weak one, and bosses immune to the strong one. Little tricks like that can go a long way.

But yeah, anything that makes the player maybe not want to just hit attack every turn is something to consider. Balancing battles is not everyone's forte for sure. Good luck!

 

[markjacks]

I think something that will keep a player thinking at the moment of it. I can't think of anything right now since I think all of them have been suggested already.