100% definitely. either ff style or maybe where its 3rd person over teh shoulder style. i think you should be able to see them and with our gameplay style i think it'll be needed to show whats going on - visually and mechanically it'll be better. i was actually gonna bring this up when we got into more detailed combat stuff :) glad we're on the same page there too. On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > BTW what do you think about us changing our battle view from the dragon > quest 5 view to the final fantasy view? > > I kinda miss being able to see the characters, and see the weapons / > attacks and skills the players use. > > I think it makes the combat more epic and fun. Like think of fighting > vargas or ultros where you see his tentacles slap your players, can you > remember a fight like that at all in DQ5? i cant...most of the fights are > unmemoriable, except for the ones where like 10 slimes form into the slime > king hehe > > > > On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> I think switching out your characters could work, that kinda sounds cool >> and i can picture it in my head. >> >> When you would switch, would you be able to switch any turn of combat, >> only the first, or what? Also is there a penalty to switching or is it for >> free? I'm just curious cause if one guy was dying you could swap him out >> with another and have a fresh guy, is that ok? >> >> If so we could do soemthing like marvel vs capcom i think it was, where >> the team mates that are in the back row and not fighting slowly heal their >> wounds (in this case they heal a small amount as round time progresses) what >> you think? If that is too overpowered, it could be something like they can >> only heal maximum up to the life they had before they got struck in the >> current battle. >> >> Being held by one character and attacked by another makes sense. Maybe >> its a skill, and what happens is when you use that skill, the character that >> used it has to keep using it each turn to hold onto the monster and that >> monster basically struggles each turn where it has some chance to escape but >> that uses up it's turn. Just like real life if you oare outnumbered, >> grabbing hold of someone or wrestling around with them wouldnt be a good >> idea cause his buddies would kick your butt, but if there is like 1 monster >> left it could be a cool skill. Like havin a guy like sabin be able to grab >> the last enemy and hold him while your other guys hit him would be a pretty >> useful skill (: >> >> About the player never dying, on one hand i could see that working but on >> the other, couldnt you just scrape through anyhwere by walking through a >> dungeon and getting knocked out at each fight? How do you balance that out? >> >> Some cool ideas! >> >> >> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 6:36 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >>> ok here is how i am thinking parties will work in combat... >>> >>> there will be 3 active party members in any fight and 4 on the sidelines >>> that can be "tagged in" (swapped) as a combat option for any of the active >>> players INCLUDING the hero. this will allow you to sub out injured >>> characters for fresh healthy ones, or if you want two people that can do a >>> special attack, you can have them sub in to pull of a coup de grace, or >>> maybe there is a MATCHUP you want to exploit. >>> >>> Matchups? Huh? >>> >>> Matchups are basically already existing in games but without anything to >>> quantify them. basically, if you're in battle against a big slow ogre or >>> something, you can adjust your party to better match up w/ the enemy >>> (enemies) you're fighting. Maybe you want a big dude that can go >>> mano-y-mano with the ogre, or a small quick dude who can exploit the ogre's >>> plodding attack and slow defense. Maybe you're up against a flying creature >>> and arrows will be the best way to bring them down when standard attacks >>> seem ineffectual. Picking the best match up for what you're going against >>> can mean the difference of life and death. >>> >>> Injuries/status - we don't just want fights to be wars of attrition where >>> you attack attack attack and try to slowly drain your foes life (and vice >>> versa) - in real life, this would be the equivelent of standing in front of >>> someone and punching them back and forth until someone died. Silly! i >>> think most (if not all) of us are experienced martial artists and we know >>> fights don't work like that, there are holds, throws, etc that can put your >>> opponent in compromising situations that give you the advantage. Add >>> weapons to this and we have a fun system that is more dynamic than the >>> typical rpg combat system. Examples of this would be sweeps/tackles/throws >>> that leave the enemy prone and thus unable to defend themselves as well, or >>> entangled via nets, maybe even HELD by one character while the others beat >>> it up (could we do this)? or maybe getting maimed or hamstrung knocks you >>> over, getting stunned (like street fighter when you do a certain combination >>> the enemy can't move and has birds flying above their head) is another >>> example. >>> >>> This style of combat would add a lot of depth and strategy and make >>> combat feel more "alive" and dangerous and fun. Also it adds a lot of >>> potential skills and techniques to our future list >>> >>> Injuries - with our injury and death system, swapping to keep your team >>> healthy is important. This is kind of a big thing but I am sort of leaning >>> towards thinking maybe MAYBE the hero can't die. everyone else can, but if >>> the hero is "knocked out" in battle, he's back after the fight. he can then >>> go forward to try to find the next respawn node or maybe theres a "Recall" >>> option where you can revert to the start of the dungeon with all your party >>> members intact. i think this will eliminate a lot of frustration as well as >>> prevent people from keeping the hero on the sidelines worried he will die. >>> >>> just as a quick guess... i am thinking you get 7 active party members (3 >>> active, 4 tagteamable) and then an additional 7 back at your "home base" >>> that you can swap out ff style whenever you're there for a total of 14 in >>> your party. We will (ideally) have 40-50 recruitable characters so this >>> forces you to make some decisions on who you want to pick but also gives you >>> a large stable of characters so you don't feel like "shit, i have to give up >>> one of my favs". >>> >>> >>> Just some thoughts... let me know what you think! >>> >>> >>> >> >