v0.10.2 Combat System Improvements
The follow-up to last month's development blog, here we will go into more detail about the actual improvements to the combat system this build:
Armour & Old Systems
Feedback regarding the previous combat system using the Core / Base attacks was that it overall didn't feel like it added much depth to the combat, and somewhat overcomplicated the system.
For our improved combat, we have combined the Core / Base system, with the Base now being Enemy Armour. Player attacks will first damage an enemy's armour (with a small amount of the damage hitting their HP) until the enemy's armour breaks.
Once the armour is broken, full damage will land on the enemy's HP. Enemy armour will regenerate after a certain amount of turns. The Armour Broken status will have other effects which we will explore with future updated mechanics.
The player wagon now also has Armour, which works very similarly to enemy armour, with the main difference being it won't regenerate after a set number of turns, instead only doing so after each battle. This is also to ease up the game's difficulty as frequent repairs in older game builds caused everything else to be more challenging.
The Finesse and Gambit system switching has also been removed, with their respective combat mechanics divided into Normal Attack and Throwing Goods.
Throwing Goods
The combat system, the fighting itself, has always felt to be the most separated from the merchant gameplay experience, and also the most under-developed as a result. We have added a new mechanic to tie combat closer to trading goods and the merchant experience in general.
Players can now throw their trading goods at the enemy, goods which they currently have in their wagon. Each trading good will provide an additional damage bonus on top of basic attack damage, as well as extra effects such as:
- Tools - Causes bleeding for the enemy (take damage each turn)
- Materials - Slightly regenerate wagon armour
- Produce & Food - Remove a beast's armour (the beast is too distracted by the food)
These are just a few examples of the extra effects throwing trading goods will give in combat. Trading goods will now not only affect trading but play an important role in combat as well. Negotiation in combat remains the same, and trading goods are also important there to avoid fighting altogether.
Throwing goods will use the QTE system from the finesse combat style.
Thrown goods can be retrieved mid-combat to be used again, but this action will take up a turn. Goods will automatically be retrieved if you win a battle. However, if you run from combat, goods that are not retrieved will be lost forever.
This system plays well into the comedic side of our game, and at the same time, adds a much-needed amount of gameplay depth to the system.
Further improvements to come
- Throwing goods effects - balance each effect to not be over/underpowered
- Item Quality - We will be adding and testing a "Quality" stat added to all goods, and throwing goods in combat will slowly degrade their quality, affecting their value.
- Status Details - Popup details for each enemy's status
- Guards - Update and balance hired guard abilities to work with the improved combat system
- Bug fixes
Content development is still happening in the background alongside these mechanic improvements, so don't worry as overall game development progress is still moving along.
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Cynthia
(Founder/Developer at Thousand Tonic)