⚔️ Hail, adventurers! ⚔️
Today we're back with a combat devlog and design deep dive!😎👇
But before we get to that, just a reminder that the current game sale ends in ~3 days, so if you've been waiting to grab your copy of ToLLA now's a good time. 👇👇👇
Now on to the devlog...
~ TOLLA'S COMBAT & FORMATIONS OUTLINE ~
We're planning to roll out combat as part of the first major expansion for the game once it's done...
As mentioned in earlier devlogs, combat in ToLLA will take place as party-vs-party battles in turn-based exchanges on a fixed battleground, where your crew faces off against waves of enemies. Down below is a mockup showcasing what combat is planned to look like. Note that we're still in the prototyping phase, so everything written below is subject to change as we implement and test the systems and assets in the coming months:
To add some variety and tactical fun, we're planning to split both the Player's and enemies' parties into foreground & background formations, with spells & abilities targeting being restricted to one, the other, or both in special cases. So for example, your frontline melee fighter can target and attack the enemy's frontline melee fighter, but neither can reach the other side's backline until the front row has been slain. Archers, due to having ranged weaponry, can... but they can also miss, and their attacks are mitigated by armor (unless they're magical or elemental, like in rare case). And spellcasters can hit anyone, anywhere, any time, but this is balanced by spell cooldowns.
Generally speaking, martial classes and their thematic derivatives (Fighter, Rogue, Archer, Knight, Ranger, etc.) get multiple fast-acting and fast-cooling abilities they can rotate. Spellcasters, due to having greater range, the ability to bypass armor, and AoE damage, get more expensive and slower ones, but they hit hard and their spells carry debilitating debuffs that persist for 2-5 rounds and in some cases stack (ex: Burn).
Spellcasters also get plenty of defensive spells to cast, on top of being able to wear damage-mitigating equipment. Mages shouldn't be weaklings, because it takes crazy willpower and physical resilience to channel magic. Or at least it should. Muscle wizards and buff monks are cool!
Here's some pre-production concept art from a while back...
We're still debating whether to go with one action per character, per turn... or with a more traditional Action Points design where unspent APs carry over to the next turn. We'll do further testing to fine-tune the system before deploying it as part of the expansion pack...
~ PARTYMEMBER ATTRIBUTES ~
Each partymember gets the following stats (used in combat encounters and group/storybook/dialogue events):
Health: how much vitality the character has before going down in combat... dead heroes can be resurrected in the field by special spells/scrolls/items, or back in town)
Stamina: how much endurance the character has to use their abilities/spells... both martial & magical classes use Stamina, there's no mana (can be replenished via potions/spells)
Offense: how much martial damage the character deals to foes... used in martial damage calculations vs. enemy's defense
Defense: how much martial damage the character soaks from foes... used in martial damage calculations vs. enemy's offense
Spellpower/Potency: how much magical & elemental damage the character deals to foes... used in magical & elemental damage calculations
Resilience: how much magical & elemental damage the character soaks from foes... used in magical & elemental damage calculations
Accuracy: hit chance for the character's martial and weapon/item-derived magical attacks on enemies... used in both physical and specific magical calculations!
Evasion: dodge chance for the character against enemy martial and specific (item-based) magical attacks... used in both physical and specific magical calculations!
Speed: how quickly the character can move around and react... used to determine combat order sequence, and in various storybook event popups (especially vs. traps!)
Libido: how reserved or lustful a character is - their sexual desire... increases the amount of Seduction "damage" that foes deal to the hero (too much too fast = stun for N rounds)
Focus Bar: max of 100, used to power finishers from partymembers' ability trees (ex: "Execute: Instantly slays an enemy that's at or under 15% HP! Costs 50 Focus.")
We're still testing stuff and rotating design specs so none of this is final, but once we're happy and lock the design we'll move ahead with full scripting & implementation!
~ DAMAGE CALCULATIONS (EVASION, MITIGATION, RESISTANCE) ~
Damage in combat is handled through multiple levels of damage thresholding...
Firstly, an attack has to bypass the target's evasion/dodge, and hit (martial attacks can miss; spell-based magical attacks always hit).
Secondly, if it connects, it gets soaked by armor on its initial pass (martial attacks are reduced by Defense, and magical attacks by Resilience).
Thirdly, any remaining damage gets mitigated by resistances (so if 10 fire damage went through, and your char has 50% fire resi, then you'd take 5 fire damage).
So something like a kobold will have low HP, low armor, no resilience, and no defense against CCs... meaning you can kill them in droves.
And something like an adult dragon has a ton of HP, high armors, multiple high resistances, and immunities against overpowered CC like Stun.
~ SIZE AND ITS DERIVED EFFECTS ~
Not all creatures are the same in size, so it doesn't make sense to stat them as such!
In practice this means that larg(er) creatures should get more HP and armor, but reduced evasion. Something like an ogre is much tougher and hardier and easier to hit than a goblin, but the latter can sneak and slip around you while the former is a lumbering oaf you'll see and hear coming from a mile away. Obviously there's exceptions (like legendary heroes who have demigod-like stats regardless of race), but the rule holds true for the most part, and exceptions only reinforce it.
ToLLA will use statting where the larger an enemy is, the more physically robust and heavily armed and armored it is, but also easier to hit and less evasive to return fire... Dodge/Evasion are handled for units in the form of permanently applied states, which are added to both hostile and friendly characters!
There's six unit sizes, corresponding to bulk: Tiny / Small / Medium / Large / Colossal / Vehicle
The dodge/evasion rates: Tiny (+30%) // Small (+15%) // Medium (+0%; no change!) // Large (-15%) // Colossal (-30%) // Vehicle (-45%)
Some racial exception to the above values are unnaturally-quick characters like shifters, or special automatons, who, despite being in a certain size category, get completely unique and non-conforming values! And some class exceptions to the above values are specially trained characters like assassins, thieves, rogues, etc., who, despite being in a certain size category, can still be quick and lithe.
Larger partymembers, due to generally being more powerful than smaller ones, gain XP at a slower rate. This is done through attaching a permanent malus to their XP gain. And smaller partymembers are the opposite: they gain XP faster to offset their weaker attribute block and frail(er) constitutions.
Here are the XP modifiers for each companion size: Tiny (+20%) // Small (+10%) // Medium (+0%; no change!) // Large (-10%) // Colossal (-20%) // Vehicle (-30%)
The Player will get access to all 6 unit sizes in the form of racially diverse companions!
Here's a partial racial list, with some examples:
Tiny: Halflings / Ratlings / Gnomes / Goblins / Gremlins / Phlem / Pets / Vermin Swarms
Small: Elves / Dwarves / Nymphs / Troglodytes / Goos / Small Undead / Steam-Drones
Medium: (Demi)Humans / Mycelid / Fungii / Medium Undead / Humanoid-Outsiders
Large: Dragonkin / Gargoyles / Centaurs / Orcs / Gnolls / Demons / Eisvolk / Furaba
Colossal: Giants / Shifters / Ogres / Hroog / Banes / Dragons
Vehicle: Automatons / Golems / Elementals / Steam-Mechs
~ DAMAGE TYPES & NEGATIVE STATES ~
Damage types are as follows (every weapon maneuver and magical spell/ability deals thematically-appropriate damage):
Physical (Slashing, Crushing, Piercing, Missile, Explosive, Force/Telekinetic) - can come from *any* source, but is dealt mainly by weapon maneuvers and physical (martial) abilities
Elemental (Acid, Wind, Earth, Fire, Water, Frost, Lektrik, Viridian, Plasma, Poison) - can come from *any* source, but is dealt mainly by magical spells and tekk items
Magical 'Good' (Arcane, Psychic, Chrono, Sonic, Nature, Holy, Solar, Lunar, Astral) -can come from *any* source, but is dealt mainly by implements and magical spells
Magical 'Evil' (Void, Shadow, Death, Blood, Toxic, Infernal, Entropic, Nether, Warp) - can come from *any* source, but is dealt mainly by implements and magical spells
Kenomic (aka Chaos) (pure damage, no resistance exists for it, always does 100%) - used sparingly even by demons, as it directly damages the wielder's HP with every use!
List of negative states attached to various spells & abilities:
Stunned, Muted, Disarmed, Blinded, Slowed, Charmed, Confused, Enfeebled, Rooted, Panicking, Dominated, Dizzy, Aroused, Devoured, Webbed, Marked, Poisoned, Petrified, Slept, Fatigued, Phased, Drained, Taunted, Doomed, Impaled, Parasitized, Cursed, Crippled, Diseased, Possessed, Dead/KO'd, Drowning, Constricted, Ensnared, Burning, Corrupted, Polymorphed, Held, Resistance(s) Weakened, Physically/Magically/Elementally Sundered
This list will probably be pruned later on... it sounds nice on paper, but there's just too much stuff to balance properly, so we'll do some cutting once the time comes.
~ WEAPONS & WEAPON FAMILIES & WEAPON MANEUVERS ~
Equippable weaponry bestows 3-5 unique weapon maneuvers when in the active slot. Once a character unequips a weapon, its wep-maneuvers are removed from the ability list. Each partymember gets proficiencies in multiple weapon types, but most are bound to a single weapon family (Melee 1h, Melee 2h, Melee 2x, Ranged, Magical). This is mostly due to art limitations, because each character + weapon combo requires a unique sprite for it. But there's enough variation within each weapon family to offset that and keep things fun.
The protagonist (Captain Hale) for example wields 2H melee weapons. Meredith's setup is 1h + Shields. So it varies between partymembers, but they'll all get plenty of options.
Here's the weapon families & types:
Melee 1H: Seax, Rondel, Dirk, Rapier, Gladius, Xiphos, Shortsword, Longsword, Bastard Sword, Handaxe, Tabar, Mace, Shestopyor/Pernach, Military Pick, Hammer, Truncheon/Blackjack/Sap, Flail, Cudgel/Shillelagh, Spiked Club, Ninjato, Wakizashi, Kodachi, Odachi, Seodachi, Katana, Daikatana, Kusarigama, Sabre, Cutlass, Scimitar, Shamsir, Falchion, Khopesh, Rhomphaia, Falcata, Urumi, Yatagan, Billhook, Demi-Ranseur
Melee 2H: Greatsword/Claymore, Sledgehammer, Battleaxe, Warclub, Quarterstaff, Morningstar, Halberd, Trident, Estoc, Flamberge, Zweihander, Spear, Lance, Partisan, Nodachi, Naginata, Kanabo, Macuahuitl, Spiked Chain, Twin-Blade Sword
Melee 2x: Jambiyas, Daggers, Stilettos, Tantos, Kamas, Sickles, Kukri, Sai, Knuckledusters, Punchblades/Katars, Wristwraps (for monks!), Cestūs (2x Roman Cestus), Warglaives
Ranged 1H: Sling, Bola, Boomerang, Nightstar, Chakram, Throwing Knives, Throwing Spears, Throwing Swords, Throwing Axes, Throwing Hammers, Weighted Nets, Darts, Pots/Nades/Traps/Mines
Ranged 2H: Shortbow, Longbow, Warbow, Direbow (phat!), Crossbow (1 normal wing), Arbalest (1 cinderblock 'wing/stockade' with 4 bolts), Ballista (X-wings), Glaiver (2 horizontal wings sandwiching a glaive), Harpoon-Launcher/Whaler (underslung heavy-weapon firing massive bolts), Cask-Launcher (fires AoE splinter-bombs)
Implements (Spellcasters): Witchblade (nether), Forceglaive (telekinetic), Magestave (arcane), Psylencer (1H anti-caster psygun), Storm-Scepter (fire/ice/wind/lightning/etc. nuke-stick), Rod, Wand, Orb, Sigil (glowing/burning hand!), Warpglove (clawed warping powerfist), Shrieker (sonic-damage Mimir-esque magical turret), Minute Meteors (elemental)
Shields: Buckler, Small, Medium, Large, Tower, Pavise, etc. -- these give various shield-y abilities like Bash, Knockback, Shield Stun, etc.
Grimoires: Wizard, Druid, Cleric, Shaman, Paladin, etc. -- these give various offensive spells like Fireball, Acid Fog, Holy Light, etc.
Martial Manuals: Fighter, Ranger, Thief, Knight, etc. -- these give various martial-themed abilities like "Charge!" usually themed to acrobatics
Thrown (Clay Pots; Thrown Ammo!): Splintering (physical AoE), Arcane (magical AoE), Elemental (burst elemental AoE), Anti-Magic (AoE silence), Winnowing (AoE -Stamina), Smoke (AoE miss), Paralytic (AoE stun), Plague (AoE debuffs), Toxin (AoE DoT), Rust (-armor AoE), Oil (AoE -AP/Slow), Fungal (AoE Sleep), Tangle (AoE -AP/root/ensnare)
Then on top of weapon maneuvers, the partymembers also get specific class-unique spells & abilities. Stuff like "Hunter's Mark" for a ranger, "Magic Missile" for a mage, etc. We'll prune the weapons list further once art assets go into production depending on how long each will take, then we can calculate with timeframes. We're mostly limited by the art bottleneck since everything's painted by hand and it takes time to produce all the graphics and assets... especially the icons, given how many there are.
Once finished though, the combat system we've designed should be a great addition to the game!
That's it for now! Thank you for reading... If you enjoy these behind-the-scenes devlogs then don't forget to follow us directly here on Steam to keep up with our work and future announcements:
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/CrimsonDelightGames
And consider picking up the Collector's Edition if you'd like to support our work:
Much love,
~ the CDG team ❤️