Hello again Commanders, and sorry because we’re one week late. Our localizers have just started translating English texts to your respective languages, so we needed a little more time for this Developer Diary.
Today’s topic will be an introduction to the Combat systems of AXERAS. Before we start on that, it is important to know that AXERAS is designed to be a game where killing is not mandatory; it is just a means to achieve victory. (Just like in real war.)
In many games, the notion of killing is designed to be fun and satisfying, encouraging the player to do it over and over again. However, we really wanted to do something that feels very unique, so at the very core of AXERAS’ gameplay philosophy is the notion that ”all actions are equally bad, some are better than the others in the moment”. So too is the act of killing; it comes with pros and cons.
Fundamentally, eliminating enemies comes in 3 different forms, namely:
Kill
Capture
Paralyze
This is where the notion of “Multiple Health Bars” comes into play. They are:
Component HP Bars
Morale
HP Bars need no explanation. On the other hand, it is worth noting that a unit can be captured once its Morale is low enough.
You can destroy a vehicle easily by destroying its Body, for example.
Infantry teams have to be completely incapacitated (each HP Bar = 0) to count as a kill.
On the other hand, destroying certain components will disable that functionality until it is Repaired/Healed.
An enemy’s performance is buffed when their morale is high, and debuffed when it is low.
By performing attacks or using abilities, you decrease their morale.
By remaining in Contact (close enough to the enemy), you prevent them from regaining Morale.
And when their Morale gets too low, you can Capture them.
Thus, it is crucial that you monitor your units’ HP bars and Morale bars closely to ensure they don’t get eliminated.
On the surface, it may still seem as though killing is the best course of action. However, everything changes when the enemy starts engaging you with different builds, and you may find yourself relying on a change of tactics, such as Morale reduction for Tanks which are actually Tanky; or Destroying the tracks/wheels of highly mobile units that are causing you problems.
And more importantly: Why even kill a unit in the first place when you can capture it and convert it to your side?
More to come in the next Developer Diary!
Xenika