Dev Log #03 Combat Pt 2
In many action games, enemies have an invisible variable that slowly builds up whenever they take damage. Once such a variable meets a certain threshold, enemies get interrupted. People call it stagger. In Dark Souls, it's akin to poise. In fighting games, this is something like the super armor. In my game, Grid Lost, this variable is the shield.
Shield
Shield works similarly to shield in Slay the Spire; it prevents incoming damage to HP. Additionally, in my game, the shield protects Daemons (both players' and enemies') from interruption. However, shields do not negate status effects. One thing that works differently from Slay the Spire is status effects such as overheat and parasites (think of them as burn and poison) do not damage shields; these effects do true damage, which ignores shields and directly damages HP.
So why create an additional damage type called true damage?
Uh... my preference? Ok, it's a little bit more complicated, but mostly my preference. There is a simple trick to empower players: LARGE NUMBERS!! Many cards can do hundreds of damage with the right amount of damage buff. However, this creates a problem since large numbers are harder to compute.
If you're good at math, this is a non-issue. But even if you're good at math, doing that kind of calculation will become annoying and bothersome after an hour. I keep the shield value as small as possible and create a separate stat called shield damage, which is smaller than the regular damage. I could slap the shield damage variable onto every effect, but I want more varieties, hence, the introduction of true damage.
Status effects and passive effects
In the game, there are two types of effects on a card: status effects and passive effects. Status effects work just like any other RPGs; they do DOT or increase/decrease characters' stats. Passive effects passively boost a card's potency or cause combo damage under certain conditions.
For example, burst causes an explosion that damages adjacent Daemons if the attacked target has overload status effect. Burst does 2 shield damage to the explosion origin and its adjacent Daemons; this allows fast cards that do low shield damage into an absolute monstrous shield wrecker.
Some status effects do true damage, while others don't. Passive effects usually do non-true damage (for now, I've not added a true-damage passive effect. Maybe I will, maybe I won't). True damage sounds too good to be true, right? It does direct damage without concerning shields.
BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, there is a drawback: true damage cannot interrupt.
The intention of true damage is just a way to pressure your enemies when you cannot break their shield. Enemies are going to get stronger after each level, and players need tools to chip away at enemies' health. But remember, your foes can do the same things to you.
Now let's get back to the shield. How do players and enemies regenerate shields? Through cards?
NO. Yet another design that is different from traditional deck-builders. Grid Lost doesn't have a separate independent turn for players and enemies. If I had to play a card just to generate my shields, I would be wasting my turns desperately repairing my shields while letting enemies rain down hellfire upon me. HECK NO. On top of that, if I didn't have a card that gives shields, I would be at a severe disadvantage, especially in early games.
Image from https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2898759031
The solution to the problem is inspired by Chained Echoes. In Chained Echoes, there is an overdrive bar that increases/decreases depending on the action you take. While yellow, you get no beneficial effects. While green, you do more damage, take less damage, and your skill costs less resource. While red, you take more damage.
In Grid Lost, this mechanic is called RAM level. Every card that you use has a RAM value. At RAM level 1 (green), you gain 5 shields every turn and you take 50% less damage. At RAM level 2 (yellow), you gain 2 shields every turn. At RAM level 3(red), you gain no shield and take 30% more damage, but you do 100% more damage. Make sure you time your actions correctly. Taking advantage of the benefits of each RAM level is the key to success.
Be careful! The worst case scenario is taking damage when both you and your enemy is at level 3, it's pretty easy to hit over 400 damage in this scenario. Most Daemons only have about 1000 health, THAT'S 40% OF HEALTH GOING BYEBYE YO!