Post by synasethic-feline in Combat Design

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For me personally, the combat of ToA is it's primary draw, moreso than the content, even. I find that most turn-based RPGs are far to simple for my tastes, and so we can agree that the game's combat system has a far higher degree of complexity than most turn-based rpg combat systems.

There are several things I like about it:

Each stance keeps the number of options that you have moment-to-moment relatively limited, while at the same time allowing for a lot of different moves.
What is most effective in combat depends on how your character is built, which blends the JRPG style mechanics and the WRPG style mechanics seamlessly.
All 6 attributes are meaningfully baked into how the game is played, allowing you to have multiple unique playstyles & meaningful choice.
I actually find stance-driven combat to be more intuitive as a martial artist than non-stance-based combat systems.
As a rouge-lite RPG, the game's difficulty actually feels fair to me-- fair the way that X-com's hardest difficulty mode is fair. I don't want or expect the game to be unfair in my favor.
Each level up offers me a linear increase in my character's power-level, which I appreciate a lot. Each level requires the same amount of experience points as each previous level, which I also appreciate.
It feels meaningful to choose between saving up my points for more powerful abilities/upgrades and spending a lesser amount to broaden my horizons.
The turn-based nature of the game allows me to go at my own pace with it, which I appreciate.
Furthermore, the turn-based nature of the combat system means that Hiro's skill-level or ability to overcome challenges is based on how Hiro is built mechanically, rather than my technical skill as the player, which helps me immerse myself in the Role-Play.
I particularly like how the amount of strategic information that you, the player, have to work with depends on Hiro's perception level. (It's an intelligence/wisdom stat that actually makes the character feel intelligent/wise.)

Honestly, I'd really like to see a game like this but without it being NSFW just so I can share it with more people.

Majalis2 years ago(+1)

It may not surprise you to learn that ToA came from re-using a previously designed (on paper) SFW turn-based RPG, and you've basically listed here a lot of the design goals. We may actually still make that SFW game at some point, as well. It had a greater focus on the multiple outcomes of combat (which would include things like combatants stopping the fight at first blood, or surrendering if certain conditions were met like being disarmed), the stance based combat, and actions interacting on an instantaneous basis (stuff like ducking under the harpy's aerial attacks - with basic cuts and crosses being parried, as in real fencing/dueling, or attacks that would dodge an opponent's attack conditionally), and use of items to cover gaps in ability, and in general on the quicker, rogue-lite experience, with a similar split between "story" mode and "adventure" mode, except that the latter wouldn't have nearly the amount of text that ToA does in its adventure mode.

We've also thought about creating a SFW version of ToA, since we could probably hire people who would be able to do that and not take away time from our other projects easily enough. It would involve simplifying a lot of encounters (or at least their scenes), obviously removing the sexual content in the process, and creating skins for the various characters that are work safe (which we may end up largely doing anyway).

lyuk2 years ago(+1)

For what is worth I am against a SFW version of ToA, but I dig the combat system and would definitely be interested in a new SFW IP that uses it! But if I may be so presumptuous as giving you a suggestion, keep working on this project until its completion before starting a new one - it's already awesome and with more efforts it will become the stuff of legends like CotC did!

synasethic-feline2 years ago

Wow, that's exciting!! I'd like to be able to show my friends & acquaintances the game system but with a SFW version of it. My main question though-- how would you incorporate Charisma into the combat system without the use of NSFW elements. Would you be able to parley and stop combat that way?

Majalis2 years ago

Yep! That ties into the multiple combat outcomes - convincing someone to surrender, or to a ceasefire, or to run away. For the original game design, the setting was in the middle of a (losing) war, with the protagonist one of the survivors of a lost, decisive major battle trying to return home, and along the way she'd encounter other deserters, enemy soldiers, etc. so there's a lot of fighting people off not-to-the-death, talking people down even while fending them off. So persuading someone to surrender or to a ceasefire/truce would be one aspect, and then things like intimidation (a fear like status effect that would affect the opponent in various ways like existing status effects), taunting to make someone angry and more aggressive (so you can tire them out or set them up to be predictable for counter attacks), and theatric feints would also be ways Charisma helps with combat objectives.

Most of that would still work just fine in a SFW version of ToA. Charisma probably will tie into ToA as-is in some of those ways as well, similar to how Agility gives certain skills additional properties.

synasethic-feline2 years ago

Cool!!! :O

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