What do people think of this system, its a little unorthadox, but I think it might make an interesting approach. first of combat would be closer to dueling then hacking at each other. The idea is that basically players have no control in combat, the action takes place at too fast a pace for the player to respond so instead the character has full control over combat. The interesting part comes during traing, when you train your character the player has full control. You teach them what to do and how. The character reacts in combat based entirely on their training. So the better the traing the better the character, if you focus entirly on attacking then your character will likely be a beserker attacking with out regard for their own protection. ----------------------------------------------------- Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades Current Design project Chaos Factor Design Document

I like it. I think it could work well. Although it turns combat into more of a strategy game than action (not that that''s bad).

I think in Virtual Fighter 4 they had some similar system where you could train an AI character, and then let them fight other AIs (and of course, you had no control over them during the fight). I don''t remember how the training worked though.

i''m inclined to agree with andy, it could work well.. although i''ve got a feeling the combat portion of the game would get rather dull.. since you''ve spent so much time training for different scenarios, there arent'' going to be too many suprises to the battle. and that''s nothing new i might add.. the battle system for every rpg seems to be it''s eventual downfall, no matter how unique it is (we''ve got to face the fact that there are sooo many battles in an rpg, it''s impossible to keep them ''new'' and exciting to everybody). good idea though, i''d be interested to see how it pans out

-eldee
;another space monkey;
[ Forced Evolution Studios ]

Do NOT let Dr. Mario touch your genitals. He is not a real doctor!

It sounds like a GREAT idea. While it could be boring, I''d say its a billion times better than single clicking 500 times to kill an enemy having basically the same level of control that you are giving. I''d rather watch it play out in a few seconds than tire my mouse finger over a few minutes. I see no reason to require the player to initiate same boring action over and over as basically all cRPGs do. BUT, if you do that and you focus the RPG on combat, it will get boring quickly (as most all cRPGs do now).

Anyone remember Wonder Project J for the Super Famicom? Your little guy had to get through a few fights, but your control over him was all preperatory. You taught him how to use a weapon, and then made him practice, and cut him loose against the bad guys. Some of the fights were super-long and boring, but there were only a half-dozen or so in the game anyway, so they were all worthwhile.

If the system you describe works out, then I''d recommend using battles sparingly. Let the levels be raised in training, by the player, where it''s more fun and hands-on, then let the fights be more or less cinematic sequences. You could travel around to teachers and learn new moves or styles, and build up strength and speed with training exercises.

Ever play Kengo for the PS2? You build up your stats with bamboo tameshigiri, and bath under a freezing waterfall to gain spiritual resolve, and do a number of other focusing, strengthening, and refining exercises to get tough, and then you go and fight. No amount of training would make you a more effective fighter, since actual fights against human opponents were required to increase your fighting ability, but training could speed the process considerably. You learn new moves from different schools and their masters, and the player strings them into combos that are more or less effective. It''s a very neat system.

I''d rather see a character get better by training and practicing either on his own or with a partner than to see him get mysteriously more dangerous by killing thousands of weak enemies. In a system like you''re describing, an interactive training system would be more engrossing than just walking in circles until a monster attacks you, and then getting a sandwich while your guy fights it.

Ogre battle has a hands-off battle system, where the player acts almost like a coach, offering directives like "Target the leader of the enemy unit" or "Focus on weaker adversaries". Not only did it allow the fight to progress fluidly, with counterattacks and blocks and target selection handled by the AI, but characters would develop morale and teamwork levels that would let some soldiers attack in tandem, or allow mages to cast combo spells.

I don''t know if you want a party system, but an AI warrior could use terrain, gear, and moves that no player would be able to employ. I remember getting angry at Timesplitters 2 when the bad guys could all jump and dodge and slide, but I was stuck with a controls of a bulldozer. In your system, your hero could learn all kinds of zany acrobatic moves, and dodge or block instinctively.

This is a terrific idea that''s come in pieces before, but never been fully realized in a single game. Go for it. If this works out, you''ll be a hero to gamers everywhere.

I defeintly like the martial arts aspect, it could be fun to make it at martial arts style game. With fast and furious action as the character unleashed moves that no person could ever do. Also the idea of seeking out masters to learn new techniques, or join dojo''s to learn new martial art styles. It could all be very interesting indeed.

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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document

Sounds wicked

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"yuo have it all wrong. admiralbiunary is me not the other way reorubnd poppet. just becuase hea was here first doesnt meean hes any mopre valid than me yuo rassit pigf." YodaTheCoda

you could have the AI''s react differntly based on the physics of the attacks the player does. then you can use training to teach the player how to maintain center of balance, and basically teach them a martial art(s). the player can devise differnt kinds of attacks or defenses to a given attack or defense, then your AI can determine which to use. It would be like an AI NN using the player''s actions as an input layer, with the player using you as its input layer then weighting its net based on the training you give it, then applying it to the AI''s outputs as if they were your inputs during a training session.

hmm, thats interesting idea that makes alot of sense, although I''m not sure I want to have training consist of teaching the character to use attack X against defense Y. I''ll have to think on it some more.

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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document