It has to be said that Combat is one of the things that computer games do best, (apart from providing fairly limited simulations of artifical worlds). That said there is still a long way to go in making combat more fun. What sort of things could be done to make combat more fun and insteresting? What in fact are the imprtant principles in combat? Areas in which combat could be improved. Greater stratey/ interactivity. = There should be more lethal / non-lethal things that one can do in combat/conflict. Games should provide a larger variety of simple to execute tactical abilities, instead of hitting some character with my sword, I should be able to throw the pots and pans at him (from the kitchen table), .Magic is a good way of introducing more strategic options in conflict and balancing the amount of "ammo" available, of course this isn''t suitable for all types of game / settings. More interesting AI, this is where a lot of work can be done. Not in terms of providing difficult enemies, but in terms of providing fun enemies with personalities, and executing combat with FLAIR. ..

Regardless of genre, there are a few areas that I think could really stand improvement (I''m doing isometric combat with guns and stuff, but it could apply to medieval as well)

Cover
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Part of the excitement in combat is trying not to get hit!!! This is often done poorly. Can I crouch behind a half-height wall? Can I actually fire my weapons while still remaining behind cover? Can I shoot out of or into a window? Implementing good line of sight seems key to making this work.

Heigh Advantage
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Increasing accuracy / chance to hit if you''re above an enemy is another cool idea. This way, paying attention to terrain becomes an advantage, and gives you a reason to get up on a roof or otherwise take the high ground.

Stealth
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In isometric view, this is tricky but I think still worthwhile. I want to be able to place snipers, or sneak into an enemy base and cause trouble. There seem to be 2 ways to do this: The traditional sight circle you find in most RTS games, or some sort of sweeping line of sight like in Commandos. Not sure which one is better.

Facing
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It''s pretty hard to club someone over the head from behind or stab them in the back if they have omniscient sight. That''s why I think some idea of facing and an advantage for backstabbing would be cool. This would give you even more reason to put your back to the wall!!!!

Destructable Environment
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X-COM freaked me the heck out the first time I went alien hunting and one of those jokers blasted out an entire *section* of wall. You should have seen me jump!!!! It was hilarious, and I think this feature should be more widespread.

There are lots of other fun areas that can be improved as well: better targeted damage model, being able to move level objects like tables for cover, etc. Just watch a few good action flicks and you''ll get a ton of ideas!!!


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Just waiting for the mothership...