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Original post by wildhalcyon Even though I haven't worked out combat entirely yet, I have worked out a method for dispersing the party prior to battle. Each character has a position setting which tells them whether they should be forward or rear, central or flank. At the start of battle (however that is eventually defined), the game assigns positions automatically. The rear individuals step back a pace or two, the forward individuals advance a pace or two, and battle begins. Thanks for pointing me to that galaxymage game. That's pretty nifty looking. I'll talk to them about potentially becoming a campaign/scenario developer.

Ya! go for it. I like their game alot! Very nice. Also, python is such a fun and simple language. I don't know what you were working in before, but if it was C/C++ , you will love Python for it's ass kicking goodness ;)

What about a pseudo-turn based system like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights?

The combat plays out in real time, but with an underlying turn based system. Commands issued to the the characters take place in the next turn. If you want to issue some complicated commands, hit pause, set everything up, and unpause it. Otherwise, you can just watch the battle play itself out. You could even have a toggle to make the game auto-pause at the start of each turn.

This way, you can have turn based combat without it overly affecting the flow of the game.

Anyway, it looks good so far - keep up the good work!

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Original post by Sandman What about a pseudo-turn based system like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights? The combat plays out in real time, but with an underlying turn based system. Commands issued to the the characters take place in the next turn. If you want to issue some complicated commands, hit pause, set everything up, and unpause it. Otherwise, you can just watch the battle play itself out. You could even have a toggle to make the game auto-pause at the start of each turn. This way, you can have turn based combat without it overly affecting the flow of the game. Anyway, it looks good so far - keep up the good work!

I have toyed with this idea, and while I love BG, I want this to be a more layed back game. Further, that would add an extra layer of complexety to deal with. I am but one man :) I could pobably do it, but It's really beyond my scope. Besides, I have allways envisiond this as a fully turn-based game.

Added a screenshot of my editor, cuz it's cool.

I was about to scoff at your arrogance, but the editor really is cool. Awesome!

Im thinking of making my turn-based RPG battles like X-Com, more tactical. You and the enemy have a certain amount of 'time units' (which can be affected by race, class, exp, etc.) and every battle move you execute takes a certain amount of time. So basically, you chose a move, then after its executed, the battle pauses and you chose your next move based on what the monster did while you were attacking, blocking, etc.

You could have the player decide if they are in combat or not. The monsters might still be able to attack the player's characters even if the player has not "entered" combat. The player can only give combat related commands if they enter combat (you could have this for each individual character or for the entire party).

Combat will be an area that surounds the character that is flaged as "In Combat". If there are no monsters in this area the player will be asked if they wish to remain in the combat state (different actions are available to characters in and out of a combat state).

If yuo have a action delay (that is represented by a timer bar) that determines the delay before that character completes thier action and can begin the next action (this time could be different for each character depending on the action and the character's stats and skills) and the ability to pause the game (or enter a turn based mode) should allow for a game that can play as either a relaxed game or also as an action(ish) game as the player wants (I always perfer to give the player more control over how the game is played where posable).

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Original post by Edtharan You could have the player decide if they are in combat or not. The monsters might still be able to attack the player's characters even if the player has not "entered" combat. The player can only give combat related commands if they enter combat (you could have this for each individual character or for the entire party). Combat will be an area that surounds the character that is flaged as "In Combat". If there are no monsters in this area the player will be asked if they wish to remain in the combat state (different actions are available to characters in and out of a combat state). If yuo have a action delay (that is represented by a timer bar) that determines the delay before that character completes thier action and can begin the next action (this time could be different for each character depending on the action and the character's stats and skills) and the ability to pause the game (or enter a turn based mode) should allow for a game that can play as either a relaxed game or also as an action(ish) game as the player wants (I always perfer to give the player more control over how the game is played where posable).

I think I'm getting close to your idea.

Ok, this is what I have come up with.

When no monsters are hostile, everything moves real time. If you enter an area with hostile monsters turn-based mode begins. You have an ATB style guage. If you wait to long, monsters will take their turn (I may make this feature optional for those who want 100% 'pure' turn based). From that point on it's almost like a regular ol'roguelike combat mode. Until a) you kill everything, b) no other hostile monsters are actively persuing you, b) you get far out of range.

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If you wait to long, monsters will take their turn (I may make this feature optional for those who want 100% 'pure' turn based).

I think the best way to have it optional is to automaticly go into a turn based system if the player presses pause. While in pause they can give orders and commands to their characters. They are also able to click a "Next Turn" button which will advance the game by a set amount of "Time" or until the next action can be performed (according to the ATB). If the player unpauses the game it goes back into the real time mode and the player has to give their orders in real time (useing the ATB too).

This gives the best of both worlds and allows the player to choose which style to use and when. So attacking a few small "Mobs" that they easily over power they might leave it in realtime mode so as to get through them quickly, but if the Monsters are tougher (like a boss) then they can become more tactical about it and enter the turn based made, which gives them more time to think (and still allows them to pause the game if they ever need to).

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Original post by Edtharan Quote: If you wait to long, monsters will take their turn (I may make this feature optional for those who want 100% 'pure' turn based). I think the best way to have it optional is to automaticly go into a turn based system if the player presses pause. While in pause they can give orders and commands to their characters. They are also able to click a "Next Turn" button which will advance the game by a set amount of "Time" or until the next action can be performed (according to the ATB). If the player unpauses the game it goes back into the real time mode and the player has to give their orders in real time (useing the ATB too). This gives the best of both worlds and allows the player to choose which style to use and when. So attacking a few small "Mobs" that they easily over power they might leave it in realtime mode so as to get through them quickly, but if the Monsters are tougher (like a boss) then they can become more tactical about it and enter the turn based made, which gives them more time to think (and still allows them to pause the game if they ever need to).

Hmmm... here is another idea I had, similar to what you are talking about. How about make it sort of like a football game :)

I mean, the game pauses based on the ATB. When it's your turn, you issue commands to your side. Essentially you define a play like in football. You hit the go button, that advances the game by a certain amount of time allowing you to see how your "play" works. Then the game pauses again, repeat.