Post by Damian on Sept 20, 2015 18:38:04 GMT 10
Raising an undead army is one thing. Effectively commanding them in combat is an entirely different thing.
The player needs to be able to issue quick commands to their minions and still be able participate in combat. Ideally the player should even be able to do it all with a controller.
Easier said than done. If we think about companion control in other games we quickly run into problems or find that they just don't fit with Lord of Decay.
A companion control system like Sacrifice is too much like a Real-time Strategy game and requires a lot of time issuing commands to individual minions and managing groups of minions.
Games like Mass Effect or XCOM: Declassified allow the player to issue a specific skill to a specific companion.
However, this approach does not suit us as it quickly becomes cumbersome with more than 2 minions of different class types.
Perhaps the closest example is the way Overlord manages minions. But this still requires the player to spend a lot of time assigning and unassigning a target for each minion. The player still cannot participate in combat the way would would like.
I have settled on an approach that I believe is simple, elegant and yet still engaging.
Ground Rules
First some basic rules and assumptions
* The Player cannot command a minion to use a specific skill.
* An undead minion's artificial intelligence is responsible for selecting which skills to use against their target.
* Some targets can only be attacked by a specific class of minion e.g. Archer can shoot pullies to lower drawer bridge, Footmen can attack and destroy barricades, all minions can attack peasants, etc.
Combat Modes
At all times minions will behave in accordance with player's currently selected combat mode.
The player can switch freely between these modes.
* Aggressive Mode (F1) - Your minions will attack anything that moves on sight. Except you...and bunnies.
* Defensive Mode (F2) - Your minions will remain by your side and will not attack anything/anybody unless given a specific order to do so. They will not even retaliate if they are attacked either.
Commands
* Attack My Target (Right Click) - Any unoccupied minions (e.g. not currently hacking the arms off a guard or devouring a fresh corpse) will attack the target under the player's crosshair
* Everybody Attack My Target (Double Right Click) - All minions will attack the target under the player's crosshair. They will even disengage from their current target to obey your command.
I've tried various approaches and this seems to be the one I prefer so far.
If you have ideas on how I can enhance this model further or if you have a compelling idea I'd love to hear it.
How do you think you should control your minions?
The player needs to be able to issue quick commands to their minions and still be able participate in combat. Ideally the player should even be able to do it all with a controller.
Easier said than done. If we think about companion control in other games we quickly run into problems or find that they just don't fit with Lord of Decay.
A companion control system like Sacrifice is too much like a Real-time Strategy game and requires a lot of time issuing commands to individual minions and managing groups of minions.
Games like Mass Effect or XCOM: Declassified allow the player to issue a specific skill to a specific companion.
However, this approach does not suit us as it quickly becomes cumbersome with more than 2 minions of different class types.
Perhaps the closest example is the way Overlord manages minions. But this still requires the player to spend a lot of time assigning and unassigning a target for each minion. The player still cannot participate in combat the way would would like.
I have settled on an approach that I believe is simple, elegant and yet still engaging.
Ground Rules
First some basic rules and assumptions
* The Player cannot command a minion to use a specific skill.
* An undead minion's artificial intelligence is responsible for selecting which skills to use against their target.
* Some targets can only be attacked by a specific class of minion e.g. Archer can shoot pullies to lower drawer bridge, Footmen can attack and destroy barricades, all minions can attack peasants, etc.
Combat Modes
At all times minions will behave in accordance with player's currently selected combat mode.
The player can switch freely between these modes.
* Aggressive Mode (F1) - Your minions will attack anything that moves on sight. Except you...and bunnies.
* Defensive Mode (F2) - Your minions will remain by your side and will not attack anything/anybody unless given a specific order to do so. They will not even retaliate if they are attacked either.
Commands
* Attack My Target (Right Click) - Any unoccupied minions (e.g. not currently hacking the arms off a guard or devouring a fresh corpse) will attack the target under the player's crosshair
* Everybody Attack My Target (Double Right Click) - All minions will attack the target under the player's crosshair. They will even disengage from their current target to obey your command.
I've tried various approaches and this seems to be the one I prefer so far.
If you have ideas on how I can enhance this model further or if you have a compelling idea I'd love to hear it.
How do you think you should control your minions?
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