Realtime or turnbased tactical combat?

[Hiruu]

Aaron and crew have progressively deliver a finer product with each game, and until they let me down, I'll trust the guy's judgement in making games. This is Malfador's golden opportunity to break into the big time, and rightfully snatch the 4X crown from MOO (some might say they already have, but not to the masses!), so i doubt that they are going to mess it up. I was skeptical about the realtime aspects of combat, but I really liked the look of those screenshots, since it looks just like the ones from SEIV, except for the 3-d aspect view. I hope the beta process is completed by summer and we get a demo, or at least a larger demo pool...hint hint!!! There wasn't much that needed to be change on SEIV basic structure to keep me happy, so the screenshots alone were enough for me. Overall, until I see more screenshots and a demo, I'll give Malfador the benefit of the doubt.

Also, Please don't mention the Space Empire in the same breathe with MOOIII, as that game was complete garbage!

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Hiruu said:
Also, Please don't mention the Space Empire in the same breathe with MOOIII, as that game was complete garbage!

Space Empires is so much better than MOOIII.

There. In one breath.

[Kana]

Strategia_In_Ultima said:
Space Empires is so much better than MOOIII.

There. In one breath.

Heck...Space Empires 3 is so much better than MOO3...

Kana

[Ed Kolis]

Anime transformer ships? Hmm, how about anime battleships that transform into giant floating monkey heads with disembodied fists that punch at you and you have to hit them when the fists open up... and then once you destroy both hands the monkey inside says "Uncle Andross!" and blows up, and then the big surprise - that wasn't the end of the level, you still have to fight this giant bug thingy which shoots deadly radar beams out of its wings and sucks up rocks from the ground and flings them at you...

Darn it, I've been playing too much Starfox: Assault lately

Ever realize how Nintendo games seem to borrow from one another, though? Like there was Andross with the hand thing, and then in Mario 64 there are these giant stone hands which you have to punch (yes, the only Mario game where you can punch!) them when they open up, and then back to Oikonny in Starfox: Assault... and Metroid Prime's grapple beam was controlled in the exact same way you use Link's grappling hook in The Wind Waker... not to mention all the bosses where you have to reflect their attacks back at them (Aghanim from A Link to the Past, Ganon's first appearance in The Wind Waker, and every Kirby boss known to man)... yet for some reason you have to kill BOwser a different way every time?

Oh yeah, SE5... can we have weapons with multiple fire modes, like Megaman's M-Buster? One mode where it's really weak but fires like a machine gun and another mode where it's really powerful but you have to wait for it to charge? Just have a variable "time since last shot" and factor that into the damage calculation...

[Sabin]

The weapon-charging idea might have merit...for example, charging a weapon takes extra supplies, and if overcharged beyond the component's ability to store it, it can cause damage? The same can go for shields and the like...

[HP Delron]

Sabin said:
The weapon-charging idea might have merit...for example, charging a weapon takes extra supplies, and if overcharged beyond the component's ability to store it, it can cause damage? The same can go for shields and the like...

There is a lot more you can get from charing weapons than just a little kickback for overcharing. Depending on how the weapons handles a charge it can provide some very interesting atvantages (and disatvantages). I'll try to go over some of the kinds of charing weapons, and what they mean:

Held-Charge Weapon: This is weapon that must be charged before use. Upon reaching a full charge it can be fired. This weapon is capable of holding the charge on the weapon until you are ready to fire it. This can be helpful in several ways, if a weapon has a high damage output with a charge time to compensate, you can start charging this weapon before you get to the target an be read unleash some major damage when you get there. A variation is the Degrading Held-Charge weapon in which a held charge degrades over time (lowering overall power of the shot), and cannot be re-charged until the charge reaches a certain point (most often 0).

Instant Charge Weapon: Any charged weapon that must use it's charge as soon as it is ready. This of course means a target must be avaible once the charge is done.

Fixed Fire Charge: This is any charged weapon that must aquire a target before it can begin it's firing cycle. This provides the oppurtunity for a target to slip out of firing range while the gun charges, making so they must hold charge longer (possibly degrading) if it's a held-charge weapon OR redering the shot useless if it's instant charge weapon. This can of course be offset by accuracy/damage scale of the weapon itself.

Gradual Charge Weapon: This is a weapon that can be fired at any point in it's charge up until the cap( if it has one). With damage going up the longer you store energy. It can of course addtionally be any one of the other types, Held, Instant or Fixed Fire.


Now these are just my own loose terms/definitions. I'm sure somebody out there has explained these concepts better than I have but I think it shows how charged weapons could make for more decisions on the battlfield.

[Fyron]

"Held-Charge" and "Instant Charge" weapons are already present as weapons with different firing rates.

How would you physically explain a "Fixed Fire Charge" weapon?

"Gradual Charge" weapons would be interesting, but probably impossible to get the AI to use effectively. In the hands of the AI, they would either always be weak rapid fire weapons or they would always be powerful, slow weapons.