Alright, let's do this. I think it's only fair that if we're going to give hard and fast concrete answers to the questions, we reserve the right to change our minds in the future (for example, losing the dialogue wheel to go with full replies). That said, we're not going to change our minds unless we think it improves gameplay.
Is the turns initiative, side or Phase based?
For clarification, an initiative-based turn, every unit has an initiative and move in initiative order. For concrete examples, see most rigid d&d implementations, such as Knights of the Chalice or Temple of Elemental Evil. In a side-based TBS, each side moves all of their units in turn, but the specific order in which they move their units can change. An example of this would be the old XCOM games. finally, in a phase-based game, every units actiosn are planned, then resolved simultaneously before the game pauses again and a new set of commands are inuput. The most recent example I can think of is Frozen synapse.
Each character has his own initiative and moves in order, similar to FFTactics. We're experimenting with abilities that let you change the initiative for some characters in a tactical way.
Do units have a facing? Will it matter?
Will units have different defense/ability values depending on what side you attack them from? will it cost action points to rotate your unit? Will d&d-style flanking, where having a unit on either side of an enemy to get bonusses be in effect?
Facing does not matter. This is a personal preference that you may not agree with, but we don't feel that it's a fun game mechanic.
Will units get weaker as they take damage?
Most games have no mechanical defference in the offensive/defensive values of a unit at full health and a unit at 1hp. I was rather fond of shadowrun 4Es (pen&paper) mechanic of a cumultative penalty to all actions for every 3 wounds received.
Units will get weaker as they take damage. We'll talk more about the exact mechanics of this in the future.
How many fancy special abilities can we expect on our units?
None? (Poo
) 1 ability on some units? 1-3 abilities on most units? spellcasters with half a dozen utility spells?
Not all characters have a consistent number of abilities across the board, but all playable characters will have at least 2.
In an average, late-game large battle, how many units will each side deploy?
Are we talking 5-10? dozens? Full regiments of hundreds?
This one gets a little tricky without giving away things that may or may not be a surprise. I can say that combat will never be in the hundreds. We want combat to feel more personal like FFTatics, but we've come up with a way that let's you make use of all your characters without having to bench anyone. Sorry if this is still vague and mysterious.
Will there be any mechanics in place to encourage not bringing the same 5-6 guys on every mission or taking as many units as you possibly can along?
Will there be any incentive to try for a harder mission with fewer, less experienced people?
See above.
How large will the battlefields get?
10x10 squares? 20x20? 50x50? 100x100?
Battlefields in the single player campaign will be unique to the combat and the image shown in our video/screenshots is the smallest it will get. We can also make them any shape we want. The player will be able to pan around the screen and the camera will automatically return to whichever character is currently active. It's unlikely they'll ever get to huge sizes like 100x100 but they'll never be smaller than a chess board.
Will units be able to equip items/runes/doodads/whatever to modify their stats/grant new/different attacks/abilities?
If so, will every unit be able to do this or only some? Can you give a concrete, statted item that might be in-game?
We are very interested in doing this. It was a feature that we had to cut due to scope reasons but the Kickstarter campaign may change that. Don't hold me to it, it's very much up in the air right now.
Will there be a lot of aura/AoE/ranged attacks, or is the game mostly melee?
Some characters will be melee, some will be ranged, some will be area or utility. We're trying not to lean in any one direction but in our early free release most characters will lean towards melee. For the most part they will stick to one of these roles because we want to encourage building a team with complementary skills.
How many types of terrain will there be?
Will standing on/moving through them alter a units offense/defense stats or movement cost? Or will they just be cosmetic?
The tiles can often be affected by abilities that change their properties in ways such as causing damage, changing movement distance or blocking movement, amongst others that we're currently testing. As for biomes, we'll definitely have more than just snow.
Will there be any in-combat objectives to claim, or is this strictly last man standing wins?
If there are on-map objectives, will they give any bonusses/penalties while held?
In the single player campaign, combat can often have special objectives such as get all your characters to a certain location or survive a certain number of rounds. In multiplayer matches we will have have last man standing for now, with plans to roll out new modes over time.
What resources will the player have to manage?
You already mentioned people in the caravan. How about food? Weapons? Supplies? Morale? Mead? Metal ingots? Which of these can be gained/lost in combat?
This all relates to the single-player campaign: in battle, health if your primary resource. You won't instantly heal up after battle, it will take time, which can be a problem if you have wounded characters jumping back into battle too soon. Outside of combat, time is an important resource. You can camp and rest, healing your characters but spending too much time may cause events in the world to change. As you travel, your caravan will consume supplies and the morale of your caravan will affect its speed. There aren't a lot of very specific resources such as metal ingots but the resources you do have to manage all wrap back into other gameplay systems. It's up to the player to decide what their top priority is based on how they want to play the game. For example, I may choose to move slow and steady but stay in good health and good spirits, and have to deal with tougher events. On a second playthrough, I may move at breakneck pace but have to deal with characters who are exhausted and an angry caravan. Some players may find a good balance.
