Development Info New Game! Getica: Cult of the Elders

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Digital Summoners; Getica: Cult of the Elders

The <a href="http://www.geticagame.com/index.php">Getica</a> website is now open, featuring <a href="http://www.geticagame.com/index.php?section=faq">a FAQ</a>, <A href="http://www.geticagame.com/index.php?section=desc">a big description section</a>, <A href="http://www.geticagame.com/index.php?section=art">some concept art</a>, and <a href="http://www.geticagame.com/index.php?section=dl">some wallpapers</a>. Here's a bit on the game:
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<blockquote>The melee system that we're developing is not based upon the classic hit points; instead, combat is seen as a series of moves performed in order to bring the opponent in a position where he can't defend himself anymore. The set of moves available at a given time is determined by the position of the body and weapon of each of the fighters. The choice of the next move is up to the player (real-time), and the defense moves are performed automatically by the game. If a fighter fails to parry, block or evade a blow, the force of the blow is compared to the resistance of the armor; depending on whether the armor is strong enough or not, several effects may occur: the immobilization of the fighter, bleeding, degradation of the weapon or the armor, or even the fighter's death. During the game, the playing character will be able to learn both offensive and defensive moves, expanding the basic list of moves known to him in the beginning.</blockquote>
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Sounds twitchy.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLAN Fed</A>

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

The melee system that we're developing is not based upon the classic hit points; instead, combat is seen as a series of moves performed in order to bring the opponent in a position where he can't defend himself anymore.

So basically he's saying that he hada wrong notion about melee, and that he'll be bringing melee as it's been done already.

 

[Transcendent One]

It sure sounds original, but that system in realtime is just ewww.. I think it would be interesting to see how it works out in turn-based though. You make a move and the your opponent makes the move, and then based on what move you make your next turn opens up only several new ones. Seems to me like it will be quite tactical that way. Of course that will mean having to code very solid AI for enemies, so that you can't have one uber combo that kills everything else. A whole lot of playtesting too.

 

[Jed]

Yeah, I was fantasizing about a samurai CRPG whose combat would playout basically as you were suggesting, Greyhawk. Turn based, one-on-one duels with opponents. I thought another level would be different schools of swordsmanship and the different specialities of each style, and the possiblity of training more than one style, or learning special techniques or tactics from different teachers. Yet another level of possibility would be to have a "honor meter" of your fighting style. Certain tactics or moves might be more powerful--such as attacking from behind or throwing your sword--but would garner the PC a dishonorable reputation that would affect who would be willing to deal with you concerning quests, merchants, training, etc.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sounds cool.

 

[Lemon]

Sounds better than Morrowind's click n' repeat

 

[Realbumpbert]

Aerelorn's Advanced Combat plugin improves the fighting considerably.

It may be a ripoff, but the mod even adds bullet-time!

 

[fnordcircle]

All I have to say is that any game which has the word 'elders' in it shouldn't have a title like that. It's just begging to be called: Geriatrica.

 

[Benedikt]

melee combat

i dont think it will be so bat with that realtime melee combat - dunno if u noticed it, but defense will be automatic based on your stats, so realtime u will only choose attack combat moves
ben
http://www.dungeony.cz

 

[Limorkil]

I like the idea of there being some consequences to combat, like bleeding, being stunned, breaking limbs, losing limbs etc. Many games do that sort of stuff superficially for the monsters you are fighting, but never for the player characters.

Two of my favorite 'damage' systems are Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFR) and the old online game Gemstone III.

In WFR you still had hit points but they were a measure of how well you absorbed damage rather than how much life you had left. Being injured reduced your ability to withstand serious injury and once you reached 0 any more damage would result in a roll on a damage effects table, which would give you things like broken bones, missing limbs and other disabilities, including death. It was an odd system to get used to after playing D&D, but it did make combat a lot more fun.

In Gemstone III you had hit points but damage would also have an effect on part of your body. Mild damage would cause some bleeding, whereas heavy damage could break limbs, cause major bleeding and even remove limbs. All these things affected your ability to fight and move. Healers were called "Empaths" and rather than simply healing hit points they actually moved the wound from your character to themselves, where they could then heal themselves. That was a fun system for healing because it gave the healer a large element of risk, since acquiring new wounds and bleeding could kill them if they were not careful. It was a great system because there was nothing more exciting than surviving a fight with a broken leg and then having to limp back to town to find an empath before you bled to death. After a town invasion there would be dozens of characters lying on the ground bleeding to death and crying out for healing - it was just like a real battle.

The combat system in G3 was also notable because you could change the defensive stance of your character. There were five levels, from all out offense to all out defense. To have the best chance of not being hit you would switch to the full defensive stance, but in order to hit something you have to go more offensive, which opened you up to being hit back. It was a hell of an interesting combat system for a mud-like game.

 

[geminito]

"I like the idea of there being some consequences to combat, like bleeding, being stunned, breaking limbs, losing limbs etc. Many games do that sort of stuff superficially for the monsters you are fighting, but never for the player characters. "

Alright, so once you lose your sword arm, what do you do? Re-load? Yay, that's fun!

I think fun needs to take precedence over realism. One hit from a sword would be enough to leave me pleading for mercy and screaming like a little girl, if I survived it at all.. But it wouldn't make a very fun game!

 

[Sol Invictus]

No, you don't reload. You run screaming like a girl and when you're cornered, you rip your useless arm out of its socket and beat the monsters to death with it.

Just like in Die by the Sword - best melee fighting game ever made.

And then you reload.

In case you guys are wondering what the heck the game is like, I suggest you play Die by the Sword, because the way they describe it fits almost exactly to DBTS' combat, with the exception that the combat in DBTS was mouse controlled, and also a bit more difficult than a few simple moves due to its inherent complexity and twitch-reliance.