passerby
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2016
- Messages
- 2,788
Actually, what you describes is an example on how rules forces the player to think tactically. They cannot do what they want all the time, RNG plush the flow of combat dictates what are the best and worst decision they can make. They have to account for different factors and have different options, with situations that wouldn't happen if you didn't use those rules. Is like a puzzle which each piece of it being the rules that forms it. If you change the pieces or straight up take them away,you don't have the same puzzle anymore. You may like the new puzzle more or less, but what can't be denied is that it is not the same.
I think we don't share the same definition of tactics, mine is managing and synchronizing units actions and movements in time. How is the game controling the flow and deciding for you when you can do things is forcing you to think tactically.
It removes the very possibility to think tactically at all and replaces it with some abstract puzzle with a very limited player imput, I know that some people find this puzzle more fun than actual tactics, I certainly don't.
In most RtwP actions do not really happen simultaneously. They actually follow the initiative rules of PnP and have rounds systems. Certain things like movement is free, deviating from PnP, but all other actions aren't. I'll say though, what you suggest does make me think that it would be interesting to have a rules light, "simulationist" CRPG, one that discard rounds and AoO, uses physics and hitboxes, and tries to make a combat system that tries to simulate "realistic" fantasy combat. I think maybe Total War kind of do this, but it is a RTSwP, and maybe Spellforce offers a gameplay similar to what you suggest (although it looks too light on the RPG side of things). None of them are proper RPGs though, so maybe someone has a better example than those.
In IE and simillar D&D games, movement is RT, but everything else is constrained by D&D rules within 6s round but presented simultaneously, you can't really adapt D&D into RT any better without changing it into something else.
But even such convulted creation adds tactical possibilities of RT movement, and an advantage of being more dense and not wasting your time.
D&D is simple but to simulate at least partially tactical possibilities of RT in TB you need something as complex as Jagged Alliance 2.
As for example of a proper RTwP tactical fantasy game, there is Aarklash: Legacy unfortunately ruleset is simple and only four units, but as far as core RTwP gameplay and control scheme is concerned, it's good.
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