Torment Torment: Tides of Numenera Pre-Release Thread [ALPHA RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

Doesn't really seem like "PB sux" criticism, but like "PB is hard to design" criticism

I want PB for the selfish reason that I think I can probably field strip and rebuild any regular TB system blindfolded, and since this isn't really a combat/squad tactics game but an adventure game with combat in it I'd just like some variety rather than an attempt at meticulous depth and balance in a single player game with a retarded AI. Basically the JRPG theory of combat system design to be frank.

 

What he's saying is crap though since a good combat system shouldn't allow one to flawlessly predict everything that will happen during the action. For example, if two characters attack the same enemy, but the first one kills it with a critical hit, I think it's perfectly reasonable that the other character wasted his action. The same goes for if a character dies while someone else is attempting to heal him. Why does Sawyer think it's more realistic if the healer can change his mind instantaneously?

 

I'll take phase based over RTWP any day Sawyer.

 

Because beings capable of logical thinking are like that. They change their minds according to different factors. If I wanted to heal someone, but the character dies in front of my eyes, I wouldn't waste a healing spell on a corpse.

 

You would if the character died while you were casting it. If someone calls 911 but dies before the ambulance showed up, the EMT's can't go back in time and tell the dispatcher to fuck off because he's already dead.


Also, instacasting is for popamolefags.

 

If the character died so fast you didn't even have time to cast a single healing spell, then there was nothing you could do.

 

This is the falsest of false analogies.

I'd say the logic of having a priest be able to cancel a healing spell mid-cast based on external factors depends largely on the lore. By this I mean, the nature of spellcasting in the game. If they're supposed to be going into some kind of deep trance and can only concentrate on spellcasting, then yeah it makes no sense for them to be able to cancel it. If they have any consciousness of the outside world while casting then it doesn't really make sense to force them to continue healing a character that was killed.

Of course, that's just a logic thing, not a game design thing.

 

Even if a spell only took a few seconds to cast, that's plenty of time for the wounded character to be attacked and killed by another foe, thus causing the loss of a spell. This is essentially what happens in phase based combat all the time, and I don't necessarily think that's too unrealistic. I'm not even sure what this argument is about.

 

I'm not sure either. The healer used a spell with casting time and the target died before he could get it off. Too bad?

 

Actually this doesn't even have anything to do with phase-based combat. It's about spell casting times.

 

Sawyer doesn't care about realism, just what makes for the most enjoyable gameplay.

 

I'm not sure I believe that.

 

We are still eagerly waiting for him to deliver.

 

JSawyer. More enjoyable than base New Vegas which was more enjoyable than Fallout 3.

 

So that makes Sawyer more enjoyable than enjoyable ?

 

It's not about realism, it's about logic. People seem to forget that all stuff in a combat round happens roughly at the same time.

 

Does his mod fix the massively retarded combat mechanics?

 

It makes him more human than human, like a replicant or a White Zombie song.

 

Who said PB has to have simultaneous resolution? Do you ignore things on purpose? Because we already went through this.

 

There is no "phase of the simultaneous resolution"

There is only the phase of resolution, it can be team initiative, individual initiative or simultaneous or whatever depending on the game and circumstance.

 

What diferentiates turn-based combat from phase-based combat is that PB has...wait for it...PHASES.

 

No, it isn't? At a very basic level, there is a phase where all orders are given, and a phase where the orders are resolved.

in TB, there is no separation between the two.