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[rednova]

Dear Friends:

I need help with my supersub game. It is a turn based strategy game. I have a world map and the sub can go anywhere on the map. the sub will Randomly either encounter a ship for battle or open seas.
I do not know how to make the battle between the sub and the ship. It has to be strategy, not arcade.
What I want is something like an exchange of torpedos and explosives. And the ship will have a 100% hull integrity that will decreased when damaged, then the ship can go to HQ to restock armor and torpedoes.
What I want from you is: Can you give me a suggestion on how to make a encounter between the sub and the enemy ship? not arcade, but strategy.
Thanks !!!

rednova

[Hungry Horace]

hmm..

i think you almost have to have it 'playing out' the battle itself, whilst you have a few options you can change whilst the battle takes place.

How your sub succeeds would depend on how well prepared you are for it (current hull integrity, type of torpedos, skill of your crew, whatever factors you have available).


During the battle you would have a limited number of choices. An 'aggression' level is always a good one... like Supremacy or Powermonger.

If you heavily out-number your opponent with armourments etc, being Aggressive can lead to faster victory, but more damage may be taken.  Same with if you are in small numbers, high agression may level things out a bit as you damage your opponents.

Being more Passive might save you damage along the way, or minimise your armourment usage but you might need more skill or better preperation in order to succeed like this.

retreating should always be an option too, although of course this may lead to some heavy damage


any help?

[rednova]

Hi Horace:

I appreciate your suggestion, I really like your ideas. I will base my battle on your advice. I will go for aggresion levels versus hull damage as you suggest. Thank you !!!

retreating is for wimps !!! haha don't worry, I will include retreating too. 

rednova
cheers !!!!

[asymetrix]

This is what I would do :

Compare ship types for strengh, defence, special skils (defence or strenght boost).
Guns with different hit speed.

Does enemy ship have radar jamming ? false reading ?

Fuel level, so it decrease when you get hit, but also could blow up if too much ?

Diplomatic options ? bribe the enemy ship to keep you alive (for now).

ambush ? if you have more than one ship.

Are the ships technology acquired by money or raw materials etc which can get depleted etc

Weather factors, rain, fog, tornado, ice

[rednova]

Dear Asymetrix:

thank you for your suggestions. I love your ideas !!! I will implement them all too, along with hungry horace's. I really appreciate all of your feedback, is good enough to make my game better.
Thanks!!!

rednova

[selur]

Hello Red

Honestly I think it's very hard to make interesting battle between sub and ship.
Yes, in arcade mode it would works but in strategy... well I can't imagine it 
Have you any beta screens of this project ?

[rednova]

Selur:

You are right, it is tough to make an interesting battle. But that is why I asked for help in the first place !!!
But Hungry Horace's and asymetrix's ideas are so good, I am gonna make a rpg battle sequence based on them, I am confident it will be good enough.
Cheers!!!

rednova

[Hungry Horace]

a strategy battle system doesnt need to that fancy to be effective.

Look at this video of Supremacy:  (a game which is effectively nothing more than a spreadsheet with nice graphics!)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ANGwdV-5LNo

you see at 0:16-0:44 he enters the Armies screen. Equips a platoon with the best weapons (choice of 3) and the best armour (choice of 4). He puts 80 people into this army, but initially the trining is at 0% (bottom right), so he does not pay his money yet to have the army 'equipped' with this very expensive gear.

2:15 shows a rather pointless visit to the 'war' screen.  He has agression at 25% and it's showing a planet he already control, with no army on the surface. As such it runs a standard animation.

4:00-4:36 back to the army screen. His platoon is now 100% trained , so he pays his money to equip them (after reducing the platoon size). This platoon can now be transferred to a battleship for war, or remain on the planet surface.

4:37-4:44 shows us the war screen on his home planet. The green bar shows the strength of his forces, but the is no red (enemy) bar to compare against. Changing Aggression does not affect the armies strength, but it will effect how they perform.


Unfortunately this video doesnt show any actual battles!  But all it would show is the war-screen with two bars for each side's strength, which would go down at different rates depending on the armies that were dropped on the planet. This all occurs in real-time, with the only possibilties you have being;  level of aggression and adding/removeing more platoons from the planet surface. (each platoon being uniquely equipped and trained)

It also runs a small animation rather than standard 'flag' one for a controlled planet... although the animation has little to do with the actual status of the battle!

[asymetrix]

Selur:

You are right, it is tough to make an interesting battle. But that is why I asked for help in the first place !!!
But Hungry Horace's and asymetrix's ideas are so good, I am gonna make a rpg battle sequence based on them, I am confident it will be good enough.
Cheers!!!

rednova

for me a good game is as follows:

easy game mode : just kill/shoot basically a no brainer - easy to play
hard game mode : use your skill(s) wisely, advantages wisely, resources wisely.

I personally like to use my little brain now and then, maybe I need a resource eg 'copper' to build armour, but to get it i need
to go to an island which is so far I take a different route or I run out of fuel.

Or the copper needs to be purified first etc. the more 'little tweeks' the better, depends on your playing style.

For me an unpredictable game is good, eg I get tricked or ambushed where some ships arrive or submarines start firing and
I need to show my skill to win.

What would be great is if one can build their own boat/ship with x amount cannons, all depend on how much resource eg IRON, gunpowder you have and the skill level of your ship builder and cannon maker.

This way the enemy will make a different ship than you, using different technology/resources they have aquired.

Later you can add submarines and have stealth tactics etc

The games depends on your imagination, how detailed, what era, what is max technology etc or just fight/attack use fear to scare enemy into following your law.

If its sea and land based you can have sea and land weapons for defence or attack.

make it simple first even just text mode, get the stats/engine right then just add the gfx.