Greetings all!

Here's something that I've been trying to work out for the longest time. Hopefully writing it down (instead of having it just in my head) and sharing it with people will help in the development process.

[THE GAME]

The game will be a browser-based RPG like Kingdom of Loathing. This imposes some limitations on the game, especially when it comes to defense (I'll explain below).

[THE BACKGROUND]

The combat system tries to meld traditional turn-based RPGs with action-packed games such as Devil May Cry and God of War (both on the PS2).

The combat system in DMC and GOW is free-form combo-based. This differs from the dial-in combo system where the player presses a combination of buttons to perform a pre-set combo (like Mortal Kombat). In DMC, for example, you can start a combo with your sword and then change to guns or unarmed combat, and the combo continues. This is what I'm trying to imitate.

[THE SYSTEM]

Characters have your typical attributes such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, etc., and they have skills such as Sword, Axe, Mace, Unarmed, etc.

All characters at the start of the game only have one action point per turn, but as they level, they obtain more action points and are able to attack two or more times per turn (like Dungeons & Dragons).

Each type of weapon (sword, axe) has different types of attacks. A sword, for example, has basic attacks such as Slash and Thrust. Both of these attacks take up one action point. As the player progresses in the game and their weapon skill increases, he learns new and more powerful attacks. A swordfighter can learn the Cross Slash, the Roundhouse Slash, the Lunging Thrust, etc. These attacks take up two action points, for example.

So a player with three action points can do a Slash+Slash+Slash combo or a Slash+Roundhouse Slash combo.

Players can also choose to train more than one weapon skill. A player with sword and unarmed skills could perform the following action: Cross Slash+Leg Sweep+Jump and Downward Thrust (requires five action points).

Each attack in a combo has to hit for the combo to continue. Attacks such as the Leg Sweep causes the opponent to be proned and the next attack in the combo is easier to hit and may cause more damage. If the combo is broken, the attacker gets a penalty to their defense when the opponent attacks.

So, if I have five weapon types, each with 10 attacks, for example, plus four types of magic schools, each also with 10 spells, I would end up with 90 different attacks. Plus attacks can be given by the character's race or by items being carried. That's around 100 attacks available to the player to combine.

[IMPLEMENTATION]

The game would be browser-based. The player selects the weapons he wants his character to wield. The player would then choose 5-10 attacks/combos he would like to perform during combat. When attacking, the computer will randomly go through the attacks. If after all the attacks have been made there is still no winner, the attacks will be re-shuffled and used again.

[LIMITATIONS]

The biggest problem is defense. I would like the player to have the option to dodge, parry, block, etc., but having him select 5-10 defenses and then randomly use them doesn't work quite well. Perhaps the player would choose to try to dodge 80% of the time (someone with high dexterity) and parry 20% of the time. He might choose not to block because he doesn't have a shield, for example. And then a d10 roll would choose the type of defense.

[THE UNKNOWN]

I'm still having trouble selecting the math behind the attacks and defenses. I'm very familiar with D&D rules, and those could work. However, I want players to be able to increase their abilities and skills to very high levels and to do serious amount of damage (like Final Fantasy, for example), and D&D doesn't work that way.

Maybe someone could suggest a different system or help me come up with an original one that would work for this combat system.

[COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE APPRECIATED]

Well, that's basically what I have so far. It's still early-on in development and odds are that it will take a long time to implement, especially since it's just me doing it and it's only in my spare time.

I'd really appreciate any comments on what I have so far. These could really motivate me and point me in the right directions.

Thanks for reading!!

Jesse.

One potential problem that creeps in with many games like this, is that every player is going to be looking for the *best* weapon and the *best* combo, and never use any of the other cool stuff you implemented- this is a browser-based game we're talking about, and if it's at all competitive (even in terms of people being able to brag about having the highest level) then this will be the major thrust of the game, if you let it.
I think your biggest hurdle is to balance everything such that this doesn't happen. I say this because the above is the major reason I don't do internet gaming with strangers- I'm instantly turned off if there's a best way to do everything, and if every other class/skill/power is just a waste of points that marks you as a newbie.
I think your defense system is the way to overcome this- if you had different defense systems ideal against different attacks, then setting up which defenses (and attacks) you want the computer to be randomly selecting from becomes very strategic. Picking 5 and then having the computer select them randomly is suggestive of playing cards to me for some reason. If you had 10 'cards' that a person assigned to attack, and 10 assigned to defense, then each card could represent a 10% for the attack/defense to happen each turn. In my opinion, that would be an easy format for explaining the process to players, without them having to play with %'s. I know nothing about programming though, so maybe that makes a difference.

The idea of abusing a particular move crossed my mind. Now that you mention cards, this reminds me of an idea I had a while back, and I think it would help in preventing abuse.

The idea is to prevent a particular move from being used too many times. A new move, for example, could only be used once or twice in a player's entire attack repertoire. If a player has five slots for combos, he could only use the Roundhouse Slash twice within those five slots. Through leveling the sword skill he could use it more times.

This could also work with the defense. If the player's Dodge skill is high, he could use dodge more times within his defense slots.

As for the actual mechanics to resolve combat, anyone have any ideas? I want high level characters to have 1,000s of HPs and each hit to cause hundreds of damage points. But despite the high numbers, combat shouldn't last more than 10 turns or so.

Thanks for your comments!

i like the idea of 10 different attack modes and 10 different defence modes that match up for the 10% chance of a dodge.

You could expand and make it a bit more strategic. Have a Primary, Secondary and Tertiary defense mode. And have Broad, Focused, and Specific kinds of defences.

A broad defensive mode would defend against 3 different kinds of attacks, but only reduce the damage done by 50% if you use it as your primary, 30% if you use it as your secondary, and 10% if you use it as your teriary.

A Focused defense mode would defend against 2 kinds of attacks and provide a 70% damage reduction in the primary slot, a 50% reduction in the secondary slot, and a 20% reduction in the tertiary slot

A Specific defense mode would defend against only one kind of attack, but in your primary slot would reduce damage by 100%, 70% and 50%

all the numbers would have to be tweaked for balance of coarse, but you get the idea.

You wouldn't actively defend every round, you just set your defense modes at the beginning of a fight based on how you think the monster is going to attack you.

Then you can have different classes learn different defensive abilities.