Devlog #2 - Time for Battle

Long time, no see! University work has been incredibly taxing on me, so against all urges I decided it was best to to put aside GameMaker for the 6 month duration of my last semester, and that meant no devlogs either. This stopped me from coding, but it didn’t stop me from developing ideas and making notes and doodles through every boring zoom call, so I’ve had a lot of time to think over the many systems that the game will require and making sure that they all feed into to each other, like any good game should. I’m pretty happy with how everything is panning out, and I’m super excited to get back to coding.

The main system I’ve been working on is the battle system, with the main goal of completing a playable prototype. As of now, the main systems are in place allowing 4 v 4 battles with player and enemy attacks, however it will still require a lot of polish and animations. This devlog I'll run down how it all works.

I explained my hopes for the battle system in my last devlog, and I'm continuing to focus on a choice of three actions each turn (ATK, SUB and POW), however there have been some changes.

Battle System

Aesthetically, the battle takes place in the ghost world that Mac creates (the microphone looking ghost in the top right) and as he's a lover of game shows, the battle plays out as one. Health is represented through banners, and defense as foam gloves, all held up by adoring ghost fans.  There's more to the combat that comes from this game show theme that I'll write about in the future.

ATK- Attacks

I’ve simplified this a little for my own sake. There are 6 types of character (Soldier, Oracle, Assassin, Guardian, Heavyhitter and Elemental), and each can do one of the 6 corresponding minigame style attacks. Depending on the character and the way you build them, the attack style, minigame difficulty, visuals and status effect will all change. The following are the basic attacks of each type, before any alterations:  

As a nod to the first game, the symbols are based off of some of the items you could collect in the prequel (you can play it here) 

SUB- Spells

Each character has a unique ‘spell’ of sorts that is a string of commands ranging from 3-10 in length. (e.g. A,B,Up,X,Left,X) Every character’s spell will result in a different effect, some of which include healing, buffing characters, debuffing the enemy, reviving characters, curing status effects, double the next attack etc.

Once the SUB option is selected, the player is shown the spell commands and once the first command is input this will disappear. The player is then required to complete the spell within a limited amount of time. If any mistakes are made or the time runs out, the spell fails.

Spell commands are consistent across battles for each character, and the commands will evolve as the spell’s effect get stronger, so players must learn and rememeber character’s spells to be able to use them properly. There will also be opportunities to manually alter your spell commands, or a risky random shuffle, with special items as you play.

POW - Power Move

This is a very powerful move that requires filling up your power gauge before using. Each character has a different power move that directly represents their character, that must first be unlocked through playing through their character story. (e.g. a cooking minigame for a chef, a card trick for a magician) I plan to focus on making these visually appealing and transition over the entire screen with a cool animation, similar to a Mortal Kombat fatality or a Smash Bros final smash. There will be a unique and more involved minigame for each of them, where failing it will result in less or no damage. 

Enemy Attacks

Enemies have consistent attack patterns that the player can benefit from learning. Damage from all enemy attacks can be mitigated somewhat by reacting in the correct way to each attack. It's up to the player to learn how to defend against each attack; some require the right timing, while other require altering an enemies attack before it hits you with the right buttons.

Preparing for Battle

The main strategy of battles will first come from building a team that synchronises well with each other. Each in game day will require the player to build a team of 4 characters, chosen from the selection of character’s you have recruited, so there will be plenty of opportunity to switch up teams. Some quests will require certain characters or types of team to complete, so building various well-functioning teams will benefit the player a lot.

Additionally, each character will be able to level up with more experience in battle, where they will then receive stars. These stars can then be used to upgrade a character through their skill tree. Each skill tree is completely unique to each character and building up different paths can drastically alter a character. You can build a character entirely around crit%, focus on healing or a high defense tank. The stronger you get the more difficult your actions will be to pull off, but you can also make the minigame easier through the skill tree. Some characters may seem weak at first but have incredibly strong powers waiting further along their skill tree.  

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New Characters

You may have noticed two new characters in the screenshots above. Jiu is a ranged Assassin type fighter, and Wesley is an AoE Oracle type fighter. Of course, each also has their own skill tree, animations, spells and power move.

These two are not main characters, but examples of characters you may find and recruit along your journey. Each has their own storyline, recruitment requirements, and interactions with other characters, and sometimes finding them in the first place is the biggest task. I hope to reward player exploration by hiding playable characters all throughout the game.

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I’m hoping to get a playable prototype completed soon, so stay tuned if you’re interested in trying it out! I want to make sure the battle system is fun at it’s core before I introduce anything else to the game. Now that my studies are over, I hope to continue working on this project and releasing devlogs more often! I appreciate any feedback, so feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly through the gamemaker forums or on twitter! Thanks for reading!