Dev Update - Battle System

As announced in my last post, I wanted to give you an update on the main changes being implemented on Rain Tactics based on last year playtest.

As there is a ton of elements to cover, this first post will focus on the current state of the battle system, so that you know what to expect at the next playtest / for the demo release. Hope many of you will get the opportunity to try this out !

Picture: updated screen of Winter about to attack a Red Dragon's scum, with battle simulation UI

So about the battle system:

1. Combat system - the Core:

   • The fundamentals of the combat system rely on two pillars: a turn-based fighting mechanic, and a class system

   • The turn-based mechanic, heavily inspired from classic sRPGs:

     • Turn system: player and enemy units act in separate turns. Turn is over once all units from one party have acted

     • Auto-retaliation mechanic: a unit can typically attack one adversary, while the adversary has the opportunity to retaliate

     • Weapon triangle: a unit hit rate depends on the attacker / defender stats, but also on the type of weapons they are using

   • The class system:

     • Each character has an archetype that gives him/her access to 3 classes and some unique talents

     • The talents typically provide interaction options (like the ability to hack computer systems) , passive effects (see in the dark), or gimmicks on how to use the unit

     • Each class gives access to up to 5 abilities (whether attacks or heals) that can be learned and upgraded throughout a run

     • Each character in the roster can decide which class to embody at the beginning of a level, giving the opportunity to the player to adapt the team skills to the challenge ahead

2. The tactical twists, giving more depth to the Core:

   • Unit direction: will now influence a unit likeliness to get hit or not (backstabbing having a higher crit chance); giving more tactical weights to player's choice

   • Unit location: similarly, unit can get "cover" from surrounding objects, and can benefit/suffer from some areas effects (e.g mud slowing down movement)

   • AoE attacks: as in many regular t-RPG, some abilities now have the option to target multiple opponents; in that case, the "main target" will have the opportunity to retaliate against the attacker, while the others will be hit by a remnant effect (understand "weakened" version of the main attack - trying to balance things out here!). These attacks typically cost Energy Points, a rare resource in the game that allows you to use these powerful abilities

   • Opportunity attacks: sandwiching an enemy will give the opportunity for two units to attack an enemy successively (before the enemy retaliates). Considering the important advantage this gives, this is not an automatic setup, but more of a coordinated attack that requires Energy Points

   • Winter's Curse: each of Winter's Avowed (team members) can receive a temporary buff from Winter before launching an attack, at the cost of some of Winter's own self control...

3. The strategic Element: managing Winter's self control

   • Your main objective is to bring Winter to Shavanath's top floor where he will get access to the Gate of Oblivion

   • As such, Winter is always part of your starting team; he is both your trump card and vulnerable point

   • Winter as trump card: Winter is invincible and as such can act as a tank; furthermore, you can unleash his powers to one-shot almost any enemy or to strike with some of the most powerful AoE attacks in the game

   • Winter as a vulnerable point: but relying on Winter's power has a price; it will bring his self-control down, which you need to avoid at all cost

   • So it will be up to you to decide when to best rely on Winter's powers to clear the way through !

And that is basically the current state of the battle system. Sorry for the long post but thought it was useful (even for me !) to synthesize all this in a few lines. I also realize that a couple clips would make it easier to grasp the different elements. I will be soon be creating a short thread on Twitter @ErvyaStudios to illustrate all this !

I am constantly trying to deepen the tactical choices the player can make, while keeping the system not too complicated. So feel free to share thoughts, and hope many of you will get the opportunity to test this soon.

In the next post, I will be sharing more info about the tower-city of Shavanath and how to explore it! Thanks to all of you for your support !

Ervya

As bonus, picture of Ray getting his Laser gun upgraded before the next run