Well, I've been playing Xenosaga a lot lately, and I was thinking about how different and alike the first and second's battle systems are. Then I got an idea. I know people on the forum are always looking for a new, different system, and there hasn't really been any lately, so this is my idea.
For those of you who are unaware of Xenosaga's system, allow me to explain. First off, it's a CTB. You hit the Circle or Triangle button to do an attack. In the first game the Triangle button was long range. In the second, the combo you decided to do would affect the enemy differently. So you could have Triangle Triangle for your round. Or you could have Circle Triangle.
On top of that, there was boost. Every time you attacked, your boost gauge would go up, and if it reached all the way over, you could specify a character to attack next, no matter who's turn was coming. The rule for this though was that in the row showing who's turn's coming up next, their face couldn't be there. This was for both ally and enemy. The limit was 3.
Then there was stock from the second one. This allowed the character to guard for one turn. When they did this, a bar beneath their status filled. This meant that on their next turn, they had the option of executing an extra hit. Then, after using it, it'd be gone.
Then you get points at the end of each battle. In the first one, they're used to level up abilities, and in the second, they're used to gain them.
Both only allowed three party members, but in the second you could switch them out.
Now, let me explain what my idea is. What I was thinking was making a system that's a sort of mix between the two. So here's what I was thinking:
Keep it as a CTB. For the button press (triangle/circle), just have them choose Left or Right (left/right hand), and then bring them to another selection (left/right), while allowing them to cancel of course in case they change their mind. So if the character is designated as a right handed person (maybe attributes could do this?), then their attack with that hand would be higher. Then maybe the enemy could be designated left or right (through attribute I think is easiest), and so it'd be affected differently.
For example:
Enemy is designated right handed.
Ally uses left hand; does normal damage.
Ally uses right hand; does less damage.
And vice-versa (so it works both ways).
The boost would mean enemy AI, so I figured to leave that part out. As for the stock, originally you could have up to 3, but I think it should just be one. I also left out the Double technique from the 2nd because that involves Boost and could be confusing (same with the AGWS). I also left out the move add-on effect to skills since I think that would create too much conflict for the programmers trying this.
The design of the battlers I was thinking should be from the BoF battle system posted by Noobitron with the Ragnarok sprites. There could be a different attack (or the same) for left and right hand attacks for the allies. And I'd like faces to be allowed next to the status (optional perhaps???). I want it to show who's turn it is though (if possible), where the boost was. The faces could be displayed but smaller, or it could be an image that says "Monster", and for allies, it could say "Character" with the number according to where they're lined up. So the first character would be called "Character 1" obviously.
The last thing is the skills. I think it'd be cool if you could use the skill points to learn them. Originally in the Xenosaga II, all allies could learn the same moves, but I'd like it if they could just use the skill points to learn their own moves.
I want it to be a three party member system, without the option to change them out, because that would involve a combination of Squall's large party script, and a new CMS.
Here's a screen shot of Xenosaga I and II:
Xenosaga I
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/737/xenosaga4ep0.jpg[/IMG]
Xenosaga II
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/1246/ss067xs4.jpg[/IMG]
I thought that this would make a new nifty little system, and it'd present a challenge to programmers. If you decide to do this, please at least let me know (I know some programmers don't always).
Other than that all I can say is thank you for any interest in this, and good luck! If there's any questions, or anything I left out, please let me know. If there are any suggestions, feel free to mention them.
For those of you who are unaware of Xenosaga's system, allow me to explain. First off, it's a CTB. You hit the Circle or Triangle button to do an attack. In the first game the Triangle button was long range. In the second, the combo you decided to do would affect the enemy differently. So you could have Triangle Triangle for your round. Or you could have Circle Triangle.
On top of that, there was boost. Every time you attacked, your boost gauge would go up, and if it reached all the way over, you could specify a character to attack next, no matter who's turn was coming. The rule for this though was that in the row showing who's turn's coming up next, their face couldn't be there. This was for both ally and enemy. The limit was 3.
Then there was stock from the second one. This allowed the character to guard for one turn. When they did this, a bar beneath their status filled. This meant that on their next turn, they had the option of executing an extra hit. Then, after using it, it'd be gone.
Then you get points at the end of each battle. In the first one, they're used to level up abilities, and in the second, they're used to gain them.
Both only allowed three party members, but in the second you could switch them out.
Now, let me explain what my idea is. What I was thinking was making a system that's a sort of mix between the two. So here's what I was thinking:
Keep it as a CTB. For the button press (triangle/circle), just have them choose Left or Right (left/right hand), and then bring them to another selection (left/right), while allowing them to cancel of course in case they change their mind. So if the character is designated as a right handed person (maybe attributes could do this?), then their attack with that hand would be higher. Then maybe the enemy could be designated left or right (through attribute I think is easiest), and so it'd be affected differently.
For example:
Enemy is designated right handed.
Ally uses left hand; does normal damage.
Ally uses right hand; does less damage.
And vice-versa (so it works both ways).
The boost would mean enemy AI, so I figured to leave that part out. As for the stock, originally you could have up to 3, but I think it should just be one. I also left out the Double technique from the 2nd because that involves Boost and could be confusing (same with the AGWS). I also left out the move add-on effect to skills since I think that would create too much conflict for the programmers trying this.
The design of the battlers I was thinking should be from the BoF battle system posted by Noobitron with the Ragnarok sprites. There could be a different attack (or the same) for left and right hand attacks for the allies. And I'd like faces to be allowed next to the status (optional perhaps???). I want it to show who's turn it is though (if possible), where the boost was. The faces could be displayed but smaller, or it could be an image that says "Monster", and for allies, it could say "Character" with the number according to where they're lined up. So the first character would be called "Character 1" obviously.
The last thing is the skills. I think it'd be cool if you could use the skill points to learn them. Originally in the Xenosaga II, all allies could learn the same moves, but I'd like it if they could just use the skill points to learn their own moves.
I want it to be a three party member system, without the option to change them out, because that would involve a combination of Squall's large party script, and a new CMS.
Here's a screen shot of Xenosaga I and II:
Xenosaga I
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/737/xenosaga4ep0.jpg[/IMG]
Xenosaga II
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/1246/ss067xs4.jpg[/IMG]
I thought that this would make a new nifty little system, and it'd present a challenge to programmers. If you decide to do this, please at least let me know (I know some programmers don't always).
Other than that all I can say is thank you for any interest in this, and good luck! If there's any questions, or anything I left out, please let me know. If there are any suggestions, feel free to mention them.