The Healing Battle System

[Byron]

I have a concept that I'd like to thoroughly discuss the plausibility with y'all.

As you can tell it's "The Healing Battle System" which is a battle system that focuses entirely on a character that is a healer.

So the concept so far is:
You are the healer in a party of 4. The other three battle on their own and you have no control over them, you just have to heal them and protect them! Now I'm not sure if I want this to be scripted or evented, but I'd like to know the plausibility and/or the practicality of doing so.

I think it would be story and map based, rather than random battles.

What do you guys think?



This concept came from me speaking to my brother. I'm helping him with his game and this is a possibility for the battle system. So it will be used.

Thanks guys :P

 

[Injury]

Great idea!

I think you could keep it super quick and fast paced, story driven...

My thoughts...

Up arrow - Heal
Down - Cure a satus
Left/Right- Possibly a range thing involved. The other heroes move, so maybe left and right could move the healer into the ranges so they can be targeted, or it could just cycle though who needs to be healed.

That would be for the early levels. Later on you can have the wsad setup for some other combos/whatever else you can think of

I REALLY like this idea and I'm about to jump on this/buy it from you/sext you for it

 

[Injury]

and form a team to make this

I have money and sexiness

I think this could be a thing we can get on steam or something

 

[Injury]

Just add face sets with expressions showing combat action/attacks/pain/status ailments etc with coinciding health bars.

wsad would be on the other side, with alternative controls, selectors. It could be super difficult, dual healing mode maybe or something...Once you heal enough, or combo up enough, you can get a free rez or something in it.

 

[Injury]

and better UI and whatnot

 

[TrueMiszou]

What's up Injury. I'm Potion's brother, the guy working on this game with my girlfriend, my bro potion, and our music guy (not sure if he's on these forums) using RPG Maker VX Ace.

This is freaking awesome! Do you wanna team up with us on this then?

Let's do this! The four of us that are working on it so far are going all out. My girlfriend is designing resources for this game, we have original music going into it, and we want to make it as beautiful as possible, build a living breathing world.

It's a fantasy game foremost, but will also have elements of creepiness to it. It's very story driven, we weren't going to have a battle system, but after I told Potion that our main character was a healer, he came up with this and pitched this to us (since our main character is a healer) and we love it!

 

[Injury]

Whatever you need! I do music, UI design and other stuff so whatever you need! Just PM me whatever you need

 

[Byron]

Man this is sweet! I've been working on just silly things so far, such as birds running away and bunnies following you, but when I had this idea, I really wanted to see it happen. Even if it wasn't with this project.

Luckily, it seems y'all like it and it seems this might become a reality!

Originally I intended the spells to be set to numbers, but I like the simplicity of just the arrows. Depending on what everyone thinks, we can go with that.
I don't intend to have a very intrinsic battle system that takes away from the game/story, but more something that flows naturally and goes hand in hand with the world.

I doubt there will be things such as grinding or levels, since those ideas would take away from the story but I think that maybe you could get extra skills and things?

I haven't started any scripting, and have only had a few messages back and forth with Coyote about the fundamentals, but I can handle events alright, so maybe if we go with event based, I could help with it.

I intended to have the battles take place on replica maps, but upon reflection, I do think that it would be nice for it to just seamlessly flow into the story and world, so maybe we won't have replica maps!

 

[Injury]

In my mind, I saw it as a simple game, kind of like a quick play game. The story is driven by the heroes, you're just the healer who tags along and keeps them alive/out of trouble. Throw in a storyline with some witty banter and make it increasingly difficult as the game progresses.

As far as levels, it could be the illusion of levels, and in reality its just the scale of hp/dmg and difficulty. IE:

level 1
hp 100
Random monster damage averages between x and y per hit

then at level 50 (really difficult)
hp 100000
random monster damage averages between x(a) and y(b) per hit


IDK...Maybe I'm seeing it as something a bit different than your bro and you.

Either way, it's something solid we can all work on rather than putz around on the rec

OH another idea...Buffs too. There should be like a fever/limit/combo or whatever bar...as you build up, it randomly pulls a buff when you hit that level on the meter, and you can apply it to one or all, if its an AOE spell. Stuff like Fortify, raise defense, or Over Heal, heals all heroes and whatnot.

Also consider, Mana Death. No MP = Cast from Life or death. Hrm....Maybe have heroes attacking and they randomly get an Mana Potion that flies back and you have to pick it up to recharge your mana...something like that

 

[coyotecraft]

It'll end up more of a survival game, wont it? You don't have control on how long battles take. Essentially all you're doing is distributing points to stay afloat for a set period of time.

 

[Injury]

Agreed. Almost a tower defense game, once your offense dies off, you have to keep yourself alive, potentially build back up a combo, revive one, etc etc...This is my interpretation of it, what potion and his bro have in mind may be different, and there are other influences as well.

I'm here for the ride, but I'm not driving. I'd be hiring you in a heartbeat otherwise Senior Craft

 

[Byron]

As far as levels, it could be the illusion of levels, and in reality its just the scale of hp/dmg and difficulty. IE:

level 1
hp 100
Random monster damage averages between x and y per hit

then at level 50 (really difficult)
hp 100000
random monster damage averages between x(a) and y(b) per hit

I see what you mean, but after the discussion we had on Should we ditch levels? I'm eager to get a system that doesn't need levels but scales by usage. For that, my thoughts are this:
In terms of scaling, the idea I have for that is:
Skills have cool down times. The more you use a skill, the less its cool down time becomes. After using it for X amount of times, it evolves into an entirely different skill.
As for difficulty; Maybe the enemies just get stronger and higher in number. The fighters could have stamina or something so after they attack X amount of attacks they have to rest.

OH another idea...Buffs too. There should be like a fever/limit/combo or whatever bar...as you build up, it randomly pulls a buff when you hit that level on the meter, and you can apply it to one or all, if its an AOE spell. Stuff like Fortify, raise defense, or Over Heal, heals all heroes and whatnot.

I like this a lot. Standard buffs should be obtainable, and perhaps the fever/limit thing should turn the skill you're using at that time into a group skill. I think combos should be something entirely different, your position on the field is somewhat of a commander role; you watch the fight and adjust your strategy to what's happening. The AI will have patterns to follow so that say one of the other members is low on health, they will go and help them fight the enemy all together however they aren't as versatile as you.

At one point I suggested having the ability to tell your team if they should attack or defend, but I feel that in this instance, it would not work. Perhaps it's something we could work on separately.

Also consider, Mana Death. No MP = Cast from Life or death. Hrm....Maybe have heroes attacking and they randomly get an Mana Potion that flies back and you have to pick it up to recharge your mana...something like that

Hmm, I like the idea of "If you don't have enough mana, you can cast from HP" but I feel that kinda self deprecation is too harsh while being too giving. How about; If you have 12 mana but want to cast a spell that costs 20 it takes the 8 from your HP. Maybe even add a penalty so that casting from HP costs more than MP or something?

It'll end up more of a survival game, wont it? You don't have control on how long battles take. Essentially all you're doing is distributing points to stay afloat for a set period of time.

This is most likely how it will end up, yes. I'm thinking the AI should have their own set skills that takes stamina to use, so they won't just be attacking continuously. They'll actively be attempting to use skills to kill it, you're just trying to help your team survive to kill the enemies.

Agreed. Almost a tower defense game, once your offense dies off, you have to keep yourself alive, potentially build back up a combo, revive one, etc etc...This is my interpretation of it, what potion and his bro have in mind may be different, and there are other influences as well.

I'm here for the ride, but I'm not driving. I'd be hiring you in a heartbeat otherwise Senior Craft

In a way, the battle is like a tower defense game x'D
I agree with what you've said about keeping yourself alive and building up combos and limits.
I'm not entirely sure upon my bros view of this system. I'm trying to make a fun and seamless battle system all the while trying to keep it to something they like. I know a few key things that they wouldn't want in the battle, like menus and stuff but I have no idea upon their full view.

I'm glad you've come along for this. It's above and beyond my expectations. My bro just said "Why not just make a thread on HBG and see what they say. Just get a general feel" and I'm glad it's been this positive so far

Thank you guys :D

 

[Injury]

I think we both agree about the scalability of difficulty. The level is just an illusion or placeholder. The real mechanics are in the scaling engine used to change the enemy parameters.

Fighters would have skills, stamina based would be a smart move. Alternative ideas are changing the AI's strategy via commands from you IE

Tactic 1: Full on assault!
Tactic 2: One at a time!
Tactic 3: Play it safe!
Tactic 4: (maybe a protect the wounded hero thing...idk)

So you can kind of control the flow of battle, but in reality your shifting focus...Based on that, the tactics available in the battle can be tweeked when you are out of battle in a menu, so maybe you have Tactic 2 target the current lowest HP enemy, or target the highest base hp enemy...

--

The combo idea is something we can really get some cool rewards in during battle. Half mana casting for 10-15-30 seconds, over heals, aoe buffs, ultra buffs, mana restore, etc. I don't know what you want to call it, but what we use to build up the gauge is important I think. Combo heals, quick targeting and smart tactics can help build it up, time spent on a battle can increase the gauge so the next battle you have a lasting effect or something.

Good ideas all around!

 

[TrueMiszou]

Hey I think in terms of story we have very different ideas but that's not too important, I've seen some really interesting battle ideas that I think we could totally go for.

I really like the cast from HP thing, that's cool. We were thinking the MP would replenish automatically over time. This would make the cast from HP thing more of a tactical decision to be used in dire circumstances. Then you could go on to heal yourself when your battlers have the situation under control.

As for commanding the battle, I'm not sure I'm convinced. It might make it too convoluted. I do think it could be interesting but it's kind of in danger of becoming like a RTS game.




Whilst I'm here I might as well fill you in on the story for our game just so you know the direction we're going in. I put it in spoiler tags cos it might be TL;DR.

Spoiler

The game starts off in Mystical Woodlands. Home of the Spring of Life, which gives life to everything in the world. As a side effect everything surrounding this spring (i.e. Mystical Woodlands and it's inhabitants) is super magical. And even the surrounding areas are infected with magic. Lydii, our protagonist, is a Faun. These creatures know only to heal and help others.

So when the spring is cursed and nobody can enter this spring, magic in surrounding areas begin to dwindle and more and more nasty creatures start appearing. As the game progresses it causes the evil to grow stronger and stronger. Lydii teams up with a magic Cheetah (who has been sneaking into the woodlands to drink from the spring) to take down this evil. Like you say, she doesn't fight, she's only there to heal and keep everyone alive. They realize to defeat this evil they need help from one of the more sacred, rare creatures, a goddamn motherfucking dragon. So they journey across to find the dragon. On their journey they meet a harpy who joins the team (and also tries to kill them but that's not important right now).

Etc. etc. until they try and defeat the evil one who happens to be a Naga (serpent/human) from the ocean.

Each race has their own backstory and stuff... which would mean we can make some quests based around helping them out in return for trying to save the land etc.

So most importantly the battles system should fit in with the story. The game's going to be very rich in details, NOT a dungeon crawler. It's mostly based in natural areas, forests, savannah, etc.

It would be cool if the battle system could be integrated into these areas instead of sending you to a separate map but that's not essential.


The game could probably survive without the battle system but it would be nowhere near as fabulous :girl:

 

[Injury]

I'm going to be honest, I have no interest in a typical fantasy rpg story. If you want help, that's cool, I'll stay out of your story.

 

[TrueMiszou]

I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise. You are here because you like the battle system so let's focus on that and work together. We'll focus on story on our end.

 

[Heretic86]

I kinda sorta did something like this in my XRXS Overhaul with an Add On.

One of the Add Ons is for Target Anyone. I made another that causes Undead to be harmed by Heals, called "Target Anyone Undead". Bad Script Title admittedly. Thus, since you can target either your Party or Enemies with Target Anyone, you can cast Heals on Enemies and Harmful Spells on yourself; useful when combined with Reflect.

For weak undead, you can use a Resurrection Potion to cause Instant Death, or a simple Spell by a healer to just inflict some damage.

Its in my "Collection" already listed, but very similar to the default Battle System for XP.

 

[baghead_jackson]

Hi guys seems like you've got a good thing going.

a suggestion to maybe add some challenge and make it feel a little less like your just keeping bars up is to have some sort of player interaction that could determine its success and to be able to augment different effects to your heals.

for instance when you cast heal a quick gears of war style reload bar that when the player presses in the right area does a successful heal or a nerfed one.

furthermore you could have it whereby it only becomes available when you can equip accessories/augments to the healer which do things like add a speed buff to the targeted character for 5 seconds allowing him to do more damage and dodge more shots (looking baddass in the process), bounce holy damage onto enemies or heals onto allies, switch aggro or boost a characters defense high for long enough for you to get another heal.

you could also add things like shouts. If one of your battlers shouts for something, a specific buff or a heal he will begin to glow for a time, if you make all of the battlers glow then you get the opportunity to have them do some sort of team attack. perhaps this would only really occur in boss fights.

Anyway, thats just some suggestions to perhaps allow the player to feel as though theyre having success at playing the game, rather than just keeping everyone healed till a timer runs down.

 

[Injury]

Great ideas, especially the shouts, timed healing and whatnot!

 

[TrueMiszou]

Hi guys seems like you've got a good thing going.

a suggestion to maybe add some challenge and make it feel a little less like your just keeping bars up is to have some sort of player interaction that could determine its success and to be able to augment different effects to your heals.

for instance when you cast heal a quick gears of war style reload bar that when the player presses in the right area does a successful heal or a nerfed one.

furthermore you could have it whereby it only becomes available when you can equip accessories/augments to the healer which do things like add a speed buff to the targeted character for 5 seconds allowing him to do more damage and dodge more shots (looking baddass in the process), bounce holy damage onto enemies or heals onto allies, switch aggro or boost a characters defense high for long enough for you to get another heal.

you could also add things like shouts. If one of your battlers shouts for something, a specific buff or a heal he will begin to glow for a time, if you make all of the battlers glow then you get the opportunity to have them do some sort of team attack. perhaps this would only really occur in boss fights.

Anyway, thats just some suggestions to perhaps allow the player to feel as though theyre having success at playing the game, rather than just keeping everyone healed till a timer runs down.

Yeah I like the idea of having almost like a quicktime event in the battle system. Kinda reminds me of the Mario & Luigi rpg games. That battle system is freaking epic, probably my favourite of any rpg.