Godz wrote:

Sounds allright, but to much macros, it gets complicated.

Heh. In the Hood uses every button on the numpad except numlock. I think you can even switch numlock on and use the arrow keys to face certain directions. Lots of macros means lots of versatility for skilled players!


~Polatrite~

I don't know what your game is like, Polatrite, but in most action games I've played having a whole lot macros is a bad thing. That is, unless it's a Mortal Kombat style game.

All the action games I've developed (DitMUD was probably the only one that anybody ever got to try!) my preference is to let an AI control the character while letting the player set the AI's parameters. That way, the battle is decided by the player's actual strategy and prowess rather than his spamming techniques, finger swiftness, and network connection.

Player's don't get an AI in Mortal Kombat for a reason. I say, if your action game dosn't have a specific reason, a player-controlled AI is the only way to go.

Just to clarify what I mean by player-controlled AI, here's an example. I see player X and note that he is my enemy. I pretend like I don't notice him and he sneaks up behind me, but as he approaches my rear I hit the B key to activate Blinding Flash. My character automatically switches Blinding Flash to the primary skill, takes a casting stance, and casts the Blinding Flash spell. Then, as my blinded opponent sits in a daze, I hit the A key to select my attack cursor and target him. My character judges that, since there are ten feet between me and him and I have a crossbow on my back, the best way to attack is to pull out the crossbow. My character pulls out the crossbow and fires as rapidly as the delay will allow, following my fleeing foe as needed.

Think of how many key presses that sequence would have taken without an AI to process my commands! If there were even a bit of server lag, switching to my Blinding Flash spell or to my Crossbow might have cost me my life. However, by using my magic on this sneaky but naive thief, I forced him to retreat wounded.

Swift and easy? Toggling is neither. If you want swift and easy, use your programming skills to minimize the keypresses required by your player while maximizing the effectiveness of his stratgy. This will yield more fun for him and LESS LAG for your server, due to a lower number of incoming commands to process. Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your battle system.

-LoW

The reason you weren't going with Buckler-Crossbow and Flash as your spell was that you were fighting goblins. You had Spark as your spell because goblin berserkers will fall at one shot, and in order to spam your zapping to maximum efficiency you had your Wand of Brilliance in your hand.

Your players won't always be fighting gobilns in such a manner, but my point is that sometimes your battle strategy must suddenly change mid-battle. If you're a Gnoll Shaman who's backing up a few Gnoll Grunts in a battle against a lesser arm of the Goblin Horde, the sight of a human rogue suddenly means that you need to go from offensive casting to defensive casting.

How do you lessen the macro-i-zation? In DitMUD (Die in the MUD), an old project, I had a weapon selection algorithm. It gagued the best weapon for use in an attack based on range, ammo/mana points remaining, damage, enemy health and number, and play input (players could weigh weapons higher than others if they prefer them, or tell the AI to choose them no matter what.

Against many goblins, the cheap and effective Zap spell was fine. However, against a rogue, a weapon with greater stopping power is needed. Beyond that, you are running out of mana, so the crossbow is your only viable choice.

Again, best of luck.

Lord of Water wrote:

How do you lessen the macro-i-zation? In DitMUD (Die in the MUD), an old project, I had a weapon selection algorithm. It gagued the best weapon for use in an attack based on range, ammo/mana points remaining, damage, enemy health and number, and play input (players could weigh weapons higher than others if they prefer them, or tell the AI to choose them no matter what.

This would drive a seasoned strategic player nuts unless it was coded to perfection, and even then it might be annoying. If games I play detected what I wanted to use, I might as well not even bother doing any advanced thinking. Half of being good at a game is knowing what to do, when to do it, and how to execute it most effeciently. If it's all handled by the system, you're making a game that balances skilled players against non-skilled players, which then leaves only generic stats and the "time based" structure of a game to seperate the weak from the strong.


~Polatrite~