Just after some opinions ... relate to an RPG ... 1. If your character is much stronger than an enemy, should said enemy attack from behind using hit & run tactics, or go for backup ... unless, of course, they are berserk or defending a nest, then they will attack blindly ... 2. At the moment, if you cast a spell from a certain distance away (dependent on the skill of the enemy) the enemy may or may not have time to react and either dodge, cast a shield or deflect it. Should I leave it mainly as a distance/ability thing, or include a random chance of ducking/dodging in time if too close ? In other words, how do I stop it from making the good enemies too good ? 3. A control system uses left click to move, right click to fire, shift to power up (and right to fire a more powerful blast) and the up & down keys to levitate. Do you see this as an easy to use control system ? Merrick

morfe,

Can you tell something about your perspective? Is this iso? If so, how will you show / handle levitation distance, and how does it play a role?

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Just waiting for the mothership...

Sorry ... heightmapped/deformable isometric engine (D3D). The levitation is shown via shadow (size and darkness), and it plays a role in both combat and navigating certain obstacles, but it is learnt, not given, not always available (dependent on dampening fields and health levels), and limits your attacks since it takes a certain amount of concentration.

Okay, because I've been playing MAME, I'm thinking of something like Zaxxon here. Depending on what you've got planned, the shadow things may or may not work. For instance, if there're a lot of projectiles coming at you, you'll need to know their height, right? So you need shadows on them, which may be tricky for small, slender things like arrows (or even fireballs).

As to the control scheme: I'm a fan of remappable keys. I prefer my left hand to be near the left side of the keyboard, esp. if I have to use the mouse. There's no reason why, say, R & F couldn't be my up and down, and SPACE my CTRL key, is there?

As far as AI: This is tough to say w/o more detail. If the enemy runs away, that means you have to chase them. Too much of that can be damn annoying if your speeds are near equal-- but this depends on the game, and what else you might be able to do (set traps for instance, or circle around on them, or levitate over obstacles).

In terms of spell casting, I wasn't sure of the question. Is the choice between a chance to hit going down with distance (maybe because they can see it coming) or just a percentage. Either way, you can establish a reaction time variable, vary it somewhat by enemy, and lower the overall baseline to match difficulty level I think. Was that what you were asking?

Oh yeah, forgot to ask about aiming. Is height a factor in chance to hit? Do you plan to have enemies above one another, and if so, how do you aim?

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Just waiting for the mothership...

Edited by - Wavinator on October 2, 2000 4:00:38 PM