1. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Senior Member

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    Turn based combat

    Discussion in 'Entertainment' started by TheApprentice, Jan 13, 2014.

    This is better news for others more than me, but I have been hearing rumors that mass effect 4 is coming out and will be turn-based. On top of this, I hear all the time people loving turn based combat in video games while all it does is bore a lot of other people like myself.

    I am sure that a lot of game companies will hear the turn based combat fanatics as they are speaking louder every day, and start pumping out more games like the old final fantasy games and fallout 1 and 2, sad news for gamers who love real time combat only but don't speak as much about it.

    I didn't make this thread only to complain (maybe a little) but what I'm really trying to do is propose asking the company's to give the player a choice at the beginning of the game, so nobody winds up disappointed and everyone is happy. What say all of you? And if you like turn based combat, tell me what is so exciting about it.
     
  2. Orihalcon

    Orihalcon Senior Member

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    I think people who are drawn to turn-based combat like the strategic elements of the system while still retaining the things that makes real-time combat attractive: the pacing and the level of intimacy (contrast controlling a handful characters with controlling, say, a battalion). Of course, you sacrifice the strategic aspects that are particular to real-time combat. I used to like games that had turn-based combat but looking at some of my favorite games, I realize that I'm personally not a fan of it at all.

    I wonder how much effort they'd need to put into implementing two combat systems. You'd have to do almost twice the design work and balancing and possibly add more animations. And of course, you'd have to design every combat so that they would work well in both combat systems which includes the situations they occur in and how well these situations can be tied to the story.
     
  3. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Senior Member

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    They made a game like I described at the dawn of the last game generation. It was birds eye view and a strategy game though.
     
  4. Orihalcon

    Orihalcon Senior Member

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    Of course, the difficulty involved in this solution depends on the complexity and the scope of the game.
     
  5. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

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    Mass Effect being Mass Effect, an option of combat styles would probably equal three or four times the work. All the different routes players can take, all the different arenas for combat, etc. would have to be synced with both styles, and that would lead to a ton of glitches unless the developers took the time to go through them with a fine-tooth comb.
     
  6. Thomas Kitchen

    Thomas Kitchen Proofreader in the Making Contributor

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    Uh oh. I personally love turn-based combat, but for Mass Effect? Not so sure.

    Great idea, except that takes a lot more time to make, more code to write, and more money to pay. This is one of those "great for the customers, bad for the creators" things. I would love to see something like that, though, as I love both turn-based and real-time combat.

    I grew up around a few adult friends who loved (and still love) wargaming, such as Warhammer and Warhammer 40k. I somehow managed to pick up this hobby and interest as well, and it's just stuck with me I guess, even with video games. There's something about it that I can't really describe. Real-time is great, but sometimes it flows too fast. With turn-based, you can see the combat in a different way.
     
  7. Garball

    Garball Banned Contributor

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    Is this anything like Risk?
     
  8. Thomas Kitchen

    Thomas Kitchen Proofreader in the Making Contributor

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    Are you talking to me? If you are, then Warhammer is kind of like Risk, in the sense that there are actual figures to hold and dice to use. But it's much more complicated like that, if you follow the complete rules, although of course you don't have to - if you can find someone else who wants to play by your simple rules, then all power to you. The figures are much more detailed and are supplied unpainted for you to decorate them as you want, although you can just follow the official paint scheme if you wanted to. It's a really fantastic game, but you need time and (much) money.

    If you were talking about Mass Effect, then no, it's nothing like Risk.

    If you weren't talking about Warhammer or Mass Effect, then I've just wasted a lot of time writing this, and you can ignore me fully. :)
     
  9. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Senior Member

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    Apparently Mass Effect with turn based combat would be like a game called "Enemy Unknown." I haven't played it though. Maybe my references are kind of annoying when I don't post links to what I read. My bad, I can't copy and paste with my Kindle.
     
  10. Bryan Romer

    Bryan Romer Contributor Contributor

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    X-Com Enemy Unknown has nothing to do with Mass Effect. The X-Com series has always been turn based.

    Why do people like turn based combat? If you are talking about X-Com and games like Jagged Alliance, the fun is in making the combat decisions for your team, and then setting everything in motion and watching how your decisions match up against the enemy's actions. Unlike FPS like Doom or games like Mass Effect, speed of reactions and hand-eye coordination are not required to be successful. Since you plotted the actions of each of the team members in detail, it is all your fault if things go to hell in a handbasket and your people die. But you are also totally responsible for the victories too.
     
  11. KatieValino

    KatieValino Member

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    Wait, they rip out my heart with the ending of Mass Effect 3, and now they are making Mass Effect 4 turn based?

    It was ok i guess in games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but that was because the story was so amazing i was willing to push through it for the pure addiction to knowing how the game would end. I suppose Mass Effect has always been super amazing in terms of story so it may very well work, i shall be interested to play it regardless because even with the ending in mind, it is one of my favourite game worlds created and i adore what happens in it.
     
  12. TheApprentice

    TheApprentice Senior Member

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    Meh. I will probably not play it. Though I enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins, I have a strong dislike of turn based video games, especially when there are automatic guns involved.
     
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  13. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    the only "rumor" I can find, is some yutz at whatculture suggesting that it might be a good idea.

    Oh, and this post.
    [​IMG]

    Just from a technical perspective moving from 3rd person to turn based is an incredibly intense indevour, and would require rebuilding a lot of their engine.

    When you add in the fact that most gamers make stylistic choices in their game content, that there is no confirmation from Bioware, and that turn based play has been on the outs for several years now, and I would bet a lot of money that this is, in fact, just a stupid rumor
     
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  14. Pheonix

    Pheonix A Singer of Space Operas and The Fourth Mod of RP Contributor

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    Yeah, I can'r find anything that suggests that Mass Effect 4 would be turned based, other than this very post lol

    If Bioware did that though, I think it would kill the series, as the 3rd person combat was excellent and a staple of games. No clue how they would pull it off unless they did it like Dragon Age: Origins, but even BioWare has moved away from that style in favor of more real time combat systems.
     
  15. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    I've hated turn based combat ever since I played Final Fantasy II on the game boy. "Hey you know what would be great? If I scrolled through menus for five fucking minutes. That'll break up the monotony of getting to my objective in time."

    It would really be like changing the perspective on your fourth novel for no reason.
     

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