[WIP] Partisan Tactics Battles : Animations, woah

[snake]

I haven't read up everything on the topic yet, I'll admit that. None the less, I thought I'd point out something that's been bothering me about some of the characters.



Edits on top. I just felt some of 'em were a little flat of out of perspective. The crack in the cloak on the right characters seemed to stray to much to the right in my eyes, but as you can see in my edit (the one on the far right) the feet look out of perspective then, so I'm a little puzzled by that at the moment. Can't remake the feet at this point, so the edit might not be necessary. *shrug*

Oh, just ignore the Link. I'm drugged on Twilight Princess 

[ndchristie]

How about a warlock/mage?  It may be a bit more Warcraft than FFT, but it will be fun to create and adds more variance.

there is no simple Mage class in the game because the main story revolves around a conflict between the alchemists, a tradition that has existed for centuries, and the mechanists who believe in the independant powers of science and engineering

here is an explanation of the types of "magic" as best i can give it:

mechanical - this is not really even "magic," the processes being entirely scientific in nature.
                             spells = tools.  flamethrowers, watercannons,  etc are used to generate effects.  my personal favorite is the Spanner: a basic tool thrown for non-elemental damage
                             constructs = clockwork soldiers.  essentially robots, they are connected to a character or soldier by a control band that picks up on impulses originating from the wearer's brain.  the farther they are from the wearer, the weaker the signal waves, so the weaker the construct.

alchemical - this magic type involves the harnessing of demons that reside within all things.
                             spells = runecards.  demon spirits, such as fire demons, water demons, etc, are trapped within each rune and then released to generate effects.
                             constructs = summoned demons.  these demons who are actually manifested in the temporal plane because of a direct connection to the host via a talisman or other charm.  as the demon gets farther away from the bearer of the charm, its connection to the temporal plane is weakened, and it loses strength accordingly

there also will be certain character who harness Divine magics, which feed off the soul of the wielder and require years of spiritual exercise and training in order to use.  technically, all of these spells are considered skills, as they do not require the use of an item to be performed.  the divine are able to project their spirit a short way beyond their bodies, which functions similarly to a construct.

hope that clears things up

also, a top hat might be fun, but id have difficulty trying to work it into the job classes?  we're looking at effectively the 14-1600's with steampunk/da vinciesque machines and magic.  if you can figure a way to work it in, definately post



snake, thats intersting, and ill definately do some mild reworking to make it work better, particularly the heads, thanks for the input.  your link is 1337

[Feron]

Well perhaps you can have lords/dukes, people who are highest in the ranks and pretty much the control of the forces.

[ndchristie]

my main concern is that top hats were only made staring around 1800, but what do people think?  should i worry about anachronism in a game set in a renaissance-era island kingdom full of demons, robots, and pirates?  so far, the doctor is the only job class that has really busted out of the era

[big brother]

Maybe give the top hats to the doctors... They could be like the gentlemen doctors of the Victorian era. If it's the one class that doesn't fit, you might as well push it farther. Besides, the top hat would make them easily identifiable. For lower-ranked doctors, you could use a bowler hat instead.

After reading your descriptions, I doubt you should be worried about anachronism or even realism in this game.

[Darien]

After reading your descriptions, I doubt you should be worried about anachronism or even realism in this game.

I don't agree.  It's one thing to add machines and expect the player to accept it as a fantasy world with machines, that's one thing.  It's been done before anyways.  But if you just decide anything goes, it will be challenging the player's ability to take the game at least a little bit seriously.  Top hats seem borderline of what I would be comfortable seeing, at least that's how I feel at the moment.  Anything beyond that and I begin to lose interest.

[Sqorgar]

Sqorgar - bugger, at least in the sense i know it, does not connote homosexuality, i had no idea there was even the vaguest of connections.  furthermore i did not mean it in any sort of derrogatory manner, so i appologize for offense it caused.

I've been called worse. Still, now you know. "bugger" means to sodomize (not necessarily a man, it's not homosexual) and depending on who you are talking to, can be a very vulgar word up there with the f-word in the US.

also, i wasnt aware of skewing the shot in my favor, it was my understanding that you asked for 9 men on an isometric map, and i gave you a shot with 10 crammed into a rediculously small map, though now i do realise that what you wanted was something a bit more specific from that which you asked for.  you also, as darien has pointed out, have clearly skewd the shot in such a way that i think did your point more harm than good, by cramming in many more soldiers together than there ever would be in that tight an area, and none of them are characters or constructs.  as far as i can see, you havent really made a point with those image

I exaggerated the image to make the point. You have to design for a worst case scenario, and with the tile spaces you use, the worst case scenario is when units are lined up diagonally, such that they overlap each other. I could've used the same point using only four characters. And what was the number of units you said there would be? Six to ten with additional constructs? Even with just six per side (twelve total), it is easily conceivable that a situation could arise where they are clumped together in a brutal melee battle. Yes, it is an absolute worst case scenario, but it's not as exaggerated as you think.

You see, the correct way to look at that isn't "something like that probably won't happen", but instead "what am I doing to make sure that won't happen?"

and, apparently, so do riflemen?

A rifleman has never been surrounded on all sides by melee characters?

Helm I think puts it best when he says, "I am not your little sister."

If I thought that you could handle what I said with dignity and grace, I wouldn't have removed it.

[Meta|Fox]

there is no simple Mage class in the game because the main story revolves around a conflict between the alchemists, a tradition that has existed for centuries, and the mechanists who believe in the independant powers of science and engineering

here is an explanation of the types of "magic" as best i can give it:

mechanical - this is not really even "magic," the processes being entirely scientific in nature.
                             spells = tools.  flamethrowers, watercannons,  etc are used to generate effects.  my personal favorite is the Spanner: a basic tool thrown for non-elemental damage
                             constructs = clockwork soldiers.  essentially robots, they are connected to a character or soldier by a control band that picks up on impulses originating from the wearer's brain.  the farther they are from the wearer, the weaker the signal waves, so the weaker the construct.

alchemical - this magic type involves the harnessing of demons that reside within all things.
                             spells = runecards.  demon spirits, such as fire demons, water demons, etc, are trapped within each rune and then released to generate effects.
                             constructs = summoned demons.  these demons who are actually manifested in the temporal plane because of a direct connection to the host via a talisman or other charm.  as the demon gets farther away from the bearer of the charm, its connection to the temporal plane is weakened, and it loses strength accordingly

there also will be certain character who harness Divine magics, which feed off the soul of the wielder and require years of spiritual exercise and training in order to use.  technically, all of these spells are considered skills, as they do not require the use of an item to be performed.  the divine are able to project their spirit a short way beyond their bodies, which functions similarly to a construct.

hope that clears things up

also, a top hat might be fun, but id have difficulty trying to work it into the job classes?  we're looking at effectively the 14-1600's with steampunk/da vinciesque machines and magic.  if you can figure a way to work it in, definately post



snake, thats intersting, and ill definately do some mild reworking to make it work better, particularly the heads, thanks for the input.  your link is 1337

Wow, this is really weird, i myself am all very interested in the whole Steampunk/magic/tophats kinda of thing and myself have always wanted to make a game like FFTA with that as its theme (alchemists and all)... its like you've had the near exacted same idea as i have... thats kinda annoying actually. Not that I'm attacking you or anything, its just... hrm. weird.

[ndchristie]

If I thought that you could handle what I said with dignity and grace, I wouldn't have removed it.

I hope you realise that a statement like this, and quite a few others you have made, is not a sign of the aforementioned qualities




so far, the only point youve made is that crowds are more difficult to see, which is common sense.  the images youve provided of my guys in a crowd are still easily readable to me, though they do take longer to see than when characters are spread out.
making these characters different colors and shapes will not solve that problem in our project or any project
do you have a solution to this problem in mind?

Meta - id love to hear your ideas, and the story is in early enough stages to add stuff that i think is good.  PM me or contact me over AIM if yould like to give ideas, youll be credited as an assistant writer/designer if our visions are close enough to each other's to be used

Big Brother - im going to see how that works out, update will have further details

Darien - I share your concerns really.  Tophats do seem to push the envelope, because i associate them with the post-napoleonic era, where the other things in the game have kept within a much earlier time, and the robots/magic is not out of the ordinary in a fantasy game

HOWEVER this does not mean that tophats do not belong in this game, though i think bowlers are a bit out of the question really, popularized in the late 1800s if im not mistaken, they really belong to a different setting

but about the tophat, this has given me an idea.  the kingdom in partisan is supposed to be bustling, full of people.  My idea is that everyone who wants their own minor character in the game, can have one if they like.  Feron, this means you

here is the form:

*INCLUDE A CROQUIS OF THE CHARACTER HERE SHOWING FRONT AND BACK VIEWS*

Name:

Personality:

Social Background:

Quest offered (if applicable):

Combat style / job class counterpart (if applicable):

Size and type of town likely to be found:

Stationary or Travelling?:

Additional Comments:

[Feron]

That would be an awesome idea,

I only kidding about tophats to begin with, but then i had a pretty cool vision of a sprite in this style wearing a tophat.