Waiting...

...well this was done while I was waiting to get the internet access back from our ISP at the office... then it was modified at home to fit my android asus tablet! as a live wallpaper.







here is the video!

Rush's Queue

In all Turn Based Combat RPGs, a virtual (and most times visible) queue is implemented to set each of the character's turn to perform actions, it was meant to emulate the Iniciative rolls used on P&P RPGs, consisting of a random number draw plus the reaction trait value of each character, this was simple enough for people to use on paper and it was simple for computer games too, but the lather can do so much more.

To make things more interesting in video games, the queue became Active, this meant that the player now had to input the characters actions with haste, since taking too long would allow Foes to cut in line and attack.

I don't think the Queue systems have changed that much over time, instead the addition of characters position and/or area of attack where used in some games to make the players take extra turns in order to reach certain foes, this added more depth to the game's tactical repertoire but turns where still just based on the NEXT! idea.

In this post I'll combine all of Rush's rules so far; and for this, let me introduce our contestants:

Necro-Jester Vs Dragon-Knight, and their party of course...

One of Rush's Queue ideas, is to randomly generate the characters "roll" on every loop, this means that when a full round has been completed, the order in witch the characters will act is recalculated, thus adding a bit of chaos while creating a strategy in combat. It is a simple addition that could just be enabled on harder difficulty levels. Here are their party configurations:

The Order: Undead 00, D.Chain, Warbarian, Dragon Knight, Jester, Undead 01 and  Sorceress.

CSS class

Ok so I've done some JS on Code Academy, a few bits of HTML and then I jumped to CSS, it seams that the smart thing to do finally got to HTML by separating the looks from the brains of a web-page (and it has been a while since that happened!). In the first few exercises, I was introduced to a few styles that could be applied to bits of text selections caught between <spam></spam> tags; after that they where caught between <p></p> tags and finally I got to read about CSS classes, what a relief! this really makes it all more readable, there was a part of the exercises that emphasized on that by making me add a bunch of CSS tags and properties to so many bits of text separately, and all of them within <spam> & </p> tags; those where 5 minutes of hell... and there was no brain to it!...
This is pretty simple stuff in the course but, by browsing Code Academy's code, I found a bunch of classes for the instructions texts that appear on the side they use it mostly between <div></div> tags, this allows the use of extra configuration classes inside the <p></p> tags, this way one class takes control of a mayor view while the next inside class makes more precise changes and so on... until the <spam></spam> tags get to be used.

this is it for today...

Combinations on Rush

I can remember just a few games (Chrono Trigger) where you could send several characters to perform an action together, and since most turn Based Combat RPGs have evolved into an ever growing list of Turn Based Strategy games, where instead of a party there's an army whose movement and position is more important than the actions itself, making combinations go into oblivion; its the main reason why I decided that... 

Combined Actions

Had to be a part of Rush. Several characters can join in on any kind of action, whether they are physical attacks, spells, even a defending stance, crating this way, a more difficult duel or reaction for the opponent, more powerful actions or reducing any of the action's requirements. This is the part of the system that will force strategy into the player, figuring out when is best to use Combined Actions and when not to, also in some cases, when it is required to.

Different kinds of Actions can be combined

Combining is meant to provide greater results than each character using separate actions, this requires some kind of commitment, this is why the main requirement is for all characters involved in a Combination to be on the same Queue's time frame; but as an outcome, they are all left open for attacks until the next turn.

The Queue will explain how all of this comes together, just hang out until I get the rest of the parts of Rush keep popping into my head...

Defense on Rush

In most games (I've played), defense plays a secondary, almost useless role in combat. Mainly, it has been used to reduce the enemy's physical attack effects (or damage), but with no real defense strategy. Since for now, the Rush Combat System has been all about using actions as attacks, the only way described to defend is by reacting to a Rush attempt, so I would like to propose the...

Active Defense Action

Normal Attack Vs Normal Defense

Used on the player's turn, choosing not to Rush but instead to Defend itself, or another character; the Leader (or selected character) will stand its ground, waiting for a Foe's action, if attacked, it forces a duel against the opponent.The objective is  to counter the action before it starts, thus denying the attack completely.

You'll have to go through me!!

As mentioned above, the Leader can choose to protect a party member, this allows those character to remain safe, whether to prepare a special action that requires more than one turn to accomplish, or for simple protection.This opens up special scenarios where specific actions must be used in order to complete a Quest or defeat/weaken a special Enemy. This move applies specially to the Hero and Temp Leaders.

You must duel against both the Undead and the Dancing Chains

In the Captain's setting, the party members use their active defense to protect it from incoming attacks, by placing themselves in front any attackers and dueling. Even on a defender's failled attempt in a duel, provides the main target an advantage on its defence interaction, since every duel acts as a Rush attempt, it increases the action's dificulty level for the attacker.

The art for this post was done by me! using Blender 3D, with low resolution renders.
To get that old school feeling... check out my swaps.

The Party's Leader part 2

As mentioned before on the previous post, Rush focuses on the Leader, but this does not mean that there is just one way for Leaders to fight. There are many different kinds of Leaders and in this post I will share some ideas for their set up.

The Hero

This setting portrays one of the characters, not only as the most important one but also, as the most powerful one, the destiny's chosen one. This kind of Leader will jump in head first into combat, regardless of what the rest of the party is doing, and sometimes even protecting the rest of the party. Most Knights or Paladins, and even Barbarians may fits on this category.

Stand back, I'll get this!...

The Hero plays out the same way it was described on the first post, they'll get their chance to attack and take it, cleaving its way through the enemy lines, rarely requiering any assistance from its party members, and if they do, it consist mostly on improvements to its own abilities. They act like an Army of One.

The Captain

This is the kind of Leader that uses the strength of its party as its own, meaning that the party members are sent to Rush by the Leader's abilities. Its role and abilities are meant to provide buffs or activate special abilities to its party members. This is a support character class turned into a Leader.

Go Get'em!... minions...

The Captain is a great way to introduce Necromancers, Druids and even a new way for Bards and Cleric healers into this kind of games, where the party members would not act unless covered by the Leader's aid, waiting for its command and defending it in the meantime. The Captain is the Party as a Character.

The Temp

Not all Leaders are this extreme, there is a place for Leaders that work well with others; in fact they work so well that there is no real felling that there is a Leader what so ever. Mashed up between the Hero and the Captain, we get the Temp Leader, which exist in a setting where it does not stand out, so at any point in a game, or even in combat, any character could be the Temp Leader; yes, even during combat.

Any of this Ninjas could be the Leader

A Temp Leader can use party members both as support or as part of its own actions, meaning that it is the setting used if the Game does not need or want to use one of the special cases, but still uses Rush.

Hope you like them, and if you have an idea leave a comment! :)
Thanks to djbisparulz for the art!
And soon part three The Defense System.

Variant The Party's Leader

Turn based RPGs have had years of existence; there are one character RPGs, like Diablo, Ever Quest, and Party RPGs like the Final Fantasies, Earth Bound and so on. In Party RPGs, most of the times (if not always) there is one character in particular who is, at least, a bit more important to the game's plot than the rest (cough Cloud), the Lead Character. What I'm about to propose is to modify the regular combat system rules to create one where the Leader's presence is what really matters; a turn based combat system I call RUSH.

To explain Rush, lets take the old Combat Queue out of the equation, and the party's size, is not importat at the moment. The fight begins and its the player's turn, there is no need to select the Leader since its traits and chance made it act first, and its going to be facing one of its Foes; both parties will be ignore at the moment, so imagine them busy with each other or running around the battlefield. The UI for selecting actions appears, the player makes its choice and it is executed at once, with no waiting nor need to know what the rest of the cast will do, the player just needs to focus on making that ability play out the best way possible.

Rush attack successful and will continue...

If successful then the Leader has the chance to use another ability, repeat the same one, or even let a different party member into action, over and over again, even if the Foe is downed; however, every time an action is played, the following ones get harder and harder to perform, until the player makes a bad roll and the ability is played out poorly, allowing the defending Foe to start its turn, if any is still available.

The Follow up!, a second action that can go on and on...

While being attack might seem harsh, the defender also has the chance to play against the ability, trying to outperform the attacker, not only to reduce the attacks effects but also, if the defender is good enough, its more likely that its turn might come up sooner. Now in the awesome case that both performed equally well, then a Duel kind of interaction must be played out, with a nice handicap on the attacker in the same way its actions get harder to pull, to check whose turn will it be.

Who will Rush whom this time..

This is it for now, I'll keep posting on the subject...
Thanks Pityu777 for the art!

Variant for Hit Points

My take on Hit Points. All video games make use of HP, characters get a value to represent how much damage they can take, and that is it. Maybe it seems simple for players, or everyone is just used to this.


Making Hit Points an integral part of the Action System, not only as a representation of a Character's "life" but more like the "Stamina Cost" required to be on combat and use any kind of actions, whether it is a special attack, asking for assistance, a defense opportunity; it is an interesting idea that I've had for a long time, that can by used for any kind of game (with characters). 


To balance the need for this costs, Regeneration is applied at the beginning of every turn/cycle. The ability to recover Stamina must be tied to one of the Character Traits, allowing for some Character to improve recovery, while a different Trait provides improved Stamina (meaning more stamina). For some reason, I've tied High Regen to Spell Casters and More Stamina to the Warrior kind, leaving Rogue style characters in the middle.

In my opinion, there are two ways that the Stamina/Regeneration system can be represented, and it is a duck or bunny situation here, the game can use character traits to either 1.-improve the stamina and regeneration- or, 2.-reduce all stamina costs-. It would be on the developer's side to decide what could be better to implement, so lets expand on this.

1. Traits that Increase Stamina/Regeneration; in this case, the values that are increased are those for the character, meaning that they get more max stamina, more regeneration per turn/cycle, while all actions have a fixed cost that never changes. This method uses real values, i.e. rice skeletal archer costs 10.
2. Traits that Lower Costs, in this scenario the action's costs get reduced as the character's level improves, and the characters trait's values are fixed; so instead of using a real value for representation, the best option is to use percentage, i.e. Cleave costs 2%.

The use of this Self Healing System, allows some interesting situations for players to experience, some examples can be:

• the abuse of a character's complete stamina in a Rush (*link next)
• to have the Leader rice after being defeated
• involving more characters to pay for the cost of another character's ability
• your pick here....

Turn based RPG Challenge

I stop with the Javacipt course from Mozzilla's U, since I took some of Code Academy's classes, but now it's time to write a bit about Game Design.

I took up a Came Carrier Guide challenge about old style RPGs combat systems, without posting it, and since then I have been changing this Google Doc about it constantly, but I believe that it's time to start sharing some lines from it.

Today lets begin with the idea at hand, a Turn Based Combat System where the player's party is a Group with a Leader. Most TBRPGs have a party but aside from the Leader having a special place on the game's main plot, it is no different from any other of the party members in combat, for the player that is. There are many examples of this in my SNES background as a Gamer, from all the Final Fantasys with Terra or Cloud as Leaders and Chrono Trigger where all characters had some sort of special interactions between them and Chrono, the Leader.

The following posts will develop more about the idea at hand.