Okay people, this is a clever idea for a combat system I thought of. Note that this crosses out most of what the ZP team is working on, so their is a 0% chance it will get implanted into the game. So ZP Team, don't lock the topic, remove it, etc. This is just a little fun thing I thought of I wanted to post.
Where to start? Well, the main (and best) thing about this is that, while still Turn-Based, fights are fought on a map. Yes, a MAP. More specifically, on a grid of squares. That means that objects can be shown in combat, enemies can be found in entirely different places, and you can get a feel of exactly where you are on the map. The grid would reflect where you are in the world, for instance if you are on a generic tile you would get a generic or random map, or in a building you will fight close and short battles. This could also tie into the safehouse feature, where you could customize the location's grid so it is most easily defended.
Here are the basics of combat, listed below.
1. Combat can start randomly, or you can start a fight to gain EXP and Cash (like in the game now).
2. Each unit (you and each zombie, raider, ect.)can move once a round.
3. Your weapon can fire at any tile, as long as there is a sight line to the target.
4. The type of weapon shows accuracy for each tile away the target is (I.E. If the target is 4 tiles away and you fire your gun, their could be a 60% chance to hit, while the same gun fired 7 tiles away has a 15% chance to hit).
5. Movement is based off of the type of equipment you have and the amount your carrying (I.E. If you have full SWAT armor and a minigun, you won't be able to move very far).
6. More than one player can be on the same grid, fighting the same zombies.
7. Guns can be fired real slow or automatically (based on the type of gun).
8. Firing automatically or similarly fast gives the highest chance of hitting a opponent per round, and is the best way to kill a zombie.
9. Firing slowly will not have as much damage per round as automatically or similarly fast, but is the best way to conserve ammo by giving the best damage per shot. (Note: Damage will not increase when firing slowly, but the chance to hit a zombie will go up. Automatically will waste lots of ammo with it's low hit rate, but fires lots of shots per round.)
10. If that was confusing, just remember: Slower fire rates save ammo, higher fire rates give more damage per round.
11. Each grid will consist of several tile types, such as walls, pavement, and barricades. These tiles do different things (I.E. Pavement can be walked on freely, walls cannot and block the LOS, barricades can be shot through but not walk through, and zombies can do damage to them, eventually destroying them).
12. To exit combat, you must kill all enemies or escape.
13. To escape, stay out of your opponents LOS for a few turns, then leave the grid.
14. Leaving the grid will move you to the area you exited to, like entering a building will move you into that building, or exiting to the north will move you north 1 map (not grid)tile.
Now for the more specific stuff. Lets start with stats, and what they mean.
Agility is what you would expect. Higher agility will allow you to dodge more attacks, and increase basic tile movement.
Constitution will be the same as current.
Strength will increase unarmed damage and accuracy, as well as how much you can carry.
Note: Penalty for moving based on equipment and weight is measured in a percentage. So if a guy with 1 strength is carrying his weight limit, a person with 100 strength (who can carry far more) with the same equipment has far less movement penalties.
Smarts does not affect combat, though you will be jumped less often.
Marksmanship will give 2% chance to hit per point if the enemy is at minimum range, and this bonus is decreased based on weapon's relative accuracy to the minimum range (I.E. If a weapon's minimum range accuracy is 50%, and the next farthest tile from the minimum range is 25%, a point in marksmanship will give a 1% to the 25%).
Close Combat will give a 1% chance to hit and a 1% damage bonus to melee weapons that are not your fists.
Technical affects traps used in combat, since traps aren't in the game yet I can give a detailed low-down on this stat.
Now for weapon stats.
I have already explained the accuracy stat for weapons. For those of you that got bored reading and skipped ahead, a weapon stat list shows it's accuracy over range, so firing farther away from you give less chance of hitting.
Damage is simple, the range of the possible damage per hit on a target. Just like in the game now.
Range shows the minimum range and maximum range of the weapon. Weapons can be fired beyond these ranges, at a steep 80% accuracy loss. This percentage is taken out of the nearest range's accuracy rating. So if you fire closer than the minimum, you suffer a 80% accuracy loss from the minimum range's accuracy rating, and vice-versa.
Firing types shows the types of modes a weapon can be fired in. A top-of-the-line AR can have semi-auto, 3 round burst, and automatic firing modes, while a semi-auto pistol can simply have slow or fast.
Value shows how much the weapon's value is. Different shops pay different percentages of this value.
Upgrades show what attachments, custom parts, and other upgrades you have on the weapon, and what they are doing to the weapon's stats.
Condition shows the weapon's condition as a percentage. Condition goes down at varying speeds based on the weapon, and when it reaches zero, the weapon must be repaired. However it is unlikely it will get their, since you need to keep the weapon's condition up, because it's condition percentage affects stats. So a weapon that's about to break won't have nearly any of the damage it used to have.
Here are some of the things about combat that don't really fit into the other categories.
When you enter melee range with a melee weapon equipped, you get a free attack. This is because you could just run away forever from melee attackers with the one turn rule not bent this way.
You cannot leave the combat zone if the enemy knows where you are.
At the start of the battle, you are given several numbers along with corresponding stamina points. these are "par times". Reaching a par time gives you that time's stamina penalty (I.E. If the par times are 5 turns, 10 turns, and 15 turns, and the battle lasts 11 turns, you get the penalty shown with the 10 turns par time). If you do a battle under all the par times, your EXP and Cash awarded for that battle are given a 25% bonus, and you only suffer a 2 Stamina penalty.
Some areas (such as roofs or barricaded buildings) allow you to shoot at enemies from other areas. However, range still applies from your "sniper" position, and once combat starts, they will try to enter your zone. If they succeed, you must finish them off from your "sniper" zone.
You can crouch and move 50% of what you normally do on that turn, and you gain a 10% accuracy bonus on attacks made on turns when crouching. Crouching can also get you over low obstacles (in the from of crouch-only tiles).
Well...I guess that's it. I can't think of any more, put some comments below with suggestions about my battle system, comments about what you think is good and bad, or anything else related to this. Just remember, THIS WILL NOT BE IMPLANTED IN THE GAME! So don't go begging the ZP team to put this in, or copying it and posting in the beta feedback. All right, this is Joe Moma, signing out! |