I've been working on a strategy RPG for a while now. I wanted to keep all the damage values in the very small range. Like 2HP enemies, 1 Damage spells and so on. I couldn't come up with a format for this game though. Then last night I got insight. Why not make it in the form of a TCG game? Construct a deck of spells and summons and have them duke it out. Magic: The Gathering even uses small scale critters... But I didn't want to design a whole TCG. I just needed about a dozen or so "cards."
How about turret defense? Those games are popular and most people make at least one. But building turrets to defend against waves wouldn't be what I'm going for. So what about turret attack? Summon waves of creeps to attack the enemy. They aren't completely unheard of. Nah, it doesn't quite work either. There could be turret attack levels, but it shouldn't be the whole game.
I finally decided on a format. AI combat. Each spell has certain rules (printed on its card). A fireball's rules might be "FIRE: 1 Damage. Movement: Forward 2". Once you play the spell the fireball is created and would follow its AI pattern precisely until it hits an enemy or the outer boundary. Of course, with a movement pattern of just Forward would mean anyone could just step out of the way. So let's make the hero's immobile! That wouldn't be fun by itself... so let's add movement cards! Moving one space to the side would mean you can no longer [be] hit by fireballs anymore. So, play the movement card ON the fireball. Once it's beside your enemy just use a movement card to turn it towards the enemy, you now have a sideways moving fireball. On the other hand... the enemy could move himself one space to the side and one space forward in two turns. The fireball would never be able to reach him since with "Forward 2" movement the fireball would always be one tile early/late no matter how you turn it.
Spells would have very simple AI representative of ballistics. But critter summons would be different. A Goblin could have the card "POWER: 1 Damage. 1 Health. Movement: One towards boss (Tie Horizontal)". This would summon the Goblin. He'd move one towards the enemy leader taking the shortest possible path. In the event of a movement tie, the same number of tiles to the destination, the Goblin would prefer the horizontal option. With this in mind, a summoner could use terrain or create walls to prevent the enemy Goblins from reach him (which in turn would limit the enemy in what they can do for attacks).
A lot of Goblins could be trouble. They'd absorb all your fireballs. So why not a Hunter? A critter who's AI pattern is nearest any enemy. They'd seek out and attack Goblins. Back to movement cards; use a movement card to get the Goblin out of harms way while getting it closer to your enemy. Suddenly I got a strategy game going!
All sorts of classic RPG staples like Healing, poison, monsters, bosses and treasures could be summoned to the field in your attempt to defeat the enemy. Slimes that rarely move, traps that deny passages, creatures immune to magic, creatures with amazing speed... Well, looks like I have a lot of work to do. What I like about this project is movement and reactive AI doesn't even need to be in the game, every enemy moves exactly how its card says it will. If the critters are acting stupidly, that's intentional!
I don't work properly, Lok.
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