EN/ Devblog #04: Battle System v2

The new version of the battle system is finished, so it's time to take a look at the new features and changes that await you in v0.4.0.

Preamble

When working on the investigation system in v0.3.0, we found that the interface was not contemporary enough and too cartoonish. That's why the interface for this feature has been made differently to better suit our vision.

As the result was very satisfying, we extended the changes to the whole general interface in v0.4.0.

When we had to do it for the battle interface, we found it more relevant to take the opportunity to review everything that was wrong and to make a version 2 of the system rather than just a graphical redesign. That's what made the task take us much longer than expected.

The way the battle works remains the same, but we took the opportunity to review all the code, part of the interface and especially the indications to make everything clearer for the players.

Here is a comparison between old (on top) and new (on bottom) system:

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Major Changes

• In order to lighten the interface, we kept bars only for health points and focus (we'll come to that later).

• The round and turns are now grouped together and only one circle is enough to know who is playing: the full circle indicates that both fighters can play, otherwise the one whose half is full is playing.

• The skill information window (left image) is better structured: as before, it summarizes the information of the skill but it also indicates the effects more clearly and in some cases it also indicates if the skill is impacted by boosts/malus impacting its user (e.g.: if you have a speed malus, the information window will tell you so).
• Boosts/malus now also have an information window (right image). By placing the cursor on it, you will be able to see all the effects that affect a fighter

• Various scrolling texts indicate more clearly what is happening, such as a skill whose effect is activated, an effect that dissipates, or the beginning of a turn.

Other changes

• We have added several animations to make the interface livelier when you win/lose health points, when two skills collide, when your skills appear...
• Mandatory defeats end with "Finished" instead of "Defeat" to make a clear distinction between the battles you can win and those you can't.
• Other minor changes will appear in the v0.4.0 changelog.

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Now let's look at some of the different features planned for battle in versions 0.4.0 and 0.5.0.

Focus

We may have already talked about it under the term "potential", now it is called Focus.

It's a new characteristic that you will discover in the new version, in an... unexpected way.

It works in a simple way: a focus bar starts at 0 and every time a fighter uses a skill, if they don't receive a critical hit (when the type of a skill beats another), the focus bar gains a point.

Once they have enough points, a fighter can spend them to activate a Talent (we were talking about it before as "Ultimate"), which has superior effects to the skills and is specific to each fighter. Using your skills well can turn a fight around!

Partner

You could already see in the investigation system that there was a slot for a partner. This will also be the case in battle.

The partner will be an ally offering you passive bonuses or bonuses to be activated during combat. The bonuses differ for each character and while some partners will be obtained via the scenario, others will have to be unlocked via their personal story or challenges.

This feature is planned for v0.5.0.

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So much for the important elements of this rework!

We hope you will like version 2 of the battle system and if you have any feedback or questions do not hesitate to comment here or on Discord 😊.

-Sunny & Zack