Hi! I previously blogged about a game project i've been working on this summer.

(Thread found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=356003)

I've done quite a bit of work since last week and there seemed to be some interest in the game which is why i would like to try and explain it a bit better as well as give some hints on how to play it.

The central part of the game is combat, your five characters against your opponents five. The game is about trying to outsmart your opponent by trying to anticipate his moves but also by managing odds to make the best possible decisions.

Once both player have selected actions for all of their characters these actions are placed in a list in order of resolution. The higher a characters Initiative (Ini), the higher up in this list their actions are placed. However, actions that are performed after other actions have a penalty to initiative that increases the more actions have already been performed. This means that the second and third actions a character perform in the same turn are at an initiative penalty.

Once this is done, all actions are resolved if possible. An action will not be resolved if either the target or the character performing the actions has already been knocked out.

There are 5 basic skills that all characters have available from the beginning.

Strike
Discipline: Melee Combat
Range: Melee

Strike is the basic melee attack skill. There is no skill roll required to hit, opponents however do have a chance to dodge the attack based on their Dex.

Damage is increased both by skill level in Strike and by Str.

Strike requires a melee weapon to use.

Throw
Discipline: Ranged Combat
Range: Melee

Throw is the basic ranged attack skill. The higher the level in Throw, the higher the chance to hit. The attack can however not be dodged. It does the same amount of basic damage as Strike.

Damage is increased by skill level in Throw and Dex.

Throw requires a ranged weapon to use.

Defensive Posture
Discipline: Melee Combat
Range: Self targeting

Defensive posture is a defensive skill that gives the character a chance to dodge incoming melee attacks for the remainder of the round. The higher the skill level, the higher the chance to dodge.

Tip: This skill is most useful as a first skill in the round, and especially useful on characters with high Ini. This due to the fact that if any melee attacks against the character are done before the defensive posture action has resolved, the character will be unprotected by it.

Run Up
Discipline: Ranged Combat
Range: Self targeting

Run Up is a skill that allows the character to do massive damage, but only if no damage is taken between the resolution of the run up action and the resolution of the following attack. If no damage is taken during this time, the next attack will do 200% extra damage. The chance of the run up being successful is based on the level in the skill.

Tip: Although this skill is useable both for melee and ranged attacks it is most useful for characters that are not so easily damaged. Usually ranged characters hiding behind other characters.

Throw Dirt
Discipline: Dirty Combat
Range: Ranged

Throw Dirt is a skill that blinds opponents. If the skill hits their Ini and Dex will be reduced by 50%. The effects duration is random and varies from 1-3 turns.

Tip: This skill is the most useful on characters that you don't anticipate to knock out directly, since if you do the blinding effect will be mostly wasted.



There are more skills to be gained by increasing in the different combat disciplines. Every time you use a skill there is a chance that you will increase its level or the level of the discipline to which it belongs.

The comments i got from the last post were very helpful in the progress of the game development. Although i have reduced the amount of game breaking bugs, there are sure to be some still out there, so please let me know if you find any. I made a form, linked from the Home section of the game, where bugs can be reported.

So, once again, here's the link to the game!

warbands-alpha.herokuapp.com

PS. The game is still in Alpha and not all features are yet implemented. Memory and Intelligence are currently worthless stats