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[Theophilus]

Hi all~

I come to you today with ideas of commanding your squad in a single player shooter.

My idea is this -


(Drag the image to see the gradient in the selected side. I was dumb and forgot to make it solid in the background.)

Here we have what I call a command square. You will select a side of the square to guide your teammates to use those two options. Opposite corners will have opposite actions.

In the top left corner: ATTACK
In the top right corner: SPECIAL
In the bottom right corner: GUARD
In the bottom left corner: NORMAL

When the side is selected, your teammates will stop their current actions (Defaulted to an idle stance, which is G-N) and perform an action based on the two that the captain, the player, selects.

1) ATTACK-SPECIAL

When selected, your teammates will seek out enemies and attack using special attacks that use PP/Mana/Power Gauge.

2) ATTACK-NORMAL

Teammates will seek out enemies and attack using regular, non-PP consuming moves.

3) GUARD-SPECIAL

Teammates will stand on guard, regroup, and heal teammates, consuming PP.

4) GUARD-REGULAR

Your teammates will stand guard, retaliating if the enemy attacks them, but will not heal each other.


So, is this a good idea or not?

My questions are this.

• Would this add an element of strategy to the game, or is it completely idiot proof? How would you suggest to add a more strategy-rich element into this?
• How would you prefer to see this controlled, as far as the keyboard goes?
• Are SPECIAL and REGULAR too generic to have strategy?
• What if this was done with a triangle instead of a square?
• Would you like to see 'command square' customization, that is, choosing your own keywords?

Thanks for reading such a long post. I look forward to hearing some feedback.

[agersant]

It sounds like an interesting alternative to the system Seiken Densetsu 2 had.



You could position your allies (it's an action RPG) on a checkerboard like this one. The commands read Attack, Approach, Guard, Defend.
The gauge on the right is used to control the level of special attack the character should use.

[Theophilus]

Interesting.. I'll do some research on that.

[Nitromatic]

And it's a damn fine game, too! Enjoyed it alot.

[zombieonion]

Allow the players to customize their own mouse gestures, if possible.
Place most used commands in easy-to-reach spots.

[Theophilus]

Allow the players to customize their own mouse gestures, if possible.
Place most used commands in easy-to-reach spots.

I don't think we're on the same page... I never once said anything about mouse gestures, and each combo will be accessed by the press of a single button.

Here are some mockups of potential designs. I would like to know which is easiest to read, that is, see what's selected at the moment.








Also, please answer the questions! I want more feedback than 'good idea'.

[zombieonion]

What you describing is still mouse gestures, if you are using a BF2-style command rose menu.
First you pop it up with Q, then move mouse left to select the LEFT option, then move up to select UP option.

The 3rd visual was the best imo.

[Theophilus]

What you describing is still mouse gestures, if you are using a BF2-style command rose menu.
First you pop it up with Q, then move mouse left to select the LEFT option, then move up to select UP option.

The 3rd visual was the best imo.

I don't know where you got mouse gestures from.  I'm already using the mouse for something else, so gestures will not do. Which, to be honest, is good, because I've not a clue how to program anything more complex than the direction it's moving in. I was thinking something like the numpad, but then most laptop users would be hard pressed (holding function + a key).

I'm not sure about the control scheme. Maybe I can incorporate mouse gestures some how.

[Kegluneq]

I believe zombieonion thinks you meant something akin to the system used in the Crysis games, where you held down a mouse button and dragged in a generally up/down/left/right direction to select different modes.




Skip ahead to 1:25 and watch the next 30 or so seconds.

[Theophilus]

I believe zombieonion thinks you meant something akin to the system used in the Crysis games, where you held down a mouse button and dragged in a generally up/down/left/right direction to select different modes.




Skip ahead to 1:25 and watch the next 30 or so seconds.

I see.. This might be perfect. Thanks for the video.

[XRA]

I might be confused with your usage, but this reminds me of a Command Circle / Command Ring type of thing in FPS games.  I think the first mainstream game to start using them was Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, at least I hadn't encountered a menu system like it until then.  

They work great for FPS games..soo fast without taking your eyes off the action, and also really well with Analog sticks because the menu selection matches up perfectly with the stick's movement, so they are generally common in console games now, and I'd say that gamers would naturally find them very intuitive because of that, which is great.

Another thing you might want to think about is the "hotbox" menu system in Maya,



It might be a good sysem for games where you need to keep your eyes on units but have more complex sub-menus (the menu items would pop in above your cursor) and avoid lots of repetitive cursor movements to any fixed menu positions.  I think the command circle would still be faster though if dealing with minimal items.

[SundownKid]

I remember a thingy like this in Ace Combat 5, and Mass Effect.



(For the Ace Combat one, clockwise, it's "Attack", "Special Weapon", "Cover", and "Disperse")

[Theophilus]

My system is different though; it is a combo of two things. Instead of selecting one direction, you select one side, where the corners meet two attributes. Sure they are controlled similarly, but they are entirely different in theory.

I want feedback about that. Is it too difficult to understand at first?

[SundownKid]

I don't think it communicates that at all. What I think would be a better idea is if it only had two buttons to press. Up is Attack, Down is Guard. Press the Attack button again and it switches to 'special', same for the Guard button.

[XRA]

that's why I was a bit confused, I guess in the end there are still just 4 choices, so the original thought might get lost on players.

The distinction between AS and AN is clear to me, but for GS and GN it is a bit fuzzy,

-Will they retaliate with normal attacks (non pp), when GR (GN?) is selected and special attacks when GS is chosen, seems like it?
-Do they only Regroup when GS is selected? What if you want them to heal without regrouping, for example maybe one of their PP consuming abilities is a Special Heal that goes long range?
-another thought related to that is a Special ReGroup, maybe a teleport or something.. just throwing ideas out.

Is Regroup something that could serve enough use on its own?

Since Special/Regular can apply to Attack and Guard I sort of favor just having that be applied based on how you choose Attack or Guard, similar to what SundownKid said.  I'd try a double-click if you're doing a menu, or a modifier key or a double-tap.. etc

[Theophilus]

Hmmm. Sounds like my idea needs a lot more work. I'll work on it some more, please be patient.