next »

[87]

HeyGuys,

So I am making a game where you can control up to 3 characters. Each of these characters has 3 combat abilities it can use. You don't move the characters, only tell them which ability to use and where. There are 2 options I am considering for the control scheme...

1) (what I have now) Select a character with 1,2,3, select an ability with Q,W,E, and cast the ability with the LMB.
2) Q,W,E to select abilities of first character, A,S,D to select abilities of second character, Z,X,C to select abilities of third character.

Option 1 uses less buttons, and is natural to anyone who has played RTS. However, it makes moving between characters necessary, hence it maybe slower for players, and they will need to work on their micromanagement skills.

Option 2 uses more buttons, but is very direct. It can be considered like controlling 1 character with 9 spells, instead of 3 characters with 3 spells.

Which of these would you go with if you were in my place? Any opinion is much appreciated!

 

[JWK5]

First and foremost, create a demo featuring each and then see how well they work in play, you won't really know what works best until you do.

That said, it's all really going to depend on the timing and flow of combat, (1) will probably work better with slower paced combat where the player has more time to think and (2) will probably work better in faster paced combat. (2) is very likely to cause a lot of situations where the player gets their buttons mixed up and fires off the wrong action which will cause a lot of unnecessary frustration. On the other hand, if there is some sound logic to how the actions are arranged then the mix-ups can likely be mitigated. For example:

(Z) Character 1, Close
(X) Character 1, Mid-Range
(C) Character 1, Long Range

(A) Character 2, Close
(S) Character 2, Mid-Range
(D) Character 2, Long Range

(Q) Character 3, Close
(W) Character 3, Mid-Range
(E) Character 3, Long Range

In this case, the buttons are arranged in columns and rows based on their relational functions. Each row is a character, each column is an attack of a certain range. Or, if setup for a controller (example: PS1/2/3), it could be something like (L1) and (R1) switch between characters, (Square): Close, (Triangle): Mid, (Circle): Long.

The point is you can create mental shortcuts for the player to use to make quick and accurate judgments.

[Tobers]

That was a really good answer. All I'm gonna add is that without playing it, I'd guess that the first option sounds like it will work best. Reminds me of red alert 3 kinda, only a bit trickier.

[87]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the responses... many valid points JWK5 Abilities are going to be customizable (player selects which abilities he equips each character with). I added the LMB click requirement to avoid mess-ups (player selects spell, notices it is the wrong one, switches). But eventually, from testing and from deciding more where I wanna go with enemy design (it's gonna be a slower-paced game), I think I'm gonna go with the first option.

Thanks again!

[Sik]

I don't have enough details to go with, but honestly this sounds like you could get away with just using the mouse (having the character abilities be buttons on screen you can click on). That would definitely reduce the learning curve a lot and possibly make it easier to use too (maybe leaving the keyboard buttons as shortcuts).