Golden Land Game Elements

Part 2: Combat

2002-11-27

In this series of Golden Land features we cooperate with publisher Russobit and developer Burut to tackle a single element of the game at a time. The feature is split up in an overview of the feature and a short Q&A to get more detailed information about some of the mentioned aspects.

In the opinion of the developers, this system gives the player more options and a more accurate control. It will give the player the possibility to show his tactical abilities. His success or failure will depend not only on his reactions but also on the strategy that is chosen.

Weapons and armor
There are 15 types of weapons in the game such as swords, axes, spears, firearms, ranged weapons, crushing weapons etc.
Armor is divided into 4 types - helmets, armor, shields and leg-pads.
Ranged weapons such as crossbows and bows use various types of ammunition such as different types of arrows and bolts. The inflicted damage differs depending on the type of ammo used.

During combat, your weapons and armor could wear out when it is being used, which influences their effectiveness. Weapons cause less damage and armor looses its defensive properties. You will have to take good care of your inventory and repair your weapons in time, so that your sword is always sharp and will not fall into pieces in battle. Whenever that happens it's good to have another weapon in one of the available weapon quick slots though.

Magic
Many weapon types have magic properties. These properties are generated in a special way, which creates lots of unique items. There are also unique weapons to be found that inflict more and special damage to certain monsters. Besides this there is also the possibility to use a wide range of spells divided into six schools of magic that include not only destructive spells, but also protective and healing spells.

Skills
The weapons and armor play an important part, but only the skills the player has and uses will allow using a weapon to its full efficiency and give you additional possibilities during fights.
Skills are divided according to weapon types, for example when using the crushing weapon skill, more damage is inflicted by clubs, hammers and maces offering more possibilities. Except specialized skills there are several ones that influence the combat abilities of the character that are not linked to weapon classes, such as Tactics and Art of Combat.

A skill like Aimed shots inflicts more damage. I.e. successful hit in the eye lowers the enemy's accuracy, and broken or wounded leg reduces its movement rate. And ofcourse there are critical hits, they have a special skill that allows developing strength and critical hit chances.

Party members
Each of the party members will be unique and each of them has a history and will have their own behavior. During combat it is possible to set your teammates tactics, change their weapons and armor and use their skills in a way that benefits you most. Maximum efficiency in combat is normally achieved by having your party members use a variety of weapons.

The game uses advanced creature behavior algorithms that take into account what their location is in respect to the player, the characteristics of the landscape and the player combat tactics. Some of the enemies have a high intelligence and a good memory which gives them an ability to foresee the player's actions and adapt to the game style.
The enemies have their own inventory and can also use a variety in potions and spells. Also included are race intolerances between monsters, i.e. they are aggressive not only towards the player, but sometimes to each other as well.

Q & A
RPGDot: How do you gain action points and will every action cost you 1 action point?

Burut: The hero is given a certain amount of action points, based on his characteristics chosen when generating the character. Then, by gaining experience it can develop the Tactics Skill which influences the amount of action points gained and optimizes their usage. The minimal action point is one second which allows making the action calculations more exact and makes it possible to vary the hero's speed depending on his parameters.

RPGDot: What are the benefits I will gain when using combat related skills?

Burut: There are combat skills for each weapon categories. E.g., crushing weapons, throwing weapons, spears and hand-to-hand combat. There are also some separate combat skills such as Tactics, Art of Fighting and Athletics. By developing specialized skills the hero can use the various weapon types better and the inflicted damage, accuracy and other parameters increase. Besides this, in certain stages of development of the hero, he gets new abilities. For example, in the Tactics skill at a certain moment you will get an ability to inflict a series of hits instead of a single hit that requires less action points.

RPGDot: Can I switch weapon/armor during combat without loosing turn or action points?

Burut: During combat your character can switch two sets of weapons without loosing AP. To switch to a weapon from the inventory or to put new armor on, you will have to spend some AP.

RPGDot: How can I control my party members during combat?

Burut: In real time and in combat the hero will interact with the party members as separate persons. When in combat, the hero will be able to set their behavior and thus using their advantages. However, besides that they will be pretty independent and there will be no way to control them fully.