Ideas to improve Gameplay, Combat and AI (Very in-depth) : V

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:05 pm

There are lots of threads of various ideas, so forgive me if I’ve said what has already been said.
Well here is my perception on some things that need work and some new things to add variety to game play, though it might be a long read, I’ve tried to make it enjoyable, detailed and simple for you to read, and I guarantee you'll enjoy it :

AI

In past games, enemies were pretty easy and predictable. They would repeatedly slash sidestep and say the same annoying lines even when they are about to die. And if you were having trouble (or a noob), you could just stand on top of a ledge and spam arrows at an enemy who just kept running forward under you. And even though there were many types of different enemies, they all did the SAME thing, run, attack. So to make fight more difficult and varied, here are some changes:
*More varied enemies like spiders and demons that could cling on walls, jump at you, sneak, etc.
*Humanoid type enemies switch to ranged weapons (if they have one) jump towards you, or new combat tricks (which will get into) to combat you if you spam on a ledge.
*If a humanoid enemy knows he is outmatched (based on your gear) he should scamper away in fear. Enemies should adapt to what kind of fighter you are based on your gear and attack pattern.
*If a camp of enemies sense something wrong (Like hear an obvious noise, or find a dead body), the whole camp will go into alert mode.
*If you start trouble in a friendly village, not everyone is going to be brave and try and stop you, some people will be scared, some will look with amazement.

So:

* Smarter AI that adapt to you and react accordingly
* Different Enemies types that fight differently, have their own personalities and have unique skills
Example of new enemies: Ninjas that cling to walls and hide in shadow, A stretchy demon that can extend its limbs and attack or grab you. Etc.

COMBAT

Movement

The thing that defines combat is movement. So here I’ll outline the inputs first (forgive me for putting it in Xbox setup, I’m a console gamer, but you can configure it anyway you want

)

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m636/dudemeister1/xbox.jpg

Note: In the past games, Pressing L would block and R would attack, since Skyrim will have dual wielding, it'll be different, and we don’t have enough info on how combat would be, but here’s my vision on how the controls should be. When you hold L or R, instead of attacking with whatever is in your hand, you hold it up in a readying position. Keep that in mind when you read through.

Keep in mind that ANYTHING YOU CAN DO (magic, combos, movements), SO CAN YOUR ENEMIES (some of them).

Left stick is movement. Changes would be when you flick the stick in a direction; you do a quick side step, flick twice and you do a dive. Useful for dodging and having a little space between you and your opponent.
Clicking the left stick while standing still will make you crouch/sneaking mode.
Clicking it while moving forward will make you sprint (COD style).
Click and holding while moving or sprinting performs a back slide across the ground (bullet storm style). Useful for getting low and closing distance, and looks awesome. Can attack while performing.

Right Stick is to look around. Changes would be when you:
Flick the stick the stick in the left or right direction and you will do a 90 degree turn in that direction, Flick twice, and you do a 180 degree turn, vice versa. Flick up once to instantly look above, and down for…down. This would allow a faster momentum in combat when you’re surrounded and need to protect your own back.
Clicking while readying a weapon will perform a stab motion.
Clicking when not in a readying stance will perform a kick.
Right stick would also direct your attacks when combined with the Left or right hand readying stance, but I’ll get into that in the Weapon Combat section.

D-pad
Left - When held will bring up a quick dial for weapons/magic you assigned in the hot keys for your left hand.
Right - When held will bring up a quick dial for weapons/magic you assigned in the hot keys for your right hand.
Up - When held will bring up a quick dial for Items you assigned in the hot keys for items.
Down - When held will bring up a quick command wheel (FONV style) to quick command people in your party.
Clicking left or right, you immediately unequip/equip the currently equipped item, clicking up will instantly use the item you have currently in the item box, and clicking down will instantly tell your party to halt action.
This way you can quickly change items in your hand seamlessly and instantly use items without pausing the game to open up the inventory screen allowing for quicker combat scenarios. The down command shortcut wheel is exactly like FONV.

The other buttons are the same commands from past games, though I mapped them differently for comfort; ill explain later in the combat section.

Jumping
Tap once to do a normal jump, hold and release to do a charged jump.
To make jumping more awesome, when you’re in the air, you can manually do flips and look around upside down in all directions. By flicking the right stick twice in the up (back flip) or down (front flip) direction , you enter free falling mode. This helps and looks cool for when you want to, say, do a back flip and shoot people with arrows behind you while still upside down, or a back flip slash. Of course you have to remember to land on your feet, or you'll have a nasty bail (Tony Hawk style). Just re-tap up or down to return to normal landing stance. If you’re worried that you won’t have time to do a flip, you can make yourself land slower and stay in the air longer by using a gravity spell or something, which I’ll get to in the Spells and abilities section.
*Able to jump off and slide down walls.

These Controls might seem weird, but imagine it and i thing you can adapt to it in time.

General Combat

Sometimes I just like to get hands on and dirty when i fight. To help you visualize I put it in a hypothetical situation, enjoy.

Imagine walking into a bar and someone looks at you wrong. You hold him (with your hands by pressing and holding the grab button) by the collar (so now you’re in a throw position). Then you pick the direction you want to throw him by looking in the direction of the crosshair, and the longer you hold the grab button dictates how far your throw is. So you pick a table as the destination of the guy, and he Crashes through the table, spreading its contents everywhere. The other patron’s don’t take to kindly of you making a ruckus, so three people try to gang up on you (smarter AI). Surrounded, you create enough space for you to fight by pushing (tap grab button) one person into each other causing them to stumble. Making use of the environment, you quick equip (Grab + Interact button, lets you pick up a weapon or item on the ground, but instead of it being in your inventory automatically, it equips into your hand) a bottle on the floor, then you can either bludgeon (attack button) someone on the head with it, or throw it, knocking someone unconscious. One person gets a little personal and you guys throw some fisticuffs, but you win by mixing it up with kicks and knees, etc... (unarmed combat explained in combat section). Your opponent throws an obvious punch, so you counter (time his attack before it hits you and tap grab) his attack and knock him sideways. A guard interrupts the fight and threatens to cut you unless you surrender, and being the badass you are, says NAY. He comes at you drawing his sword, but evilly, you hold (same as above) a bystander and use person as a human shield (hold first then + Use button). The guard pauses and tries to reason with you to release the innocent person. All he had to do was ask, so you forcefully push the person into the guard, stunning him for a second. In his moment of confusion, you rush up and disarm him (by pointing the crosshair at his weapon and pressing quick equip). Weaponless, the guard (that AI) in a state of panic, runs to call the other guards. Victorious and probably having a hefty fine right now, you apologize to the bar keeper and repay him some gold so that you might be able to buy a drink here some other time later (that AI). Onlookers, seeing the destruction you have caused gives you space and whisper to one another (that AI). You quickly leave the wreaked bar full of broken tables and bottles, items scattered about, and unconscious patrons. Don’t worry, in a virtual day, the bar will be cleaned up. Just another day of drinking way too much.

So:
Push by tapping the grab button, can be done in a holding position.
Quick Equip by pressing grab + Interact button.
Hold by pressing and holding the grab button to enter the hold position. Then you can:
Throw by being in the hold position first, looking in the direction of the crosshair and pressing and holding, then releasing the grab button.
Human shield by being in the hold position first then pressing Use button.

That was general combat and can help in other situations for you and YOUR ENEMY, like:

During a random fight, bottles, barrels and other random objects can now be of some use, your enemy could try and distract you by tossing random objects at you, or grab innocent bystanders (or maybe your companion, which could happen in a quest...) and make you rethink your strategy.

Quick equipping can come in handy when you drop (accidently or forcefully) your weapon or see a new shiny weapon on the ground during combat, you can instantly pick it up, or if there is food on the ground (eww) or on a table, quick equipping will let you eat it instantly. This allows less interruption in combat instead of pausing to access your inventory screen.

Throwing strength and distance, objects that can be lifted, and enemies you can grab (humanoids only) is based on your strength skill (duh) and the weight and type of enemy or object and their strength skill compared to yours. If your a mage that lacksstrength, then you can use yur willpower instead with Telekinesis, explained in the Spells section.

You can’t hold, disarm, or push people who have higher strength than you unless you weaken them considerably or stun them beforehand. The more damage you do to them, the longer you can disarm/hold them before they break free.

You can also hold people more successfully when sneaking behind them.
You can perform an execution from a holding position.
You can also throw in enemies in the air, will be explained in the combo section (Yes there must be a combo section: D)

When having someone hostage, make sure the hostage is of worth to the person you are threatening, for instance, think about fighting an evil bandit and you decide to hold an innocent bystander hostage. Of course the bandit isn’t going to pause and plead to you; he's going to cut right through to get to you!

So:
*You can grab and throw or push items and enemies based on your strength skill.
*Quickly equip weapons and items off the ground without resorting to the inventory screen.
*Disarm opponents of their weapons.
*Counter enemy attacks.

Weapon Combat

Though I’m sure Skyrim is going to improve combat greatly,and fights in oblivion were pretty much comparing stats and not difficult whatsover. Here are some ideas I have to make intense and challenging battles:

In a weapon fight you can swing and slash in any direction by moving the right stick + holding either hand attack button in a readying stance.
Flicking the right stick will swing in that direction, while
Holding in a direction will let you guard in that direction and give you a chance to parry. (Think like the boxing game Fight Night)
Stab/thrust by clicking right stick.
Throw your weapon by pressing grab + right click, tap to throw it like a boomerang, or hold to chuck it like a spear).

As for unarmed, could be the same, just different moves ( Round house, hook, uppercut, ect.). And more special unarmed move like a flying kick, or spin kick, Flying uppercut (Street Fighter style).

Using different combinations of directions can perform different combos or special moves. (EX: Rotate right stick to do a spin attack legend of zelda style)

Weapons still clash like in past games, just more specific.

Guarding in the right direction can let you perform a parry, or counter attack.

Remember that you can’t look around while readying your weapon, so you have to let go of L and R to return to looking mode and to do quick turns. When you’re ready to kick some ass again, just ready your weapons.

Shields can be used to charge through enemies.

Combos:

Alright I’m going to throw some fighting game jargon (I happen to be a fighting game junkie)

*Strong attacks will bounce enemies off the ground making them vulnerable, Letting you attack further or
*Launch enemies into the air, so you can either hit them while their falling or chase them into the air and continue the combo and end with a knockdown or hold.

Of course to make it fair, off the ground bounces and launchers are limited to one per combo.

Think Devil May Cry or Marvel Vs Capcom 3 for visualization.

Stronger enemies recover during a combo faster, and bigger enemies can’t be launched or bounced.

This will add some stylish fights wherever you go.

SPELLS, AUGMENTATIONS AND ABILITIES/PERKS
Again, not much detail available, but here’s my thoughts.

Spells in past games (oblivion) weren’t varied very much, so to vary it, here are some ideas:

Attack spells:

*Spells that explode (Area of effect).
*Being able to charge a spell for a bigger radius or more damage.
*Single Projectiles that explode into multiple projectiles (ex: you shoot this projectile in the air, it explodes and rains down, affecting a huge radius).
*Homing properties for spells.
*Trap spells that activate when an enemy enters a proximity.

Spells should integrate with the environment more, like:

Environmental spells:

*Fire spells burn trees and start forest fires.
*While underwater you can create an ice cube with a Frost spell so you can go on top of it and return to the surface. And when you are on the surface of the water, you can create a surface of ice to get your feet on. (Legend of Zelda Style)
*Lightning spells can zap and do more damage to underwater multiple enemies and do an area of effect. (Bioshock 2 style).
*Water spells put out fire (duh) and wetting enemies, making them vulnerable to lightning damage.
*You can raise the earth by creating a wall of ground up in front of you to shield you and make a platform to stand upon. (Last Airbender Style)

Spells or abilities/perks that change to give you a boost in combat:

Ability/Spells:

*Double jump spell, or higher jump spell. Can be Boots/shoes.
*Add elemental damage to your weapons. Can be augmented to weapons.
*Air dash. Can be augmented to Boots/Shoes.
*Ghost dash that you can use to move through your enemy and appear from behind.
*Slow and speed time spell.
*Able to throw your weapon and have it come back to you like a boomerang. Can be augmented to weapons.
*Being able to walk on walls and cling to them. Can be Boots/shoes.
*Telekinetic Hold for mage characters with low strength and instead use willpower. Can be augmented to greaves/gloves.
*Reflection spell that can reflect magic back to the caster. Can be augmented to Armors/weapons.
( Like the fight against Ganon in the legend of Zelda Ocarina of time where you had to strike Ganon’s magic sphere back and forth).
*Teleport spell. Just point the crosshair and you appear there. There would be special areas you cant teleport through (like restricted areas). Can be augmented to Arrows.
*Multiple arrow spell that times x the number of arrows shot from your bow. Can be augmented to bow/arrows
*Homing arrows too.
*Hook shot spell. Can be an item itself, or augmented arrow.
*3rd eye spell that can project your mind to see into distant rooms, or zoom in on arrow shots.
* Be able to controll an arrows flight (Heavenly Blade style)

Now imagine a fight using all these skills:
You set up a proximity trap, ghost dash to position yourself behind an enemy, start a sword combo, launch him, add some more hits, grab him mid-air, throw him in to the proximity trap which makes it explodes which bounces him off the ground a little, then you teleport under him and release a barrage of arrows. Stylish.

Perks:

Have perks from FO but with an Elder Scrolls twist:

*Be able to extend arms to grab faraway enemies or items.
*Werewolf transformation like TES3.
*Dragon transformation.
*Swim like a mermaid/ or transform into one.

SMALL TWEAKS

Just some small things here and there.

*Survival Mode (NOT FONV so called “hardcoe Mode”)
You have to eat, sleep, and hydrate yourself or face VERY negative impacts
*Be able to dye clothes, but better than fables.
*Change the color of spells, like red lightning or blue fire.
*Ninja costume, nuff said.
*Make DLC for console players based off of popular mods. Not full conversion mods, but mods like improved survival or major game play changes.
*Since there is more jumping skills, more platforming!
*More missins with options Ex:You have to kill a bad guy in a castle, to do that you can :
Go through the front door, or
Platform your way up to the top of the castle, or
Sneak through the underground dungeon, or
Steal a guards uniform then assassinate the baddie.
*More STYLE, I want to go up the castle top (above) crash through a big window and land on a dinner table while all the bad guys are eating. Then ruin the party. Yeah!
*More random events during your travels (Red dead Redemption style) EX: Stores getting robbed, riots, ninjas stalking you, hurricanes, etc.
*Hidden bosses that are GOD LIKE hard and yield special rewards.

Well that was a piece of my mind. Hope you enjoyed it. Comments and opinions please.

Now imagine fighting someone like this in multiplayer mode...but thats another thread!

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:17 am

I don't think you guys fully understand how complicated AI programming is...

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:55 am

lol nononononononono I'm not trolling the thread, pretty much everything up there is exceptionally sixy and well put together, hold on to your ideas by the way and learn the power of spoiler tags to better organize everyone

Since they are overhauling the Magic system and adding environmental effects such as lightning stunning and draining magicka or fire continuing to burn, here is a list I hope with regards to current spell effects. using the Oblivion and Morrowind spell effects archives. its more like a detailed hoped etc etc. again this is the HOPE that they are keeping spell effects and not shelling us with same fable esq crap where you can only cast so many spells and not make your own, trust me after 10 mins its going to get annoying casting the same fireball spell, and context sensitive spell casting is a cheap cop out to me.

Really spells are from research an art even, not that you bought them from a person that sells spells, at any point if spells are sold they should only be from scrolls, where then if you are not associated with the Mages guild (now Synod and Whispers) then you memorize and incorporate that spell, rather than buying it from some store. and of course you can be *taught* the a spell or rather spell *effects* from other trainers, but ultimate what spells you have are what you concentrated and formed yourself.
I envisioned a spell making system were it was ACTIVE.

During spell making the player assumes a meditative stance and would muster a large portion of their Magicka and a concentrate it into a specific kind of Spell effect, the amount of magicka Mustered would be diminishing so a kind of trail and error or you'll have to know exactly what kind of spell you want to make before you make it approach would be needed. you couldn't do it on the fly, a form of concentration of focus would be needed to even start the process, meditating or being at rest and utilizing the magicka. quiet area's with no disturbances or unusually large amounts of residual magicka would be helpful.

be aware its most likely just spells and not spell effects as the aforementioned Contextual spell casting, lack of spell creation and only 85 spells for 6 schools gets undercut-ted significantly in what we can do.

Concentration- whether or not its densely packed / and if that affects a wide or limited area

Sustained or not - deciding whether or not its a flame thrower or a fire ball, an arc of lightning or a sustained flurry

Intensity - Frequency would control whether the effects lasts after the initial caste, such as setting things on fire, or effecting a persons mind after using a very powerful charm spell.

the more adept you are at spell making / being a mage/That School of Magicka the more effects you can utilize while making a spell and the less likely you are to backfire during the process spell effects are taught by their respective guild schools (each Chapter in Oblivion specialized in a school) or by Books/Scrolls.

You would be able to make spells beyond your scope, but it would be difficult and taxing to your character in making it and casting that spell. certain spells depending on how you made them would be difficult for you to caste at first, but with more use you become more proficient at using your spells. continuing on taxing the player certain perks could be available that allow you to reach into deeper pools of magicka where otherwise you would simply run out and notbe able to caste. and even further more casting spells frequently with little magicka would fatiuge your character from draining stamina, making focus harder, to draining your health.

You could still be taught spells from other mages or learn from scrolls bought at various stores as a way for the individuals not proficient in Magick to have access to such.

School of Alteration

The school of Alteration involves the manipulation of the physical world and its natural properties and shaping them to aid the mage

Spoiler

Burden: Increases the weight of an object or all objects on an opponent. can be used to increase your standing power or keep an object out of an opponents use, failure results in a higher than normal burdening possibly culminating in crushing of user or casted object, or lack there of.

Feather: Decreases the weight of an object or all objects on an opponent, can be used on self to lighten weight and move faster or jump higher in difficult situations, failure results in unstable field, unwarranted deactivation

Fire Shield: Evokes a Field/Sphere of FIRE around the user, effective at staving off localized frost hazards and attacks. can increase dmg done by fire attacks both incoming and out going, as well as potentially killing the user in hostile environments where heat/fire is in excess. can be nulled by Dispel if its higher then the casted shield, failure results in burning

Frost Shield: Evokes a field/Sphere of ICE around the user, effective at staunching off Fire based attacks, Can increase dmg done by Frost based attacks both incoming and outgoing, can kill or dmg the user if used for too long in frost hazards IE Blizzards. can be nulled by Dispel if it is higher than the casted shield, Failure results in frost damage or possibility of temporary freezing

Open: magically opens a locked container or door. lower levels can unlock doors not sealed by magical means, Higher levels require dispel or great proficiency in open when used with telekinesis, doors can be opened at a distance, allowing the user to gain ground from a pursuer

Lock: magically Seals an open door or Container, when used with Telekinesis doors can be locked at a distance giving the user some reprieve from an extensive chase or lock their hapless victim from continuing to flee, it is different from physical lock in that the seal is reinforced by magicka and takes more than a key to open, however without local enchantment or certain perks, the magicka reinforcement will run out, leaving the lock level to remain. note a lock spell cannot increase the level of lock already on a door.

Shield: Creates a Magical Shield that universally protects the user, however it is impermeable and does not allow for magical attacks in or out the field, can be nulled by Dispel, little protection from environmental hazards. failure results in an unstable field, allowing objects/attacks to penetrate the field. perks are available to extend the natural caste time of this spell as well as add push back force to heavy blows incurred on the shield

Shock Shield: Creates a Sphere of Magical Electricity, able to damage opponents coming to close to the user, Shock based attacks are doubled going out but do not penetrate the field, does not protect against environmental hazards /fire/frost. failure results in an unstable field lashing out an anything in its reach and potentially damaging the user

Water Breathing: allows the user to utilize Magical breath sustaining the user under area's low or devoid of Oxygen, can resist air/inhalation based poisons, failure invokes astral vapors disease

Water Walking : allows the user to walk on water, lower levels restrict the user to *walking* higher levels give greater stabilization to allow running and even sprinting or extended combat over water. failure results in a lost of effect.

School of Conjuration

The school of Conjuration practices in the art of summoning magical items and beings from the outer realms to serve you, often this school of magick requires both hands be free for spell casting, increasing in level and certain perks allow for combat summoning. at higher tiers and advance studies in the arts, deadric summoning open up for the player. obviously there are significant dangers to summoning creatures especially those from the outer realms.

Spoiler

Bound Armor and weapons: ability to prioritize a set of weapons/ Armor for instant equip and use during combat for mages that cannot use armor effectively. the Bound Objects are specialized for the mage to allow maximum magicka usage and mobility despite that armors type, is vulnerable to dispel and disintegrate but are more resistant. the armor can be fortified with additional magicka, Failure results in dispersion of the armor, greater levels of Bound weapons allows the user to summon unorthodox weapons and armors from the Deadric planes with the required teachings/perks.

Summon Ancestor Guardian: a Purely Dunmeri Ability, a Dunmer is able to call upon its ancestors for aid, Ancestor ghosts can aid in battle, provide council, possess enemies or buff the users with its blessings, the Ancestors are giving strength through offerings and reverence made at local Temple shrines. failure results in summoning the wrong Ancestor, potentially from another family, or no ancestors at all. Higher levels can evoke 2 more ancestors to aid the user.

Summon Animal - Spider lings, Bears, Wolves etc etc: depending on type of summoning a Pre-existing animal from a nearby location can be called to aid the user, otherwise a magical summoning is brought fourth which is more vulnerable to magick disrupting attacks, preexisting animals leave after their service has expired, and only familiars stick around to continue aid. various animals have different abilites and are helpful in a variety of ways. failure results in the summoning turning on you and or phasing out of existence in terms of magical based summonings

Summon lesser Deadra: understood as low caste Deadra, these include deadra of what mortals believe as limited intelligence deadra, Daedroths, Clanfears, Scamps etc etc, these Daedra are bound to the user when summoned, many are aware of the situation and will do as told, however unexperienced casters have found how smart these individuals can become, and bringing fourth to many can have dire consqeuncess if you don not posses the required skills/knowlegde.

Summon Dremora: summoning Dremoras is a risky business, and often are possible through preexisting pacts with a particular Dremora or common summoning speech used to bring
one forth, while lower tier Soldier Dremora are common but no less risky to call fourth, Dremora Lords are a whole other animal and are best done by highly skilled practitioners with a clear goal of what they want the Dremora lord to do, otherwise the Lord will show little hesitance to strike at anything in range if left at its own devices.

Summon Atronach: Atronach's are similar to Dremoras in the risks involved when summoning them, they are often silent, and obedient, which makes them fairly deadly as they are not as predictable as the Dremora Counterparts, each Antronoch form has a different cognitive type. as with all Daedra a modicum of caution a preparedness is essential for survival.

Summon Undead: encompassing ghosts, wraiths, skeletons, zombies, Summoning Undead can be done on the fly with a weaker magically summoned variant, or one from a disturbed area were souls roam, by using summon undead and culminate of appropriate assemblage of bones and weapons, flesh and cloth, or a spirit will come to your aid, Failure of such results in either a dude casting, or another opponent to clash blades with. (or run from)

Turn Undead: Lesser instances of this spell effect will send undead creatures fleeing from your sight, greater instances burning them and banishing them from their corporeal forms. failure results in..failure and a mad spirit.

School of Destruction

The school of destruction utilizes the more arcane and detrimental aspects of magicka to bring to bare against both living and undead things. lacking training in this school can incur recoil damage from spells beyond the casters ability, it is the most intense in magicka usage and can wear down a novice caster fairly quickly. most spell failures include a fizz out of sorts for botched casts, it is also one of the more risky schools to delve into when making your own spell, potentially setting the area around you on fire.

Spoiler

Damage Attribute/Health/Magical/Stamina: this is a purely magical effects handy-capping its related target, where its applying unseen damage to a targets health, breaking their Magicka, or Stamina a target without the appropriate defense will find themselves falling really fast, Single caste Damage spells take a significant amount of Magicka use and more often harm other effects in addition to their intended targets but to a lesser degree, while temporary damage takes less, and is well...temporary. is extraordinarily useful with other destruction based attacks or those used in succession with debuffing spells. this effect is not pleasant for the victim and is not harmless like absorb.

Disintegrate Armor/Weapons / Area: does as it says, this Spell degrades armor, weapons, barrier doors, anything inanimate is subject to this spell effect, when used in conjunction with out destruction spells, that particular effect is enhance, and can chip away defenses vulnerable to its type, like a disintegrating fireball on a barrier, however because of its purely magical nature residual effects like frost, burn and frost only last the duration of the entire spell, failure results in a wild cast or destruction of personal equipment. resisted naturally by enchanted weapons/armor.

Absorb(Restoration)/Drain: works similar to Damage, but the damage is done overtime consistently, Drain is not instance, and in its use the users magicka pool is reduced, however the effects can easily turn the tide of battle and are useful for items to gain a charge, store it , and apply to yourself on an enchanted object. failure results in a dud caste, or polarized Drain/Absorb. this effect is also harmful unlike absorb.

Fire Damage: Produces the Magical elemental version of Fire, as potent and just as dangerous, magical fire remains as long as its duration/power of the spell, with some naturally heat produced flares remaining behind, Fire damage can be focused into a stream, a volatile ball, or an explosive bolt. touch based fire damage can be utilized in strikes or grabs, burning the area of choice and potentially instantly killing depending on the area. failure results in a dud caste or fire damage.

Frost Damage: similar to Fire Damage can freeze on contact, used on the ground can create a slippery area for opponents, will naturally evaporate after its duration is over.

Shock Damage: ditto can be used on bodies of water for an even greater effect on enemies occupying that area.

Weakness to: reduces resistances

School of Illusion

The School of Illusion can both effect the minds and perceptions of other living subjects as well as in higher tiers the mental domination of mundane and magical creatures and individuals. if you aren't careful, your own spells can backfire and compromise your own perceptions as well and even incur hallucinations, and being the mind such a powerful thing, your own magicka can manifest into a real personal threat...

Spoiler

Calm: the user wipes the mind of his/her attacker and evokes a sense of disinterest, the effect is increased when utilized with chameleon or invisibility literally forcing the target to forget you were their long enough for you to disappear. greater levels are required for high INT individuals or excessively aggressive animals. Failure results in a dud spell. higher levels can extend the effect beyond the victim, suddenly becoming disinterested in their current tasks, Zoning out, laxness, or even sleep when combined with Drain fatigue and Drain Stamina

Chameleon: makes the user into a silhouette(Sp) of sorts, you are still able to do actions such as attack and pick items up, but such will allow your opponents to focus on you more, the greater distance between you and a target, the less chameleon you require to sustain, opponents with abilities like Detect life or being hit by marking attacks such as spider webs, or projectile vomit will paint you out despite the Chameleon. some animals have a greater degree of senses and can locate you. failure results in partial chameleon casts or dud cast.

Charm: Charm Hijacks your targets mental processes and lulls them into having a greater degree of being persuaded, Animals are drawn to protect you and people are placed into a sense of ease around you, high INT can negate this effect and animals with higher senses /smell/sight etc etc can shake themselves out of the effect. Higher levels of Charm can have undetermined effects on the victim, including near insanity, incoherent babbling, etc etc.

Command : the greater cousin of Calm, Command Hijacks the victims cognition and forces them into service for you, some higher INT opponents may be well aware that they are under your control unwillingly and will generally try to resist, too strong of a Command can completely stupefy its intended victim leaving you with a useless husk, like Charm, permanent Casted Commands take more magicka and are prone to resistance while durations are cheaper and gradual, allowing for greater control.

Demoralize: Scaring your opponents bowels clean, this spell effect evokes an irrational sense of fear or hesitation in your opponents, where lesser creatures require little Magicka for use, Greater opponents like Dremora are nearly impossible to scare witless, Demoralize may not always work as intended as some animals and people as well will flail against their fears, putting a overly confident user into a blind flail in an effort to protect themselves. the effect is increased when used on Weapons, armor or even another individual. failures include dud casting or simply pissing off the intended victim even further.

Frenzy: Invoking an overwhelming sense of rage into your opponent, this is an excellent alternative to taunting, due to some opponents being resistant to taunting and some animals (they don't know you are taunting them) it can be used to force an enemy to expend more energy, and lose focus making them slip up, make mistakes, or not notices things (like the Fire trap I just layed on the floor) animals also lose touch and focus with their senses allowing you to sidestep them and evade them easily, or plain just tire them out and put them out of their misery, like most spells, Duration, touch and or short range spells take less magicka than do range spells, making spell such as a light fire damage spell and a frenzy can cause nearby enemies to lose moral at seeing a flaming raging beast of a man/animal. failure includes a dud spell or in a perfect world, your character getting pissed and going on a killing spree out of your control(jk)

Invisibility: this spell effect phases out the user, they are still tangible but not observable in the physical world the effect persists so long as no extensive action is taken interacting with objects outside the players field will disrupt the spell, although undead/ghosts/spirits can still see the user, most other enemies not using spells like detect life cannot see the player but can hear them, unlike chameleon invisibility's optimal range is all whether close or far, but factors like projectile markers (vomit/spit/webs) can signal out the player, animals with heightened senses can also detect where the players general area is, but cannot focus on them, ranged attacks also generally miss. like other spells Invisibility can be used on objects to conceal them from thieves, or their seekers, but because of the magical endowment can be detected by Detect enchanted objects spell. failure includes dud casting (example casting invisibility and levitation instills near total nullification of being detected by physical means...as long as you don't bump into a chandelier, doing so could spook unaware npc's in their homes, and can cause them to react in a number of ways.)

Light: Illuminates the area via light Orb or object that the spell is applied to (rings, swords, Shields, clothing) the spell
persists under duration or as long as magicka is feed into it from the enchanted item or player, Light can be intensified to stave off light sensitive creatures/abominations, it can also be combined like other spells into forms like fire damage combined with light gives Solar burst, an intense daylight effect useful for keeping vampires at bay(those sensitive to light anyway), you cannot sneak while illuminated unless you cancel the spell or pocket/drain your items with Drain Magicka.

Blind: Obscures the Vision of the victim, often causes a slight demoralization for eye reliant enemies, has no effect on *blind* targets such as blind moths or those with high perception, negates the use of vision enhancing effects like night eye , detect life, detect magicka. when used with Light, it literally becomes blinding light, obscuring the foes vision in the appropriate intensity of the spell, enemies afflicted lose all focus on the player and will generally flail about, those with higher INT, Levels or well trained will at times calm down to better improve their chances of striking the player, sound plays a huge role at this point and taunting oh throwing objects can sway the enemy, to prevent the enemies recollection its best use in conjunction with frenzy or demoralize. spell failure includes Cast Dud.

Night-Eye: a spell effect used to mimic Khajiit's natural ability to navigate the darkness with little trouble, such requires a steady flow of magicka or relevant enchanted items equipped, it comes in intensities from low light illuminations to complete near daylight like hues, however the spell effect Light as well as other light sources can disorient the user or anyone using night eye. failure results in *blind* spell effect.

Paralyze: this spell/effect can range from making movement extremely difficult (coupled with burden) to nigh impossible applicable by poisons, Inhalation, injection. this effect as a myriad of transmissions, it can reduce the effectiveness of a combatant in battle, inhibits mages from hand castes, and make them vulnerable to attack, combined with Frost, it could indefinentlyindefinitely entomb and kill an opponent, or burn them alive for the more sadistic practitioners. failure includes dud caste of paralyze on self.

Rally: The opposite of Demoralize, Rally can invoke an overwhelming sense of bravado and courage into its target, at higher levels such can become near zealous or suicidal Higher INT *enemies* may notice something is wrong but they are compelled to carry out their fearlessness onto the duration of the spell unless they are able to resist and shrug off the spell, when used with Charm or command they are more susceptible to Rally, Rally does not substitute for a true leader however, who is able to invoke true bravery and zeal, but the spell is an excellent alternative to those with low speech craft and charisma. one thoughtful way to employ this spell is to caste it on a sword, with an area effect and caste on activation not hit (or you'll be making your enemies more willing to kill you) then brandish your sword in a rally call and the effect will boost their moral. failures include dud casting

Silence: Does exactly what it says, it prevents vocal castings and doubles the length of time it takes for castes that require vocal and movement casting, it also prevents foes from calling for help or rallying others to their position, if they die during the silence caste, they will generally make no sound depending on the intensity for some opponents this can reduce moral in combat. casting silence on an NPC will not enable them to talk, where it would be a decent show of superiority to your perceived lesser, casting it on an citizen is generally a crime and not well received. Failure includes back fire silence, one inventive way to utilize silence is in combination with paralysis leaving the individual fully aware but helpless as you pilfer their store, blind is also useful as long as they did not observe you prior, thus forgoing having your image posted all over town.

Sound: apart of the casting inhibiting spells, Sound creates a thought scattering noise on the victim, disabling thought evoked spells (spells casted by recalling them or remembering them) much of the enemies or players spell repertoire is disabled for the spells duration, and combined with the other spells of its kind can be quite potent, in addition sound combined with a fire ball can have a demoralizing effect on lesser creatures and enemies. spell failing includes self infliction of sound, and *shell shock* type of effect.

School of Mysticism I know its gone

Mysticism involves the manipulation of magical forces and boundaries to bypass the structures and limitations of the physical world

Spoiler

Detect Life : Allows the user to see living things through solid objects. whether they are cloaked by darkness or Magic, so long as they have life, they will glow. failure includes spell dud caste.

Dispel: depending on the casters proficiency, this spell can severely weaken or utterly abolish any Magicka based spell present on an object, from falling shields, wiping away buffs, and Enchanted weapons (effective when used with Drain can completely remove the enchantments) Dispel is essentially voiding Magicka from an object or area. failures include spell dud caste.

Absorption/Reflect Damage/Spells are inherent in magicka Shield, certain birth signs and combination of certain perks as well.

Soul Trap: makes the smallest applicable soul gem active for the target in question as to which it will encase that living targets soul upon death. spell failure includes spell dud caste or soul escaping based on its strength

Telekinesis: you to pick up an item or individual from a distance based on strength of the spell. from there you can bring them to you and send them flying at another target, higher levels allow for multiple/heavier objects to be utilized as either shields or projectile weapons, even as building blocks to access other areas. spell failures include dud cast, uncontrolled telekinetic throws, application on self and aforementioned Throws, or wild cast.

School of Restoration
The school of Restoration utilizes magicka to Fortify, Restore and absorb the caster in question, most spell failures include a simple spell dud, nothing too detrimental.

Spoiler

Absorb: from Magicka to health, attributes and skills Absorb allows to user to gain strength from other individuals/Objects for a temporary boost, the effect is not harmful and is somewhat symbiotic like drain, where the victim / source ceases so are the gains, like drain spell effect failures include polarization of the stream, this spell is useful for absorbing magical items or friendlies with strength to spare.

Cure Disease/Poison/Paralysis: this spell effect reduces or removes the effects of their appropriate relations, Reduced spell effects are able to comeback in intensity for low cost duration cures while removing them completely or reducing them completely takes more Magicka, Failures include dud spell cast.

Fortify: Like Absorb, Fortify gives a substantial boost to the user wherever the deem relevant, the spell is dependent on the amount of Magica available to the cast, because both temporary and permanent fortify are based from magick, their effects can be nulled by dispel and or damage/drain magicka. the spell draws from the amount of magicka applied to it for a duration, or drains on the fly until the duration ends or you run out of magicka, its in fact a buffer so even losing health beyond the amount you had already wont necessarily kill you out right, and instead from your magicka pool or fortify spell

Resist: resist nullifies detrimental effects pertaining to their caste type (shock, fire, frost,etc etc) as with all the other spell effects in Restoration it can be permanent or duration and can be nulled by Dispel, spell failures include spell dud.

Restore: Returns attributes/health/Stamina back to normal, if used while under duress from a drain/damage effect the spell will be continuous naively until the opposing effect cease, duration ends, or magicka supply runs out. spell failures include spell dud.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:44 pm

I don't think you guys fully understand how complicated AI programming is...

http://xboxlivemedia.ign.com/xboxlive/image/article/965/965598/kodu-20090324102424986-000.jpg :biggrin: Just kidding.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:06 pm

in regards to AI, as seen in the trailer they are already capable of Surrounding the player, in two instances, one where the Drauger points at the player with the axe, which may or may not be a in game cinimatic, and the 2nd instance where the player does an AOE explosion, now just have some sufficient form of AI awareness and reduce the *blockyness* of player control, and I think we'll have some fluidness in Combat.

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:26 pm

This is one sixy thread. 2 walls of tEXTREME READING JOY!

Seriously though, great read, great ideas from both of you guys. I'm a-grabbing my popcorn for whatever follows.

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:28 am

Left stick is movement. Changes would be when you flick the stick in a direction; you do a quick side step, flick twice and you do a dive. Useful for dodging and having a little space between you and your opponent.
Clicking the left stick while standing still will make you crouch/sneaking mode.
Clicking it while moving forward will make you sprint (COD style).
Click and holding while moving or sprinting performs a back slide across the ground (bullet storm style). Useful for getting low and closing distance, and looks awesome. Can attack while performing.

Right Stick is to look around. Changes would be when you:
Flick the stick the stick in the left or right direction and you will do a 90 degree turn in that direction, Flick twice, and you do a 180 degree turn, vice versa. Flick up once to instantly look above, and down for…down. This would allow a faster momentum in combat when you’re surrounded and need to protect your own back.
Clicking while readying a weapon will perform a stab motion.
Clicking when not in a readying stance will perform a kick.
Right stick would also direct your attacks when combined with the Left or right hand readying stance, but I’ll get into that in the Weapon Combat section.

Sounds unpleasantly "twitch". I don't do "frenzied action", or combo-fighter, or similar games. Lousy at Street Fighter II (and certainly didn't see the need to make it Turbo or Hyper), not attracted by God of War or Bayonetta..... Not my thing. (Honestly, the whole trend away from turn-based RPG to action-rpg has been a bit disappointing

)

So, to advocate for making the MW/OB-style melee combat faster/more complicated/more "twitch"....... eh, sorry. Gonna have to say No Thanks, I'd like to still play gamesas games.

(also, I wonder how you'd translate console-controller-style "click this stick while moving the other stick up/upleft/left while pressing A+B" commands into something you could do with a mouse & keyboard.)

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:55 am

Erm, I pooped out in the irst combat section, the scenario...sorry

thoughts:

1) Yep, smarter AI. And not sur eif it was in your post, but there should be morale checks at certain health levels.

2) And my main one. I had a hard enough time with Oblivion's combat control. While adding more variety, button combos, techniques, etc. seems good, I'd surely just stick to my bow and slash slash slash when in melee. Way too complicated to do what I read. Of course, I was apparently the only one who was satisfied with Morrowind's combat. :shrug:

» Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:11 am

Consoles... what was it Charleton Heston said at the beach?

» Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:20 pm

I liked most of it except for the launchers and in air combos. Just a little too unrealistic for Elder Scrolls imo. However the grabbing and magic stuff sounds cool. Unfortunately, I think the combat will be extremely similar to Oblivion except for dual combat and shield bashes.