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PaperclipPerfector  23d ago (text post)   1678 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 1, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Do you really prefer RTwP over turn-based? I’ll grant that it works well in Faster Than Light (and is preferable to the singularly shitty turn-based implementation in Fallout Tactics, which runs both options), but for the most part, the good games that have it are good in spite of it.

I'm a firm supporter of RTwP over pure turn-based, at least in isometric RPGs like this. RTwP allows me to set the pace of combat as appropriate to the challenge - minor threats can be bowled over without even pausing, more serious threats require a bit of pause and tactical decision-making, and serious threats might become effectively turn-based. It's a gearshift for tactical combat, so to speak? Going from RTwP to purely turn-based, to me, feels like being stuck in first gear for the entire game, even when I want to go faster.

I prefer RTwP over TB, simply because TB is too slow. Trash fights aren't bad by themselves, but with TB they become a slog. The designers that get rid of trash fights are often tempted to create massive fights instead, and I get tired of having only massive fights, even if they are actually low-stakes.

I prefer RTwP over TB, simply because TB is too slow.

I've never been able to play RTWP as quickly as a well-designed turn based game.

I tried Pillars of Eternity, and the disconnect between my (intended) commands and the characters' (attempted) actions drove me up the wall1. I had to constantly monitor my characters to make sure that they didn't interpret "approach that enemy, then attack it" as "try to approach that enemy, notice that the direct path to the enemy has become blocked, circle around the entire battlefield, then attack it if you survived the detour".

If I wanted to change tactics, I had to review each character to see what their current WIP action is (if it's even possible), recall which commands have been carried out vs. queued vs. failed, determine the bearing, speed, and timing of all units if I'm planning on an AoE, then set the new command.

Contrast that to Divinity Original Sin, where if I commanded something, it happened, monitoring events is baked in, changing tactics is literally free (continuing them costs something instead), and actions are almost as fast as I can hit the skill hotkeys and aim them.

(1) confusion and opportunity attacks are perfectly decent ways to break the link between my commands and their actions. Bad UI and AI isn't.

Turn based is always slower in Larian games than RtwP is in Dragon Age/Pillars/etc because even if you have StarCraft level APM, everything mapped to the keyboard, a full rotation for every character memorized and can therefore avoid spending five minutes a round looking at tooltips, you still have to wait an age for the enemy turns. Plus it just looks goofy; all RPG combat is an abstraction but it’s immersion breaking when my side stops attacking for a few minutes and stands there while we get walloped, then the same happens in reverse. It’s necessary in chess (and on the tabletop in general), but not in games.

I often prefer it, the reasons being that i find iterative turn based too slow and simple.

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