If you’re looking for a larger version of the image above, click here.

Combat for Deadshed has gone through a few iterations. Originally, it was to be completely automated, with your choices beforehand (weapons and equipment, number of characters, etc) making the difference. This didn’t change until I was hit with a fever that required more X-Com.

I then briefly toyed around with something that can only be described as Fallout with zombies. As cool as it sounds on the surface, I wasn’t happy with it, mainly because it would involve a lot of coding for AI, collision detection and line-of-sight (*shudder*), and I just wasn’t prepared to do all of that, given the multi-faceted nature of the game.

With the help of the always awesome David Kidd, I’ve settled on the above – a melding of JRPG and Armageddon Empires. And probably a little 4e D&D.

Characters are positioned on a grid of nine squares. Each square can be marked “safe”, “threatened” or “danger”. If a character stands between another character and a zombie, then the latter character’s square is marked safe. If a character is adjacent a zombie, then their square is marked danger. Finally, if there’s a square or more of space between a character and a zombie, then the character’s square is threatened.

Action points are still in, and can be spent shifting, attacking or using items.

Then there are tactics. They’re still under development, but essentially, you can crack out tactics to generate impressive effects, such as double damage or perhaps free formation reorganisation. These will come from research and character perks. Some will require Morale (a new resource), while others might just have positional requirements.

I’m a strategy-lover at heart, and this system rings true for me more than a straight rip of an isometric turn-based title. It takes a little something from a bunch of sources, but its unique enough that I’m enjoying the chance to experiment.

~ by Logan on January 9, 2009.

Posted in Deadshed

Tags: Deadshed, Game design, vb .net, Zombies