Combat systems in adventure...

[Babar]

You never had any problems with those jumps? :O

...maybe I should get a controller for my PC....

[Anian]

Psychonauts I played on a keyboard and managed fine after you get used to it. The only problem was the Meat Circus (which apparaently they fixed now that the game is available on Steam).

[ShiverMeSideways]

My cents are that basically, the best way of implementing combat is not in what type you choose, whether it be turn-based, or ranged real-time, or Indy fighting etc, but rather, the way you handle skipping it. Combat is certainly a very interesting way of breaking the typical flow of adventure gaming, but not everyone will want to deal with that (i.e. Ben or Tabata), so you should find a way that is no less demeaning or rewarding of skipping it.

Instead of having a "pussy" mode or a "skip if you're a pansy" button, have the player choose whether to fight or solve a difficult puzzle, but arrive at the same outcome. And NEVER break the flow of the game by asking what the player wants.

For example, let's say you're in a corridor and up ahead, in a room, there is an armed guard. Give the player a number of options - either fight the bugger head-on, or crawl through a vent which you have to figure out how to open. Or, if you're feeling particularly frisky, why not try a third option which is a combination of the two: maybe you fought and killed another guard and now you can steal his uniform and just walk on by your current opponent.

All of these options should be deduced by the player from checking the environment (of course, Display messages can contain hints as what the options are).

Certainly, this provides a hefty scripting and writing task - not that in its complexity necessarily, but more in quantity, because you're offering two or three different solutions to the same puzzle, instead of shoe-horning in just the one.

Whatever you decide, Technocrat, I'm sure it'll be awesome, though!

[William S]

I'm generally not a fan of combat in point-n-click games unless it's done in an inventive way that doesn't change the gameplay too much, like the already mentioned insult sword fighting etc.

[qptain Nemo]

You didn't really ask about it, but I think a combat system should come with the a corresponding degree of freedom and not just be a gimmick that appears sometimes. Blade Runner and Harvester had combat inserted in a very simple, straightforward almost brutal way, which also allowed a considerable degree of freedom of who to be violent to at times and I loved it.

Though something turn-based would most likely work too.

[Technocrat]

Well, having just been playing Shadowrun on the SNES, I'm more and more persuaded by something isometric, whether it's real time, semi-real time, or turn based!

[qptain Nemo]

Nooo! Isometric things suck compared to non-isometric things! Especially when it's pixel art.

Spoiler

... yeah, yeah, arguably :| Whatever, you people who don't like exactly what i like!

[close]

[ShiverMeSideways]

Well, having just been playing Shadowrun on the SNES, I'm more and more persuaded by something isometric, whether it's real time, semi-real time, or turn based!

Yesyesyesyes.

[David Ostman]

I prefer something more purely action-y to break up the pace when I'm sleuthing in an adventure game. Granted, I'm a big fan of most genres (aside from sports (except real football (not that american handball version))), so if I'm thrown into a side-scrolling beat-em-up, or a space combat simulator such as Wing Commander, that works well, them I'm all for that.

Gemini Rue combat is the kind I appreciate, but it fell flat on its face for me because of implementation. Controls were just too clunky, and unresponsive, and the system unnecessarily complex.

It all boils down to me not being the biggest fan of pure slow-paced traditional adventure games, unless the characters and story REALLY grab hold of me, and if I had my way all adventure games would be a combination of LA Noire (all the bad things aside), Assassin's Creed, and Mass Effect.

[Eggie]

I wish Mass Effect had just been a pure action game with lots of dialogue. All the RPG elements did was turn the game into a slog and the combat never got as satisfying as it should have because it was hampered by trying to be these two things. Imagine it, just a nice 8 hours or so of solid shooting with your companions in varied environments and lots of weapon choices with nice Jennifer Hale acting as all their realtionships develop. Maan, that would have been nice.

I dragged myself through that game because I liked the story but it was not actually very fun to play. At all. Mixing gameplay types is really not always a good thing.

[Alarconte]

In my actual-past adventure I have a pair of Arcades (horizontal spaceship combat and asteorid dodging), but apart from simply don't let the player die, I don't know how to not give the option "let's the Automatic pilot do this part".

I've really problems figuring what difficulty to give to the game... when you beat the game you can repeat the arcades with different difficulties, but I don't know how exactly put them in the normal game being for all publics..