Helping in making a video game

Here are some of my thoughts. Especially since it is a Mobile or Video Game, there is much more that can be done.

1. Size will affect the PERCENTILE "to-hit". So a Tank which is LARGER is easier "to-hit" than a group of troops who can evade the attack.

2. You might want EXPLOSIVE weapons that "splatter" like Concussion Grenades or Fragment Missiles, etc. This is more EFFECTIVE on Troops since the exploding factor can hit multiple targets.

3. Troops should be a GROUPING not a single Soldier. So maybe Riflemen = 6 Soldiers, Flamethrowers = 4 Soldiers, Grenadiers = 3 Soldiers, Bazookas = 2 Soldiers, etc.

4. Larger units can be individual like Tanks or Jet Planes.

That's some of my "early thoughts" on the matter. Of course, it's YOUR game, feel free to use, adapt or ignore these ramblings depending on what you think is a good fit for your Mobile or Video game!

Maybe I misunderstood... But this has nothing to do with Board & Card Games. @X3M is designing a Mobile or Video Game RTS similar to StarCraft or Warcraft RTS games... But I think it's going to be Mobile.

So the physical SIZE of units is what he is talking about.

Like I said, having GROUPINGs for smaller units (like Soldiers) could be appropriate and larger units like Tanks and Jet Planes can be SOLO or individual units.

There are no TOKENS... This is NOT a Board or Card Game. Correct me if I am Wrong @X3M???!!! Cheers.

Maybe the BARRACK allows you to GROUP units into FORMATIONS. Then when those GROUPs go out to explore ... You CANNOT UNGROUP them, they are a platoon ...

You can have 9 Groups, 0 = Base. So when you press "1" it goes to FORMATION #1. And if you press "0" it goes to your BASE.

That's kind of a HYBRID of AI managed combat to something more FLEXIBLE. Pre-configured groups which means that the units are semi-vulnerable to opposing GROUPS depending on the units facing off against each other.

Anyways this is another approach. Which is kind of IN-BETWEEN AI managed combat and FREE unit management. This is a HYBRID-Approach making FORMATIONS which can battle at a PRESS of ONE (1) BUTTON: "1 to 9".

The SIZE of the GROUP could be something to do with RESOURCES (maybe). My early thoughts is that each UNIT has some kind of WEIGHT and each GROUPING has a limit to how much WEIGHT can be combined at a BARRACK.

But I really think that a HYBRID approach might be good.

It's EASY to press "1 to 9" and click on the opposing GROUP to ATTACK, no???

Doesn't that SIMPLIFY the COMBAT mechanic quite a bit. Press "1" and click on the opposing GROUP... Simple, no??? You can handle that @larienna!

It depends what Kind of RTS you want. There is a game called "Overlord" on the NES that is an RTS according to an acronym, but does not look even close to War/Starcraft.

I was thinking to make an Overlord like mobile game and it could actually work well, due to how the interface is designed except for combat (look it up).

Now if you want to do a RTS a la War/Starcraft, I am a bit worried about the usability of the mobile decices. RTS gamers can do many many clicks per seconds, you will not be able to do this with a mobile device. So the management of the unit on the battlefiled will have to be simplified.

There are multiple ways to do this. It could be like I said, you use map spaces. It could be you handle only 1 squad like the heroes and it's henchmen and delegate base management task.

So either find other RTS example, or try to determine what kind of interface you want (ex: is there some map panning). Then determine the mechanics of the game according to what your mobile platform can handle.

Else, you might end up with an unplayable game. It would be like trying to play Super Mario Bros with a flight stick.

But you make an interesting point about CLICKS and TERRAIN. Clearly I think you might need to have LANES like "League of Legends" which is also an MMORTS. I agree with you that TERRAIN and "scrolling" will be terrible in the RTS space on a Mobile SmartPhone.

Maybe there is kind of "King of the Hill" concept in which players TRY to CONTROL waypoints in a LANE... So let's say a lane have FIVE (5) Waypoints, you would need to control three (3) of them ... And let's say you would need to control 2 out of 3 Lanes.

Since it's a Video Game, I'm sure you can have a TIMER to try to DEFEND a LANE for a duration of time... Or you could have a CENTER PUSH towards the opponent's BASE (for example).

But if you have like this:

BASE -> Waypoint #1 -> Waypoint #2 -> Waypoint #3 -> Enemy Base

So BOTH Players could control the nearest Waypoint. But the Player who SECURES and controls Waypoint #2 using a timer (IDK 3:00 minutes for example) WINS that LANE. And like I said, you would need to CONTROL 2 out of 3 Lanes to WIN.

And you could have up to NINE (9) FORMATIONS which help you in pushing and defending Warpoints (Territory).

But I definitely AGREE... Mobile Devices are not meant to SCROLL and CLICK like crazy. Really need a SIMPLER method to manage the RTS to small skirmishes and use the DIGITAL Timer to control lanes.

That's what I think... But I agree... You'll need some kind of simplification.

Best!

Whatever you PROPOSE ... Make sure you can TWEAK everything during PLAYTESTING. Whatever you say should be 1.5x ensure that the factor can be changed to 1.25x for example.

From what I've read about Designing Video Games ... Is that MOST Mathematical Models that work good in THEORY work very BADLY in PRACTICE. I've also read and watch articles that MATH is flawed and cannot explain how the world is NOT Mathematical.

One such examples is MUSIC. If you watch videos and read about the topic, you'll learn that the MUSICAL SCALE is an APPROXIMATION. Something that most mathematicians are disgusted about ... but it is true.

Same goes for many things in Nature. It's not ALL mathematical.

So much like the MUSICAL SCALE and it's approximation ... Be READY to ensure that everything you PROPOSE can be "TWEAKED" at a moment's notice to make for values that are SMOOTHER in the REAL GAME.

Anyhow IF you don't believe me... I think Google around and find some videos that explain how the TONES are "approximations" and that MATH doesn't explain well music theory. It's compromises that sound pleasing to the EAR that are what is used in Music today.

I don't have the videos that I watched... But I remember quite clearly that Pythagoras tried to make it MATHEMATICAL and it did not work. Today's standards are all "tweakings" of the TONES to make them SOUND better and more pleasing to the senses.

You can IGNORE my warning... But I honestly hope you don't. Because THEORY is one thing, PRACTICE is another. Safer to allow for everything to be tweaked and made just right for the PLAYERS and not the Game Designers.

Cheers!

Note #1: Here is the Video I recommended watching about Pythagoras and Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdYzqLgMmgk

Enjoy!

For mobile games, don't worry too much about music, most people turn it off anyway.

It the stats are visible to the player, using dice can be easier to visualize.

Try to use the same unit of measurement for damage for example. Endless Space had that issues where 3 different types of weapons where not comparable because they computed damage differently.

My explanation was that not everything works as THEORY might state. Like the irrational numbers that are used on the MUSICAL SCALE are all irrational numbers and are not as Pythagoras had initially presumed. He and his followers were under the belief that EVERYTHING in life was "mathematical" ... Math was like a religion to them...

Anyways we now that the MODERN MUSICAL SCALE is all "approximations" in tones and that none of the tones are exact numbers (be it fractions or numbers). They are ALL irrational numbers and we know that they cannot be represented as a ratio of two numbers. That's all that I was saying. I was not suggesting that you be a part of the MUSIC DEPARTMENT ... Only that THEORY works good for modeling and that in PRACTICE you will probably need to TWEAK things to get the approximations required by the game itself.

And yeah for a Mobile Game, I would probably turn OFF the music. Less Battery usage and prolonged Battery life. Unless I can use my BlueTooth Earbuds which produce the SOUND and use very little Battery from the SmartPhone.

Sincerely!

Frame rate is probably THE element that drains the battery.

Funny that you talk about music scale and irrational numbers. Lately I tried to find again if there was documentation or software that allowed generating music using mathematics. I could not find any software.

I made some tests in the past with the Fibonnaci sequence. The results where below average, but maybe there could be other number sequence or mathematical concept that could be used to generate music with or without configuration by a human.

The objective would be to generate melodies à la NES or 8bit video games. Nothing fancy besides tones and timing.

I could never tell the note differences... To me the tones all sounded the SAME. When he was asking for comparing the tones (two at a time)!

As I would say: "Music is irrational!" Ha ha.