[Sirocco]

I'm changing the way weapons are handled in FB. If you'll recall from demo 2, there are a total of twelve weapon types, and each character in the game starts out specializing in one of the categories of weapons. This is good because it encourages the player to stick with a certain type of weapon, while still allowing the freedom of choosing any weapon you please.

The big problem was that beyond damage and classification, there is little to distinguish a blade from, say, a whip. There's no considerable advantage to using one or the other, aside from what the character in question is proficient with.

That needed to change.

Now, each weapon class is unique in that the weapons have a real impact on battle mechanics beyond just looks. A successful hit with a whip, for example, will temporarily delay a enemy's attack by a few seconds. Using an axe allows the character to knock a few levels off the enemy's armor rating. Claws may be easily doped to inflict status changes on a successful hit. Changes such as these have a noticeable impact on battle mechanics, and will allow the player to shift weapons (or even characters) as necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the party. Minx, for example, might be adept at using claws, but have no proficiency whatsoever with any other weapon -- this is totally up to the player beyond what the character starts out with. If you're entering a area with heavily armored enemies, she might not be the first choice of character, based strictly on weapon preference.

Right now the game's details are still fluid enough to permit minor changes without breaking the consistency of existing content. I'm also looking at other areas that might call for improvement. I've done a good job of keeping the plot elements separate from the battle and character growth/improvement details, so I can still make changes without making my life miserable in the process.

And yes, we probably will be seeing a third demo along with the finished Win32 port, which is nearing completion.

.

[BigManJones]

[Bjorn]

That's sounds awesome. Also the Win32 part, as for demo 2 I had to go to my fathers computer that is still running Windows 98 to play the game smoothly.

[Sirocco]

All the optimization I did in the past is coming in handy... I had to do some *very* ugly hacks to get the whole engine working with just Allegro, and it's (at times) a good deal slower than the DOS version with all the sexy asm and other crapola that just isn't very portable ^.^

There's also the possibility of putting out a Linux binary, but as of now I make no promises whatsoever ;)

Can't wait to finish Frenetic Plus and FB:Cry Havoc, so I can work on FB exclusively.

[edit] Holy crap, I simply cannot speel properly today!

.

[grenideer]

Sounds awesome. Definitely ANY change for the better in battle mechanics is worth doing. Realizing the percentage of time that gets taken fighting is important. I wish I did something like that in Diver Down.

Ahh, Win32 is good. My game's gonna have to have that port released after the DOS version, unfortunately.
_________________
Diver Down

[Sirocco]

[valderman]

[Ironshanks]

That sounds like a good combat system to use in my opinion.

I like how the different weapon classes have different styles of combat associated with them.
_________________
That's not a broken link, it's a PICTURE of a broken link. It's really very conceptual.