Best way to add a Monster Pool (RPG)

Hello,

The game I'm working on has "random encounters" with monsters/animals/whatever, similar to a Final Fantasy style, where it transitions from the world view to the battle screen. I'm wondering how to go about setting up different monsters for the player to battle, and what is the simplest way to achieve a pool of monsters to pick from?

Would be build each monster from scratch in Construct 2 the easiest way, or is there some way to use something like Excel for the program to pull the stats from for each monster? I would find it immensely easier to fill in a spreadsheet of various monsters and their stats, rather than code each one individually.

Any other ideas or suggestions are welcome. I'm obviously still learning (and eager) and will try out all version suggested to better understand the capabilities of Construct 2. My only request is that if you have a suggestion/idea, include enough information for me to at least add one monster through your method. IE: If a particular event function is required to work, it'd be nice to point it out for me.

I had a look at the "How Do I..." FAQ but didn't find anything related to my question (I expected it to be under RPG section). If I did miss solutions already dealt with, please just include a link to the relevant post.

Thanks for all your help!

I would use an array for this. WIth an array you don't have to create trillions of variables.

You can make the theoretical work and balancing in excel. This is common. Than you type these values in the array. I don't know if there is any way to import these values automatically. I don't think it is possible.

Are you common with the use of arrays?

Sadly no. I've not yet used them in Construct 2.

Ok you can read a good tutorial here. Copy this after scirra dot com: /tutorials/307/arrays-for-beginners

It seems like there are quite a few of us looking to get a turn based RPG done.

Perhaps as more of us look into it, we could pool our findings to create some uniform code that others could have to form a good foundation for such a game. With the ability to change the code as they see fit, it would provide a nice starting point.

Just to give you a link to some information I am using to help me figure out how to work with my similarly focused project. Here is a link that illustrates many of the algorithms that Square used to calculate damage, hit, random encounters, etc. in Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 in North America): http://www.rpglegion.com/ff6/algs/algs.htm

Perhaps as more of us look into it, we could pool our findings to create some uniform code that others could have to form a good foundation for such a game. With the ability to change the code as they see fit, it would provide a nice starting point.

This would be cool, because there doesn't seem to be any good tutorials or guides on turn based combat, or melee combat for this (or none which I've found).

AlexandrTheGreat: As I understand things, you could put all enemies into a family, and have instance values (?) for the entire family. And then set up a random probability on which type of enemy you get, and maybe a add/minus event value on an individual enemy's instance value on creation.

> Perhaps as more of us look into it, we could pool our findings to create some uniform code that others could have to form a good foundation for such a game. With the ability to change the code as they see fit, it would provide a nice starting point.

>

This would be cool, because there doesn't seem to be any good tutorials or guides on turn based combat, or melee combat for this (or none which I've found).

Agreed. I think there are some key elements to such a game that will have to be done by any interested party(ies) that include (but may not be limited to):

Character Progression System (aka leveling up, learning new abilities as you level up, etc)

Random Battle System (relatively easy to figure out, delve into systems with random encounters, but then also spawn specific enemies based on the layout (or specific area of the layout) you are in.

Menu System (Not only the opening welcome screen, but when in game and you want to see your characters, equip different items, use items in inventory, use abilities when not in combat, etc.

Battle System (most likely a twist on the above menu system) (battle menu system to use specific abilities in a turn based format against enemies. Include enemies AI as far as attacking your characters. Perhaps some specific method of attack for boss enemies that is a little harder, and also include specific cool abilities for more rare enemies.

Skill/Ability System (add skills both in the battle menus, but also spells/abilities that specific characters (or character classes) can learn as they progress.

Inventory System (a menu and activation system to be used both in and out of battles where you can use items in inventory, see their stats [and perhaps the effect of equipping for specific characters - aka new weapon does more damage than currently equipped, etc])

Lots of things that if developed with proper commenting, could greatly help anyone else who wants to develop a specific game.

I also know that if people plan on putting that much work into a game, it is natural to want to keep the code to themselves to reward their hard work.

On the other hand, I plan on learning as much as I can and will release the systems as I develop them (assuming I can figure out how to!) to anyone out there because I think it is an area of Construct that is severely lacking.

In any event I digress.

To help with your original question I have also come across this topic in my searches and families do appear to be a commonly referred to fix.

Basically you create a family called "monsters" for example, and in that family you can create instance variables with the specific information you would want to use in battle. Things like HP, resource (mana or energy for example), as well as attributes that can help determine how much damage they can dish out or take (like strength, stamina, etc.) could also be used if you want to calculate such things in a similar way that would apply to your characters.

Good luck!

Character Progression System (aka leveling up, learning new abilities as you level up, etc)

That's very easy, just set up an instance variable called "Level", and an event for when you level up.

Battle System (most likely a twist on the above menu system) (battle menu system to use specific abilities in a turn based format against enemies. Include enemies AI as far as attacking your characters. Perhaps some specific method of attack for boss enemies that is a little harder, and also include specific cool abilities for more rare enemies.

Once you understand the basics of combat mechanism, the rest of this is fillers.

Trouble is, nobody seems to want to say how the basics of combat works, either turn based, or melee; no tutorials, nor simple capx. This basic unhelpfulness is a bit frustrating.

O_o Wow, I thought this thread was dead but it looks like it has had some action over the last bit.

I really like the idea of collaborating on an RPG standards guide. I was considering writing a tutorial once I get all the initial bits in place. Currently, I'm trying to determine how to launch to battle screen only once when stepping on a "long grass" square, as right now even if I try and close out the window, it restarts because of the overlap.

I've been playing around with Families, Groups, and Subfolders lately, which honestly makes it a ton more organized (far better than comments for large sections).

Edit: Perhaps we should make a thread to start compiling various RPG oriented resources / discoveries / questions?

O_o Wow, I thought this thread was dead but it looks like it has had some action over the last bit.

I really like the idea of collaborating on an RPG standards guide. I was considering writing a tutorial once I get all the initial bits in place. Currently, I'm trying to determine how to launch to battle screen only once when stepping on a "long grass" square, as right now even if I try and close out the window, it restarts because of the overlap.

I've been playing around with Families, Groups, and Subfolders lately, which honestly makes it a ton more organized (far better than comments for large sections).

Edit: Perhaps we should make a thread to start compiling various RPG oriented resources / discoveries / questions?

I would be interested in contributing to this. My next project will be an RPG so this will be a good time for me to collaborate and test out new ideas.

Alright, I'll get a Collaboration thread started. I'll post a link here once it's up.

Edit:

I think it would be great to see what people are doing and if we can get a compilation of product of various elements it would likely help out everyone else interested in such a game.

I'm in the same position as you - playing around with the more basic elements, but I have been sidetracked trying to decide what to do with animations/graphics/etc. The more I think about the abilities I want to have available, the more I know I will need to really branch out to get the right graphics down for their animations.

Do you want to load a battle screen once you touch a specific square, or only want the battle counter to increment when walking over certain squares? (i.e. other squares do not do anything)?