"Gambit" System gameplay mechanic in GSB? What do you think?

Gratuitous Forum Gratuitous Space Battles
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Okay, this is going to seem like a redundant question, but bare with me…

Has anyone here played Final Fantasy XII?

Now, here’s the reason I ask this question, I find that the “Gambit” system in Final Fantasy XII worked as a great way to give orders to the team-mates when you weren’t controlling them directly. I bring this up because people have been talking a lot about the UI in GSB lately and I’d really like to see a system in place much like the Gambit System found in Final Fantasy XII, that could become a part of the orders system and mechanics, without fully replacing the orders however. I think that a system like this would be a welcome addition, and I don’t think it would be extremely difficult to add such a system since the graphical interface need not change very much. The difference between orders and the gambit system (which would be called something else obviously) is that orders under the gambit system aren’t adjustable, these particular orders would simply be set to ON or OFF, BUT, they would (or could) cover a number of things such as; if frigate is in trouble fighters flee to cover frigate - or - if Cruiser Shields are down order weapons to full salvo… those are just examples of suggestions though, they could actually be much simpler than that and again there’s no need to fully re-write the ordering system mechanic. Please though, for the love of god, we need to improve slider adjustment when giving orders! It’s time consuming trying to use the mouse to set the sliders to 25 or 75 % with any real accuracy, without adjusting the sliders for more than 30 seconds at a time… if you have multiple orders that you want to set setting the sliders to just the right configuration could take a few minutes (which is a few more minutes than necessary considering the multiple ship types you may want to give orders to). I think the “Gambit” System could also lend a helping hand to that problem as well since the choices made using those particular orders (the ones I keep referring to as “Gambit”) would be definitive and final once they’re set… again, they’re either on or off, they can be extended to do things such as - Cover their own ass, or Protect the nearest & weakest ship taking the most damage. On top of all of this, the Gambit system could influence or be influenced by specific ship modules or hardpoints as it were. It’s probably more math than it’s worth, but I think a mechanic like this would lend itself well to GSB… just my opinion though. Besides, you have to know and understand the Gambit system from FFXII to know what I’m even talking about so it might all just sound really weird to people who haven’t played FF XII before. Just thought I’d try to add some positive input though because I’m enjoying the game a lot.

If you do know the gameplay mechanic that I’m talking about, what do you think? Anyone like or dislike the idea? If so, why? Perhaps you could care less either way, but I’d really like to know if anyone else thinks a system like this would be beneficial to GSB. Personally I think it would add another level of depth to the gameplay, also creating even more strategy yet simplified tactical command to the UI and gameplay. Perhaps it’s not really possible to achieve this without it being overly time consuming for cliffski, but maybe all it would require is an enhancement of the already existing “Orders” system.

With that said, hopefully someone out there has an idea of what I’m talking about. I think it would be a great addition.

Cheers!

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I wasn’t aware there was a name for this, but what you’re describing are conditional orders. If some condition is met, do something.

I like the idea, but how exactly would this mesh with the existing orders? It would be nice if it could reuse them somehow. But if it gets complex enough, so that you could have “if condition, do this list of orders”, then the UI needs some work. Get even more complex, and it’ll feel like you’re scripting the AI instead of just being the snooty admiral.

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Actually, you hit the nail on the head. As for the complexity issue, obviously you don’t want to add too much to the game or take away from any of the already existing and working elements, but having a relatively small version of this mechanic in place could ease players into the game considerably. I’m mostly talking about players who actually want to use “Orders”. You stated it perfectly though, that’s how the “Gambit” system worked. It basically came down to “If X = this, then do Y” or as an actual example from the game: “If teammate health < 30%, then cast Heal”. It’s actually not extremely complex (though it could be), but I’m not sure how much more time would actually have to go into adjusting the UI. The UI would definitely need some work though. I really like the example set in FFXII though because it made combat control fluid and easily manageable even when there are 10 things happening on the screen at once. I think a similar game mechanic would be a great addition.