Game Design: Battle System

Hey there adventurers!

Hope you’re all excited for the upcoming holiday season! If you haven’t already, then don’t forget to check out our Holiday Twitter Raffle for the chance to win an awesome Wheel of Fate prize pack! 

For this game design deep dive we decided to focus on the battle system for Wheel of Fate! Here’s a Q&A digest of the game design and intentions involved behind the development of Wheel of Fate’s battle system. 

Why did you decide to add the twitch system to the battle system?

Our team wanted to add more than just a turn-based battle system. We wanted to involve the player more which is why we decided to add the quick time events. 

What games did you draw inspiration from for the Wheel of Fate battle system?

Some key games that we drew inspiration from were Grandia, paper mario, Final Fantasy, and Child of light. Wheel of Fate is a nostalgia capsule of the majority of 90s RPGs that we enjoyed but revamped into something playable today. 

What are areas you would like to improve on?

A key area we would look to improve on are the battle scenes. Specifically adding more variety to them such as more events or skills possessing their own type of quick time events.

What is your favourite part about the battle system?

Two things. The first being when you get good at the quick time events it’s very rewarding to land the crits and see your attacks materialize damage on your enemies. Secondly, the system rewards players who build their characters correctly with certain skills and attributes by allowing them to get very powerful.

What made you choose to have a turn-based battle system? What player experience were you hoping to achieve?

Wheel of Fate is a dedication to the 90s style games that I really enjoyed playing as a kid. We chose the turn-based system to fit that genre while making it easier to port and adapt to other consoles.

We aimed to induce nostalgia by aiming to be an older style game that is fun with some twists and turns that are interesting such as the AI component and quick time events.

If not turn-based then what type of battle system would you opt for?

Pretty straight forward, but we would option for an Action system, an ARPG with real time fighting and battles.

What was the game design process involved in creating the battle system in Wheel of Fate?

As a game dev team, we sat down and brainstormed with game design and lead programming. We decided to focus our attention on creating a battle system that was interesting. We were already aware of the fact we would not be creating a battle system that would be something brand new but wanted to ensure it was a cool feature to the game. In addition, we reviewed all types of games we liked and how to incorporate them into our overall game. 

What was the most challenging obstacle you faced while designing or implementing this system?

The biggest challenge we had with Wheel of Fate is a similar one that most game developers will face, which is the question of “Can you make a battle system that is fun to play throughout the game?”. This becomes especially difficult when the action is repetitive since some players will get bored of it. 

It’s important to note that in our latest Leo 1.3.0 game update, we have added in the functionality to turn off the quick time events in Wheel of Fate due to polarized opinions on this feature. Turning off the quick time event will still allow the event to run but the player will no longer have to worry about completing the action. 

Small update with our current game development process, we are currently working on finishing off our final update before official launch! Get excited for some exciting events we have planned coming up! Thank you again to everyone that has been supporting Wheel of Fate! We could not have made it to where we are now without the wonderful community surrounding us! 

Cheers!

UDX Team