Turn-based battles compared to Active-time battles

The OHRRPGCE supports two battle system modes.

Active-time

This is the default battle mode. The OHRRPGCE has always supported this mode. Each hero and enemy takes turns at their own pace, choosing attacks whenever their ready-meter fills up. This is similar to the battle system used in Final Fantasy 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Active time mode has general bitsets that control whether or not battle time pauses when you are using menus.

Turn-based

This is a new battle mode, added in the Beelzebufo release. In turn-based mode, all heroes and enemies choose their attacks at the beginning of a turn, then they all perform their attacks in an order determined by their speed stats, and then the next turn begins. This is similar to the battle system used by Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3, the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series, Pokemon, and almost all other traditional console RPG games.

Choosing Battle Modes

Choose battle modes in the "Battle System Options" submenu under "Edit General Game Data"

Converting an Active-time game to Turn-based

If you are changing an existing game from Active-time to Turn-based (or vice-versa) you need to pay attention to a few important details.

Speed balance

In turn-based mode, a very high speed stat is not such a big advantage. it just means attacking first, not attacking more often. In the same way, a very low speed stat is no longer a big disadvantage. it just means attacking last, rather than attacking less often.

Delays

In Active-time mode, small variations in attack delay have almost no consequence. Only large attack delays really are really important.

In turn-based mode, a 1 tick delay can cause the attack to be performed later, after the next slowest hero or enemy. Very large attack delays should be avoided in turn-based mode because the turn cannot end until all characters have finished their attack.

Endless Loops

If you make an endless loop of chained attacks or counterattacks in active-time mode, only the hero or enemy involved in the loop will be stuck. All other heroes and enemies can continue to fight.

An endless loop in turn-based mode really will be endless.

Stun and Mute

In Active-time mode, damage to the stun and mute registers is measured in seconds. 10 damage to stun will cause the target to be stunned for 10 seconds.

In Turn-based mode, damage to stun and mute registers is measured in turns. 10 damage to stun will cause the target to be stunned for 10 turns.

Poison and Regen

In Active-time mode, poison and regen happen based on timers that take one and a half times as long to fill as the hero or enemy's ready-meter, unless they have a speed less than 7, in which case they happen every 8 seconds.

In Turn-based mode, poison and regen happen at the end of each turn.

HOWTO Chapters

Keyboard Shortcuts | Getting Started | Making Maptiles | Making Walkabout Graphics | Importing BMP graphics | Moving on to Map Construction (Using Map Layers) | Making a Hero | Battles | How to use NPCs and Tags | Adding, Removing, Swapping, Heroes | Animating Maptiles | Vehicle Use | Stun, Regen, Poison, and Mute | Sound Effects | Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Text Boxes, But Were Afraid To Ask (Portrait Boxes) | Distributing a Game

Bosses | Making Complex Attacks | Combat Dialogues | Enemies that respond to a certain attack | Ways to refer to a hero in a script | Creating Dungeons | Permanent Stat-Boosters | Conditional Door Links | Creating Cutscenes | Using the Mouse in the Game | Making Android games