I use flash mx, but I was wondering how to/what language I would need to make a final fantasy-like turn based battle system for a rpg I'm making. "So, any help you could give us would be... Helpful?" MP&THG

um, lets see, go learn C++ and opengl. At that point the rest should be rather obvious, either in terms of execution or in terms of the next step. Warning: this will be time consuming.


You might also try python. Its very easy to learn, but I don't know how suited it is to gamemaking. Probably good enough....so go learn that instead of C if this is all you plan to do.

Well I always promote Java as a robust and hardcore secure programming language. Java would be perfect. In java you use blocks of code called methods. For one method, it could be used to select who's turn it is next and then it will call the perform list method which will call the attack method or move method. It could get quite confusing, but I believe it would be the best way to do it. Good luck.

I'm not really sure how to make a RPG battle system. The program that I would recommend that'll help you make one, is RPG Maker 2000. Even though you may not be using the game language itself, you can reference it for when you start to make your Battle Engine. Just a thought!

Go to your local library (real one... not on computer but that one with books ) and get some books with pen and paper RPGs - they have their battle system describec carefully so you would see how it can looks like - then you should play for a while some computer RPGs and decide about all things... Good is article on [Gamasutra] - " Applying Risk Analysis To Play-Balance RPGs"... to view ityou must regiester...

You could use GameMaker. To be downloaded at www.gamemaker.nl. You can find an example of a RPG style text-box at their forums: http://forums.gamemaker.nl/index.php?showtopic=130501 I hope it's what you're looking for. I don't think it will be possible in Flash MX. GM is not as powerfull as C/C++ but it's more powerfull then Flash and I'm sure it will be possible and more easier to learn then C/C++.

Hope I helped,

-=Jeroen=-

personally i think you'd need to be programming for about 10 years and know exactly what you're doing before doing something like that... i've been programming 17 years and doing the whole thing would still be a challenge... easiest way to do something like that would be with AGS.. there are readme files about how to put RPG adventure elements into your game.. and i guess that would be the easiest for you.. but probably still would be over your head.... take a course... if you need to ask a question like that don't even bother

I have designed battle systems earlier, and have coded a few. The issue is you cannot just code a battle system on its own, with out any other systems like characters (PC and NPC) systems, equipment systems, environment systems and other things in place.

And for that, you should be first seeking how the FF battle system works - not in terms of programming it, but in terms of designing it. Just to get the idea of what I am speaking, let us say there is a charcter named 'A', a monster named 'B'. A attacks B with a weapon C.

Now, you need to have some set of rules layed down which lets us know how much damage B takes from A due to C. Also, what other stats of A effects this action - what other stats of B effects this action.

Building a RPG game is based on the design of the whole gaming-system, and after that, coding it is as simple as just implementing few formulas already stated. Yes, ofcourse, then we need to think on how we program the presentation - that is a different issue altogether.

So, I would suggest that you first look out how the Final Fantasy world works, and try to lay down the design. After that, the coding would seem quite obvious. If not, we are all here to help you out.

Yea designing an RPG battle system would take almost more planning then coding. There are tons of things you would have to decide. You could make every charcter get 1 action per turn, each attack doing a base value only, and each character performing an action in turn. THat would be super simple to code, but fairly plain and boring in game.

Once you add weapon variables into the damage amounts, random damage modifiers (like the die rolls in D&D based games), different speeds between attacks for dif characters, enemies each with dif abilities and rates of attack and whatnot, and all that other stuff the system would just snowball. I'd say before even thinking about coding, do as is suggested by others and research and plan. The Final Fnatasy games would indeed be a good place to look, as well as D&D. There are alot of comp RPG's based on the D&D ruleset and usually they are really well balanced as the system is very refined. Of course, it's your RPG so you can make your own choices as you please.

Basically that's my reccomendation, if you are going to take this seriously, don't rush into it. Take your time to know what you're going to do before actually trying to do it.

Unless you could make a php web based one, but i find them to be very boring after a while. Go with what the other people said, learn directX or openGL and make a client and server, which would be the best way to do it. BUT This could take AGES, maybe 1 year maybe more but it might pay off in the end, where you could offer a subscription service if you would like to.