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[Dori]

Hi all and thanks for all the help.

I'm working on my first game and well a lot of problems have come up, but it is fun to work them out. Well this will be a 2d tile based, real time/turn based tactical strategy game, rendered in 3d(Xith3d).

The game play: The game runs in pulses/ticks and each unit has it own turn, after a move and/or combat it has to wait about 4 ticks until it can move again. This makes it work like a turn based game but you don't have to wait for other players to move and you can move other units while you wait. How long between ticks depend on the game settings, fast is maybe 3sec, medium 4-5sec and slow 6-7sec. I got this idea playing Bang! Howdy banghowdy.com really fun game(and java based).

I haven't decided if you have to select which unit to use before the game starts or too use some sort of unit management during game play. If fixed set of units is being used, should the unit respawn or buy your units back or just be dead. I need to sleep on that.

I haven't decided ether which theam the game is going to be. Probably WWII, but I like to design my own tanks and units so future war game also comes to mind.

The goal: The plan is to have many different game plays(different goal). For example time based, maybe 15-20 min game and the player wins that holds some bridge/bridges. Other type of game would maybe be the player wins that could steel some docs(or something) from the other team, destroy some buildings... well just different goals.

Status: I have loaded flat terrain and some models in to that. Created basic unit class that can move across the tiles in the mentioned ticks. No combat has been implemented.

Now one question. Should I have different subclasses for each unit or have one unit class that loads a unit file which holds the unit data(speed, attack values, model...)? Subclass approach is cleaner and maybe be more flexible but the one class approach makes it easer to add new units and customise them, and you don't have to recompile the game to add units.

Any comments?

p.s. Please excuse my english

['n ddrylliog]

Now one question. Should I have different subclasses for each unit or have one unit class that loads a unit file which holds the unit data(speed, attack values, model...)? Subclass approach is cleaner and maybe be more flexible but the one class approach makes it easer to add new units and customise them, and you don't have to recompile the game to add units.

For Stratagem, we have chosen the one-class-plus-data-files way. I agree it's way more easy to add new units and to do a "flavor/theme" of a game without knowing anything to code.
If you want more flexibility, just add the possibility in your data-file (XML is a good idea) to have a script file (e.g. BeanShell, Groovy, Rhino, NetRexx, Jython, JRuby, ...).

[Dori]

I'm designing the combat system and I was wondering if I should separate the bullets and missiles from the unit and calculate damages based on bullets power vs units armor or am I complicating things to much?

[Marvin Fröhlich]

I'm designing the combat system and I was wondering if I should separate the bullets and missiles from the unit and calculate damages based on bullets power vs units armor or am I complicating things to much?

No. Sounds good to me.

Marvin

PS: Please have a look at the BulletsTest.

[jeepndesert]

You're taking the right approach. Divide-and-conquer is the golden rule in software development when your game specifications are ill-defined. Just start off with a simple game, eg, flat landscape, add your units, etc. Then, as things come more clear, you can determine what would be the best approach to design your game and your code. I wish I could listen to my own advice since I tend to kill my projects with complicating things too much when I should get something simple and playable first.