battle concept for FFXIII
now, i know this won't be completely accepted, but i think it would be a great idea for a future FF. it adds some strategic elements and is still balanced. the ideas a like an amalgam of numerous FF, square, and other games.
here's the basics: the world is future-esque, ala the spirits within. technology is high-end and there is no usable magic for humans (or whatever) only wild animals or monsters have the ability to use natural elemental attacks. the main characters are in a gov't-sponsored mercenary group that earns money through wages, main quests, and mini-quests. the money is used for buying equipment and ammo.
so...no magic? no MP? then what about the 3 basic FF magics white, black, summon? well, there will be quick explanations to those, but first equipment. and keep in mind, the battles are good ol' ATB and you have 4 characters per battle but can swap them in and out ala FFX.
EQUIPMENT
primary
secondary
helmet
armor
primary - automatic rifles, smgs, shotguns, element throwers, etc
secondary - one pistol. however, if you choose to have no primary you can dual-wield pistols or equip a shield w/ your pistol. most likely there will be a ninja-type character who prefers small blades and throwing devices.
now, each equippable item (guns, armor) has the potential, or is defaulted, to have modification slots. in these modification slots you can insert modifications. modifications would include elemental canisters, grenade launcher, auto-injection kits, etc.
each gun requires it's respective ammo. there are pistol rnds, smg rnds, rifle rnds, shells, etc. there are also different ammo types such as fire bullets, armor-piercing, poison-tipped, etc.
now, since bullets are like MP in this game, you actually use them. you cant just rest and regain them. in your menu, you can change how many shots you'll fire in a basic attack. so let's say you set it to 5 rounds fired per attack. and let's say your gun has a 20 round magazine. this means you can attack 4 times before you have to reload (1 ATB turn), or you can reload in the menu while not in battle. or you can set your rounds fired to 20 and unload hell in one attack...but you'll have to reload your next turn. some strat elements involved.
what makes a gun special by default? the three main variables are magazine size, rate of fire, and barrel. the magazine size determins how many bullets you can fire before a reload (which takes one turn, or just whip out your secondary pistol). rate of fire affects your ATB as well as the actual firing rate when you do fire. the barrel affects its dmg.
also, the different gun types will have skill lvls to them ala FFII. if a player uses shotguns consistently, then they'll master the shotgun. the higher your skill lvl, the higher your accuracy will be and your chance for critical hit will increase greatly.
armor also has modification slots, but can be special by default. maybe reduced dmg or natural elemental resist, etc.
BLACK MAGIC
here's where the modifications to guns come in. let's say your rifle has 3 mod slots. here's an example what you can put in it:
slot 1 - grenade launcher
slot 2 - element projector
slot 3 - double clip size
so let's say youre about to face a boss who is fire-based...ok, so you equip ice grenades in your grenade launcher mod, an ice canister in your elemental projector, and ice-tipped bullets for the default attack. if you want to change ammo type or have to reload it takes 1 ATB turn, remember.
magic defense is the same with the armors. let's say a helmet has 2 mod slots. you can have one like this for example.
slot 1 - cold resist pack (increases resistance to cold)
slot 2 - auto-speed injection (this mod reads that your vital signs are low and injects you w/ a speed-increasing formula...basically auto-haste).
and let's say the helmet has a natural resist to fire. that's a pretty strong helmet!!
WHITE MAGIC
of course there would be the regular items, but a couple characters would also be medics. now, medics can only equipp medkits as primaries, meaning they can only carry pistols while having a medkit. and each medkit gets more advanced. for example, a basic medkit has the ability to heal, give antidotes, eye drops, etc. a more advanced medkit has the same uses as a basic medkit, but also some advanced injections, better healing, etc. however, each medkit has limited use before you have to get another one.
but what about in-battle? what if your whole team has 50 hp left and is about to die? well, a medkit allows you to take 3 turns for the price of 1. this means when it's the medic's turn, he can heal 2 ppl and inject a reduced physical dmg (protect) needle into another char. but it's only 3, not all 4, so the medic has to think a step ahead.
SUMMON MAGIC
this one i like the most. you permanently assign summons to specific characters. let's say you acquire ifrit by battling him. after you defeat him you have to choose which character can summon him. let's say you assing ifrit to Z. now, for shiva, you have to solve a puzzle or go find some special items for her. now she can be assigned to a character...but do you assign her to Z so he has 2 summons? or assign her to X so 2 characters have a summon each? so let's say there are 15 summons all together and 7 characters. so you can have 1 character with all 15 or each character have 2 summons or 1 character with 10 summons and split the remaining 5 among a few characters, etc.
but no MP, what's the cost of summoning? HP. a small amount, maybe 10%. cuz it'll be such a hardship to summon, that a small amount of life will be the cost to the summoner.
i still have yet to come up with an idea for lvling up. i'm thinking just the basic way of lvling up increases stats only.
anyway, dunno why i was thinking of this. i just thought it'd be cool if they made a game loosely based on the movie. it probably would alienate the majority of FF fans, but o well!!! it's just one game!!!
anyway, thoughts? ideas? rips? i'm open to all criticism!!
