Combat

Actions where the intent is to kill or otherwise overcome opponents.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Symbolizing the actions between game elements in games as Combat is one of the oldest and most common ways to give games themes. By doing so, the theme of the game contains a link with the real-world competition between players as well as alludes to the tension, uncertainty, and importance of the real-world equivalent. Combat in games give players clear goals and opponents and gives clear indication of what players have succeeded and what players have failed.

Examples

Fighting Games

First-person shooters' main challenge is to kill or otherwise overcome the enemies found in the game.

Fighting games such as the Dead or Alive, Tekken, or Mortal Kombat focus purely on Combat, with Meta Goals of unlocking new characters or new costumes.

Torchlight

Some games have Combat as optional components. Players of Empires & Allies can be safe from other players' attacks by declaring neutrality and those playing Race for the Galaxy can avoid Combat by not playing some types of cards. Although Combat is most often a big part of the gameplay in the Fallout series there is often peaceful ways of resolving quests.

Using the pattern

The main influence on designing Combat in games is whether the games are Real-Time Games or Turn-Based Games. In both cases, Combat usually includes Randomness and Imperfect Information in the process to determine the outcome but how these are achieved depend on the type of game. Both types of games also typically provide Privileged Abilities specifically affecting Combat and can have Enemies with Achilles' Heels that provide specific targets to aim for.

In Turn-Based Games the results ofCombat are usually based on an evaluation function, as players' skills lies in trying to make the game state have as many modifiers in their favor as possible. Common influences on the evaluation function include Skills, Privileged Abilities, and Collaborative Actions. Budgeted Action Points can be used to allow several Combat actions to be performed in one turn and increase the Tradeoffs between different possible actions in these forms of Combat.Imperfect Information exists mainly due to not knowing the opponents strengths, weaknesses, and configuration, while Randomness is usually instantiated through Dice or the equivalent.

In Real-Time Games, the main difference between design choices for Combat lies in whether players control Avatars or Units. Imperfect Information is often the cause of bad Game State Overview or the problem of perceiving enemy actions as they occur while Randomness occurs due to opponent's guesses to the Imperfect Information they have.

Control of Avatars in Combat requires Timing and Dexterity-Based Actions, typically Aim & Shoot or Combos of close combat maneuvers. Damage in this case is often abstracted to forced retreats, stuns simulated by forcedNo-Ops, and health values shown by Progress Indicators. If Combat is the only activity in the game, as is the case in fighting games, the Combat is often structured in Tournaments to allow Perceivable Margins and Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses by having more difficult opponents appear later in the Tournament. Fighting Games also often combine loss of Combat with Player Elimination. Games where players engage in activities other than Combat usually make use of Lives and penalize loss of Lives by Ability Losses and Spawning at earlier locations. Real-Time Games with Avatars and Team Play often have special Penalties for team killing or make those events impossible through Privileged Abilities.

Controlling Units require skills in coordinating Collaborative Actions and employing Attention Swapping. Often knowledge of Strategic Locations is important as well as efficient Resource Management. The loss of Units due to Combat in these games do not usually have any specific Penalties connected to them except for the possible Ability Losses if no other still existing Units have the same abilities.

Combat is the means to achieving Capture, Overcome, or Eliminate goals against Enemies.

When these goals deal with Area Control, the presence of Combat is especially common since the opposing goals typically are also achieved by Combat.

Can Be Instantiated By

Aim & Shoot, Avatars, Enemies, Units

Algorithmic Agents together with Single-Player Games

Non-Player Characters together with Preventing Goals

Can Be Modulated By

Achilles' Heels, Aim & Shoot, Always Vulnerable, Arenas, Armor, Camping, Choke Points, Combos, Damage, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Environmental Effects, Flanking Routes, Friendly Fire, Galleries, Health, Improved Abilities, Invulnerabilities, Line of Sight, Loot, Neighbors, Player/Character Skill Composites, Privileged Abilities, Randomness, Real-Time Games, Sniper Locations, Strategic Knowledge, Tools, Vulnerabilities, Weapons

Consequences

Combat provides a direct way for players to deal with Conflicts in games, but since the players' Enemies may cause problems through the Combat it may also be Attention Demanding and cause Tension.

When Participating in Combat is a Risk/Reward choice as are the Tradeoffs that have to be considered between different possible actions within the Combat.

Can Instantiate

Actions Have Diegetically Social Consequences, Challenging Gameplay, Destructible Objects, Freedom of Choice, Player Elimination, Player Killing

with Capture

Dexterity-Based Actions, Timing

with Damage

Player/Character Skill Composites

Can Modulate

Area Control, Character Development, Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Units

Potentially Conflicting With

Boss Monsters, Private Game Spaces

Relations

Can Instantiate

Actions Have Diegetically Social Consequences, Attention Demanding, Challenging Gameplay, Destructible Objects, Freedom of Choice, Player Elimination, Player Killing, Tension

with Capture

Dexterity-Based Actions, Timing

with Damage

Player/Character Skill Composites

Can Modulate

Area Control, Character Development, Conflicts, Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

Aim & Shoot, Avatars, Enemies, Units

Algorithmic Agents together with Single-Player Games

Non-Player Characters together with Preventing Goals

Can Be Modulated By

Achilles' Heels, Aim & Shoot, Always Vulnerable, Arenas, Armor, Camping, Choke Points, Combos, Damage, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Environmental Effects, Flanking Routes, Friendly Fire, Galleries, Health, Improved Abilities, Invulnerabilities, Line of Sight, Loot, Neighbors, Player/Character Skill Composites, Privileged Abilities, Randomness, Real-Time Games, Sniper Locations, Strategic Knowledge, Tools, Vulnerabilities, Weapons

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Boss Monsters, Private Game Spaces

History

An updated version of the pattern Combat that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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