Combat check list

Well I have been getting a bit lazy on the Combat Test Project work so I'm going to rectify that. So today a little check list for getting this to completion. So a simple little list centering around what I should focus on.

• Engine
• Basic engine DONE
• Useable I/O DONE
• Modular and expandable use
• Abilities
• Basic attack DONE
• Attack Options IN PROGRESS
• attack degrees USEABLE
• Punish abilities
• Defensive options
• Dice pool manipulation abilities
• Enemies
• Basic AI DONE
• Not dumb AI
• Actual enemies
• Usability
• Mistypes do not cause crashes
• Normal people can navigate menus
• Not annoying
• Unwinnable things
• Bugs
• Tested balance
• Insert fun
• Good tune up

So looking at that, not too horrible. Not too good but it's something to start working more on. Engine for all concerns is done. Unless I want to do all the unique hit descriptions and such it suitably works right now. Useable input output is for testing purposes, allows me to test everything and see results. this means debug code everywhere that I may have to edit out later. Modular and expandable use is already underway. I have this entire system setup to allow multiple monsters or playing characters in theory. In actuality I don't think it'd work well for players as it's all keyed off a single Character object. Though it is feasibly changed later, or even through array use.

Abilities is where I want the real meat to be. I currently have a small list of basic modifications and a few choice abilities to use that I don't think is enough but is "enough" for testing purposes. Punish abilities I need a few more of. Defensive options are nearly done as soon as I figure out how I want counter to work. Dice pool manipulators are half finished as I want to do the defensive portion of it now.

Enemies is a bit of a struggle. I may keep them at randumb as I call it for simplicity sake but I want some chance of it avoiding punishing moves and using them on the player which will get hard. Nothing too complex and not completely random.

Usability is one I'm not too keen on doing. I'm a very prototype making person, right now this is "useable" even with all it's input errors and befuddling menu loops. Right now it's the very bad state of needing to know what you're doing, something I hope to fix when I throw it up on here.

Unwinable list is the programers never winning portion. Bugless code that works right in all instances and does what it's meant to do. Combined with my own ideas of what it should do it's there just to remind me to go over it more often, I'll never find all the bugs nor will I get ti perfectly balanced. I just have to try for it. Good tune up will be me making things less spaghetti code, the attack method right now is laughably large and needs to be broken up into methods. How small of methods is the unanswerable question for me.