Combat system

[malkekoen]

Could anyone here explain in detail how the combat system works? I can see the unit stats, of course, and guess at their uses, but how does it actually work?

I have heard talk about unit pairing, so that enemies "latch on" to each other, so instead of a mass melee, you really have alot of individual fights. Is that true? And how does the stats really work (Attack, Defence, etc.)
And how about the morale system? Does units "check" for moral at certain milestones (like 10% casualties, etc.)

Any enlightment here would be much appreciated.

[crunchyfrog]

Hey cow.

Ehm, STW2 is alittle more complicated than you might think, but I'll try to explain what I've learned/believe so far.

If anyone can correct me, that would be great actually.

Melee:
Melee Attack: How well they are at defeating the enemies melee defense, and killing the enemy in 1v1 combat.
Melee Defense: Look above, reverse that.
Armour: This as I know only helps versus missiles, arrows and muskets etc. In DMS matchlocks bullets have an "Armour piercing" ability, so armour should also be useless here.
Charge: This adds to the units melee attack as far as I know, I'm not quite sure if it just adds all the the charge points to the melee attack for x amount of seconds, but something along those lines.
Bonus versus cavalry: Adds to the units melee attack versus cavalry, I believe.


Morale:

Penalties:
Recent casualites: Units get a penalty to morale for taking x percentage amount of casualties recently.
Unit casualties: Units get a penalty to morale when the unit has x percentage amount of casualties in total.
Flanks: Units recieve penalties when flanked, more from the rear when above.
Cavalry: Units receive a penalty for fighting horses.
Losing combat: Units receive penalties if they are losing, greater as to how hard they are losing.
Under missile fire: Units receive a penalty for being under fire from missiles, like archers and matchlocks.
Under artillery fire: Units receive a penalty for being under fire from artillery, even greater if they are being hit.

Bonii
Flanks secured: Keep your units together, they get a bonus when your units are fighting close to each other.
Unit in column: Units receive a bonus when fighting in formation, so keep you ashigaru in tight formations.
Winning combat: Units receive a bonus if they are winning, greater as to how good they are winning.
Hills: Units receive a small bonus for fighting down hill.

[DaFranker]

I'm also curious about this. However, this isn't the right forum for such a question, I'd guess. The inner workings and algorithms of the combat system are in the game engine itself, and are completely unrelated to (and most likely completely outside of the control of) DarthMod and its author.

This should probably belong in the General Discussion forum, or perhaps the Mod Workshop.

[malkekoen]

Hey cow.

Nice

Thanks for the reply. That was pretty much what I thought, I was hoping for a tad more detail. Like how exactly do they compare attack vs. defence, and how often. Like when is a unit using attack and when is it using defence. Say a unit charges another unit, then of course it uses attack. But is that for each individual animated blow that follows from units from both sides, or is rather that the entire unit checks for attack vs. defence and then calcualtes casualties. And is there a randomness to it all, or would the same situation always render the same outcome?

This should probably belong in the General Discussion forum, or perhaps the Mod Workshop.

I thought about that, but the tone here at the Darthmod forums seem more serious. As a big fan of DM, let's say I posted it here to be able to understand better the underlying mechanics of my favourite mod.

[DaFranker]

I thought about that, but the tone here at the Darthmod forums seem more serious. As a big fan of DM, let's say I posted it here to be able to understand better the underlying mechanics of my favourite mod.

I'd have to say the tone in the mod/modding forums in general is more serious indeed.

Sadly, after a bit of research, I don't think anyone has yet figured out the exact algorithms used in calculating battle actions and effects. What crunchyfrog said seems to be a pretty good summary of what we know so far. There are more factors than that affecting morale, such as having higher or lower numbers of troops, noticeable experience difference, fighting from castle walls, etc. but those he stated are the ones you'll encounter most often and will probably be more important during regular gameplay.

[malkekoen]

I'd have to say the tone in the mod/modding forums in general is more serious indeed.

True

Of course I did search around a bit before posting here, but as you said, there didn't seem to be anyone having it all figured out.
Thanks for your replies.