Battle UI Prototype

The prototype for the battle system of an RPG I'm working on! I am working on a full Demo currently, and I plan to release more information on the actual game as development continues. Be sure to stay tuned!

Controls

WASD - Navigate Menus

Space/Enter- Select

Details

Your party is made up of the four cards stacked on the left side of the screen. The order of the stack also represents your turn order. In the full game, these cards would contain character portraits for your party members.  Different characters have different speed stats and abilities that affect turn order. Since team building and turn order management are important mechanics for the full game, I created the card stack UI to convey this. My focus for this prototype was mainly on UI/UX, so the only battle mechanics that are implemented are attack, guard, and an early prototype of an adrenaline system. The adrenaline system is a risk/reward mechanic I have planned for the full game that incentives the player to make riskier plays and keep their party at low health. In the prototype, a very basic version is implemented. When a character's health dips below a certain threshold, their card will begin the adrenaline animation. When characters have adrenaline, their attack is doubled. The actual adrenaline mechanic would be a bit more complex in the final game, but it's current implementation does a good job at conveying the idea and testing the UI involved. There is a small bug with the enemy currently where they can attack a card that is already dead. This can be fixed easily, but I let it slide for now since the actual gameplay was not the focus of this prototype.

Reflection

Overall, I am very happy with this prototype. I originally set out to test the planned battle mechanics more in depth, but I think that the time restraints forcing me to pivot more towards the UI design actually worked in my favor. I feel like this prototype is a good framework for where I want to take the full version. I think I answered my question because the UI does feel and look nice, and I am excited to take it further. The next things I plan on implementing are more mechanically focused, such as making move sets for the different characters and enemies. I think that creating fun boss battles is my main goal for the full game. I have most of the bosses planned out character-wise, so creating the mechanics for the battles is next on the to-do list.