In this tutorial we’ll set up the battle system.
We’re going to use the Phase battle system, i.e. each faction (player, enemy, etc.) have their own phase to select and perform actions in. We’ll allow the player to freely select in which order the combatants are used – and even switch between them after selection.
We’ll set up:
- general battle system settings
- phase battle system
- battle camera
- factions (phase change schematics)
- updating battle range templates (for grid line of sight checks)
Let’s get to it.
General Battle System Settings #
Next, we’ll handle some general battle system settings.
Navigate to Battles > Battle System > General Settings.
Base Settings #
A new ORK project comes with all 4 battle systems set up, all we need to do is to change the default battle system to use the Phase battle system.
- Default Battle System
Select Phase.
You can also check if the battle menu is selected:
- Default Battle Menu
Select Default.
Range Settings #
Since our battles on grids can span large areas of a scene, it’s best to not use any range limits.
Battle Range #
- Use Battle Range
Disable this setting.
AI Range #
- Use AI Range
Disable this setting.
Move AI Range #
- Use Move AI Range
Disable this setting.
Default Use Range #
Since we’re using battle grids, we want our actions to be limited by grid distance. The default battle range tempaltes of a project already contain setup for different ranges (including grid setup).
Click on Add Range in the Default Use Range settings.
- Range Type
Select Template. - Template
Select Range 1.
This’ll allow targets in a grid distance of 1, i.e. only neighboring cells.
The default use range will be used by all abilities and items, except a few we’ll set up to use a different range (e.g. ranged attacks and magic).
Phase Battle System #
Navigate to Battles > Battle System and select the Phase battle system.
Base Settings #
We’ll allow camera controls in battle and use the battle start/end schematics we created.
Control Block Settings #
The default setup blocks player and camera controls, however we want to allow camera controls to be able to pan accross the battle grid using the screen edge panning we set up.
- Block Camera Control
Select None. - Block in Battle Menu
Disable this setting.
Battle Start/End Schematics #
- Start Schematic
Select the BattleStart schematic. - Victory Schematic
Select the BattleEnd schematic. - Escape Schematic
Select the BattleEnd schematic. - Defeat Schematic
Select the BattleEnd schematic.
Phase Settings #
These settings handle the Phase battle system, the other settings are the same for all battle systems.
Battle Mode #
- Use Active Command
Enable this setting.
Selected actions are performed immediately, similar to the Active mode in turn based battles. - Auto Start Turn
Select Phase Start.
All combatants that are part of the phase start their turn at the start of the phase, this has e.g. impact on status effects that use changes on turn start. - Auto End Turn
Enable this setting.
A combatant’s turn will automatically end under defined conditions.
The default setup will check if the combatant can still use their base attack, any ability or item. The turn will also end if the remaining actions per turn (see below) reached 0.
We’ll stick with this default setup.
Phase Order #
The phase order can be based on formulas or other values, but we’ll simply use phases based on the order in which the factions are defined in the editor, i.e. sorted by ID.
- Sort By
Select ID.
Combatant Order #
The player will be able to freely select in which order the combatants are used – but we’ll let the enemy combatants be ordered by their agility.
- Calculate Order
Enable this setting. - Order Calculation
Select Combatant > Status Value. - Status Value
Select Agility.
Player Combatant Selection #
These settings handle if and how the player can select combatants in the player phase.
- Use Combatant Choice
Enable this setting. - Show Selection Box
Enable this setting.
The player can select the combatants in UI box. - Allow Back
Enable this setting.
The player can back out of a selected combatant – the combatant can be selected again, as long as it can perform actions. - UI Box
Select Battle Menu. - Add End Phase (End Phase Button)
Enable this setting.
The UI box will have a button to end the phase. - Text (End Phase Button)
Set to: End Phase
Action Settings > Actions Settings #
Combatants can perform multiple actions per turn – we’ll let them only perform one, i.e. we keep the default setup.
However, we don’t want the Grid Move command to impact that, i.e. a combatant should be able to move and use an action in the same turn.
- Own Grid Move Cost
Enable this setting. - Action Cost
Select Value > Value.
Set the value to 0.
Battle Camera #
ORK has an optional battle camera that can automatically show the battle’s action, we’ll use it for our tutorials.
Since our setup allows camera controls during battles, we’ll use the battle camera to change the camera’s target to the combatant who’s turn it is.
Navigate to Battles > Battle Camera.
Battle Camera #
- Battle Camera Type
Select Allow Schematics.
This’ll allow schematics animating actions to also perform camera changes.
You can also completely block schematics from changing the camera.
Look At Latest User #
This’ll look at the combatant who’s performing the latest action.
- Enable
Enable this setting. - Look At Type
Select Camera Control Target.
This’ll use the combatant as the target for the camera control.
This only works if camera controls are allowed during battle. - Reset Current Target (Transition Settings)
Enable this setting.
Look At Selecting User #
This’ll look at the combatant who’s currently selecting an action – this is for both player and non-player combatants.
If you only want this for player combatants, use the Look At Menu User settings instead.
- Enable
Enable this setting. - Look At Type
Select Camera Control Target. - Reset Current Target (Transition Settings)
Enable this setting.
Factions #
The phase change schematics are set up per faction – since the phases in Phase battles are based on the faction of the combatants.
Navigate to Combatants > Factions and select the Player faction.
0: Player #
Phase Change Schematics #
- Phase Start Schematic
Select the PlayerPhase schematic.
1: Enemies #
Phase Change Schematics #
- Phase Start Schematic
Select the EnemyPhase schematic.
Updating Battle Range Templates #
While this can already be considered as part of the battle grid setup, we’ll squeeze it in here, since this was a rather short tutorial.
We’ll update the default battle range templates (which are already set up for use in grids) and add line of sight checks.
Navigate to Templates > Battle Range Templates – the setup will be the same for each template, we’ll change Range 2, Range 3, Range 4 and Range 5.
Grid Shape > Line of Sight #
The line of sight should be blocked by blocked cells, i.e. cells that can’t be moved on.
We don’t block the line of sight by combatants.
- Use Line of Sight
Enable this setting. - LOS Blocked Cells
Enable this setting. - LOS Allied Combatants
Disable this setting. - LOS Enemy Combatants
Disable this setting.
Don’t forget to repeat this setup for Range 2 to 5.
We’ll use the range templates later when we update our abilities.
Save Changes #
And that’s it for the battle system setup.
Don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on Save Settings at the bottom of the editor.
Next, we’ll handle the battle grid settings.
