FilmstripStudio

Turn-Based Combat · Version 0.5

Turn-Based Combat Overview

Understand how Filmstrip’s accepted turn-based battle workflow connects Actors, Abilities, enemies, Encounters, rewards, and exploration state.

Filmstrip Engine 0.4 adds a complete turn-based combat workflow built on the same Actor, Stat, Resource, Item, Party, Action, Condition, Reward, and save authorities used during exploration. Combat does not create a second set of character or inventory definitions. It temporarily operates on a battle-owned copy of the current runtime state and only commits accepted results.

Combat authoring uses five definition types

  • Abilities define commands, targeting, priority, costs, icons, animation settings, and ordered combat effects.
  • Status Effects define durations, stacking, resistance, immunity, periodic behavior, modifiers, removal rules, icons, and overhead presentation.
  • Enemy Parties define one through eight enemies and their weighted Ability decisions.
  • Combat Rewards define experience and may reference an existing Reward Bundle.
  • Encounters connect an Enemy Party, a Combat Reward, battle presentation, and the scene Action that starts combat.

The basic battle workflow

  1. Create any Stats, Resources, Actors, Items, and Reward Bundles the battle will use.
  2. Author the Party’s and enemies’ Abilities and any Status Effects.
  3. Create an Enemy Party and configure the weighted Ability choices for its members.
  4. Create a Combat Reward and an Encounter.
  5. Use Start Encounter from an Action Sequence in a scene, dialogue, trigger, or interaction.
  6. Enter Play Mode, plan one command for each living Party member, choose targets, and resolve turns.
  7. Finish through victory, defeat, or escape and verify what was committed back to exploration.

One through eight members

The battle state, targeting model, command planner, turn ordering, and HUD support active sides containing from one through eight members. Content should not assume a fixed four-character Party or enemy formation.

Battle isolation

The battle begins from a clone of the current Party Resources and shared inventory. Victory and accepted escape outcomes explicitly commit supported changes. Defeat and abandoned battles leave the exploration state untouched. This prevents a failed or interrupted battle from applying only part of its costs or effects.