[Starlight] Combat in Starlight Divide (Patreon)

if you ask a random person what kind of game genre 'shooter' is, chances are they can tell you. 
if you ask them what an 'RPG' is-- they might know, or they might think you're talking about rocket-propelled grenades.
if you ask the average person what kind of genre a 'tRPG' is they're probably just going to be confused.

despite having plenty of good titles, very few games in the genre ever see mainstream success. the obvious modern counter examples are the new generation of fire emblem games, though even Intelligent Systems had anticipated Awakening being the last FE game based on sales beforehand. 

such is the nature of tRPGs. and why?

i believe the genre in its popular forms has had two main flaws:

1- They are very passive games-- there tends to be a lot of waiting time on the players parts: waiting for attack animations to play, waiting for enemies to move, etc...

2- RNG. In a Fire Emblem game the best laid plans can be foiled by a 1% miss or crit rate, causing someone to have to redo an entire chapter. it's incredibly frustrating because in many cases there's nothing the player could have done better. it was just bad luck.

One of the original goals of Starlight Divide is to fix both of these problems. The player should not passively wait, and RNG does not play a role in the combat system.

I remember the first time I played Fire Emblem, I was around eleven, and had only played normal RPGs before. my understanding of the game's system was something like this: you move units into positions around the map, and then when you choose to attack a unit you would go into a separate combat screen where you would issue direct commands to your unit in a battle against the enemy, just like any other RPG. it sounded awesome. when i issued the first attack command and the battle just 'happened' without any of my input as a player, I was somehow disappointed. of course I learned that was the game, and enjoyed it anyway-- but it is not a moment i have forgotten.

We can do better. 

In Starlight, whether attacks and spells hit or miss is dependent not on the roll of dice, but on player skill. You will still do everything you would in any TRPG-- move units around on the grid map, assess the risk and reward of potential skirmishes, maintain a solid formation or die trying-- but you will also control the characters in combat, timing input presses to land shots or dodge attacks. Afk on an enemy turn and you'll probably come back to find one of your units dead. 

Let's hope you can see them all through safely.
Cheers, loves.